Emerald Princess Rome to Barcelona September 26 -October 3 2015 in photos and video

[Bimmer09]

Near the Piazza elevators on deck 7 you'll see a wall containing plaques given to the Emerald when she visits a port for the first time-a welcome gift.

 

[/url]

 

There's always a collage of the ship's Officers

 

 

By now you'll be in this corridor on Deck 7 Starboard

 

 

And on your right there is a nice lounge called Explorers

 

 

It's artwork speaks of far-off places and cultures

 

 

 

More Explorers to come

 

The Emerald is a beautiful ship but that applies to all 7 ships we've sailed so far.

[Bimmer09]

[/url]

 

 

Beyond Explorers heading aft we come to the Photo Gallery (photos are still available for sale on Disembarkation morning-never too late!)

 

 

They have a little shop that sells Nikon and Go Pro cameras, plus accessories. Binoculars? Yes, they sell those.

 

 

And a desk that sells DVDs of Princess Destinations and Photo albums

 

 

They sell a DVD of your cruise, taken on board and on excursions for $60

 

Next to the Photo Department is Crown Grill

 

 

The tour continues...

[Bimmer09]

There's just one more public room to show you-Club Fusion This is a venue with a dance floor, so bands play here. On some ships it is used for the Karaoke at nights after dinner. It can be used for dance classes and Pop Choir rehearsals, as a staging room for excursions etc. It's where the Captain's Cocktail party was too.

It's where we had our Muster Drill and where we will gather before disembarking in Barcelona. It's a big room with it's own bar. It's at the stern of the ship on Promenade deck.

 

[/url]

 

Big dance floor

 

 

 

 

 

The sound-mixing desk

 

 

More to follow

[Bimmer09]

Club Fusion decor is a mishmash of the Wild West.....

 

[/url]

 

 

Landscapes....

 

 

And scenes from days gone by, before the selfie stick.

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Some more ship art

Sunset

Crown Grill dinner

Sleep

Waking up in Barcelona

 

Yes, we will dock in Barcelona some time today and leave the ship and enter the last phase of our vacation- 2 days in Barcelona.

 

I have to warn you that there will be a lot of photos of Barcelona!

GAUDI PORN, TAPAS PORN, ROOFTOP PORN,PANORAMIC VIEW PORN,SHIP PORN etc

 

Please eat your Wheaties...

 

Norris

[jtagphillycruiser]

Good morning Norris,

 

All I can say is.....bring it on!!! Can't wait to re-visit Barcelona and all it had to offer via your adventures. The tapas and the sangria were pretty darn good too!.

 

Joanne

[Bimmer09]

There's art all over the ship, not just hanging on your cabin walls

 

[/url]

 

 

 

 

This next one reminded me that I had to pack tonight

 

[Bimmer09]

The last day was a bit of a blur, the day broken up by rain and then periods of sunshine which I had to take advantage of up at Tradewinds Bar.

 

Afternoon tea was ordered and we were able to enjoy it on the balcony for one last time.

 

Carol had been to the port lecture and came back with a page of notes on Barcelona which proved helpful.

 

Carol went to a show at 7 pm in the theater which featured Peter Fisher on violin and Jose an acrobat. No comment as I skipped it.

 

I took one photo that day outdoors and here it is

 

[/url]

 

We had booked dinner at the Crown Grill well in advance as it can be sold out on the last night. We waited while the Head waiter cleared a window table for us as we like those booths looking out onto Promenade deck. Our waiter was the witty and energetic George from Serbia who you saw making faces and goofing around in the video from our first CG dinner. This is our wine waiter presenting my bottle of red....

 

 

We pretty much order the same as the first night although I skipped the appetizer round as a beast of a headache came on. I wasn't my usual self so I limped through the meal.

 

Carol has the Blue Onion soup to start

 

 

Followed by a salad

 

 

My 8 oz filet with herbed fries

 

 

And of course Norman Love Peanut Butter flavor bomb dessert

 

 

Another fine meal in the CG. I drained my bottle of red wine but still had 1/3 left in my Pinot Grigio bottle. George asked me if I wanted to take it with me but I told him he could have it and he was delighted to accept and take it back to his cabin at the end of his shift.

 

We went to Explorer's to hear the Pop Star karaoke finals and there were a couple very good singers indeed. The winner unanimously was a guy singing a soulful country song using the "less is more" method. Not showy with his voice but it moved the audience. He won a bottle of Champagne.

 

One last chore-packing and as always I just manage to get it done and into the hallway by midnight. The only suitcase in that long corridor.

 

Next up....Barcelona!

[Bimmer09]

There was no Norovirus on this voyage-at least no alerts or changes to food service.

 

Purell stations were found where there was food being served. We use Clorox wipes when first entering the cabin on Embarkation Day and wipe down all surfaces we are likely to touch, especially the phone. We spray stuff called Zylast on our hands before we leave the cabin and always use the Purell before meals.

