Emerald Princess ABC Christmas Cruise Review

[Justprettynpink]

Here is brief overview with a more detailed review to be added later (pictures/patters/etc)

 

 

Traveled with my DH for our anniversary.

 

Flew down the night before. Used Uber for the for the first time. Pick up at the airport was a little crazy. We stayed at the Embassy Suites.

 

 

Things that were not allowed to ruin our cruise.......

 

 

Changing from a sideways inside cabin to a regular inside cabin by request from Princess to get a family close together

 

Luke warm showers (first 24 hours)

 

Two days of rough seas

 

No bar/ dry snacks during our Meet & Greet (as stated in the escort confirmation email)

 

None of the officers showed up to our Meet & Greet (invitations were given to guest services by 1 pm Embarkment day)

 

The food at the Salty Dog

 

Gastropub that only has one brand of craft beer

 

Hearing the next cabin's snoring

 

Deck chairs being moved early mornings

 

The ship waiting for the "D" family in Emerald 106 for over an hour to show up from port.

 

The sales pitch after a spa service

 

Things that added to our cruise....

 

Our Room Steward

 

Being told a dining room is open on embarkment day (by crew) (yes we know that BUT we had never been told by crew :-) )

 

New Mattresses

 

Watching The Martian on MUTS

 

Dining room food

 

Crown Grill

 

Going to new ports

 

Meeting awesome people at the Meet & Greet (great ornament exchange)

 

Giving the gifts that I had brought for the officers who attended the meet & greet away to crew to had been friendly/helpful since they were no shows(magnetic frame)

 

DH winning over $500 on the penny slots

 

"Free" drinks while playing the slots

 

2 smoke free nights in the casino

 

Watching Love Boat Shows

 

 

 

More details to come...We both enjoyed our cruise...never expected it to be perfect :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments.

 

What cabin?

[Justprettynpink]

Thanks for the comments.

 

What cabin?

 

R340 which is now a connecting cabin with R336

[Colo Cruiser]

R340 which is now a connecting cabin with R336

 

 

Did the new door create more neighbor noise?

[Millygirl]

Thanks so much for sharing I can't wait to hear more! :-)

[pablo222]

R340 which is now a connecting cabin with R336

 

Do you view the connection as soundproof?

[Justprettynpink]

Did the new door create more neighbor noise?

 

 

I do not feel the new door was the problem but rather the cabin next to us using the 3rd bed right next to the wall.

 

The connecting door is near the closet and bathroom area. There is a door on both sides. It might be thicker than the cabin walls.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Justprettynpink

[Justprettynpink]

We arrived at FLL the night before the cruise. We stayed at the Embassy Suites. It cost us $11.17(less a Coupon) to go from the airport to the hotel. We got the hotel for $170 per night. Embassy Room Tip: Rooms **15-**19 face the port.

 

We made our trek to Total Wine to get our 7 bottles of wine. (used a coupon) We then got a small case of water from the grocery store. It was a good work out to carry all of that back to the room.

 

We got up and this was our view :)

 

 

 

We took Uber LUX from the hotel to the port. That cost us $15.90. Uber LUX uses newer cars than Uber so it costs more plus our driver did not know where terminal 2 was located. So we got a tour of the port.

 

We arrived at 11:30 and they were already boarding. I had 5 cork fees charged to my account. Make sure you let them know which are the "free" bottles because the gentleman was just randomly stamping the wine. I had certain ones that I wanted to bring to the dining room.

 

There was no one checking the health forms and so we went right in line for check in.

 

We skipped the picture and took the wine to our cabin. Then we went off to lunch in the dining room after stopping by Guest Relations to drop off the officer's invitations to our Meet & Greet.

 

After lunch we chilled in our cabin and then sat on the Promenade Deck for the sail-away.

 

We then went by the spa and decided to get massages since they were offering 75 minutes for the price of 50 minutes. I did the seaweed massage and had two hot showers in the course of the massage.

