I must SHARE this with you!

[cruisequeen4ever]

The atmosphere at SHARE was nice and modern but almost to a fault. The chairs were quite narrow (we are not large), and the cushion kept slipping off. I recommend getting a booth. The food was definitely of high caliber. It was just too frou frou for us. We are foodies but more into straight ahead cuisine like Crown Grill. The menu was also way too limited; we ate everything we would want to try so have no reason to return. The price was too high for a sea based restaurant, and they even charge extra if you want an extra item! Crown Grill is a much better value. The food was full of flavor but very rich. Hope that helps!

[cruisequeen4ever]

Another tidbit...When we were honest with a few crew members (who shall remain anonymous) about our impressions of SHARE, they opened up to us that they too miss Sabatini's, that millions of dollars were poured into the concept, not a lot of people were going to it, and it remains to be seen whether the concept will flop and end with these initial ships receiving it or whether it'll go fleet wide.

[floridalover5623]

This change over to SHARE is going to come back to bite them big time (just like the elimination of the always available items). :cool:

[Magellan321]

cruisequeen4ever~

Thank you so much for the review! We have been getting a wee bit nervous about our January trip. Honestly, I don't see Princess suites back in our future without the beautiful view from Sabatini's at breakfast. I'm not a fan of Qsine on Celebrity at all and doubt that Share is my cup of tea either. Was there any meal that really stood out to you in the main dining..... I'll pass it along to my DH?

[cruisequeen4ever]

Our waiter was spot on with all of his recommendations. The menus are varying based on the length of the cruise, since the Emerald is doing so many different itins this winter. All of my steaks were wonderful. DH practically became a fish he ate so much seafood and liked most of it a lot. I really liked the shrimp with fried rice. The creamy Italian and balsamic vinegar salad dressings were outstanding. Definitely get the fettuccini Alfredo and Pasta Carbanara. I could eat those dishes every night! Have a fantastic cruise!!

[Magellan321]

Our waiter was spot on with all of his recommendations. The menus are varying based on the length of the cruise, since the Emerald is doing so many different itins this winter. All of my steaks were wonderful. DH practically became a fish he ate so much seafood and liked most of it a lot. I really liked the shrimp with fried rice. The creamy Italian and balsamic vinegar salad dressings were outstanding. Definitely get the fettuccini Alfredo and Pasta Carbanara. I could eat those dishes every night! Have a fantastic cruise!!

 

Thank you!! Now...i'm getting excited :p..... hoping for 7 days of good food and working a/c. Lol

[mellon1]

Home now...[emoji30]

