Emerald Nov. 23-30 Review: Bad weather and poor service, but we had fun

[Paula_MacFan]

 

While at the beach at Mahogany Bay there was a kid blowing a whistle and all it took was my buddy yelling out loud "will the kid with the whistle please stop"... and it stopped.

 

Love this:) Your buddy sounds like a person after my own heart. I love kids, but on vacation you need a little peace!

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and thanks for posting the review!

Edited December 1, 2014 by Paula_MacFan
grammar

[satxdiver]

We have been on the Emerald before and yes it is almost an identical copy of the Ruby and Caribbean Princess ships. We like these ships better than the original grand class ships. We will be on the Emerald next spring (NOT DURING SPRING BREAK!).

 

When you cruise during school breaks expect a lot of kids on board. The holidays coming up are the absolutely worse for kids with over 1000! Spring break is also to be avoided. We were on the Magic out of Galveston the first week of December one year thinking we were safe only to find out there were 300 aboard! Don't these kids have to go to school anymore?

 

We were on the Golden in October and the Star in November and early seating TD used two MDR. The line at 6ish was long for the lone ATD MDR. We found that going to the MDR on deck 6 at 7:15 just after TD ended was the place to be if you did not want to stand in line. We always ask for a table of 4 or 6 and for the most part have found it to be enjoyable talking to fellow pax. We have on a few occasions had a not so pleasant experience but then that is life.

 

On our last cruise on the Star, the cabin TV did have ESPN. The OP's comment about the egg bowl game caused me to google it. After I saw what it was, I would not have expected them to show it any more than I would have expected them to show the old oaken bucket game on the same day. Both games would have a very limited viewership.

 

The HC does have a food layout that contributes to congestion. On the Star they have added a dessert counter outside the original layout which did help with the congestion plus they removed the big walls around the seating area leaving more space for tables and easier access. The Royal and Regal have a different layout something like what the Magic has that is a thousand times better and relieves the congestion. We loved it.

 

We have found Bayport is be much easier to get into and out of than Galveston. The bridge to/from Galveston and the Gulf freeway are real bottlenecks. Being able to park right in front of the terminal and walk is a real plus. We usually do not stop and drop off our luggage but proceed to the parking and wheel it into the terminal. However dropping off the checked luggage can be quite nice.

 

While missing a port is a downer, thanks to mother nature it does happen. Both Belize and Grand Cayman suffer from this problem. If you do the Mexican Riviera (west coast of Mexico) Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja peninsula has the same problem only more frequent.

[susiesan]

600 children onboard?? Yikes!!

 

No wonder the crew was unhappy and the cruise is getting bad reviews.

 

I suspect by Jan. 18, my sailing, the little darlings will be back in school and the Emerald will be a mostly adults only cruise.

[pablo222]

 

 

On our last cruise on the Star, the cabin TV did have ESPN. The OP's comment about the egg bowl game caused me to google it. After I saw what it was, I would not have expected them to show it any more than I would have expected them to show the old oaken bucket game on the same day. Both games would have a very limited viewership.

 

A gent we were traveling with was very interested in seeing a nascar

race, which was being shown on espn.

 

It turned out, that on the ship, was some caribbean espn, and

it did not have the same programming as espn within the us.

No nascar race for him.

[JimmyVWine]

A couple of people have mentioned that there were "work-arounds" to the problem of the Da Vinci dining room being turned into a traditional venue from 5:30 to 7:30 each night. I did use some of these, but I did not want to. As a practical matter we didn't want to wait until 7:30 to eat as the kids had things to do.

 

All that can be added to that is that if eating at a particular time is important, especially if that desired time is early, then Traditional Dining would have been the way to go. Sounds like it wasn't overbooked with a wait list. We generally approach "Anytime" dining as meaning "anytime, other than 6:00-7:15". If dining between 5:30-6:45 is important, than the choices are Traditional, or, being one of the sheep who show up at the ATD room at 5:00 and queue up.

