Emerald Princess Athens to Istanbul July 2015

[vcgeno]

Enjoyed our two week trip very much. Ports of call were fantastic cannot think of one we did not enjoy.

 

With a couple of exceptions we booked private tours or did each of ports of call on our own. Did several of the excursions with folks we met on Cruise Critic. I will post the details in the ports of call section.

 

Getting on and off the ship could not have been better. Our room was ready when we boarded in Athens around 12 noon.

 

We had a balcony of the port side of the Lido deck. We were worried about noise but found the room clean, quiet, and comfortable. The convenience of being on the Lido deck was great.

 

As far as the shipboard experience we had anytime dining and we found the food in the main dining room much better than we expected. Great selection, except for the leg of lamb, were very well prepared. The service was great. We bought the wine card allowing us to order bottles of wine with dinner at a discounted rate, and although there was occasionally some confusion on the part of the waiter as to what to do with it, as well worth it. We were going to eat once or twice in one of the specialty dining rooms, but after a few days we enjoyed our meals in the main dining room so much we did not feel like eating the extra food, no matter how good, served in the specialty dining rooms. Never ate in the buffet for dinner so can’t comment there. Did not have the Pizza or the burgers. I wish the foods better reflected their ports of call but when you have to feed this many people this would be difficult to pull off.

 

Did not spend much time in any of the bars.

 

Given this was a port intensive cruise we only had lunch on board a couple of times always in the buffet. It was good. One of the times they had a pasta bar and it was really good.

 

We had breakfast in the main dining room a couple of times it was nice and we enjoyed meeting new people but frankly the food in the buffet was as good if not better. One day they tried to substitute a florescent orange Tang like substance for real orange juice and there was a near mutiny on board. After a couple of days they brought back the real stuff.

 

One of the first things we did was sign up for the thermal suite package. We had done this on a previous Princess Cruise to Hawaii and enjoyed it a great deal. On the Hawaii cruise it covered then entire two weeks of the cruise but we found out when it was too late that they only sell you one week at a time in this one. We found that out when we tried to use it a couple of days into our second week and a fairly rude spa staff member let us know that they were not part of Princess and don’t have the same policies ship to ship. We enjoyed the Thermal Suite but it is not worth the $99 per person for just one week.

 

We went to the high tea a couple of times and that exceeded our expectations. We like wine and went to a premium ($25) and a regular ($9) wine tasting. We enjoyed them both. We brought our coffee card that we did not finish from our prior princess cruise that was supposedly never going to expire. We were disappointed that we could not get complementary regular coffee with our old card (that was not supposed to expire) and the only complementary coffee would be coffee made from syrup that they have in the buffet.

 

We are not big fans of the productions shows. Saw two comedians one was really good the other was so-so. Enjoyed the Turkish group that came on board a great deal as well as an English violinist that they brought on board.

 

Our biggest issue (warning rant coming) is the lack of complementary places to relax outdoors, out of the sun. I do not find the noise and confusion of the main or back pool areas relaxing and most of the time you are baking in the sun. We enjoyed the Lotus Spa Pool a great deal but there are only 12 lounge chairs around the pool and on sea days there are folks that are up before dawn to reserve them and they rarely if ever leave. That pool also closes at 5:00pm. Most of the time we used the pool we would have to hang our stuff on the side of the hot tubs. What was particular infuriating about this is that we would look at all the shade an unused chairs above the spa pool in the “Sanctuary”. The reason they were unused is that it costs $20 per person for morning session and another $20 per person to sit there in the afternoon. So if a couple would want to use the area from 10am-$3pm it would cost $80. I never saw more then 3-4 people up there at any point in time. What a waste of space. If they need to make more money why not bundle the sanctuary with the Thermal Spa? That combo would be worth $99/week. $80/day is not worth it. Calling this place the “Sanctuary” is an admission that the rest of the ship is not, so their slogans “escape completely” and “come back new” only apply to those that are willing to pay the extra fee.

 

That said I am glad we went on the trip and enjoyed it a great deal. We made several new friends on the cruise, most of which we met on cruise critic. We will probably do Princess again in the future but may start researching other options that have the full suite of services included in the cost. Let me know if you have any questions.

[vcgeno]

I can't figure out how to edit it.

[partybarbie]

Thank you very much for your review. We will be on the Emerald in a couple of months and your comments on the anytime dining were very helpful.

 

As far as the coffee cards, there are numerous postings on this board that the unlimited coffee only applies to cruise on which the card is purchased, while the punches are still good on subsequent cruises. I'm not sure how you did not know this, but at least you are informed now.

[AE_Collector]

I can't figure out how to edit it.

 

This forum gives about 20 minutes to edit after which it is cast in stone. Kind of annoys me too so all you can do is check it over well before posting and once more right after posting. Topic titles are the worst as they cant be edited at all after being posted.

 

Terry

[kdooley]

Did this cruise go to the Black Sea ports of Constanta and Burgas? Looking for info for our upcoming cruise and didn't know if it had the same itinerary.

 

Athens-Volos-Khios-Constanta-Burgas-Istanbul (overnight)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review. :)

 

Once you post the title cannot be edited.

You could send a message to the mods to change it for you. ;)

[caribill]

One day they tried to substitute a florescent orange Tang like substance for real orange juice and there was a near mutiny on board. After a couple of days they brought back the real stuff.

 

It could be they ran out of the "real stuff" and had to resupply in a port.

 

We brought our coffee card that we did not finish from our prior princess cruise that was supposedly never going to expire. We were disappointed that we could not get complementary regular coffee with our old card (that was not supposed to expire) and the only complementary coffee would be coffee made from syrup that they have in the buffet.

 

If your prior card was one of the ones that was like a playing card, then at the time it was purchased the rule was you could get unlimited brewed coffee on future cruises as long as there was at least one unused punch.

 

Due to people who kept that one-punch-left cards forever, a new type of card was issued (what is used currently) with the rule that the unlimited brewed coffee was only for the cruise the card was purchased (room on the back for that information to be written), even if there were no punches left unpunched.

 

If you still had one of the playing type cards, then it is understandable you felt you could still get the free coffee.

 

If you had one of the new type cards, then the rules were not explained to you when you purchased it.

[emmak8]

Thank you for posting. Enjoyed your report.

[vcgeno]

If your prior card was one of the ones that was like a playing card, then at the time it was purchased the rule was you could get unlimited brewed coffee on future cruises as long as there was at least one unused punch.

 

It was the playing card type and they did say it was good for ever. I must admit we were one of the people that they changed the rule for, we would have never used the last punch.

[vcgeno]

Did this cruise go to the Black Sea ports of Constanta and Burgas? Looking for info for our upcoming cruise and didn't know if it had the same itinerary.

 

Athens-Volos-Khios-Constanta-Burgas-Istanbul (overnight)

 

Our Itinerary was Athens-Santorini-Crete(Heraklion)-Rhodes-Kusadasi-Instanbul (two nights)-Mykonos-Malta(Valleta)-Messina-Naples-Rome

 

Loved all of the ports.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.....:):):)

 

Bob