Emerald Princess 10 day Caribbean starting 6/9- semi live

[tulok]

This probably won’t be an as active live review as others but I will try and add as much as possible. Others on this cruise please chime in.

The airports and planes were packed yesterday. (yes, I know it’s summer) Remember to pack your patience especially towards all the first time travelers. 

We wouldn’t have chosen a caribbean cruise in the summer but it is a DH sibling cruise as they lost their father recently and this is the only date that worked.

First time Princess cruise as well as 50% of the ship. We have sailed from Regent to Carnival and others that aren’t even around anymore. Our first cruise was in 1985.

I will try not to compare because lines, ships and destinations make things different but I will be as honest in my opinion.

[tulok]

We stayed at the Riverside Hotel on Los Olas and it was wonderful. We ate at the Wild Sea in the hotel for dinner and happy hour and had an awesome dinner. I highly recommend the hotel.

[tulok]

We had a private shuttle with South FL Shuttle service pick us up at 10am to take us to the port. It was 15. pp and they were very good. I wouldn’t have chosen 10am, closer to noon normally for us but our party (most have only been on one or no prior cruises) were wanting to get on right away. So drop off traffic was terrible with 3 ships leaving today. We still made it on by 1130 so it took about an hour once we arrived. Not terrible. I will say green lane was much faster.

FYI- we all have the premier pkg and yes every third person is trying to sell the package. 

We had lunch at Bottetelli,

salmon and burger got thumbs up. The only 2 items chosen. Orange Soufflé was a hit.

Angel Whisper is on board as that is my favorite. 

We are in a balcony on Caribe so large balcony and it is large. One sibling is in a reserve mini so I will check out their cabin at some point.

So far no complaints. 

[tulok]

[In Toronto]

Thanks for doing this.  We board on the 19th so very interested in your comments.

 

[tulok]

It took me a minute to figure out the best way to take a shower. Turning the water down so it doesn’t splash on the floor. Someone on CC said to bring binder clips for the curtain and that works well. I also used a magnet clip to keep the one side to the metal wall. I brought my own shampoo/conditioner and body wash and glad I did.

[tulok]

[tulok]

Good Monday morning. Not a lot of young children that we have seen but a lot of teenagers. Went up to the sports deck after dinner, which was very good and service was excellent in Da Vinci. Many of the teenagers were hanging out playing links, corn hole, or basketball together. They seem to be having a good time hanging out with each other.

Today we have a bungalow on Princess Cays. I requested #8 as on CC I read it was a good one. We will see if the request is granted. 

Getting bottled water last night was a little tricky. Many of the outdoor pools were out and would have some in the morning after they restock. This was around 9p so pick it up early or inside bar if you want a couple of bottles for the morning. They were more than happy to give me unopened cans of diet coke. The bartenders have been more than friendly. 

We did have to call maintenance last night when we got back to the cabin as it was warm.  They came within an hour and added more air flow. (with a hand held computer) I slept well with covers so it worked.
Yes, Emerald has some rust and age showing but so do I.

[teh3505]

Sailed on the Emerald Princess May 20 - 30th - 2024. Loved every minute of the cruise, except I felt the food was not up to par for Princess Cruise.

[tulok]

We did get bungalow #8 and that is a great one. I would say 7-10 would be a good choice. The wait for the van to take you to your bungalow was long as they only had 2 vans. We would have walked but we were not positive we were given 8 and they wouldn’t tell you until you were in the van.

If you go to Princess Cays, go in front of the bungalows. Hardly any one was there and a lot of shade was available. As we walked towards the ferry, everyone was there as it was packed. We did leave

at 2 and we are glad we did. The line was getting very long. 

 

As for food on the ship, the pictures are of my husbands. He orders much more interesting. I have been eating Keto for 6 years and they have been very accommodating to my requests.  Tonight is Steamers.

FYI- after embarkation we called the dine line and were able to get casual restaurants reservations when we wanted. 