Edited December 1, 2014 by JimmyVWine

[GradUT]

Thanks for your input, JeffDal. Like you, I think our favorite spot will be the Lotus Pool as well since we're doing a Christmas cruise. I'm so sorry that you missed out on Belize. That's the one port I would really hate to miss as well.

[scott4020]

I will echo the statements of generally poor dinning service on this cruise. The dining room service was slow at best and the service we received in the Crown Grill was down right terrible, but we never had trouble getting a table for anytime dinning. We did have a line once for dinner that was long, curling past the piazza but it moved swiftly and we were seated within 15 minuets. We never went to the buffet, with so many food choices on board I don't know why so many people eat there.

 

Even though the food/drink side of the ship was down the cruise staff was great. Lots of fun events and always helpful and smiling. Our stateroom attendant was outstanding.

 

So many kids on board, didn't have any trouble with them (other than the family that decided to bring 5 small kids to the comedy show and sit behind us) but I don't think I will book a holiday cruise again.

 

Even with missing the ruins and having our Cozumel excursion cancelled we had a great time on this cruise and would like to do the itinerary again.

 

As far as the Houston port goes we drove up at 12:00 and we were sitting in the dining room for lunch by 1:00. So no trouble for us but I can see how any problem in the channel would cause big delays.

[jeffdal]

I will echo the statements of generally poor dinning service on this cruise. The dining room service was slow at best and the service we received in the Crown Grill was down right terrible, but we never had trouble getting a table for anytime dinning. We did have a line once for dinner that was long, curling past the piazza but it moved swiftly and we were seated within 15 minuets. We never went to the buffet, with so many food choices on board I don't know why so many people eat there.

 

Even though the food/drink side of the ship was down the cruise staff was great. Lots of fun events and always helpful and smiling. Our stateroom attendant was outstanding.

 

So many kids on board, didn't have any trouble with them (other than the family that decided to bring 5 small kids to the comedy show and sit behind us) but I don't think I will book a holiday cruise again.

 

Even with missing the ruins and having our Cozumel excursion cancelled we had a great time on this cruise and would like to do the itinerary again.

 

As far as the Houston port goes we drove up at 12:00 and we were sitting in the dining room for lunch by 1:00. So no trouble for us but I can see how any problem in the channel would cause big delays.

 

We missed the second comedian because our dinner service was so slow in Michelangelo (the one night we ate there). Of course, that was the night nobody came by the table to check to see how things were going. But we enjoyed the dinner and our company so it was all good.

 

There were two toddlers in the second Maitre D wine tasting. One toddler was so cranky the mom finally took him outside. But if I was a toddler, I would be cranky too in the dining room for a wine tasting.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review.

[Loucat]

I was looking at the Emerald for 2015; after reading your review maybe we will keep looking.

Your comments on the food were similiar to our experience on the CB. Food was not great by a long stretch.

[Mississippian]

On our last cruise on the Star, the cabin TV did have ESPN. The OP's comment about the egg bowl game caused me to google it. After I saw what it was, I would not have expected them to show it any more than I would have expected them to show the old oaken bucket game on the same day. Both games would have a very limited viewership.

I assume this is a joke. Mississippi State was ranked third in the nation, and the game essentially determined whether they would be in the national championships. They won't be. Ole Miss has been ranked in the top 10 nationally for most of the year.

 

Texas A&M is in the SEC, which is the nation's most competitive football conference, and given that Houston is in Texas one would think that ships sailing from Houston would carry SEC games. On any given Saturday the rest of the schools look like they are dressed out in ballerina costumes compared to the SEC. The SEC has a revenue-sharing program of almost a third of a billion dollars each year, which I believe to be the highest of any football conference.

 

I don't know what the Old Oaken Bucket game is, but if it features a top-four team against a top-20 team to determine whether one will go on to the national championship, I want to see it.