We wash our hands as advised and through habit.

 

There are signs reminding passengers to wash their hands

 

[/url]

 

There are very clean and well-maintained public restrooms on the ship....

 

 

I saw, more than once, after using the urinal, a man "wash" his hands by running them under the water for two seconds-without soap. Cold water doesn't kill germs. A quick wipe with a paper towel and he was free to go grab another slice of pizza-or shake your hand

 

A head shaking moment...

[2pbears]

Norris,

 

We just returned from two days out of town and I was so disappointed to read that you missed your port stop in Cannes. I was really looking forward to reading about and seeing pictures of St. Paul de Vence. So sorry you missed it. I will look forward to Barcelona however. Thanks again for the many, many hours you spend putting these reviews together for all of us CC'ers. We appreciate your effort more than you will ever know.

[Bimmer09]

Norris,

 

We just returned from two days out of town and I was so disappointed to read that you missed your port stop in Cannes. I was really looking forward to reading about and seeing pictures of St. Paul de Vence. So sorry you missed it. I will look forward to Barcelona however. Thanks again for the many, many hours you spend putting these reviews together for all of us CC'ers. We appreciate your effort more than you will ever know.

 

St Paul de Vence-yes I was very bummed to miss that experience. We should just do a land trip to Paris (never been, Carol has) and get my French craving seen to that way.

 

Thank you for reading and enjoying this.

 

I was just thinking of the nuts and bolts of putting this together....

 

Each photo has an average of 1 minute spent fixing it in Lightroom X 2000 approx

= 2000 minutes or 33 hours (working quickly)

 

To put one photo into the post via Flickr and center it takes 14 computer clicks/swipes/highlights/deletes so I'll do approx 28,000 of those.

 

I've posted about 440 posts in 28 days or 16 a day avg.

 

I've drank 112 cups of coffee....

 

Now comes the really fun part though-Barcelona!

 

I'm literally bouncing off the walls with anticipation (or it might be the Italian coffee?)

 

Cheers!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I didn't set an alarm for Saturday morning as we weren't getting off the ship until 9 a.m. However I did wake up at exactly 5 a.m and looked out onto the balcony. The Emerald was just finishing tying-up to the dock.

 

I got showered and dressed and made my usual route up to the Horizon Court for my coffee and then to Tradewinds where I shot this video to introduce you to Barcelona....

[YOUTUBE]0F9MJa6rJo[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

 

Rain. Thunder. Lightning. Oh yes. Thank you so much. What a welcome!

Were we to be hounded by rain again?

 

I like rain. I love to sit indoors with fire crackling while it pours outside and runs down the windows. It makes our garden what it is. It's our drinking water.

 

But, please- not today! We have a 4 hour Gaudi tour lined up here!

 

After a couple of coffees and smokes I went down to Promenade deck and took some pics.

 

[/url]

 

 

I moved aft

 

 

An unidentified S Class Celebrity ship -Equinox? Solstice?

 

I waited a little while. The hill to the starboard side must be Montjuic (MON_JEW_EEK) which I have seen on so many videos towering above the harbor. There was no Celebrity ship due in port this morning, so I wasn't prepared for that. ( I had a list of ships we would meet in each port but they weren't 100% accurate in reality).

 

 

A ship I was expecting soon came into view.....

[Bimmer09]

thank you for all of your time and effort put into it! I'm sure reliving the trip has been quite the experience as well.

 

You are so very welcome.

 

When I go back to read it from the beginning yes it will be quite a memory jogger. At the minute it's those nuts and bolts and the mechanics of getting it all onto the CC board, so I'm not stopping to ponder.

 

It's much more surprising to Carol who is often somewhere else when I am taking the photos. The early morning ones she is seeing for the first time as she reads this. All the ship interiors too. Even on the excursions I hung back from the group to get clear shots. She sees the video for the first time here too.

 

These long reviews help us to remember one cruise from the other as the time passes. We've done 8 Princess ones in 4 years and have an X one in less than 75 days (just made FINAL payment Monday)

 

The fact that other people like to read along is the BIG icing on the cake.

 

Thanks for staying with it- I don't think it's hyperbole to say "the best is yet to come"....

 

Norris

[Pmorton3360]

Looking forward to Barcelona, but makes it obvious we are nearing the end. Will miss the blog and pictures.

[Bimmer09]

Now I'm down on our balcony

 

[/url]

 

 

 

 

 

She makes a turn in the basin and snuggles in behind the X ship

 

[Bimmer09]

[/url]

 

The sun is now peeking through the clouds and the rain is down to a drizzle

 

 

I have to leave the balcony for a while as we are going to head to breakfast.

This is a Vista Suite balcony, not as big as a Penthouse and it has the beam obstruction. This limits how you can place your furniture but that's not a deal breaker. The one big drawback is that the lounger furthest away from the camera is close to the balcony glass- my feet were touching the glass when I was laying on the lounger . This balcony was about 5 ft deep as opposed to 8 feet in a Penthouse.

