Emerald review from 3/14 sailing

[Cabogirl13]

This was our first time on Princess (Hubby's first cruise ever) and was intended to "test the waters" to see how he would like cruising. Thanks to the Emerald Princess it was a success, he loved it! We were on the 5 night (out of FLL) leaving out on March 14th. As others have said, yes we had a college Spring Break group on board, but by and large they weren't too bad.

 

First let me say that the ship is beautiful! She felt very high end and in excellent condition. We had booked a guaranteed balcony and were very happily surprised by being placed on the Caribe deck midship in C434. This location was outstanding as it was easy to get anywhere and we had the benefit out that very large, partially covered balcony. LOVED IT! The room was in very good condition and our room steward did a great job taking care of us. We took the tip from another reviewer and located the additional outlet behind the TV and plugged out additional outlet adapter there and it worked great. The closet space/gerenral room layout was very nice and all felt much larger than we were expecting. The bathroom also had a good amount of space with the under sink shelf that we never felt a lack of space. Despite hearing that the showers were not great, we thought they were just fine and after a few days figured out how to minimize how much water ended up on the bathroom floor. I did love the water pressure in the showers, that was a great surprise. My only complaint about our room was that despite having the thermostat down as low as it would go, we were very warm at night while sleeping. Speaking of sleeping the new beds and bedding are fantastic. Loved it!

 

Everyday we ordered room service for breakfast and enjoyed it on our balcony. 2 times during the week they came early, one day an hour and half early, but hey who needed to sleep in anyway.

 

We signed up for anytime dining and was glad we did. We ate in the MDR 3 times, with varying results. The first night we went a bit late and were sat by ourselves, which was great. The 2nd time we agreed to a combined table with pretty nice results. Met some nice folks and our service and food were very good. The 3rd time was a bit of a trainwreck. We agreed again to a shared table and hit the short straw of the draw with some very obnoxious and very drunk table companions and their young kids. The service was terribly slow and food just alright. We couldn't wat for that dinner to be over. After that we tried the Salty Dog Pub. Let me say that you should absolutely try this!!! Very easy to get into, we had great service and the food was super yummy! Well worth the small price tag. Lastly we did the Crown Grill, and as others have said, WOW it was great. Our service stated out great but then our server got really busy, but she was sweet and our food was incredible. Definitely recommend this and had I done it earlier in the cruise probably would have done it again. Only concerns with the food situation was that late at night the offering were pretty slim. We tried to grab some food (late) in the IC but they were out twice during the week. When we tried room service after walking away empty handed, we found they were also wiped out as well except for a plain, not so great cold sandwich and some lasagna that was inedible. My guess was that the college spring breakers cleaned them out during the late nights, so don't hold that against the ship.

 

We did not make it to any of the shows, but had a great time in Crooners. A special shoutout to bartender Chris who was amazing and we visited often. We did get the AIBP and for us it was worth the money. Only had to wait for drinks longer than desirable was at the pool bars, but again the SpringBreakers had them pretty clogged up. If you are considering this, keep in mind it includes water bottles (ask for the big ones) as well as all soda, coffee, specialty stuff. For us, we found it a good value.

 

As to ports, Grand Turk was great! Via another reviewer recommendation, we headed past Margaritaville and parked ourselves at Jacks Shack and had a wonderful day. Incredible jerk chicken, hubby loved the conch fritters, very strong rum punches and great service. The Lounge chairs are free and it $10 if you want an umbrella. We just went with the chairs but gave the guy $10 anyway because he moved our loungers straight to the front and center so we had beautiful views all day and our stuff was close when we went into the water. Loved not having to tender at this port.

 

Princess Cay was a mixed bag for us. I had prebooked a clamshell which ended up being completely unnecessary as we sat in 2 lounges in front of it the whole time enjoying the beautiful weather and view. We did enjoy our floats though, I would recommend that. Let me say however that when we went to check in for our clamshell they had us on the left side of the entry dock and it was so crowded with a lot of kids and college kids, I knew we would not be happy as we were looking for relaxation. Before we were done setting up I asked if we could go to the other side (to the right of the dock) I got An initial answer of "once we set it up we can't change it" but he promptly followed it by..."but I will let you this time". We walked over to the other side which was a million times better. Far fewer people, not many kids or college kids, no one in front of us. Drink service was pretty good once we handed our waiter a cash tip, he came around often. The bathrooms were exceptionally nice and clean. Service at the actual bar was lower and the bartenders had zero personality so we stuck with them coming to us. Now as to my only real complaint of the whole cruise, the food situation in Princess Cay was terrible. There was no notice or announcement about food service or times provided so when we wandered up to the restaurant on our side at 1:05 we were shocked to find it closed. Asking some crew where we could find food we were told on the other side til 1:30. We walked over there where they had a buffet set up, which after fighting a god awful amount of flies on the food we found the absolute worst food. Terrible dried up precooked burger pattys and hotdogs. There were some watery looking salads and that was it. Not even a bag of chips. We saw some food carts over on our side advertising jerk chicken and tacos, so we were really excited to find those, but the carts never moved and we were left hungry and disappointed. I do not know if this is the normal for Princess Cay, but next time we will tender back and eat on the ship then come back over. Otherwise, the port itself was still a good one and despite a long line to tender back at the end of the day, it didn't take to long to get back on board.