We had a fantastic Christmas cruise! I've been reading others' threads regarding the 5 and 8 day segments, and we all definitely have varying opinions with some commonalities, which is to be expected. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there were a few comments made by others that were simply not accurate. 1) The first medical evacuation was an older man who needed blood donations and was transported to FLL to receive treatment, NOT a 19 year old drunk girl going overboard! I spoke to one of the pax who donated blood, and the captain made an announcement. 2) There were 2 Platinum/Elite cocktail parties in the evening, beginning at 5:15 and one later in the evening. The Gold/Ruby was held in the Theater. I saw a sign for it in the afternoon but don't know what time it occurred. 3) Deputy Karen was awesome, and we saw her all over the ship doing quality control of the activities. She was a delightful hostess of the Marriage Match Game Show, too. 4) In the countless times a day and night I traversed Deck 6 of the Piazza, I never saw more than about 15 people in line at Pax Services. Yes, that's a lot but definitely not 50-60! I completely understand pax being furious about the water, toilet, and A/C issues, but in general, pax seemed very happy with their cruise experience. Obviously, some were not, but the overall atmosphere was very positive. IMHO, The Emerald looks and feels fantastic with cheerful, hard working crew. Our room steward was the only exception; we literally had to ask for soap! [emoji33] He was nice but just very ill prepared for his job. They shouldn't have assigned him the aft suites and premium balconies. Our only day with new bedding and robes was the first day. After that, it was back to stained linens and shrunken robes despite requesting the new plush ones. A few times, we got the wonderful new towels. The new bed is great and luxurious, although the pillowtop would scrunch up in the middle. We continue to love Crown Grill and just don't have a craving to ever return to SHARE. Salty Dog was good but not necessarily something I would be overly eager to experience again. I'm still missing Horizon Court breakfasts! The Grill and Prego had the best burgers and pizza I've had on Princess thus far. The dining room food was outstanding. Our only complaints were that they were out of watermelon 9 of the 13 days, and there was never a Mexican lunch buffet. DJ Layla and Domino Duo couldn't have been better! I hope they replace the band, Soul Rocker, though. When we walked into Club Fusion one night, my husband was happy to hear that Karaoke was going on...until we realized it was actually Soul Rocker with the singer just sounding as bad as ever! We miss Evolution! The Spa staff were great. We did the Thermal Suite and enjoyed it as always, but please people...if you're coughing into the air and blowing your nose with your hands, please don't come to the Thermal Suite!!!! This man plagued the Thermal Suite every day with that, no manners at all. MUTS didn't have enough seating but did have fresh popcorn, cold milk, and hot cookies. We didn't get to see Magic To Do because the theater was over flowing at 45 minutes before the show!!!! They should have offered it an additional night. The cruise director asked at the rest of the shows how people liked it; well I would have loved to share if I had actually been able to see the darn show! There were nonstop fun activities offered, so much so that we burned the candle at both ends and got less sleep on this vacation than we get on work days!! Adam Ace was a funny comedian; Al Katz was decent. The Christmas show was soooo nice and even included snow at the end! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were done so well! The crew was in the Christmas spirit, and we all had fun singing and doing activities together. Adults were able to get tattoos and decorate cookies, too. Christmas dinner was delicious, and we loved having British and Italian Christmas desserts!!! Th AIBP was quite popular on the 5 day segment and seemed almost non-existent on the 8 day segment. Lots of people our age (30s) on the 5 day, and lots of kids and college age people on the 8 day. It was fun seeing so many multi-generational family groups on the 8 day, though I do prefer the adult atmosphere of Princess cruises. The kids were well-behaved for the most part. We did see several try to use fake IDs to get into Skywalkers! [emoji5]️ Security checked IDs during the 8 day segment of any who seemed underage. I was pleasantly surprised to find the 5 day cruise to be very healthy despite it being winter (the exception being the man coughing his way through the Thermal Suite). The cruise cough unfortunately started up toward the end of the 8 day, so we intensified our "stay healthy onboard" regimen. I wish adults would be as considerate as my 1st Graders by covering their coughs with their arms! One older lady skipped the hand sanitizer in Horizon Court and carried her dirty Kleenex in her hand while she dished her food onto her plate all around the buffet! All of the ports were fun; Grand Turk was my fav. We had rough seas many days of the 8 day segment but nothing to the point of having seasick bags out and about. Swells to 14 feet one day, 12 another, and not sure of the second to last day, but they seemed higher than ever that night. It was funny watching the group of people dancing at Skywalkers basically dance back and forth from one end of the dance floor to the other as the ship would rock back and forth. We had 1 wild elevator ride during the peak of the rough seas and were awoken one night by the ship majorly shuddering back and forth. It all just added to the adventure, though! We had plenty of glorious sun and warmth! We were quite sad to disembark Sunday. Yes, there are some major water and A/C issues that need to be solved on her, but in general, the Emerald is an awesome ship, and no one should cancel their cruise on her! Have a blast future Emerald cruisers!! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Happy New Year!

 

Great review! Thanks so much for taking the time. We are going on Emerald for 35 days starting 1/23. We are in a suite aft on Dolphin deck. What room did you have? We've lucked out all these years getting really good room stewards. Hopefully it's not the one you had! Very concerned about the beds, water and toilets. My husband just finished his chemo/radiation and is now cancer free; however, he will have to be quite careful as immune system will not be 100% by the time we leave. He is freezing all the time and I don't think public showers is a good thing for him. I am afraid. Are they working on fixing these problems?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Mary

[cruisequeen4ever]

Mary, I'm so happy for you and your husband to celebrate your husband's bill of good health! The water issues spanned the whole ship, though not necessarily all staterooms. We constantly saw maintenance guys working in staterooms and in the halls. We weren't on Dolphin, and I really hope you don't experience any problems! If you do experience any issues, Pax Services was great; let them know each time. You can avoid the long lines by using the Suite/Elite line, since you're in a suite. I never waited more than a minute in that line. Actually, our super amazing embarkation day steward was moved to Dolphin, so maybe you'll have him!!!!!! We loved the bed. My personal regimen to stay healthy on a cruise is Airborne beginning a week before we depart, Nozin used on planes and excursion buses, and Colloidal Silver. Cheers to a fabulous cruise for you and your hubby!

