seconds thoughts about emerald princess

[flyers1976]

Correct, it's the HC. Especially on sea days, you could lose an arm in there !

[floridalover5623]

In the Horizon court at peak hours, it's every man for themselves. :D

[arlee]

our friends just came off the emerald this morning from a 10 day cruise. everything was perfect except the weather! food was good ate in the MDR 5 nights and had breakfast there as well.

we're going in March so I feel relieved after some bad reviews they didn't mention anything about the A/C but I will ask about it

[jerseyaxn]

Glad you had a great trip I'm glad everything is looking up on the emerald

[jerseyaxn]

Than you

[Dusty Wren]

I honestly don't put much faith in the reviews about the food as we've never had bad food on the dozens of Princess cruises we've been on. As other say it's subjective.

 

We have had the water problem on the emerald before & it was a stuck valve which services a group of cabins and that also can be fixed rather quickly.

 

The one problem that does concern me is the AC which we've experienced on the Emerald once before and nothing could be done to adjust it, even after numerous visits by maintenance and engineers. I truly believe it's a design problem & thought for sure that it would be corrected by now.

 

Hoping for the best.

 

We just booked Emerald today, holiday cruise on dolphin deck 9. If you,have sailed Emerald before & A/C was an issue, was it corrected? What deck were you on? All of these reviews are making me very, very nervous

[mamaboss]

[QeUOTE=Dusty Wren;49143147]We just booked Emerald today, holiday cruise on dolphin deck 9. If you,have sailed Emerald before & A/C was an issue, was it corrected? What deck were you on? All of these reviews are making me very, very nervous

 

Probably depends on where you are on a particular deck. I will be sailing on Emerald in a few weeks. First cruise on dolphin forward then Riviera midship. I will post on one of these threads about the cabins because there seems to be lots of interest in what others are reporting on ac, water etc. I am not concerned myself, just be glad to get out of Michigan for a few weeks! :D:D

[shredie]

We just booked Emerald today, holiday cruise on dolphin deck 9. If you,have sailed Emerald before & A/C was an issue, was it corrected? What deck were you on? All of these reviews are making me very, very nervous

 

Maybe you should read some good reviews, too. They exist. If every ship in the fleet were as bad as some review claims is it, Princess would be out of business. It has been noted many times that if you go looking for problems, you will certainly find them. I would rather be looking forward to my cruise than suffering from worry about hypothetical things.

[Dusty Wren]

[QeUOTE=Dusty Wren;49143147]We just booked Emerald today, holiday cruise on dolphin deck 9. If you,have sailed Emerald before & A/C was an issue, was it corrected? What deck were you on? All of these reviews are making me very, very nervous

 

Probably depends on where you are on a particular deck. I will be sailing on Emerald in a few weeks. First cruise on dolphin forward then Riviera midship. I will post on one of these threads about the cabins because there seems to be lots of interest in what others are reporting on ac, water etc. I am not concerned myself, just be glad to get out of Michigan for a few weeks! :D:D

 

Thank you. I look forward to reading your opinions. It will be summer down under during the holiday cruise, & we crank down the A/C to 65 at night, just like we do at home due to our very high humidity. We will be dolphin deck 9 mini-suite mid-aft, port D612. Our 1st mini suite. We've never had any A/C, water or toilet problems on any cruise we've taken so far. Praying this will go smooth as well as very $$$$ & going so far from home

[Dusty Wren]

Maybe you should read some good reviews, too. They exist. If every ship in the fleet were as bad as some review claims is it, Princess would be out of business. It has been noted many times that if you go looking for problems, you will certainly find them. I would rather be looking forward to my cruise than suffering from worry about hypothetical things.

 

That is exactly what my DH just said! I was telling him about my concern with the fire onboard that I've been reading about. My goodness. I have to say, we've been on the Pacific Princess in Tahiti, which is out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean & had an awesome cruise.

[Dusty Wren]

I'm on the Emerald right now. It's been a great cruise and I have not had any issues except for a few ignorant passengers and the mad house at breakfast in the morning (both go hand and hand). As for the ac, it's not great but you just need to keep your curtains closed during the day and your room will stay cool. I'm on riveria deck

 

Hi, when you say to keep your curtains closed, that makes perfect but what do you set your AC to? Can you turn it down to 65?

