First Time Princess Cruiser; and I am a Happy Campter-Emerald Princess inside passage

[amlop]

We did the small boat excursion on the July 2 to Tracey Arm. The cruise ship couldnt go into either arm that day due to an ice slide at Endicott and fog and ice at Tracey. Out of the 2 small boats we were the lucky ones cause our captain was AMAZING and we made it to the little glacier sawyer and the big one South Sawyer which was the 1st time in over a yr the little boats made it in. We saw whales, sea lions and seals as well. It was freaking amazing. Def sign up for it

 

 

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I will sign up for sure, thanks for the info! You said you were lucky- did the second boat not get to the glacier?

[arb18]

They only went to the smaller glacier and missed out on South Sawyer.

 

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[tukogirl]

Thank you so much for the patters! Can't wait to see more. We are new to Princess and will be doing this cruise next year so I'm sure I'll read them several times through. And thank you for such clear scans, too!

[phabric]

Thanks for your detailed review.

 

I will be on the Emerald on July 30.

 

Can you tell me what time was self disembarking on the last day?

[AF-1]

Wow! Thanks for sharing!

Isn't Alaska beyond words?

 

Yes Alaska was so beautiful some things were beyond beauty

[AF-1]

Theo (tayyyyyyy-oooo) is one of my favourites, he was on my last sailing on the Crown.

 

Really enjoying your review so far :)

 

There you go. I like your spelling of his name better. He was so nice and funny

[AF-1]

Wowzer!!!

We've had both birthday & anniversary on ships and never gotten more than 2 balloons, a door sign, the cake & song.:loudcry:

Maybe cuz you were in a suite??

 

I really don't know about being in a suite; perhaps; anyway, we were just so happy; it seemed every few days a card would show up in our mailslot outside of cabin. It was just one more reason to book Princess again. Nothing went wrong on this cruise; (excepts maybe a little rain); but it was all so nice

[AF-1]

Thanks for a great report, looking forward to our 2018 Emerald Alaska vacation. What month did the $99 photo package become available? Appreciate all your information.

 

The photo package promo came out first week of February and lasted a month. So you would need to keep checking your cruise personalizer and see what they have on sale. We bought photo package and internet package for pretty cheap. The internet package added an extra 40 minutes to our package.

[AF-1]

Really enjoying the review as we will be on this cruise next month. Did you do the Tracy Arm excursion and if so, would you recommend it? If not, how close does the cruise ship get to the glacier?

 

We were this first cruise ship this year to get into Tracy Arm. It was magnificent. I am going to try and post pics of Tracy Arm. I will have to downsize my files; because all my pics are in HD.

[AF-1]

Thanks for your detailed review.

 

I will be on the Emerald on July 30.

 

Can you tell me what time was self disembarking on the last day?

 

The ship docked at 5:30 and they started letting people off at 6:30 or 7am. We left the ship at 9:10

[AF-1]

Here are day 2 of the Patters. Enjoy

patters day2.pdf

patters day2.1.pdf

patters day2.3.pdf

patters day 2.4.pdf

[phabric]

The ship docked at 5:30 and they started letting people off at 6:30 or 7am. We left the ship at 9:10

 

Thanks for the information as I have a 11am flight.

 

I have the Tracy Arms excursion booked and am looking forward to it.

 

You must have got the gift cards since you were in a suite as most people get balloons and a card for a cake in the dining room.

[KristyMisty14]

Thank you SO much for this! We set sail on the Emerald 8/6. Hoping we have as great a time as you did!

 

I'm on 8/6 as well! Can't wait!

[sherryf]

We were this first cruise ship this year to get into Tracy Arm. It was magnificent. I am going to try and post pics of Tracy Arm. I will have to downsize my files; because all my pics are in HD.

 

Really? Your day 1 Patters indicate that you were scheduled to go to Endicott Arm. I've been watching the Emerald bridge cam nearly every day, and I seem to recall that it said Endicott Arm last week. Was it a last minute change to try Tracy Arm? Did you get all the way in to the glacier, or just far enough to see it in the distance? We are sailing next week and I've actually been hoping that we would go to Endicott Arm.

[StormySeas]

Wow! what a great review!! thanks for all the wonderful information and the heads up on the anniversary and birthday! when we plan to sail next, we will also celebrate both! (it will be a while) and it will be the first time we will be in a suite so all the suite information is helpful for me too! thanks again....look forward to the next post

[arb18]

Really? Your day 1 Patters indicate that you were scheduled to go to Endicott Arm. I've been watching the Emerald bridge cam nearly every day, and I seem to recall that it said Endicott Arm last week. Was it a last minute change to try Tracy Arm? Did you get all the way in to the glacier, or just far enough to see it in the distance? We are sailing next week and I've actually been hoping that we would go to Endicott Arm.

On July 1 there was an ice slide at Endicott arm.

 

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[AF-1]

All of Emerald Princess trips were scheduled for Endicott Arm due to tracy arm having too much ice The patters was already printed for this cruise on the 9th so at that time the captain expected to go to Endicot arm. . The night before the captain came on inertcom and said we would be going into Tracy Arm. We entered the fijord around 6:00 am. We sailed all the way in and the captain stopped the ship so people could get off our ship and onto the small tour boat. We were right at the small island that sits at the end of Sawyer Glacier. The small boat tour took a video team from our ship. The video crew took movies; as we were first ship in this year. The cruise review dvd included a second dvd which was a documentary of Tracy Arm Adventure. The video crew narrated the video. It was an awesome dvd. It shows the glacier calfing; a black bear playing around and a bald eagle flying around. The quality of this dvd is excellent. I bought the cruise dvd just to get the Tracy Arm dvd

[KristyMisty14]