 

All and all, we had a fantastic time. Hubby will cruise again. The ship and the staff were great and a special thanks to all those other posters out there from who I gained a great amount of info and tips from.

[Pam in CA]

Glad you enjoyed it. As for the cabin temperature, chances are a neighbor left their balcony door open which screws up the A/C for all of the other cabins in the section. It's usually not the system but inconsiderate passengers. :(

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[Luvmyrotti]

Thanks for sharing! Glad hubby enjoyed his first cruise.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Luvmyrotti

[fishywood]

I just disembarked Emerald yesterday and can confirm that they did not list the hours for lunch at Princess Cays in the Patter. All my previous cruises there the Patter would have in large letters on the front page A Barbecue Lunch will be served from 11:30 to 1:30 or whatever the hours were. The spareribs on Princess Cays were much better than the two times I had them on the ship (once at lunch in the HC, and as an appetizer the final dinner in the MDR) so I am sorry you missed them--along with the banana muffins for dessert which were as good as any baked good on board.

 

Glad to read you overall positive report.

[DMCruiser]

Very nice review! Now that your hubby had a great time, it's time to start planning the next one! There are lots of great itineraries out there! Enjoy!!

[floridalover5623]

 

My only complaint about our room was that despite having the thermostat down as low as it would go, we were very warm at night while sleeping. Speaking of sleeping the new beds and bedding are fantastic. Loved it!

 

 

The Emerald has had problems with their AC system for years now. We first experienced it about 3 years ago and just lately in Feb. Since it had just been in dry dock I thought everything would have been corrected. Our cabin was just like yours on the Caribe deck & was barely sufficiently cooled.

It's not a problem with others leaving their balcony doors open but just insufficient cooling capacity in general. All their other ships don't seem to have the same problem.

The poor food your experienced at Princess Cays was because you arrived at the tail end of the buffet. To bad, since it's usually pretty good for a beach Bar-B-Q.

[susancruzs]

Thanks for the review and glad you enjoyed your Emerald cruise, I love the Emerald. I was onboard for 25 days Fall 2014 and hated to leave. I had a cabin on Plaza deck and everything was perfect.

[QueenofEverything]

Glad you enjoyed it. As for the cabin temperature, chances are a neighbor left their balcony door open which screws up the A/C for all of the other cabins in the section. It's usually not the system but inconsiderate passengers. :(

 

As others have said, the a/c seems to be a chronic problem on the Emerald, especially on the Caribe deck. We were on the same sailing, in a caribe balcony and had exactly the same problem. This has been reported multiple times on these boards. Princess needs to take a serious look at this. It might keep people like me from booking on this ship again.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[floridalover5623]

As others have said, the a/c seems to be a chronic problem on the Emerald, especially on the Caribe deck. We were on the same sailing, in a caribe balcony and had exactly the same problem. This has been reported multiple times on these boards. Princess needs to take a serious look at this. It might keep people like me from booking on this ship again.

 

I really like the design of the ship but after the last trip I think I'll pass on future Emerald trips. Why cruise on a ship that has potential problems like AC, hot water & food problems when there are better ones sailing.

I realize that food can be subjective but we've never had similar situations on any of the other ships.

[Keith1010]

Thank you fro your review and glad you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Keith

[sheila59]

Thank you for your review.

So what time is Lunch and where, does it change most days, don't fancy leaving it to chance and having flies. Also do they have afternoon tea onboard?

[Agent Gibbs]

It's usually not the system but inconsiderate passengers. :(

 

If the passengers aren't aware of this then they can't be inconsiderate, nobody's told them what their doing is wrong

[Pam in CA]

If the passengers aren't aware of this then they can't be inconsiderate, nobody's told them what their doing is wrong

There's usually a notice in the Patter and while I haven't had a balcony cabin for a while, there's usually a notice on the door.

[Triship]

Thank you for the review, we are on Emerald for the first time this year and looking forward to it.