[cruiseintoheaven]

Give this poor ship and it's awesome crew a break!! Just debarked last week from a short 5 night getaway and it was fine, it was good, it was better than good, it was really, really fine and good and all things Princess....good service, happy crew, clean and beautiful ship, good to very good food, entertainment, etc. And that encompassed the Super Bowl and all it's shenanigans and a larger than normal amount of "youngsters".....seriously, go, enjoy, relax, repeat.....

[OCruisers]

We had a wonderful time on Emerald for 19 days ... 1/18/16 - 2/6/16! :D

[floridalover5623]

Hi, when you say to keep your curtains closed, that makes perfect but what do you set your AC to? Can you turn it down to 65?

We were on the Caribe deck & switched from starboard to the port side. Both cabins had so-so AC. We had to set the thermostat to max cool all the time- it didn't make much difference. Like I said previously, if the cruise had been hotter which normally it is the cabin would have been very uncomfortable but as it was it was just OK.....not cold but OK.

 

Give this poor ship and it's awesome crew a break!! Just debarked last week from a short 5 night getaway and it was fine, it was good, it was better than good, it was really, really fine and good and all things Princess....good service, happy crew, clean and beautiful ship, good to very good food, entertainment, etc. And that encompassed the Super Bowl and all it's shenanigans and a larger than normal amount of "youngsters".....seriously, go, enjoy, relax, repeat.....

 

If you were that impressed with everything on the Emerald you should try the Royal. You would be overwhelmed by the differences in quality & selections of food, rooms, TV, bathrooms, buffet & dining room. Even with the shortcomings on the Royal & Regal it so far above the Emerald that only a trip & both ships can reveal the differences.

In it's day the Emerald was pretty nice but over the years it's lost it's appeal for us.

[GUT2407]

Maybe you should read some good reviews, too. They exist. If every ship in the fleet were as bad as some review claims is it, Princess would be out of business. It has been noted many times that if you go looking for problems, you will certainly find them. I would rather be looking forward to my cruise than suffering from worry about hypothetical things.

 

Now there's some Good advice.

Edited February 20, 2016 by GUT2407

[cruiseintoheaven]

We were on the Caribe deck & switched from starboard to the port side. Both cabins had so-so AC. We had to set the thermostat to max cool all the time- it didn't make much difference. Like I said previously, if the cruise had been hotter which normally it is the cabin would have been very uncomfortable but as it was it was just OK.....not cold but OK.

 

 

 

If you were that impressed with everything on the Emerald you should try the Royal. You would be overwhelmed by the differences in quality & selections of food, rooms, TV, bathrooms, buffet & dining room. Even with the shortcomings on the Royal & Regal it so far above the Emerald that only a trip & both ships can reveal the differences.

In it's day the Emerald was pretty nice but over the years it's lost it's appeal for us.

 

Actually, we have been on the Regal twice and have two more cruises booked on her, as well as the Crown coming up this May. We enjoy aspects of both classes of ships, and suspect that if we sailed on one of the "little girls" we'd find things to appreciate about them as well. I would hardly say that the Emerald, or Ruby, or CB, are somehow obsolete - just different. We found both the Ruby and Emerald to be in great shape (when we sailed on them anyways), and the CB admittedly a bit tired looking right before her last dry dock, but still offered a good experience. We won't rule out any class of ship at this point. Nice to have choices :)

[floridalover5623]

Actually, we have been on the Regal twice and have two more cruises booked on her, as well as the Crown coming up this May. We enjoy aspects of both classes of ships, and suspect that if we sailed on one of the "little girls" we'd find things to appreciate about them as well. I would hardly say that the Emerald, or Ruby, or CB, are somehow obsolete - just different. We found both the Ruby and Emerald to be in great shape (when we sailed on them anyways), and the CB admittedly a bit tired looking right before her last dry dock, but still offered a good experience. We won't rule out any class of ship at this point. Nice to have choices :)

 

We found the Emerald to be ageing to the point that we would rather sail on the Royal & Regal even with their shortcomings. The older ships even though refurbishing lately leave a lot to be desired. They're still OK but many items seem worn & past their life cycle. The crew can keep it clean but there's only so much you can do to make it presentable. I heard many people comment on how beautiful the ship was & how great the food was but could only think that sine the ship was filled with loads of newbies that they had nothing to compare to. ie- broken chairs in the show lounge, grimy seats in the Horizon, poor food selections in the Horizon, food not being kept hot in the Horizon, AC problems form time to time, etc. We tried the ship again since we last sailed on it 3 years ago & it's definitely showing it's age. Maybe I got spoiled with sailing on the Royal recently in Nov. There were a few things that were initially a draw back for the newer class ships but I now see that the pluses out number the negatives by far. ;)

I suspect the Crown is also showing it's age at this time.

