Yellow Fish blogs from the Emerald Princess October 15 to Oct 30

[Thrak]

Sorry you injured your knee. You might look into the virtues of MEAT rather than RICE.  MEAT increases blood flow to the area rather than restricting it and blood flow to the affected area is important for healing. Whatever you do take good care of yourself and get better soon.

Edited October 21, 2021 by Thrak

[Thrak]

Wow!  I am honored to have been mentioned by name in your blog. Very cool. 😁 Glad you kept looking for the definition of MEAT. The first results you got were definitely not what I meant. In your blog you said, "I would rather give up my Elite laundry than turndown service. (I realize this is not an opinion that is widely shared.)" While we are new Elites (only one cruise at that level so far) I have to say I agree with you. We will definitely miss the turn down service and don't really care about the laundry. I was appalled when my sister-in-law told us about a cruise they had taken that didn't have self-serve laundry onboard. Having only sailed with Princess we thought that would be something available on all cruise lines. One more point in favor of Princess.

 

Thanks for your blog. Many of us look forward to reading it each day. Like most others here we really miss cruising so it's good to get our vicarious thrills through your words.

 

[geoherb]

Traditional dining is not really in existence if it's like on my August cruise. Sure, I could book the same table and waiter each night--but I would not have the random folks assigned to the table for the length of the cruise like in real traditional dining. By the end of many cruises, we had become good friends with our tablemates. 

[wrongwaywatson]

Thank you, enjoying this very much.  We are booked on the Emerald for November 16th!  I've been reading your blog to my husband each day and when i read today's entry (Friday) and saw the picture, I said "Hey!  That's Don!"  We watch and enjoy his videos

[Ombud]

Glad to read on your blog that you can watch football onboard (I'm not on until December, hope the ship isn't as rocky then)

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, geoherb said:

Traditional dining is not really in existence if it's like on my August cruise. Sure, I could book the same table and waiter each night--but I would not have the random folks assigned to the table for the length of the cruise like in real traditional dining. By the end of many cruises, we had become good friends with our tablemates. 

I get it that DMW is not capable of fulfilling TD experience as it is expexted.

 

However, if you have same table and waiter each night, but your tablemates are random changing, then those guests did not get same tavle amd waiter.  It would seem the System is just assiging people to open chairs at random so you would be getting AT guests filling the other seats at your table instead of TD guests.

 

Makes you wonder if all/most TD guests who want to share are assigned to a table which is then filled with AT guests.  IMO, the System was not setup with blocked inventory for TD and for AT - the way DR's were organized before.  It fits with the theory that the IT team had no concept of TD and just treated the whole thing like an open restaurant.  

 

Also, they have not loaded up all DR in the System for future voyages.

[c-boy]

😃 wonderful !  I see you were seated with the ever popular blogger Don Terris at the chefs table, the stories he could tell.

[Steelers36]

@PescadoAmarillo, is the Emerald charging the old price ($95) for CT, or the Royal Class price for CTL ($115)?   

[Sockie]

On 10/14/2021 at 7:46 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

Hi everyone,

 

We’re ensconced in a room at the Crown Plaza LA Harbor Hotel the night before boarding the Emerald Princess tomorrow. I  just published the first blog post of this 16 day vacation, and hope you’ll cruise vicariously  with us. 

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2021/10/its-time-for-another-cruise.html

The cruise you’re taking right now is the exact cruise we have booked currently for 2023. I’ve never been on the emerald and enjoyed reading some of your earlier post. We’re currently booked with a rear facing balcony and was just wondering if you’ve ever used the back of the ship balconies? We thought with the Panama Canal cruise it would be worth being able to sit back there and thoroughly enjoy going through the locks. I am also interested in any suggestions at the ports of call that you may have for us.

[Buckeye10640]

Following along on your blog, this  is one of our future to-do cruises. For now we have a Southern  Carribean in Dec. Curious where you are grabbing those menu screenshots from. Are they in the Medallion app? Available sooner than same day? Thanks. 

[XBGuy]

7 hours ago, Sockie said:

The cruise you’re taking right now is the exact cruise we have booked currently for 2023. I’ve never been on the emerald and enjoyed reading some of your earlier post. We’re currently booked with a rear facing balcony and was just wondering if you’ve ever used the back of the ship balconies? We thought with the Panama Canal cruise it would be worth being able to sit back there and thoroughly enjoy going through the locks. I am also interested in any suggestions at the ports of call that you may have for us.

 

@SockieWe have had rear-facing cabins on a couple ships including the Ruby Princess which is a sister ship of the Emerald Princess.  I can assure you that we used our balconies a lot.  Unlike the side-facing balconies, the rear-facing ones are wind protected.  So, you can actually enjoy a very comfortable dinner on your balcony while the ship is cruising.  The only time we had a bit of a problem was when having breakfast one morning and the sun was bearing right down on us for about 45 minutes.  There is not much you can do about the sun.  At any given period during the daylight hours, roughly half of all the ship's balconies are going to be in direct sunlight.

 

The Emerald Princess is a great ship.  You will have a great cruise.

[Slyfox16]

Since you had to do it do board the ship, how do you transfer the data from the Medallion app to the physical medallion?

