Live From the Emerald Princess 10/15/21 LA-Port Everglades Panama Cruise

[Grego]

On 10/28/2021 at 5:47 AM, PescadoAmarillo said:

Hey, I can post this morning!

 

Essiesmom, i tried for hours on canal day to ask you if I could use two screen shots you posted in my blog, and finally just used them but credited you. Hope that’s ok with you, and thank you!
 

The Sanctuary on Panama Canal day had a $60 one day special that included mimosas all morning, a continental breakfast buffet and a commemorative photo. I believe it was limited to 32 people.  
 

The remainder of the cruise, there’s been about 6 to 10 of us up there with some regularity. Service has been amazing, as it has been around the entire ship.

 

The only disappointment has been that the Terrace Deck and pool has been out of service most of the cruise, and the Lotus pool was covered with algae for days until it was brought to HGM’s personal attention, and then it was emptied and cleaned almost immediately. However, it’s been closed now for two days for painting. 
 

I think many of us (me included) had the idea that the time out of service was used to work on the various hotel-related parts of these ships. Instead, the hotel-related parts of the ship were disused and deteriorated as a result. They didn’t have the crew on board and couldn’t get contractors (due to travel restrictions) to do anything of the sort. Being on the first Emerald Princess cruise, we’ve seen a lot of things that needed to be fixed. To the ship’s credit, they are working very hard now to address them. 

Completely understandable situation that the Emerald is facing and now that they are getting back to PE and the work can continue.  We don't care if there are a few areas that won't be completely finished, we are on a ship.

[Grego]

Thrilling to see the Emerald Princess arrive in Port Everglades early this morning!  I will be interesting to see what will be done to her during the week before we board her next Saturday.

[dreams_of_travel]

 

 

On 10/27/2021 at 4:39 PM, gmcwalker said:

To those onboard:

Well gang it has been 13 days so far. Would anyone be interested in meeting again at the Outrigger Bar on Friday our last day at about 3:30-4pm for a sail-back get together. I thought it might be interesting to compare notes on our different cruise experience's as we have certainly had them on this cruise.

I am sorry to have missed this.  I just didn't get on my computer, and the spotty internet was awful that last time I tried to post.

 

It was a great cruise, at least for me, and a fun time was had.  It was wonderful to meet some of the posters from this site, too.

[Mike07]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:24 AM, Grego said:

Thrilling to see the Emerald Princess arrive in Port Everglades early this morning!  I will be interesting to see what will be done to her during the week before we board her next Saturday.

 

 

She's going back to sea in the interim with a one or two day stop at the Princess Cays to allow the crew off the ship for a fun-day.  Also, there will be training and what not to review what went right and wrong on the inaugural sailing.

 

The crew seemed very excited about all of it.  I don't blame them, though we were 750-something passengers.  Last I heard from Jinisha in Guest Services was your ship was at 2,000 passengers.

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by Mike07

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you to all onboard who took us along with you! I was very sad to not be able to take this cruise and am glad it was a wonderful one for you all! I recognized the musical duo from our last cruise pre-pandemic aboard the Pacific Princess Christmas cruise. They weren’t my favorite, but it was nice seeing familiar faces able to be back at sea. 

[Grego]

My thanks to all that posted while on the voyage from LA to PE and glad you brought the Emerald safe and sound for us to enjoy this coming Saturday.  Currently, she is sailing toward Princess Cays to give the crew some R&R and review what worked and what didn't.

[Luv Cruising Land or Sea]

Back to reality and COLD weather!   I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who participated and those we met and really got a chance to get to know... what an incredible journey!  I can't say enough to explain how wonderful it felt to be back on a ship and with such a great crew and the protocols in place to keep us healthy!  From bar stewards to Officers everyone was so friendly and it was great that because of the low passenger count we really had time to chat with the crew and learn their stories!  We had a great group at our dining table and we shared a lot of laughs.  It was also great to meet and chat with those that were on the forums both here and other social media!   The journey was amazing and even though we missed Belize, I couldn't have been happier! We just felt so blessed to be on this journey!  We were in one of the aft cabins (C718) affected by the horrible vibrations and moved forward on our 2nd day - but even that didn't take away from our enjoyment - we went on this trip knowing that it wouldn't be "Princess Perfect" but it was incredible despite a few small hiccups.  We did not experience any difficulty with Medallion or the Wi'Fi as others did.  There are things I would like to see improved upon, but no issues for us - we still like the Paper Patter which was in our stateroom every day.   I think we are now so much closer to getting back to "normal".   Happy Sailing everyone!