[shredie]

I suspect the Crown is also showing it's age at this time.

 

You on the east coast of the US have access to the big ships. Unless we fly there, we have access to the smaller ones here on the west coast. The Crown is in excellent shape, as is the Ruby, I hear, since her recent dry dock.

[livinforcruisin]

Returned from 19 days on EP 18th January to 6th Feb. Great Holiday. First 5 days in E733 Montego Bay Suite and second 14 days in D737 St John Suite. Firstly I would like to say that we prefer the gem/grand class ships to the newer ships. Mainly because we like our balcony and the shade it provides us with. We like sunshine but to view it rather than sit in it. Hence we choose as often as possible the aft suite balcony. Private and fully covered. It just suits us best. We will miss these ships as they are all being moved away from the mediterranean (where we frequent the most) and being replaced fully with Royal and Regal. They are fine but more expensive for us and uncovered balconies on the aft so pretty unusable for us. The EP feels like home from home for us having sailed on her the most out all of our Princess cruises.

 

We were impressed with all the refurbishment that has taken place since last year when we sailed on the EP for 5 weeks in total. The new carpeting in the main areas, the new mattresses, new pool flooring on upper deck 16 was very noticeable and much needed too. Ship appears to have been thoroughly re-painted and is looking very beautiful.

 

We frequent ping pong tables. They were down to 1 from the 3 of last year and this was broken and in a terrible state of disrepair. Couldn't appear to get anything done about it when onboard (we did try) so posted pictures on Twitter and voila Princess has now placed a brand new table on board (BRILLIANT) and thank you for listening Princess. We will try it out in September when we rejoin her for another 2 weeks.

 

So the cruises. First 5 days quite cold really with roughish seas. Not a lot that Princess can do about the weather ;). We were apprehensive about the move away from Sabatinis for suite breakfast to Crown Grill. It was seamless. Fabulous, no, fantastic service from staff whilst still in beautiful surroundngs. Went to Crown Grill twice for dinner and had wonderful food with knockout service. Spoke to several waiters from 'Share' they talk up the restaurant but they agreed that it was proving to be a slow start and it appeared quiet most nights when we went to have a look. We could have chosen to go to share for our complimentary suite dinner but on checking the menu it really wasn't to our taste to be honest so we stuck with Crown Grill.

 

We love Wheelhouse bar so still went there most evenings. The Salty Dog appeared hit and miss. It looks like a cafeteria has just been dropped into a lounge and does look out of place in our opinion. Waiters report that it is mainly used by crew for dining out. We did witness this on many evenings. Not sure how succesful a money raiser it will be in the long run. However it didn't spoil our enjoyment of the Wheelhouse Bar.

 

We ate mostly in Horizon Court as we prefer it to the main dining room. Overall the food was excellent. We never found it cold and there was plenty of choice. We didn't like the 'aprons' that they had waitresses in on Bavarian Night. We aren't prudes at all but having your staff wear an apron depicting a 'full breasted bavarian serving wench' are to be honest a bit garish and not very professional. We assume Princess is just trying out new things but we felt sorry for the staff having to wear them.

 

Fantastic musical duo in Piazza 'Strings and Steel Duo' which we sat and listened to often.

 

Major dislike is the constant returning to Port Everglades every 5 or 7 days with the torturous wait to clear immigration even though you aren't getting off the ship. This took up valuable holiday time but not I assume Princesses fault. Hearing over the tannoy each week that the terminal building was very busy and that their were not enough immigration officers to deal with the number of passengers!!! If you are a major embarkation / disembarkation port then please get more staff shore side to deal efficiently with this. However it is clearly a choice now that Princess has made to move away from the usual 10 day Caribbean cruises of yesteryear. There must be more money in it for them somehow. Certainly we didn't receive as much OBC from our FCC and on our 5 night cruise in a suite we did not qualify for the complimentary speciality dinner. Not a complaint, just an observation.

 

We loved the updated Princess App which gave us a lot more information and quicker access to the Internet. In fact overall we found the internet much faster on this cruise so we don't know if they have made some changes there.

