Emerald Princess January 17, 2012

[cindep]

We're in St. Thomas today so a good place to get wi-fi ($4 for the day).

 

A few things of note regarding the smoking policy. It is in effect with designated areas appearing to be on the Promenade deck port side, and other outdoor places on the port side of the ship. Also part of the casino and of course the Speakeasy. We are in E726 which is a port side mini-suite. Unfortunately we are getting a LOT of smoke on our balcony from the Promenade deck. We have reported it to the customer service desk so they are aware this is an issue for those of us who not smoke. Even with the wind blowing, we are still getting the smell.

 

Also we are getting plenty of noise from Club Fusion at night in this cabin (which was previously reported).

 

We did UBD the night of Princess Cays and it was FABULOUS! We customized it to our tastes and they really delivered and then some. On the Emerald you call room service to set this up NOT the DINE line. Our photos were good as well and we are still deciding which ones to keep.

 

Weather is good and food is fine. Nothing new on that front. Crew is friendly.

[saltypeer]

Thanks for report regarding smoking.

 

Although you are not doing a 'live from' as such, can you tell us whether there was any change to the Muster Drill. Also, when did you do the Muster?

 

Have a great cruise and check in with us 'watchers' if / when you get a spare minute.

 

cheers

 

Pete

[cindep]

Muster drill was at 3:15 (beginning) with the actual announcement from the bridge at 3:30. We departed at 4:15 or so.

 

The actual announcement did change slightly, especially regarding the new smoking policy. I found it interesting that the new "canned speech" did not include the infamous instructions on how to step overboard. I mentioned to a nearby staff member that they were missing it, so I am sure they will modify the instructions.

 

People were very attentive. Also, they come around and scan your cruise card to verify you attended muster.

[gelo7]

Thanks for checking in, happy cruising.

[Woobstr112G]

We're in St. Thomas today so a good place to get wi-fi ($4 for the day).

 

A few things of note regarding the smoking policy. It is in effect with designated areas appearing to be on the Promenade deck port side, and other outdoor places on the port side of the ship. Also part of the casino and of course the Speakeasy. We are in E726 which is a port side mini-suite. Unfortunately we are getting a LOT of smoke on our balcony from the Promenade deck. We have reported it to the customer service desk so they are aware this is an issue for those of us who not smoke. Even with the wind blowing, we are still getting the smell.

 

Also we are getting plenty of noise from Club Fusion at night in this cabin (which was previously reported).

 

We did UBD the night of Princess Cays and it was FABULOUS! We customized it to our tastes and they really delivered and then some. On the Emerald you call room service to set this up NOT the DINE line. Our photos were good as well and we are still deciding which ones to keep.

 

Weather is good and food is fine. Nothing new on that front. Crew is friendly.

 

Enjoy your cruise and thanks for reporting about the smoking policy.

 

Bob

[saltypeer]

Muster drill was at 3:15 (beginning) with the actual announcement from the bridge at 3:30. We departed at 4:15 or so.

 

The actual announcement did change slightly, especially regarding the new smoking policy. I found it interesting that the new "canned speech" did not include the infamous instructions on how to step overboard. I mentioned to a nearby staff member that they were missing it, so I am sure they will modify the instructions.

 

People were very attentive. Also, they come around and scan your cruise card to verify you attended muster.

 

Thanks for quick response. Now go and enjoy your cruise ;)

 

Pete

[1 HappyCruiser]

 

A few things of note regarding the smoking policy. It is in effect with designated areas appearing to be on the Promenade deck port side, and other outdoor places on the port side of the ship. Also part of the casino and of course the Speakeasy. We are in E726 which is a port side mini-suite. Unfortunately we are getting a LOT of smoke on our balcony from the Promenade deck. We have reported it to the customer service desk so they are aware this is an issue for those of us who not smoke. Even with the wind blowing, we are still getting the smell.

 

 

Is the whole port side of the Promenade deck designated as a smoking area?

[waterbabyfish]

Yes

[cindep]

Quick update from Grenada:

 

It is raining this morning, first "bad" weather we have had. Did the Champange Reef tour in the morning and whale watching in the afternoon in Dominica. Both were outstanding and I can highly recommend them.

 

We have been getting special attention in the dining room as one of the couples at our table are friends with the head waiter. It has been kind of interesting.

 

The staff is very friendly on the ship, which is always a pleasure. Really no major problems at all and the minor ones have been addressed. I talked with someone yesterday who has a cabin on the port side of the Lido deck and she said the smoke was horrid in her cabin as well. It will be interesting to see what Princess does with these complaints.

 

Saw the Beatlemaniacs last night. Surprisingly it was not particularly well attended, but those of us who were there had a great time.

 

Leaving soon for a shore excursion so will close this out for now. I'll answer any questions I can when I can.

[1 HappyCruiser]

 

The staff is very friendly on the ship, which is always a pleasure. Really no major problems at all and the minor ones have been addressed. I talked with someone yesterday who has a cabin on the port side of the Lido deck and she said the smoke was horrid in her cabin as well. It will be interesting to see what Princess does with these complaints.