Edited June 10 by tulok

[tulok]

Every 5-10 doors have door decorations. Nothing offensive. One does say, “if the boats a rockin don’t come a knockin.” 😜

[tulok]

Vines

[Robkat]

Very interested in your review as we'll be boarding shortly, so thank you for doing this.

Hope you enjoy Steamers tonight, really looking forward to hearing about that and about Planks, if you'll be going there.

Will you be trying out the Salty Dog Gastropub?  Did you have to make reservations?  

How about the production shows... have you seen what they'll be for your cruise?

Have a wonderful time, hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise!

[tulok]

We did have to make reservations for all the casuals including Gastropub. I will review. 

[tulok]

I had the clams and shrimp without clams. There were probably 15 shrimp in the bowl. It was good. I had it with the bacon curry sauce. 

Edited June 10 by tulok

[goingsailing]

13 hours ago, teh3505 said:

Sailed on the Emerald Princess May 20 - 30th - 2024. Loved every minute of the cruise, except I felt the food was not up to par for Princess Cruise.

I agree, we were on this cruise too.  Only had good tasting food in the Crown Grill and Planks.

Pizza as usual,  was good.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Thank you for doing this review. I am sorry for your loss.

 

My friend and I will be on the Emerald Princess for the 17 day Canada/Greenland cruise. I have a dairy allergy so it can be difficult outside the MDR at times to find something to eat. Please let me know if you have time and feel like asking a few questions for me. Enjoy your cruise and thank you again for taking the time to share with us. 

Edited June 11 by MsSoCalCruiser

[tulok]

4 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Please let me know if you have time and feel like asking a few questions for me.

I will be happy to answer or try to find the answer 

[tulok]

20 hours ago, teh3505 said:

I felt the food was not up to par for Princess Cruise.

Being my first Princess I didn’t go in with prior knowledge so that probably helps with the food critique. Plus in my reviews I count in not having to cook it, or clean up afterwards 😁

[tulok]

13 hours ago, Robkat said:

How about the production shows.

We saw Rock Opera last night. It was good. The singers and dances were good. No one in our party was disappointed that we went. I would have enjoyed it more with different song choices but of course that’s an opinion.

[tulok]

Yesterday I went to a pilates 7a class with Dixon from Kenya. If you get a chance and you want to work your core, I highly recommend his class. There were only 4 of us and we all said it was a great class. I have been doing pilates for 4 years regularly and he kept it simple but still a good workout.  I hope to take more of his classes today like the cycling and will be taking the pilates every morning.

[tulok]

4 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I have a dairy allergy so it can be difficult outside the MDR at times to find something to eat.

Every place has been very accommodating to my diet which is by choice not like yours that is a need. Steamers, I had a bowl of shrimp, sausage and the sauce. They left out the clams, corn and potatoes. The waiters or waitresses never acted like a request was trouble.

[tulok]

Just ordered from the app some drinks by the pool and they came within 15mins. It is early but it worked. I just wanted to try it. It’s as easy to go to a bar. 

 

The Lotus pool is not a secret. When I went to the gym people were putting towels on the chairs. When I came out and looked to see if there were a couple of chairs at 730a, there were none. Pool chair hogs are one of my biggest pet peeves.

Edited June 11 by tulok

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I have a few International café questions…

1)  Do they have any sandwiches without any cheese or other dairy products on them?

2) Would you please ask what type of milk the Chia seed pudding is made with? I’m wondering if it’s an alternative milk like almond, coconut, & soy or is it made with actual dairy products? Thank you so much! 

[Robkat]

3 hours ago, tulok said:

We saw Rock Opera last night. It was good. The singers and dances were good. No one in our party was disappointed that we went. I would have enjoyed it more with different song choices but of course that’s an opinion.

Thanks for letting us know.  We are not avid production-show people, been there, done that and for the most part, we liked the big Broadway production shows that seem to have faded. 

But we did love Rock Opera, think it was mostly because of the featured guest performer.  His name is Steve Major, and he has long, Peter Frampton-type hair, and he's so good!  Was he the lead for the show you saw?