[dreams_of_travel]

5 hours ago, Luv Cruising Land or Sea said:

The journey was amazing and even though we missed Belize, I couldn't have been happier! 

Psst,  it was Bonaire that we missed.  😉   

 

I have similar sentiments as those you posted.  I'm still thinking about what an awesome cruise this turned out to be.  Enjoying the ship, interacting with the crew, and meeting new cruise friends.  It really was a fantastic cruise. 

[Ronnieslady]

Anyone know about the new SMOKING AREA that’s been designated (roped off)

for the crew. The whole aft area on Promenade deck for  the Ruby & Grand has been designed for crew only as a smoking area .  Closed to passengers !

   Just wondering if it’s the same for the EMERALD.  ??????

Please post if you know anything about this??
Thanks

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, Ronnieslady said:

Anyone know about the new SMOKING AREA that’s been designated (roped off)

for the crew. The whole aft area on Promenade deck for  the Ruby & Grand has been designed for crew only as a smoking area .  Closed to passengers !

   Just wondering if it’s the same for the EMERALD.  ??????

Please post if you know anything about this??
Thanks

It absolutely the same on Emerald. We both expressed our opposition to this in our after cruise survey. This along with the fact that the Terrace Pool/Horizon Terrace areas were closed for the vast majority of the cruise and also large segments of the Promenade Deck were roped off for maintenance during the day. This after 18 months without passengers. 

[Slyfox16]

Does anyone know what versions of blackjack they played on the ship?

[Ronnieslady]

4 hours ago, Bgwest said:

It absolutely the same on Emerald. We both expressed our opposition to this in our after cruise survey. This along with the fact that the Terrace Pool/Horizon Terrace areas were closed for the vast majority of the cruise and also large segments of the Promenade Deck were roped off for maintenance during the day. This after 18 months without passengers. 

Thanks so much for the info. Not sure how Princess could allow this. 
If they had this in mind,  which it seems like it, they sure should have let us know that our use of our suite  balcony D736 would be super limited at best.  Just so you know,  it’s the Ruby, Emerald & the Grand that has been confirmed by passengers that are on or were on the ship.  Some have taken photos.  Also they are saying not many passengers have complained.
Someone gave me the Custom Relations email & I emailed them our concern & disappointment .  
Grace

[Steelers36]

20 hours ago, Ronnieslady said:

Anyone know about the new SMOKING AREA that’s been designated (roped off)

for the crew. The whole aft area on Promenade deck for  the Ruby & Grand has been designed for crew only as a smoking area .  Closed to passengers !

   Just wondering if it’s the same for the EMERALD.  ??????

Please post if you know anything about this??
Thanks

 

17 hours ago, Bgwest said:

It absolutely the same on Emerald. We both expressed our opposition to this in our after cruise survey. This along with the fact that the Terrace Pool/Horizon Terrace areas were closed for the vast majority of the cruise and also large segments of the Promenade Deck were roped off for maintenance during the day. This after 18 months without passengers. 

 

12 hours ago, Ronnieslady said:

Thanks so much for the info. Not sure how Princess could allow this. 
If they had this in mind,  which it seems like it, they sure should have let us know that our use of our suite  balcony D736 would be super limited at best.  Just so you know,  it’s the Ruby, Emerald & the Grand that has been confirmed by passengers that are on or were on the ship.  Some have taken photos.  Also they are saying not many passengers have complained.
Someone gave me the Custom Relations email & I emailed them our concern & disappointment .  
Grace

IDK why they wouldn't have the crew smoking out on the bow deck area where no pax are allowed.  Where does the crew who smoke normally smoke?  Wonder what is wrong with that area? 

 

IMO, there is enough smoking areas on the ships already without adding more.  

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

IDK why they wouldn't have the crew smoking out on the bow deck area where no pax are allowed.  Where does the crew who smoke normally smoke?  Wonder what is wrong with that area? 

 

IMO, there is enough smoking areas on the ships already without adding more.  

 

I still don't get it - there has always been a passenger smoking area on the prom deck and I don't recall any of the balconies above it being affected

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

I still don't get it - there has always been a passenger smoking area on the prom deck and I don't recall any of the balconies above it being affected

IDK - lots of folks avoided E or D Starboard Aft Balconies due to that.  Perhaps there are just a lot more smokers with the crew.  From the one photo posted, it looks like they are allowing smoking under cover and perhaps that location leads to more drifting into aft Balconies.  IDK.  I just think it is a shame it has to be this way.  Why can't the crew smoke where they used to?

