Emerald Princess - did you like it?

[ISABELLA]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -?

Service-?

Entertainment - ?

I always value anyone's input.

[UpgradeMan]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -?

Service-?

Entertainment - ?

I always value anyone's input.

 

I was on the Emerald in the Med this September for 2 cruises and the Food was better than most ships as it is in it's inaugural year and the Company tends to allocate a higher food budget.

The service was great as well and Generoso was the Maitre'd onboard at the time.

 

Same problems IMHO as most other ships inexperienced first time contractors working the Pursers Desk were you know more about the ship than they do!

 

Overall great venues such as teh Crown Grill, Adagio Bar, the Santuary, Inernational Cafe and also Wines (has some of the best cerviche I have had at sea ever) etc...

 

I am sure you will enjoy the Emerald.

[choochella]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -?

Service-?

Entertainment - ?

I always value anyone's input.

 

We did the first Caribbean itinerary on the Emerald in October. What a beautiful ship!! The food was excellent, service impecable, and entertainment, well, entertaining. It seemed as though all the "bugs" of a new ship were worked out.

 

Only complaints: none - we are not hard to please. We are on vacation. So, as long as we are not working, cooking, cleaning, etc., then why complain??

[Sanibel*Gal]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -?

Service-?

Entertainment - ?

I always value anyone's input.

 

 

Glad you started this thread! We will be sailing Oct. 2008 and hopefully, you will get some great info. for us all!:D

[Nanatravel]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food - Great- Anytime Dining was perfect for the Med itinerary; Buffets, Room Service and the Balcony Breakfast were all just fine

Service- At Anytime dining, only had one waitress that seemed to "get lost". All other service was just fine.

Entertainment - Very Good - Loved Brett Cove and shows in the theater each night.

I always value anyone's input.

 

We really like this ship and just may join Sanibel*Gal on 10/21. I wanted the 10/31 journey, but don't care to cruise with the "group" which is said to be sailing that week.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[Sanibel*Gal]

Oh NaNaTravel - Join us, our roll-call has started (I think you might of seen it??;) We have a great group and would love to have you join us!!:)

[nceyeguy]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -?

Service-?

Entertainment - ?

I always value anyone's input.

We got off the emerald 11/26, our 3 princess cruise. We are very much like choochella, not hard to please. We are not "foodies", so with that in mind:

food= 7

service= 7

entertainment= 7 (we did very little)

casino= 9 ( did a lot)

total cruise= 10 ( I refuse to have a bad time, it is what you make of it)

 

You will see other threads with the problems on the ship (buffet, access to dining room etc) deal with it. Have fun! We did.

[Sham21]

We just returned yesterday (dec 6) We were more than impressed with the Emerald and the staff. As per your request our ratings:

Food: started out as good early in the cruise and rated wonderful last few days.Early meals and selections just didn't have us trying to make decisions as to what to try.Last half of the cruise everything sounded (and tasted GREAT)

Service: Outstanding! could not find anything to fault every person we met was always saying Hello,Good Morning,How are you etc.All the time with a big warm smile.

Entertainment: Generally good to very good, only complaint the entertainers in the Wheelhouse bar sounded very good but never left that bar. It was very smokey in there.Would have liked them to rotate the bands.

This was our first Princess cruise and we will be back for sure. Have fun and relax they will provide the rest.

Also Sanctuary $10 per half day and was wonderful.Think the price is the same for Port or Sea days.

[ISABELLA]

Please tell me more about Sanctuary-where is it?, where you book it? what is included in the price of admission?

Thanks

[nceyeguy]

Please tell me more about Sanctuary-where is it?, where you book it? what is included in the price of admission?

Thanks

Deck 17 forward. You can pay there. Don't know what else besides a nicer towel, same sun, is included. Saw massage tables but could not understand the girl at the desk, very poor english. Its $10 per half day. Appears to me to be another disney try for all my money. Advantage: no children. Still not worth $20 for 4 hours.

[BLS]

We were on her for the Oct Transatlantic sailing.

Enjoyed Cafe Caribe--only went to the dining room 1 night, plus we did the "Ultimate Balcony Dinner", which was fabulous!

Also great gelato at the International Cafe on Deck 5

did miss having a covered pool, but aside from that she is a wonderful ship--would sail again on her in a heartbeat!!!!

[tispwisp]

We really enjoyed the Emerald. Not quite as much as we like the Coral, but WAY better than the Caribbean Princess.

 

We thought the food was good - not great. The service was excellent - everywhere we went. The entertainment was really good. We really enjoyed the street entertainers in the piazza - Uber Rossi is excellent!