[raymo]

Great review! Thanks so much for taking the time. We are going on Emerald for 35 days starting 1/23. We are in a suite aft on Dolphin deck. What room did you have? We've lucked out all these years getting really good room stewards. Hopefully it's not the one you had! Very concerned about the beds, water and toilets. My husband just finished his chemo/radiation and is now cancer free; however, he will have to be quite careful as immune system will not be 100% by the time we leave. He is freezing all the time and I don't think public showers is a good thing for him. I am afraid. Are they working on fixing these problems?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Mary

 

Thanks for the great report! I did not understand what "Pax services" meant and the no of people that would be in line.

 

Thanks, Ray

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for the great report! I did not understand what "Pax services" meant and the no of people that would be in line.

 

 

 

Thanks, Ray

"Pax services" is the Passenger Services desk were people will go to address issues among other things. On the Emerald it is midships on Fiesta deck 6. Edited December 31, 2015 by IECalCruiser

[Steelers36]

"Pax services" is the Passenger Services desk were people will go to address issues among other things. On the Emerald it is midships on Fiesta deck 6.

 

Or PSD.

[raymo]

Thanks for the clarification on Pax. I hope I don't have the need to find them, but if I do, I'll be the first and the loudest in line! 10 plus cruises with Princess and never had problem that needed to go beyond the cabin steward. There had better be hot water and a nice robe or Pax will be meeting me.

 

Right now, I'm more concerned with wrapping things up here and packing for the trip.

 

Ray

[cruisequeen4ever]

Ray, I hope you have an awesome cruise!! We sure wish we were back onboard!

[mellon1]

Mary, I'm so happy for you and your husband to celebrate your husband's bill of good health! The water issues spanned the whole ship, though not necessarily all staterooms. We constantly saw maintenance guys working in staterooms and in the halls. We weren't on Dolphin, and I really hope you don't experience any problems! If you do experience any issues, Pax Services was great; let them know each time. You can avoid the long lines by using the Suite/Elite line, since you're in a suite. I never waited more than a minute in that line. Actually, our super amazing embarkation day steward was moved to Dolphin, so maybe you'll have him!!!!!! We loved the bed. My personal regimen to stay healthy on a cruise is Airborne beginning a week before we depart, Nozin used on planes and excursion buses, and Colloidal Silver. Cheers to a fabulous cruise for you and your hubby!

 

We are Colloidal Silver people too!! Thanks for the kind words. We really don't want to cancel the trip and are hoping all will be resolved by the time we get on. Other cruises our toilets didn't work periodically and no problem; however, this time is really different and won't be able to handle the only hot or cold water, along with sewage coming in the room. I will have to look up Nozin. Never heard of that. We met a doctor years ago and mentioned to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor and he that it was a good idea. The doc said...1st thing is turn off your air on the airplane, 2nd, put vicks in your nose with a Q-tip. This will catch the germs before they go any further. It works well. They said the plane is the worst place because it is enclosed. We have a balcony so we will get fresh air on the ship.

 

Really appreciate your review and taking the time. It meant a lot. Happy New Year.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Nozin works with the same principle as your doctor said about Vicks. It traps the germs. You can only order it through its own website now. I have always turned the air off, too, but I recently read a book by a flight attendant who said if you're sitting close to a sick person, turn on the air and angle it straight at the person to push their infected air back at them instead of at you. I don't know if it works, but I did try it flying home directly behind a non-stop cougher. I believe having a balcony with fresh air makes a huge difference. Healthy and fun vacation wishes for you!

[raymo]

Ray, I hope you have an awesome cruise!! We sure wish we were back onboard!

 

Thanks, we'll have a great time! I plan to be at the poker table every night and maybe break even after 10 days. I'm laughing at my post, I need to proof read a little better. This cruise will be a lot of fun. I've never been on a bad one!

Ray