[pms4104]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

IDK why they wouldn't have the crew smoking out on the bow deck area where no pax are allowed.  Where does the crew who smoke normally smoke?  Wonder what is wrong with that area? 

 

IMO, there is enough smoking areas on the ships already without adding more.  

 

Is the bow deck available to ALL crew ... or only to those above a specific level in the shipboard food chain?

[Steelers36]

15 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Is the bow deck available to ALL crew ... or only to those above a specific level in the shipboard food chain?

Who cares?  Let them out to smoke.

[pms4104]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Who cares?  Let them out to smoke.

Of course, let them out into the crew area.

 

Just wondering if crew areas are allocated based on their work levels or classifications.

 

That wouldn't be right ... as crew are crew.

[Bgwest]

On the Emerald, it was the ENTIRE aft area that was blocked off. Starting at the moveable metal gates where the open deck ends. This happened only in the evenings. Scores of crew were crammed into this area with absolutely no social distancing and, of course, no masks.  

[pms4104]

3 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

On the Emerald, it was the ENTIRE aft area that was blocked off. Starting at the moveable metal gates where the open deck ends. This happened only in the evenings. Scores of crew were crammed into this area with absolutely no social distancing and, of course, no masks.  

Maybe that explains the need for a lot of isolation cabins.

[cr8tiv1]

I did not pay much attention to the Captain's announcement on public speakers.  I did hear him say something about smoking and isolation crew cabins.  Can someone on the Grand elaborate?  

 

I did encounter the closed aft portion of the Grand Promenade Deck but did not pay much attention to this until now.  Otherwise, I would have also voiced my opinion.  I did walk around Deck 15 and tried to walk around the bow (above the bridge)...it was way too windy to attempt that walk.  Maybe that is why smoking is not allowed on the bow for crew.  

 

I also agree about smoking in the Casino.  Our cruise was very sparse, yet you could smell the smoke leaking from the Casino.  The casino was not ever crowded, but you could tell people were smoking in there.  I'll also add my conspiracy theory....Whenever there is a non-smoking night in the Casino....the odds of winning at slots TANK....lol.

[Ronnieslady]

21 hours ago, Bgwest said:

It absolutely the same on Emerald. We both expressed our opposition to this in our after cruise survey. This along with the fact that the Terrace Pool/Horizon Terrace areas were closed for the vast majority of the cruise and also large segments of the Promenade Deck were roped off for maintenance during the day. This after 18 months without passengers. 

Now I’m a little confused.  Was the whole aft area on the Promenade deck on the Emerald roped off for crew smoking?????
Thanks so much for the clarification,

Grace

[DistinguishedCruiser]

19 minutes ago, Ronnieslady said:

Now I’m a little confused.  Was the whole aft area on the Promenade deck on the Emerald roped off for crew smoking?????
Thanks so much for the clarification,

Grace

I was not aboard the Emerald for the 10/15 sailing (but wish I had been).  As I read on this board, there was a large number of extra “Crew members” aboard on that sailing (in training).  Could this have created the need for additional crew smoking area?

[nini]

8 hours ago, memoak said:

I still don't get it - there has always been a passenger smoking area on the prom deck and I don't recall any of the balconies above it being affected

I recall something else, that passengers can smoke on the starboard side on an upper deck. That is why we choose and aft cabin closer to the port side. I have never seen or smelled smoking on a promenade deck.

[Grego]

On 11/2/2021 at 9:18 AM, Luv Cruising Land or Sea said:

Back to reality and COLD weather!   I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who participated and those we met and really got a chance to get to know... what an incredible journey!  I can't say enough to explain how wonderful it felt to be back on a ship and with such a great crew and the protocols in place to keep us healthy!  From bar stewards to Officers everyone was so friendly and it was great that because of the low passenger count we really had time to chat with the crew and learn their stories!  We had a great group at our dining table and we shared a lot of laughs.  It was also great to meet and chat with those that were on the forums both here and other social media!   The journey was amazing and even though we missed Belize, I couldn't have been happier! We just felt so blessed to be on this journey!  We were in one of the aft cabins (C718) affected by the horrible vibrations and moved forward on our 2nd day - but even that didn't take away from our enjoyment - we went on this trip knowing that it wouldn't be "Princess Perfect" but it was incredible despite a few small hiccups.  We did not experience any difficulty with Medallion or the Wi'Fi as others did.  There are things I would like to see improved upon, but no issues for us - we still like the Paper Patter which was in our stateroom every day.   I think we are now so much closer to getting back to "normal".   Happy Sailing everyone!

Just think, you are one day closer to your next voyage!