 

The only real criticism I have (and that's on most Princess ships) is when the stores put out the displays of their goods in the atrium. It really clogs up the flow of traffic - especially when people are leaving the shows.

 

We would sail the Emerald again in a heartbeat and will probably book her again in Fall of 2009!

[Bison]

We just came back form a cruise on the Emerald

 

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -? Buffet food was fair / dining room fair to good

Service-? We thought service was good. Our room steward Jim was great !

Entertainment - ? We didn't find it to be very good

I always value anyone's input.

[simba1328]

Just back and thought the food was not very good, service in the dinning room was awful and after five days transfered to anytime and had a wonderful waiter called Pablo. The Horizon was terrible. The pools closed early and the one by the movie did not open until 11am. The back pool opened at 1 pm. Hot tubs were closed early. The ship was beautiful. I thiink my next cruise will be with Royal or Celebrity.

[SF]

Was wondering which dining room they've been using for traditional dining lately? I know it can change voyage to voyage.

 

Also wondering for the New Year's Cruise if they'll have three formals instead of two? Most 10 days have two but since New Year's isn't for almost a week after boarding I'm trying to decide whether to bring an extra formal outfit just in case they add one more. Not sure if they'll wait the week for the first formal evening. What do all my CC friends think? Probably going to just pack an extra formal top and wear the same skirt... just in case.

 

Glad to hear the positive comments about Emerald as we're looking forward to the cruise.

[ISABELLA]

Just back and thought the food was not very good, service in the dinning room was awful and after five days transfered to anytime and had a wonderful waiter called Pablo. The Horizon was terrible. The pools closed early and the one by the movie did not open until 11am. The back pool opened at 1 pm. Hot tubs were closed early. The ship was beautiful. I thiink my next cruise will be with Royal or Celebrity.

What was so terrible in the Horizon? Was it variety, quality of food? Was it for breakfast, lunch or dinners?

And did you like the food in the dinning room?

[Nanatravel]

What was so terrible in the Horizon? Was it variety, quality of food? Was it for breakfast, lunch or dinners?

And did you like the food in the dinning room?

 

IMHO, a lot of people just don't like the layout of Horizon's Court. Due to their having stations which are close to one another, traffic can get congested. Solution; don't go eat at prime times; 8 a.m., 12 noon, etc. We never had a problem. Always found a seat in the Cafe Caribe area. Even if the buffet wasn't open in that aft seating area, you could find a seat and a waiter would bring you coffee, juice etc.

 

bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[simba1328]

The cruise was wonderful except for the service in the main dinning room. Had to ask for for butter, sugar salt pepper folk and knife. After five days decided to change to any time dinning and that was great. The horizon court was out of control, they had two lines going into the sevice aread and people were getting upset with people getting in line before them. It was not there fault because there was no order at all. As for the food the eggs were cold and hard, you had to walk around for ever to get a table. The service in the main dinning room for breakfast and lunch was great. I think you have to decide what is imporant for you. We were just upset with the service in the main dinning room and that kind of spoiled the trip for us. We got over it and enjoyed the rest of the cruise. I have cuise about 20 times and this was just not the best cruise we have been on.

[Bison]

When they designed the Horizon Court WHAT WERE THEY THINKING. On days that we were in port and had to eat prior to getting off the ship it was alittle chaotic

[emmy]

When they designed the Horizon Court WHAT WERE THEY THINKING. On days that we were in port and had to eat prior to getting off the ship it was alittle chaotic

 

And they conitnue to keep designing it that way.:rolleyes: This is my biggest complaint on Princess ships. I do however agree with sitting in the Cafe Carib after you get your breakfast always a seat and the servers there were very quick to get you your coffee and juice. We had great service there. I ordered room service a few mornings to avoid this area but they do not have hot items on the menu for room service. I wish this would change.

 

We had main traditional dining and it was in Botticelli Dining room on deck 6 on my Nov 16 sailing. Only problem there was that they allowed smoking right outside the dining room entrance and it ended up filtering into the dining room. I did not think there was smoking in the public areas. They must have thought it okay cause they did provide an ashtray right outside the elevator and the entrance.

 

Food overall was good. I loved the Piazza area and watched the entertainers there before dinner with a drink or a cappacino from the International Cafe. We also had a glass of wine a couple of evenings in Vines where they often would have a complimentary appetizer of raclette. It always smelled so good.

 

Loved the little sandwiches they had at International Cafe and we would often go there for our lunch. Desserts were served there as well.