 

 

There is only one final solution but it's not feasible for profits. Thanks for the warning about port side cabins. We'll be booking starboard only in the future although we do have a port side towards the bow coming up very soon.

[chamima]

Thanks for posting about this. I didn't notice your post before but woke up this morning wondering about how the new smoking policy will affect the amount of smoke on the Promenade deck. We will be on the Emerald in 2 weeks but we have (lucky for us) a starboard cabin.

Sorry about the bad weather.

The only question I can think of is about tea. What kind of tea do they have in the IC? I love the Revolution Tropical Green tea that I've had there on previous cruises but heard they are switching brands. If they don't have that (or I guess another good brand of green tea) I'll just bring my own.

 

Also, someone on my cruise asked about cribbage boards. Someone has already checked the library and there are none there but is there a card or game room on the ship that might have one?

 

Have a great cruise and thanks again!

(It's wonderful to get special attention from the Head Waiter - enjoy!!!!!!!)

[Sanibel*Gal]

We're in St. Thomas today so a good place to get wi-fi ($4 for the day).

 

A few things of note regarding the smoking policy. It is in effect with designated areas appearing to be on the Promenade deck port side, and other outdoor places on the port side of the ship. Also part of the casino and of course the Speakeasy. We are in E726 which is a port side mini-suite. Unfortunately we are getting a LOT of smoke on our balcony from the Promenade deck. We have reported it to the customer service desk so they are aware this is an issue for those of us who not smoke. Even with the wind blowing, we are still getting the smell.

 

Also we are getting plenty of noise from Club Fusion at night in this cabin (which was previously reported).

 

We did UBD the night of Princess Cays and it was FABULOUS! We customized it to our tastes and they really delivered and then some. On the Emerald you call room service to set this up NOT the DINE line. Our photos were good as well and we are still deciding which ones to keep.

 

Weather is good and food is fine. Nothing new on that front. Crew is friendly.

 

 

UGH about the smoking thing....we have this same cabin on the Ruby in November. It is our first mini-suite so I hope we can enjoy our balcony for some of the cruise. The Emerald is a beautiful ship - wishing you a great cruise!:D

[1 HappyCruiser]

UGH about the smoking thing....we have this same cabin on the Ruby in November. It is our first mini-suite so I hope we can enjoy our balcony for some of the cruise. The Emerald is a beautiful ship - wishing you a great cruise!:D

 

Since your trip is a ways out why don't you see about changing to a starboard cabin? At least there's no smoking on that side above or below.

[johndru]

Thanks for the periodic updates. Helps us to sail along with our friends, since we can't be with them. If you run into a "Mike and Conny" (he's 65, tall, thin, balding w/white hair, and she has long blonde hair, also tall, and statuesque, and is in her early 50's), tell them we said, "Go Pack". They'll understand!

 

They also have a mini suite on the Port side. Not sure which deck they're on, but they're both non-smokers, so hoping they're in a location that's not overly smokey.

 

Have a great trip to Bonnaire and Aruba! Keeping track thru kroooz cams everyday.

[cindep]

Grenada was rainy most of the day so our tour was not quite what we had hoped. It was raining so bad last night that they had to move the deck party indoors to Club Fusion. We attended to hear the Beatlemaniacs perform. If you like Beatles music at all, they are very very good. Besides, being in E726 you hear the noise from Club Fusion anyway so you may as well enjoy it!

 

Looks like the weather is clearing a bit as we head to Bonaire. I have the underwater camera all ready to go for our next round of snorkeling. Heard that Grenada was NOT the place to snorkel so I'm glad I held out.

 

Internet Cafe is packed this morning as we don't arrive until noon. The only thing I don't care for on this cruise is the crazy schedule for the port stops. Guess that is what happens when you travel so far on a 10 day cruise.

 

International Cafe was too busy to find out about the tea this morning, but I will try to get an answer.

[cindep]

Since there has been a review of this trip, I thought I might add my thoughts to the original thread I started.

 

Something I didn't mention originally, I really like the new map of the ship they give at check-in. It is a big improvement over the trifold that used to be in your room.

 

Something I had several "newbies" ask me was about lunch in the dining room. The way to determine if lunch is being served (and what dining room) is to look at the times for the various dining venues in the Patter. We had lunch on embarkation day without any problems, but they are NOT advertising this. We were surprised to have lunch in the dining room in Grenada, but we did. So check the Patter for the location and times. Dining room lunch is a lot more relaxing.

 

Fresh squeezed orange juice is available at the bar under MUTTS. You pay for it, but is literally squeezed from oranges right in front of you. You get the pulp and seeds and it is sweet and good. I treated myself every couple of days.

 

The smoke situation is just bad on the port side Emerald deck mini-suites. It was especially bad first thing in the morning. I reported it to the purser's desk for all the good it did me.

 

Beatlemaniacs were the highlight of the entertainment. Everything else was NOT good. I blame this on the cruise director, Tim Donovan. It has been reported that he is no longer on the Emerald. He seemed constantly confused as to what was going on where and announced things differently than what was in the Patter. The other cruise staff seemed good, but he was constantly late. Cruise directors are usually not something I care about, but I've never had one this bad. Enough said.

