First Impressions of Emerald…Not Great :/

[memoak]

2 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

I think that possibly was their point. Just because CCL owns HAL, P&O, Carnival, Princess, Cunard, etc does not mean every line has the same everything. Each line is very different.

Thank you for understanding my post. I love Princess but have not enjoyed other ships owned by Carnival they all offer different experiences to each his/her own

[Cruise Raider]

38 minutes ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

We are platinum cruisers with Princess. In February 2022 we took a 10 day Panama Canal cruise on the Emerald Princess. If that had been our first Princess cruise, we would never have made it to gold status. It just about caused us to give up on Princess altogether. Then we decided that we’ve had so many great cruises with Princess that we shouldn’t judge them on that one terrible experience. 
 

You may decide to give up on Princess, but I’m sure you would find a completely different experience on one of their other ships. 

I had one bad cruise on Princess where it seemed like everything went wrong!  I was also just about to give up on Princess. Then, they offered us some pretty generous compensation, not so much because I complained but because they knew the compilation of events were of their doing .. I guess that’s all it took.  We ended up going back on the same ship and had a great time.  Of course, I can always find some little things that haven’t gone my way on each and every cruise but, I try to always look for the outstanding experiences and let those outshadow the negatives.  
We were recently on the Diamond and the service, with the exception of a few outstanding staff members, the service was dreadful.  Thankfully, the entertainment and the great food pretty much saved the day.  I didn’t care for the ship itself so, would never plan on returning to her.  
but, I’ve cruised several times since then on the Royal and Discovery … ahhh .. the world was perfect again in my cruising world.  

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Thank you for understanding my post. I love Princess but have not enjoyed other ships owned by Carnival they all offer different experiences to each his/her own

 

I don't like Carnival in general, but with Long Beach 35 miles away from my grandkids I've been "forced" to book them a number of times. If I am being honest, I grudgingly enjoyed the Panorama and the Mardi Gras. That said, I'd never book them without my grandkids or future great grandkids, should I live so long.

 

(Joshua, if you are reading this, you are only 15, I don't need great grandkids yet, tell Jake the same thing!)

[richsea]

23 hours ago, mamamusings said:

forgot to attach event list! Here it is. 
 

 

Wow, that is a pretty lame list, especially for a sea day. In all of our almost 50 cruises on multiple lines we’ve never seen an entire day with one trivia, & none in the morning. Would not be happy!

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, richsea said:

Wow, that is a pretty lame list, especially for a sea day. In all of our almost 50 cruises on multiple lines we’ve never seen an entire day with one trivia, & none in the morning. Would not be happy!

Don’t quizzes count as trivia ?

[Thrak]

Our favorite cruise to date was on Emerald Princess. My least favorite cruise to date was also on Emerald Princess. It's not an issue with the ship - it was an issue with crew members who shouldn't have been in the jobs they had.

[memoak]

9 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Our favorite cruise to date was on Emerald Princess. My least favorite cruise to date was also on Emerald Princess. It's not an issue with the ship - it was an issue with crew members who shouldn't have been in the jobs they had.

And I believe the captains attitude reflects in the crew.  My worst experience was on the Royal last year when well over 200 of us were isolated Lon Dolphin deck with Covid and the captain refuses to mandate any actions against Covid including masks. We were treated like prisoners and crew felt like jailers. When they came to let us out on disembarkation day they surrounded our cabin with 4 crew and marched us off the ship like the retreat from Stalingrad. 

[Cruise Raider]

On 5/23/2023 at 9:43 AM, mamamusings said:

forgot to attach event list! Here it is. 
 

 

Just of note, I think the challenges in the piazza are a blast .. especially when it’s the guests vs the officers.  I laughed so hard last time I saw that one.  The paper airplane contest is sort of fun but the egg drop is also quite hilarious!  It tends to draw a huge crowd!  you’d be surprised what contraptions some people come up with for their egg.  
 

Also, if you have not seen the enrichment series by Leo Rossi, I would urge you to go.  We’ve seen his lectures numerous times and we never are bored.  He switches his show up enough we always learn of something new.  Plus, he’s just a great guy!  If you meet him, tell him Kenny and Lisa say hi.  He will know who we are.  Anyway, we’ve told many people about his lectures and they’ve all appreciated the recommendation.  