 

After our massages, we got ready for dinner. We had late seating and had requested a table size of 6-8. I was surprised that we got a table for two.

 

After dinner we went to the Casino where DH won $600 on the penny slots. They were trying something new in the casino. After you earned 100 points you got a free drink. I earned 7 drinks over the week of the cruise. (any drink you wanted)

 

 

More to come...(sorry I couldn't find the patter for embarkment day)

[FlorenceItaly]

Enjoying your review. Thank you. At some point, I would love to know your preference between Celebrity and Princess. Just curious. We have sailed both within the last few months(inside cabins).

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. This is a cruise I considered because of Bonaire. We have never been there. (We also like Aruba and Curacao). We ended up not going at all this holiday.

[AryMay]

Looking forward to your review. Our friends were on the cruise with you.

[Barosx2]

Thanks for the "Taster" look forward to the Photo's etc. What was the picture quality like on MUTS?

[Justprettynpink]

Sea Days:

 

Woke up and tried to take a hot shower. I could only get it luke warm. Oh well....I got in and out real quick.

 

We ate breakfast in the dining room. We then walked around and played Horse in the basketball court.

 

We got ready for our Meet & Greet. We were looking forward to our ornament exchange. We ended up with a good group of people. We did a polite game where you had the choice of stealing an ornament or opening up a new one. Not too many people stole ornaments. It was great socializing with everyone. Too bad none of the 17 officers showed up. No gifts for them....

 

Went by MUTS to watch the Carolina Panther Game (and I was looking for cookies & milk). It started to rain and we went to the casino where DH watched the rest of the game (He was having Fantasy Football withdrawal). I proceed to give back his winnings in the slot machines :rolleyes:

 

We watched the waves and then went back to our cabin to take a nap. (and to watch The Love Boat reruns :) )

 

 

Rough seas

 

https://youtu.be/h3Z4duWyPTU

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Justprettynpink]

Enjoying your review. Thank you. At some point, I would love to know your preference between Celebrity and Princess. Just curious. We have sailed both within the last few months(inside cabins).

 

There is nothing wrong with Celebrity. They have some beautiful ships. I just feel that there is more of a class system with Celebrity. There are more dining rooms for just certain types of cabins. Everyone seems to be separated. You get more loyalty points for the more expensive cabins and it seems like it will take forever to get some perks with Celebrity. In my opinion, the Elite will let you know they ARE elite.

 

Princess seems to reward their loyal passengers sooner and there is not too many areas/events that everyone can not attend. For the most part everyone is taking the same cruise. I find most "Elite" with Princess are very friendly and helpful. Not so much entitled.

 

 

To us food and service are the same. I can usually find better deals with Princess.

 

 

No flame throwing please....

[Justprettynpink]

Thanks for the "Taster" look forward to the Photo's etc. What was the picture quality like on MUTS?

 

 

MUTS was refurbished during dry dock.

 

Here is a picture of the moon that happened to get MUTS.

 

[srpilo]

Speaking of MUTS do happen to remember some the movies that played during the week ?

 

Btw.. Nice review, thanks for sharing with us all

Srpilo

[Barosx2]

Thank You for the Photo of MUTS. Looks pretty decent picture :D Can't wait now until May:D

[Justprettynpink]

Speaking of MUTS do happen to remember some the movies that played during the week ?

 

Btw.. Nice review, thanks for sharing with us all

Srpilo

 

The list is in this Patter.

 

I forgot to mention that I was able to to get my FCC through the Princess App. I got them during the sail away. You can check your personalizer for free either on your device, the internet cafe or at the computers at the FCC area (if your ship has those). It took about 48 hours to appear. It was very easy to do.

 

 

 

 

[Justprettynpink]

We ate breakfast in the dining room.

 

We then did a run through the Holiday Store in the other dinging room. I like to Bargain shop and and like the challenge of finding a deal. I was done in 10 minutes. DH found 2 t-shirts for $20 (of the ports we were visiting)

 

We then did the Slot Tournament and each of us gave a $20 donation. (but we had fun trying)

 

We play on the slots and I won $100 on the penny slots. The servers were always asking if I wanted a drink....