 

We did EZCheck with our luggage and it worked well. We went to the Platinum/Elite lounge and didn't realize that EZCheck had their own group. We got off a lot later than originally planned, but that was OK. We were ready to vacate the lounge as they had run out of food and beverages and weren't restocking. They also didn't check our cruise cards to see if we should get in. This was very poorly run.

 

This was my 20th Princess cruise and unfortunately my overall impressions were NOT good. We enjoyed the stops, especially Dominica (great snorkeling and whale watch) and Bonaire (again good snorkeling). Grenada was definitely a let down as our 3 1/2 hour tour took 5 hours.

 

The good: Crew seems to be overall happy and everyone I came in contact with was pleasant. The Ultimate Balcony Dinner was awesome! Beatlemaniacs and Vintage Memories; skinny vanilla bean latte; Cafe Caribe.

 

The bad: Shortened entertainment; no entertainment variety; slow dining room service; mediocre food; playing Dolphin Tales when The Help was advertised.

 

The ugly: Cigarette smoke! cruise director who seemed more Carnival than Princess; music in Club Fusion until well after midnight.

 

I'm not giving up on Princess and plan to take the Emerald again next year with a different itinerary. Also will book on the starboard side! Hopefully things will be different by then.

[caribill]

I really like the new map of the ship they give at check-in. It is a big improvement over the trifold that used to be in your room.

 

We had lunch on embarkation day without any problems, but they are NOT advertising this.

 

Check the back of that new map. On the ones I have seen, there is an invitation to have lunch in the dining room on embarkation day (if before 1:30 PM).

[1 HappyCruiser]

I could only wonder about the smoke situation on other decks above and forward of your starboard location on the Emerald. It's hard to believe that all starboard cabins can be that smokey. Possible someone else on another trip can provide us with some information. :confused:

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It was a great cruise...

[xtianmom]

We had a great time on the same cruise. Thought Tim was fun and energetic. Never saw him mess up too much and he was able to laugh at himself when he did. He is a very busy guy!

 

I guess if you cruise regularly, maybe your expectations are higher than those of us who are happy to have just experienced cruise #2. For us simple folk, I thought all aspects were fantastic. This just goes to show you, different strokes for different folks. I appreciate all of the reviews, but am reminded to take them with some caution, and realize we all see through different rose colored glasses.

 

The best part was our fellow passengers. Generally a fun bunch, tolerant, patient, friendly and fun! Thanks to all of you who helped us decide to look forward to cruise #3.:D

[RLK33853]

This couldn't have been said better. We have cruised quite a bit and one thing we keep saying to ourselves is to remember that after a while, things can lose some of their enchantment - but only if you let them. We LOVE our cruises and nothing is worse than someone you talk to starts to go on about how their last cruise was better............

 

Do bad things happen, yes they do. Does that mean it has to affect your entire cruise? Only if you let it........

 

Whenever I read a bad review I first check to see the previous reviews that person had submitted. One history I checked last week showed the person had submitted numerous reviews over a six or seven year period. Each cruise had apparently been bad - with the comment that their previous one had been BETTER...........

 

Everyone should think back to their first cruise - recall your excitement and how great the ship was - then think twice before you start ruining a trip of a lifetime for someone on their first cruise.

 

 

 

I guess if you cruise regularly, maybe your expectations are higher than those of us who are happy to have just experienced cruise #2. For us simple folk, I thought all aspects were fantastic. This just goes to show you, different strokes for different folks. I appreciate all of the reviews, but am reminded to take them with some caution, and realize we all see through different rose colored glasses.

 

The best part was our fellow passengers. Generally a fun bunch, tolerant, patient, friendly and fun! Thanks to all of you who helped us decide to look forward to cruise #3.:D

[caribill]

I guess if you cruise regularly, maybe your expectations are higher than those of us who are happy to have just experienced cruise #2. For us simple folk, I thought all aspects were fantastic.

 

When I cruise on Princess I expect a great experience.

 

When I fill out the survey after the cruise, I usually mark that the cruise "met expectations" because I expected a great experience.

 

I expect the people who designed the survey expected those what a great experience to mark the survey "exceeded expectations," but it is hard to exceed what I expect a cruise to be.

[PescadoAmarillo]

LCS- I'm mobile and it's hard to selectively quote, so I won't. But I have a name for what you mention: LCS (last cruise syndrome). People who always claim that their current cruise sucks are afflicted. If you go back and look at their comments on their last cruise, that one sucked too. It's hilarious.

[chamima]

LCS- I'm mobile and it's hard to selectively quote, so I won't. But I have a name for what you mention: LCS (last cruise syndrome). People who always claim that their current cruise sucks are afflicted. If you go back and look at their comments on their last cruise, that one sucked too. It's hilarious.

 

 

Jeannie

I think I have "current cruise syndrome". The cruise I'm on is always the best one I've ever been on! ;) :p

 

See you in a couple of hours! (The rain is a bummer, though)