Oh, almost forgot to mention .. the arts and crafts sessions are also so much fun!  There was an equal number of men and women that attended.  I still have some of the crafts that I created!  I did the paper flowers, the napkin folding, origami (that one wasn’t my favorite), a mask making, etc.  I wish they would have a towel folding one so I could surprise my room steward for a change.  😆 

I would be hard pressed to find enough time for all the things I like to do .. and to make time for lunch on the first sea day … yummm!  That’s chicken Korma day in the MDR.  
Oh .. and would have to make a little time for the casino, too.  

Edited May 24, 2023 by Cruise Raider

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Don’t quizzes count as trivia ?

They do.  "Let's Get Quizzical" and "Let's Quiz Again" are just other names for trivia events.

[cr8tiv1]

Just a bit of clarification.  The Cruise Critic Meet and Greet is an (un)official gathering of passengers.  Officers are invited to attend (not mandatory). Several showed up, introduced themselves, and opened up a Q &A session.  It is always a treat for officers to take time out of their busy schedule to meet with passengers.
 

Yes, this is a “short” 7 day cruise…that is very port intensive with only 2 sea days to cram in all of the normal activities like trivia, bingo, art, etc.  Many of the venues needed to be “shared”.

 

There are 3 production shows scheduled.  Not sure they will all happen since the cruise is only half over:  Rock Opera, Blame it on the Boogie, and Magic to Do (yet to come).  Due to scheduling and flying entertainers in/out, the Tenor in Rock Opera came in and flew out.  The Magician for Magic to Do, flew in Day 2 of San Francisco, did a solo show, will do production show and fly out from LA.  

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

In reading through this thread, I would offer that nothing that has or hasn't happened is the OP's "fault" (other than perhaps miscounting the number of trivia/quiz challenges there are on any given day.)  The problem seems to be that at the initial Meet and Greet an Officer made a misguided statement about the length of the cruise that made it sound as if a 7 day cruise is "less than."  7 day cruises on Princess have never been known to downsize the entertainment or events.  Still going to have 2 Formal Nights (or what appears to be one Formal Night and one Dress to Impress Night.)  Still going to have the same number of production shows, and the same number of performances each night.  Still going to have the same number of house bands, piano players, comedians and movies paying on MUTS.  The Officer's off-handed comment set the expectations of the OP, and the OP is now living a self-fulfilling prophecy thinking that her cruise is "less than."  If there is an issue with the amount and quality of entertainment, that is an issue to be taken up with the ED and CD either on board or certainly in the post-cruise survey.  It is entirely possible that the schedule of events each day is "less than."  But if that proves to be the case, the length of the cruise is not the root cause.  The Officer's statement was just silly and irresponsible.  

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, richsea said:

Wow, that is a pretty lame list, especially for a sea day. In all of our almost 50 cruises on multiple lines we’ve never seen an entire day with one trivia, & none in the morning. Would not be happy!

Two trivias, guessing more at night. 

[startedwithamouse]

14 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

In reading through this thread, I would offer that nothing that has or hasn't happened is the OP's "fault" (other than perhaps miscounting the number of trivia/quiz challenges there are on any given day.)  The problem seems to be that at the initial Meet and Greet an Officer made a misguided statement about the length of the cruise that made it sound as if a 7 day cruise is "less than."  7 day cruises on Princess have never been known to downsize the entertainment or events.  Still going to have 2 Formal Nights (or what appears to be one Formal Night and one Dress to Impress Night.)  Still going to have the same number of production shows, and the same number of performances each night.  Still going to have the same number of house bands, piano players, comedians and movies paying on MUTS.  The Officer's off-handed comment set the expectations of the OP, and the OP is now living a self-fulfilling prophecy thinking that her cruise is "less than."  If there is an issue with the amount and quality of entertainment, that is an issue to be taken up with the ED and CD either on board or certainly in the post-cruise survey.  It is entirely possible that the schedule of events each day is "less than."  But if that proves to be the case, the length of the cruise is not the root cause.  The Officer's statement was just silly and irresponsible.  

There's also so much emphasis placed on the Officers. They could have been promoted last week.  Everyone is a guest services Officer, including new hires. To the not so well trained eye, people think they are the ones who work on the bridge. 

[startedwithamouse]

22 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Just a bit of clarification.  The Cruise Critic Meet and Greet is an (un)official gathering of passengers.  Officers are invited to attend (not mandatory). Several showed up, introduced themselves, and opened up a Q &A session.  It is always a treat for officers to take time out of their busy schedule to meet with passengers.
 

Yes, this is a “short” 7 day cruise…that is very port intensive with only 2 sea days to cram in all of the normal activities like trivia, bingo, art, etc.  Many of the venues needed to be “shared”.