All of Emerald Princess trips were scheduled for Endicott Arm due to tracy arm having too much ice The patters was already printed for this cruise on the 9th so at that time the captain expected to go to Endicot arm. . The night before the captain came on inertcom and said we would be going into Tracy Arm. We entered the fijord around 6:00 am. We sailed all the way in and the captain stopped the ship so people could get off our ship and onto the small tour boat. We were right at the small island that sits at the end of Sawyer Glacier. The small boat tour took a video team from our ship. The video crew took movies; as we were first ship in this year. The cruise review dvd included a second dvd which was a documentary of Tracy Arm Adventure. The video crew narrated the video. It was an awesome dvd. It shows the glacier calfing; a black bear playing around and a bald eagle flying around. The quality of this dvd is excellent. I bought the cruise dvd just to get the Tracy Arm dvd

 

That's fantastic!!!!! Lucky lucky :D

[AF-1]

NOW LET'S TALK FOOD

We ate in the following venue's

Crown Grill

Club Class/Davinci Dining Room

Horizon Court

Trident Grill

Pizza Joint

International Cafe

Room Service

CROWN GRILL

This was a free meal for staying in a suite; you had to eat there the first night. Menu was great. My wife had filet mignon and lobster tail. I had filet mignon. Kids had filet and lobster and one had filet and shrimp. Food was excellent and service was excellent. It was not croweded at all.

ClubClass Dining. We ate here twice for lunch and four dinners. Menu was great selections and our wait staff were superb. Head waiter was so knowledgeable about everything. He kept club class waiters hopping. We never had to ask for extra rolls or butter and they were always refilling the water glasses. Chouces ranged from some type of steak every night and some type seafood every night. On left side of menu was an always available Princess Favorites this included fettichini alfredo, salmon, a chicken dish, hamburger and eggplant. Twice they offered Normon Love chocolate desserts which were the best. Creme brulee and NY cheesecake were offered every night along with assorted ice creams.

Edited July 19, 2017 by AF-1

[AF-1]

FOOD CONTINUED

Horizon Court. Most of you know this was typical buffet. We ate here a few times for lunch and one dinner. I liked that they offered a theme night every day. One day it was german food, the next was seafood with a full raw bar, shrimp, mussels, etc. one day was mexican buffet and one day was Alaskan seafood. Wait staff were very friendly and were always coming around re filling drinks and cleaning tables. We ate all our breakfast in crown grill. It was nice and we liked it because it was so quiet. Never had more then three booths at breakfast every day. Nice and relaxing. The head waiter came by our table with a big tray of fresh pastries. Choices were custard donuts, apple turnovers, croissants, sugar donuts and a few others. After i took a few pastries he would see that i had finished and he would come back with another tray. Breakfast here was great. Not a big selection but there was enough to make me happy

TRIDENT GRILL

They serve burgers, dogs, and bratwurst. French fries. The servers here did not speak english very well so interaction with them was minimal. Food was good

PIZZA

I want you to know that everyone who says the Pizza on Princess ships is very good. I concur. Pizza here was tasty hot and just delicious. This was the busiest place on the ship. From the time they opened at 11am till they closed at 11pm. There was a line. That means the people liked it.

INT'L CAFE

Nice selection of food and always tasty

Ass't pastries in the morning. Sandwichs, salads, and soup for lunch and more goodies the rest of the day

Right next to the cafe is the coffee bar. We bought coffee cards and by the end of the cruise had only used about 7 punches out of four cards. The line here was worse than starbucks. Average wait time for anything was 20 minutes after you placed order. Not worth the wait so next cruise we will not be buying coffee cards.

Cafe had gelato for sale. We did not have any gelato

ROOM SERVICE

We had breakfast delivered twice mainly becasue we had early shore excursions and dining rooms did not open till 7:30. Very nice and order arrived exactly at the time we wanted.

Did not eat at Share, Salty Dog, Or Crab Shack. We felt they had king crab legs, lobster and shrimp on menu in dining room every night. So didnt think we needed to go yo crab shack. If you have any questions about something i ma have left out; let me know.

Next up:SHORE EXCURSIONS

[caribill]

You must have got the gift cards since you were in a suite as most people get balloons and a card for a cake in the dining room.

 

Maybe a gift from their Travel Agent?

[JF - retired RRT]

FOOD CONTINUED

INT'L CAFE

Nice selection of food and always tasty

Ass't pastries in the morning. Sandwiches, salads, and soup for lunch and more goodies the rest of the day

Right next to the cafe is the coffee bar. We bought coffee cards and by the end of the cruise had only used about 7 punches out of four cards. The line here was worse than starbucks. Average wait time for anything was 20 minutes after you placed order. Not worth the wait so next cruise we will not be buying coffee cards.

Take your coffee cards with you on your next Princess cruise!! The IC isn't always that crowded. I've never seen a 20 minute wait.

[AF-1]

Take your coffee cards with you on your next Princess cruise!! The IC isn't always that crowded. I've never seen a 20 minute wait.

We didn't wait to get food. We would have to wait for specialty coffee and teas. That area was always crowded. We will use coffee cards on next cruise.

[sherryf]

Right next to the cafe is the coffee bar. We bought coffee cards and by the end of the cruise had only used about 7 punches out of four cards. The line here was worse than starbucks. Average wait time for anything was 20 minutes after you placed order. Not worth the wait so next cruise we will not be buying coffee cards.

 

You won't have to! Any unused punches on your cards can be used on your next cruise! I have a couple of coffee cards that are several years old and I am packing them for this coming week. I hope the lines aren't always so long. We have cabins on the Plaza deck right near there and hope to use it often. I've also been able to get coffee drinks from the bar just outside the buffet on most ships.

[AvalonLuv]

Great review so far. Keep them coming. We are on Emerald next month for the same trip. :-)