[Essiesmom]

Your arrival in Port Everglades.  With a little rain shower to make it a bit surreal:

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to reuse pics in your blog.  EM

[JF - retired RRT]

On 10/25/2021 at 1:18 AM, Sockie said:

We’re currently booked with a rear facing balcony and was just wondering if you’ve ever used the back of the ship balconies? We thought with the Panama Canal cruise it would be worth being able to sit back there and thoroughly enjoy going through the locks. I am also interested in any suggestions at the ports of call that you may have for us.

We had an aft balcony on Pacific Princess for one of our Panama Canal cruises...it was wonderful.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 10/25/2021 at 1:18 AM, Sockie said:

We’re currently booked with a rear facing balcony and was just wondering if you’ve ever used the back of the ship balconies? We thought with the Panama Canal cruise it would be worth being able to sit back there and thoroughly enjoy going through the locks. I am also interested in any suggestions at the ports of call that you may have for us.

double post

Edited October 30, 2021 by JF - retired RRT

[JF - retired RRT]

13 hours ago, Slyfox16 said:

Since you had to do it do board the ship, how do you transfer the data from the Medallion app to the physical medallion?

You don't. The Medallion only has an identifier on it. Your info from the app is stored in a Princess server and is passed on to the ship prior to sailing. The computer on the ship looks at the identifier on the Medallion and responds with the appropriate action.

[Mike-Cruisin]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:46 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

Hi everyone,

 

We’re ensconced in a room at the Crown Plaza LA Harbor Hotel the night before boarding the Emerald Princess tomorrow. I  just published the first blog post of this 16 day vacation, and hope you’ll cruise vicariously  with us. 

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2021/10/its-time-for-another-cruise.html

Thank you very much for your Blog postings throughout your cruise.  Enjoyed the daily updates and the photos. We leave next Saturday on the Emerald Princess and can't wait.

[PescadoAmarillo]

It seems I can post today, so I will finally try to answer your questions. Sorry for the delay,

 

The menus I posted, when they’re not scans of the actual menus, come from Ocean Concierge, which works fine. I heard that the menus don’t always match the actual offerings, but didn’t see that myself. I know that, on the Majestic Princess, the breakfast menus were frequently out of order.

 

TO get to Ocean Concierge, I would go to Emerald.Princess.com in Safari (or any browser).  Then on the bottom right corner I selected venues, places, etc, then DaVinci Dining Room, then Menus. It was convoluted, but it worked, which for some reason the menus in the Medallion App never did.
 

I’ve not had an aft balcony before and can’t comment on it. I know that, on the ships like the Emerald Princess, the back of the ship definitely rattles more than the front even when there are not excessive barnacles on the bottom. 
 

For port excursions, it really depends on whether you have been to the ports before and are beach or land people. I don’t think there is another cruise exactly like ours for the rest of the season. The upcoming full transits visit completely different ports. 
 

I would be interested in hearing if the Terrace Deck is open when the next cruise starts 11/6, if you happen to be on that cruise. 

Thank for following along!  Despite a couple of disappointments, this was one of our favorite cruises ever. Naturally, the fact that we were on a milestone cruise and received a few extra benefits on a largely empty ship helped. 

 

[MarcsSharon]

As always, many thanks for sharing your experiences. It really helps this novice traveler.

[KathyJ]

Loved reading your blog! We will be on the Emerald on Saturday. Thanks for taking the time to give such great information and your impressions of Covid cruising 2021.

 

[Texter2]

Pescado, many thanks for taking us along (virtually) on this cruise. 

[puggymom]

Thank you for letting us in on your trip.

 

I hope you don't mind 2 more questions:

• Was the luggage transfer offered for FLL? I fly United and they were part of the program in the past.
• Just watched Don's latest video and he mentioned the long lines getting off the ship, he mentioned a nexus line (wasn't sure if he meant Global Entry or not).  I have a 11 am flight but do have Global Entry. What was your experience with disembarkation.

Thanks again!

[PescadoAmarillo]

There was no checked luggage option in Fort Lauderdale, but that might be because it was the first time the Emerald Princess had been in Fort Lauderdale this season. We’ve had that happen before on the first time a ship is in Fort Lauderdale (such as transatlantics).

 

We were delayed getting off the ship by about an hour in Fort Lauderdale because they were having issues getting the luggage off the ship. We booked a Princess transfer (big mistake) and we would have been tight making an 11am flight. However, we know that if we had used Uber or some other transfer service, we would have still had the luggage issue but not the transfer issue and would have had no issue making an 11am flight. 
 

I didn’t think the lines to go through immigration were that bad when we got off, though we were in the first group after walk offs. They did have a Global Entry line and we used that and were through immigration very quickly. 

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We booked a Princess transfer (big mistake) and we would have been tight making an 11am flight.

It also costs more.  We always just grab a taxi there and there are plenty.

But I am sure you knew that - so I am thinking you were thinking the transportation would be safer due to potential Covid-19 risk.

[LACruiser88]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

It also costs more.  We always just grab a taxi there and there are plenty.

But I am sure you knew that - so I am thinking you were thinking the transportation would be safer due to potential Covid-19 risk.

Totally agree! Taking a taxi is the fastest and cheapest way to get to the Ft Lauderdale Airport.