 

There are 3 production shows scheduled.  Not sure they will all happen since the cruise is only half over:  Rock Opera, Blame it on the Boogie, and Magic to Do (yet to come).  Due to scheduling and flying entertainers in/out, the Tenor in Rock Opera came in and flew out.  The Magician for Magic to Do, flew in Day 2 of San Francisco, did a solo show, will do production show and fly out from LA.  

 

 

Not a fan of the magician's first show, but his second one in Explorer's Lounge is so much better and interactive with the audience. He's the original Magic to Do magician. 

I believe he flies out from the next port (not LA) as he'll do Magic to Do as the first show on the next voyage. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by startedwithamouse

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

In reading through this thread, I would offer that nothing that has or hasn't happened is the OP's "fault" (other than perhaps miscounting the number of trivia/quiz challenges there are on any given day.)  The problem seems to be that at the initial Meet and Greet an Officer made a misguided statement about the length of the cruise that made it sound as if a 7 day cruise is "less than."  7 day cruises on Princess have never been known to downsize the entertainment or events.  Still going to have 2 Formal Nights (or what appears to be one Formal Night and one Dress to Impress Night.)  Still going to have the same number of production shows, and the same number of performances each night.  Still going to have the same number of house bands, piano players, comedians and movies paying on MUTS.  The Officer's off-handed comment set the expectations of the OP, and the OP is now living a self-fulfilling prophecy thinking that her cruise is "less than."  If there is an issue with the amount and quality of entertainment, that is an issue to be taken up with the ED and CD either on board or certainly in the post-cruise survey.  It is entirely possible that the schedule of events each day is "less than."  But if that proves to be the case, the length of the cruise is not the root cause.  The Officer's statement was just silly and irresponsible.  

RIP Tina Turner 83 - pretty sure she was a staple on MUTS during the day, back in the day

[that]

🥺 RIP Tina Turner

[Kay S]

4 hours ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

.
 

You may decide to give up on Princess, but I’m sure you would find a completely different experience on one of their other ships. 

Or even on the same ship.  Every cruise is different.  We hear from people who loved an Emerald cruise, so I don't think it's solely the fault of the ship.  Emerald is the only grand class ship I have not sailed on, so I can't offer an opinion, but even with the Royal class ships, some have been more enjoyable than others.  (I am missing just the Enchanted in that class.)  Sun class?  The FCC is finally gone this July, so I'll be over there on HAL and will miss the Sun and her sisters altogether.

[SiliconCruiser]

On 5/21/2023 at 8:03 PM, mamamusings said:

Oh, and one more nit to pick—I thought the whole point of the medallions was that staff would know who we are and that we have a the plus package. But at nearly every place we’ve gone, we’ve been asked for our room numbers!

It is to confirm that you belong to the medallion that they are detecting.

[Napagirl]

5 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

In reading through this thread, I would offer that nothing that has or hasn't happened is the OP's "fault" (other than perhaps miscounting the number of trivia/quiz challenges there are on any given day.)  The problem seems to be that at the initial Meet and Greet an Officer made a misguided statement about the length of the cruise that made it sound as if a 7 day cruise is "less than."  7 day cruises on Princess have never been known to downsize the entertainment or events.  Still going to have 2 Formal Nights (or what appears to be one Formal Night and one Dress to Impress Night.)  Still going to have the same number of production shows, and the same number of performances each night.  Still going to have the same number of house bands, piano players, comedians and movies paying on MUTS.  The Officer's off-handed comment set the expectations of the OP, and the OP is now living a self-fulfilling prophecy thinking that her cruise is "less than."  If there is an issue with the amount and quality of entertainment, that is an issue to be taken up with the ED and CD either on board or certainly in the post-cruise survey.  It is entirely possible that the schedule of events each day is "less than."  But if that proves to be the case, the length of the cruise is not the root cause.  The Officer's statement was just silly and irresponsible.  

Spot on! Another thought about the officer and the "shorter cruise" comment is that it's likely this was in response to a question that was asked. Perhaps the answer really IS that it's different on a 7 day cruise vs. a longer one. We all perceive things the way we perceive them, doesn't mean that was what was meant. 

I also agree that nothing was the OP's fault - it's their experience. The app is buggy and during our last cruise we found that we did better just going to get what we wanted ourselves - or we ordered room service on the tv instead of the app.

 

The amount of activities are just right for me - I bring my yellow highlighter pen haha! In between running between the line dancing and trivia/game shows, I manage to fit in some pool/hot tub time and of course lots of eating. But if NCL offers more of what the OP is looking for then that's cool. There are many options for cruising!