 

We are pretty simple cruisers who just love being at sea and watching the world go by. We are also very loyal Princess Cruisers but are begining to find there drinks including the 15% are becoming very expensive. DH liked the new Sea Witch Blonde drink the most out of the Sea Witch offerings.

Overall we found the standards to be as high as ever. Wonderful, happy crew who took the time to chat which we do like.

 

As ever we came home with wonderful memories of a fabulous holiday.

[cruiseintoheaven]

We found the Emerald to be ageing to the point that we would rather sail on the Royal & Regal even with their shortcomings. The older ships even though refurbishing lately leave a lot to be desired. They're still OK but many items seem worn & past their life cycle. The crew can keep it clean but there's only so much you can do to make it presentable. I heard many people comment on how beautiful the ship was & how great the food was but could only think that sine the ship was filled with loads of newbies that they had nothing to compare to. ie- broken chairs in the show lounge, grimy seats in the Horizon, poor food selections in the Horizon, food not being kept hot in the Horizon, AC problems form time to time, etc. We tried the ship again since we last sailed on it 3 years ago & it's definitely showing it's age. Maybe I got spoiled with sailing on the Royal recently in Nov. There were a few things that were initially a draw back for the newer class ships but I now see that the pluses out number the negatives by far. ;)

I suspect the Crown is also showing it's age at this time.

 

Well, I suspect I am as well :eek:

 

Honestly, there were several new to Princess folks on our cruise, though not necessarily new to cruising. This was our 9th overall cruise, 5th on Princess, and though I certainly can't speak with the wisdom of those that have 4 gazillion cruises under their belt, I do have eyes, ears, taste buds, opinions and can certainly tell a bucket of rusting bolts from a brand new ship and points in between. If I had taken many of the reviews of the Emerald to heart without balancing them with many of the positive ones, we might possibly have missed out on a great cruise with a great crew. Overall, the ship looked lovely. If I had walked around with a clipboard and noted every time I found a minor maintenance issue that could use attention, I surely would have found them, and I would have also wasted my vacation time majoring on the minor. FWIW, even the Regal is starting to show signs that it's been sailing for two years straight....because that's what happens. I would much rather keep an open mind and enjoy aspects of both classes of ships, because they do both have their advantages, which are admittedly subjective. We're looking forward to our trip to Alaska on the Crown, and though I will most certainly be evaluating the overall cruise experience, I won't be expecting it to be brand new or the Royal class, because it's not! :)

Edited February 21, 2016 by cruiseintoheaven

[colonialinnkeeper]

To Livinforcruisin and cruisetoheaven,

 

Thank you for your considered and balanced reviews. We board the Emerald in a few weeks and have taken all the reviews into consideration. We look forward to a wonderful couple of weeks on board enjoying all she has to offer.

[floridalover5623]

Well, I suspect I am as well :eek:

 

Honestly, there were several new to Princess folks on our cruise, though not necessarily new to cruising. This was our 9th overall cruise, 5th on Princess, and though I certainly can't speak with the wisdom of those that have 4 gazillion cruises under their belt, I do have eyes, ears, taste buds, opinions and can certainly tell a bucket of rusting bolts from a brand new ship and points in between. If I had taken many of the reviews of the Emerald to heart without balancing them with many of the positive ones, we might possibly have missed out on a great cruise with a great crew. Overall, the ship looked lovely. If I had walked around with a clipboard and noted every time I found a minor maintenance issue that could use attention, I surely would have found them, and I would have also wasted my vacation time majoring on the minor. FWIW, even the Regal is starting to show signs that it's been sailing for two years straight....because that's what happens. I would much rather keep an open mind and enjoy aspects of both classes of ships, because they do both have their advantages, which are admittedly subjective. We're looking forward to our trip to Alaska on the Crown, and though I will most certainly be evaluating the overall cruise experience, I won't be expecting it to be brand new or the Royal class, because it's not! :)

 

I don't actually look for every minute detail to document complain about but there were some items that needed attention on the Emerald that were apparent and when compared to the Royal they were things that made it less desirable. We only went back to the Emerald to see what new changes had been made after dry dock.

Maybe it's not a fair comparison to look at a newer ship first but items like dried out food being put out at 9 PM in the Horizon when it closes at 11 I didn't find on the Royal. It would have been thrown out & replaced. Limited food selections were also the standard every day at the buffet. Desserts were a joke at the buffet. The formal night menu one trip was terrible in the DR- there were better items at the buffet. ;) Cold fried eggs in the morning were almost a guarantee unless you ordered a special omelet.