 

Note far recliner touching glass

 

Yesterday at breakfast in Sabatini's we got a surprise. The waiter asked us if we would be joining him for breakfast on Saturday. Huh? They usually don't serve then. It might have had something to do with 900 Elites staying onboard for the Transatlantic voyage. Must have been some suites amongst those, perhaps?

[ar1950]

Maybe its just me, however, I keep getting an error when trying to play the video above.:confused:

[March Babe]

Hate to see your cruise end. (You probably did also). I am looking forward to your views on Barcelona. One of my favorite cities ever. Hope you have your walking shoes on. So much fun.

[Bimmer09]

Maybe its just me, however, I keep getting an error when trying to play the video above.:confused:

 

ar-try this url below

 

 

 

I see what you mean. although I watched it before posting.

 

Norris

 

[ar1950]

ar-try this url below

 

 

 

I see what you mean. although I watched it before posting.

 

Norris

 

 

That worked. Thanks!

 

BTW, although I'm pretty sure that it isn't, it sounds like there are really loud crickets in the background.......:eek:

Edited November 5, 2015 by ar1950

[Gabrielle R.]

I FINALLY caught up to you!!! I forgot when you were going on the trip, and when I was on CC I didn't see your post...Darn work got in the way... THEN when you mentioned Guinness I said... OH! I have one in the frig... and then I got slowed down......;)

I have so enjoyed your trip! Husband & I did a Princess Land tour- spent 3 days in Rome- your pictures brought back happy memories. VERY JEALOUS of your David photos!!! We couldn't use cameras when we visited a few years ago.. I DID get to see Florence in the early morning... just as mass was starting at the Cathedral. NOBODY but locals when we strolled around the area.

So enjoyed Seeing Herculaneum! History teacher so I loved seeing what you showed. Heart breaking stories.

NOW I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing Barcelona!!!

THANK YOU so much for the wonderful photos and stories of your journey!

Gabrielle

[perfect match]

Nancy, thank you.

 

No need to rush. This will stay on CC after it's finished so you can catch up anytime. It will stay on page 1 where it's been for 4 weeks for another week or so as I am putting something up each day.

 

Norris

 

Norris, THANK YOU for all the time and effort you take to post such a wonderful review!

 

I am through page 10 now, you are heading downstairs to meet your Rome In Limo ride to the ship. I am having to force myself to stop reading because I'd be up all night reading otherwise. :eek:

 

The pictures from Rome are incredible! Rome seems to be a beautiful city. Maybe I will get there some day, but until I do, I am very much enjoying my virtual visit through your review.

[Bimmer09]

Hate to see your cruise end. (You probably did also). I am looking forward to your views on Barcelona. One of my favorite cities ever. Hope you have your walking shoes on. So much fun.

 

I did a good long early morning walk down la Rambla all the way to the port and back, taking photos along the way-which I will be happy to show you!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I FINALLY caught up to you!!! I forgot when you were going on the trip, and when I was on CC I didn't see your post...Darn work got in the way... THEN when you mentioned Guinness I said... OH! I have one in the frig... and then I got slowed down......;)

I have so enjoyed your trip! Husband & I did a Princess Land tour- spent 3 days in Rome- your pictures brought back happy memories. VERY JEALOUS of your David photos!!! We couldn't use cameras when we visited a few years ago.. I DID get to see Florence in the early morning... just as mass was starting at the Cathedral. NOBODY but locals when we strolled around the area.

So enjoyed Seeing Herculaneum! History teacher so I loved seeing what you showed. Heart breaking stories.

NOW I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing Barcelona!!!

THANK YOU so much for the wonderful photos and stories of your journey!

Gabrielle

 

Gabrielle, thanks for joining us here in the Home stretch.

 

At the time I had no idea that taking photos of David wasn't a guarantee. I thought it was a given. I'm glad that was the case otherwise I would have had one of my "say what??! moments. LOL.

 

I'm glad to see you following along and coming forward to comment!

 

On we go,

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Norris, THANK YOU for all the time and effort you take to post such a wonderful review!

 

I am through page 10 now, you are heading downstairs to meet your Rome In Limo ride to the ship. I am having to force myself to stop reading because I'd be up all night reading otherwise. :eek:

 

The pictures from Rome are incredible! Rome seems to be a beautiful city. Maybe I will get there some day, but until I do, I am very much enjoying my virtual visit through your review.

 

Nancy, page 10 means you've read at least 180 posts so that's a fair chunk.

 

We left it late to visit Rome for the first time, but I feel we will make up for that.

We had friends who visited it some years ago but they had no pics to show us and didn't really talk about it much so we didn't get the fever just from that.

Rick Steves was the catalyst as he really "takes you there" with his enthusiasm.

 

We look forward to seeing it again as the two days we spend there pass in an instant.

 

Norris