 

Entertainment I felt was weak. the production shows were just okay but I did enjoy the entertainment in the Explorer lounge much more.

 

The main attraction of the Emerald is the great itineraries it is sailing.

 

here is a link to some of my photos from the Nov 16 sailing

http://community.webshots.com/album/561595032orCXgm

[Colo Cruiser]

We have sailed on a few Princess ships. We liked some better than others. Wonder how do you like the Emerald?

Food -?

Service-?

Entertainment - ?

I always value anyone's input.

 

 

We sailed the Emerald last month and found it to be excellent in all those areas. :)

[SueM.]

And they conitnue to keep designing it that way.:rolleyes: This is my biggest complaint on Princess ships. I do however agree with sitting in the Cafe Carib after you get your breakfast always a seat and the servers there were very quick to get you your coffee and juice. We had great service there. I ordered room service a few mornings to avoid this area but they do not have hot items on the menu for room service. I wish this would change.

 

We had main traditional dining and it was in Botticelli Dining room on deck 6 on my Nov 16 sailing. Only problem there was that they allowed smoking right outside the dining room entrance and it ended up filtering into the dining room. I did not think there was smoking in the public areas. They must have thought it okay cause they did provide an ashtray right outside the elevator and the entrance.

 

Food overall was good. I loved the Piazza area and watched the entertainers there before dinner with a drink or a cappacino from the International Cafe. We also had a glass of wine a couple of evenings in Vines where they often would have a complimentary appetizer of raclette. It always smelled so good.

 

Loved the little sandwiches they had at International Cafe and we would often go there for our lunch. Desserts were served there as well.

 

Entertainment I felt was weak. the production shows were just okay but I did enjoy the entertainment in the Explorer lounge much more.

 

The main attraction of the Emerald is the great itineraries it is sailing.

 

here is a link to some of my photos from the Nov 16 sailing

http://community.webshots.com/album/561595032orCXgm

 

 

emmy, thank you so much for the wonderful pictures. We are sailing on the Emerald on 1/5/08 and these pictures brought back great memories of our Crown sailing in 8/06. Also it was very cool to see pictures of our cabin, C-719.

 

When we were on the Crown we mostly did lunch at the International Cafe. Not only the little sandwiches and desserts, but also the quiches and salads were all very good.

 

I also wish they had hot foods on the room service menu so we could avoid the Horizen Court at breakfast time also. It is really a zoo getting your breakfast, but at least once you get it, you can escape to the cafe carib and find a place to sit.

 

sue

[kcb]

Also wondering for the New Year's Cruise if they'll have three formals instead of two?

 

SF,

 

Come join our roll call:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=463494&page=23

[sackman]

Just off the Emerald. As opposed to writing an entire review, I'll sumarize here...

 

Ship - gorgeous. Simply a stunning ship. My only issue was with the dead ends, particularly around the stern of the ship. We found ourselves running up and down stairs a lot to get to someplace that was on the same level.

 

Service - possibly the best I've experienced on a ship. The waitstaff for traditional dining (2nd seating) that we had were fantastic. Very personable, hard working, yet they made it look easy. Noli (waitress), Gabor (assistant) and Manuel (station chief) were flat-out terrific.

 

Entertainment - We only made it to one show, but we loved it. And I usually HATE cruise entertainment. I guess that says something right there. We did hear that the comedian did his show while fully drunk, but I can't confirm that. We heard it from more than one person.

 

Food - meh. I guess I'm used to better. The food wasn't bad and it wasn't like we starved to death (like that would be possible), but the selections were limited and the preparation seemed rushed. Beef dishes, in particular, seemed to be a challenge. I think it has more to do with the fact that there's 3,000 people on board than anything else, which brings me to...

 

Ship size - I am of the opinion that 3,000 passengers is simply too many. We've reached maximum density, so to speak. A ship that size can certainly handle that kind of crowd, but there are other logistical issues that get magnified by the sheer number of people on board. One example - immigration inspection in St. Thomas. Yuck. The lines for US and Non US passengers intertwined at one point, making a mess of the whole process. Of course, there are other examples as well that I don't need to get into.

 

I'd give the ship 4 stars out of 5. It's a beautiful ship with a great staff and a nice itinerary. I understand the economics involved in making ships bigger, so I don't begrudge Princess for building the ship the way they did.

[Jon Boy]

Sackman,

I am on the ship next week and I was wondering if you could answer two questions:

1) How long did immigration take at St Thomas (non-us).

2) Do you remember what day was Italian night and Caribbean night at the dining room. I was planning on booking alternative dining on those nights.

 

Thanks