[Thrak]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:07 AM, Roberto256 said:

They could certainly better utilize "Cafe Carib" rather than have simply duplicate the horizon court line.

 

I've found that going past the "regular" HC area gets me to the cooked to order omelets or fried eggs. I don't care for the pre-cooked fried eggs that just sit there looking sad.

[InTheDrink]

On 5/23/2023 at 12:24 PM, mamamusings said:

There have been minimal options for trivia and karaoke—one 45-minute session of each most days. (Trivia issue was brought up in meet and greet; it was one of the times they referenced this being a “shorter” cruise.) Of the two  theater shows, one is only 30 minutes long, and the other was on the second night and it’s not clear if it will be offered again. Almost no ability to sit in hot tubs at night while at sea enjoying views of the stars, since most get covered up pretty early. At the martini and liquor tastings there were so many people we couldn’t get close enough to see or hear what was being said, let alone sit down, even arriving almost an hour early. My husband was looking forward to eating at Steamers. No MDR reservations available at all if you didn’t book them weeks ahead. 
 

Overall it’s not a terrible experience, just a disappointing one. We still plan on enjoying our vacation. It’s just not what we had hoped for in terms of service and activity options. 🤷‍♀️

As someone who is about to try Princess for the first time, on the Emerald, I thank you for your comments- they are helpful to me as are the suggestions made by others to mitigate your less than ideal experience. I look forward to hearing if things get better for you as the days go on!

 

[lizjoemom]

On 5/24/2023 at 11:11 AM, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

We are platinum cruisers with Princess. In February 2022 we took a 10 day Panama Canal cruise on the Emerald Princess. If that had been our first Princess cruise, we would never have made it to gold status. It just about caused us to give up on Princess altogether. Then we decided that we’ve had so many great cruises with Princess that we shouldn’t judge them on that one terrible experience. 
 

You may decide to give up on Princess, but I’m sure you would find a completely different experience on one of their other ships. 

Can you elaborate on why it was so bad? Makes me a little nervous, it's my first time on Princess and we are going on the 10 day PC out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Emerald. I mean, we will still go no matter what (we have cancelled PC 2 times already during Covid), but I would like to know what to expect. Thanks!

Also, to the original OP, sorry that you aren't having a good time. Some cruises/cruise lines just don't resonate with everyone. I do believe that a bad day at sea is better than a bad day at home! LOL. As long as I don't have to go to work or cook or clean....I personally was an NCL cruiser years ago, but when they changed to freestyle, I hated it! haven't been back on NCL since, so to each his own. I hope you are still on the cruise it gets better!

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

1 hour ago, lizjoemom said:

Can you elaborate on why it was so bad? Makes me a little nervous, it's my first time on Princess and we are going on the 10 day PC out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Emerald. I mean, we will still go no matter what (we have cancelled PC 2 times already during Covid), but I would like to know what to expect. Thanks!

Our cruise was in February 2022. Cruise lines were just getting back up to speed after the pandemic. There were only 950 passengers on board. The buffet was very lacking and the meals in the dining room were not up to normal Princess standards. Our room steward informed us that we had to pick either having our room serviced during the day or in the evening. We thought it was a staffing issue, but the ship was only 1/3 full and we would often see our steward doing make work tasks.

 

We are trying to give Princess the benefit of the doubt on this poor experience as they were still dealing with the Covid fallout. I’m confident that you will have a better experience. 

[lizjoemom]

8 hours ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

Our cruise was in February 2022. Cruise lines were just getting back up to speed after the pandemic. There were only 950 passengers on board. The buffet was very lacking and the meals in the dining room were not up to normal Princess standards. Our room steward informed us that we had to pick either having our room serviced during the day or in the evening. We thought it was a staffing issue, but the ship was only 1/3 full and we would often see our steward doing make work tasks.

 

We are trying to give Princess the benefit of the doubt on this poor experience as they were still dealing with the Covid fallout. I’m confident that you will have a better experience. 

Thank you, I appreciate your honesty. I recently went on one of Carnival's new ships and wasn't sure what to expect from cruising after the pandemic, but my fears were unfounded as it was one of the best cruises I've ever been on, hopefully, this cruise will be good too, since they have had time to work out the kinks! Thanks again!

[tipofthehook]

I too can confirm the staff and crew of the Emerald have greatly disappointed us in the past. It is the only Princess vessel we refuse to sail on again. Not ‘never again Princess’ only ‘never again the Emerald’.