 

I was perplexed as to why people were using the ATM machines and paying a service fee on both ends...

 

put your card in a slot machine...charge to your cabin..cashout and go to the cashier and get cash...no service fees

 

We napped (watched more Love Boat) in the afternoon since we were planning to go see The Martian at 10 ( I am a early bird)

 

I decided this cruise not to get on any missions (as DH calls it). We are doing things in relaxing way. I am one to want to see and do everything with no down time...

 

 

 

 

 

[Justprettynpink]

We had never been to these port and I was excited to see more tropical Caribbean Islands. I learned that these islands are not tropical. Pretty in their own way but not as "green". We arrived to the port an hour late and dad (the Captain) let us stay out an hour later :-)

 

We rented a car from Budget in the Renaissance Hotel. It was an easy walk (5 Minutes)

 

This Budget rental office does not have rapidrez for a reason....everything is done on island time (be sure to pack your patience)

 

45 minutes later...we got our Toyota Corolla ($73 for the day plus $500 credit card hold for damages)

 

FYI...there are no street signs so in the city it can be a little tricky....we were off on an adventure...no real plans are to where we were going to stop...I headed us North towards the airport ...we happened onto Hato Caves

and decided to stop. $8 entrance fee and up the stairs we went.

 

If you plan to go here, I would suggest doing in the morning. The caves were not a cool (temperature) place to be.

 

 

 

 

We headed along the coast towards the west and came upon Shete Boka National Park. I had read about this place on CC so we stopped. Entrance fee was $6 each and I got the $2 map of the park (that we did not need).

 

Video:

https://youtu.be/E_-_KYVLJEY

 

 

Edited January 3, 2016 by Justprettynpink

[Justprettynpink]

You know that snickers commercial that shows people who are hungry? Well DH was turning into of those people and I didn't have any snickers.

 

So the mission became "Feed Hubby". I wanted some place with a view so we continued west bound.

 

We came across Playa Forti. I caught a glimpse of the view and we stopped.

 

 

 

 

This restaurant was built on an old Fort. As you entered the restaurant, there were chickens and other farm animals. I had not checked the reviews for this place...but DH needed food...

 

There was a lot of clutter in the restaurant but I wanted to look at the view so we figured the patio was safe.

 

 

 

All of the tables and chairs were mismatched. We chose our table and watched folks jump from cliff into the ocean. The wooden high back chairs by

gate on the right were supposedly used when a treaty was signed many moons ago.

 

DH ordered a beer and I ordered something from the bar. My drink was served in a Mickey Mouse glass. I got a kick out of that.

 

We ordered our food and waited.....

 

I ordered the Lion Fish and DH ordered some beef & cheese thingy...

 

Island time.....

 

pack your patience...

 

70 minutes later... our food arrived..

 

I was looking forward to trying my fish..a nice filet...

 

 

OMG they gave me the WHOLE fish...It LOOKED like a fish..ewww :-)

 

 

DH's beef & cheese thingy

 

 

I would recommend stopping here for the view. We did not get sick or anything but it is not the cleanest place.

 

Now we had to race back (had 45 minutes to get the car back)...we drove around seeing a couple places twice and then I made DH turn on his GPS on his phone. We had to make it back by 5 to get the car turned back in.

 

We stopped to get gas ($5 took care of all our driving) and was able to navigate back to the Hotel to return the car.

[Poipu1]

Thank you for posting your review. I'm looking forward to sailing again on the Emerald next month. I was on a B2B in October, so I'm excited to see the changes that were made during the dry dock in December.

[Justprettynpink]

 

 

 

[Justprettynpink]

We got a recommendation for an excursion from our roll call.

 

We did Trikes Aruba. ($190 for a four hour tour)

 

 

It a small group of 8 and DH had a blast !!

 

Some Aruba sites

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video:

 

https://youtu.be/J2aOnOuVnII

[Justprettynpink]