The ice tea in the Horizon has been watered down to almost a clear liquid- They've set the dispensers to give the minimum amount to liquid tea. Now that's cheep even by my standards. Funny think is the DR dispensers were OK for some reason. :confused: I guess they haven though of that yet. :rolleyes:

There were some other changes that I noticed in the DR as well but maybe they have done the same on the other ships as well- like no bread sticks or butter unless you order it special.

Lack of sufficient blankets at MUTS unless you get there EARLY & are lucky enough to grab one.

No more horderves at the repeaters party. A new drink they call a Margarita that tasted more like bad Kool aid. Even the old rum punch was better. :p

[shredie]

I don't actually look for every minute detail to document complain about but there were some items that needed attention on the Emerald that were apparent and when compared to the Royal they were things that made it less desirable. We only went back to the Emerald to see what new changes had been made after dry dock.

Maybe it's not a fair comparison to look at a newer ship first but items like dried out food being put out at 9 PM in the Horizon when it closes at 11 I didn't find on the Royal. It would have been thrown out & replaced. Limited food selections were also the standard every day at the buffet. Desserts were a joke at the buffet. The formal night menu one trip was terrible in the DR- there were better items at the buffet. ;) Cold fried eggs in the morning were almost a guarantee unless you ordered a special omelet.

The ice tea in the Horizon has been watered down to almost a clear liquid- They've set the dispensers to give the minimum amount to liquid tea. Now that's cheep even by my standards. Funny think is the DR dispensers were OK for some reason. :confused: I guess they haven though of that yet. :rolleyes:

There were some other changes that I noticed in the DR as well but maybe they have done the same on the other ships as well- like no bread sticks or butter unless you order it special.

Lack of sufficient blankets at MUTS unless you get there EARLY & are lucky enough to grab one.

No more horderves at the repeaters party. A new drink they call a Margarita that tasted more like bad Kool aid. Even the old rum punch was better. :p

Yes, this was your experience. Others have reported having different experiences. Your experience is just that, yours, and framing everything you experienced as objective fact does a disservice to new cruisers of the ship who just want some advice. You have made it clear that you do not like the Emerald, but others have indicated they do.

 

I'm still puzzled by your insistence that canapes are no longer served at the Captain's Circle party. They are served. I have seen it personally on six cruises in the past year. Perhaps the servers bypass you every time, but stating as a fact that there are no canapes, based on your experience alone, is misleading.

[floridalover5623]

Yes, this was your experience. Others have reported having different experiences. Your experience is just that, yours, and framing everything you experienced as objective fact does a disservice to new cruisers of the ship who just want some advice. You have made it clear that you do not like the Emerald, but others have indicated they do.

 

I'm still puzzled by your insistence that canapes are no longer served at the Captain's Circle party. They are served. I have seen it personally on six cruises in the past year. Perhaps the servers bypass you every time, but stating as a fact that there are no canapes, based on your experience alone, is misleading.

 

Yes this was my experience & yes there were may other who though differently from what I observed on the ship. To bad they don't know any differently or have another ship to compare it to. Of course everything wasn't totally bad so I only posted what was. You're experience might be totally different as your standards are possible lower than mine.

 

The canapes at the repeaters party are NO LONGER SERVED. Actually it's a decent money saver since they weren't that good to begin with. Also they now have some sort of concoction they call a margarita which tasted like bad Kool Aid. Many people just left them on the table after a sip or 2.

Only my observation of course.....maybe they had six of them & I didn't keep count. :D:D

Oh, did I mention that there are no chocolate covered strawberries for the Elites on formal nights. Also no butter or bread sticks served in the DR unless you ask. Again only my opinion. ;)

The ice tea at the buffet has been watered down to almost water.....again only my opinion. :p

Also jeans are allowed (not officially) on formal nights in the DR on the Emerald.

[livinforcruisin]

I am intrigued how floridalover5623 has reached the conclusion "To bad they don't know any differently or have another ship to compare it to."? Really, you know this how?

 

We did attend 3 Captain's cocktail parties and noticed that there were no Canapes being given out. I don't know if that is a fleet wide decision or just EP. Although we asked for specific drinks from the waiters who went off the bar and brought us them back without any problem