Emerald Princess Dec. 20-30 Review

[debbiewp]

Thanks for the great review Debbie in Rainy Delaware. We are sailing the Emerald in April and thoroughly enjoy reading such detailed reviews. I do have one question for you...do you know if they offer an afternoon tea on the Emerald? If so, do you know what it was like?

 

Thanks again,

 

Laura in Cold Maryland

 

Laura,

 

They do have afternoon tea on the Emerald every day 3:30-4:30. That is one thing we have not done, but another review of this same cruise did attend the tea and really enjoyed it. Debbie

[debbiewp]

Thanks for your review Debbie. Do you remember how much the day passes were and does one just show up at the hotel lobby desk for them?

 

Thanks, Barb

 

BTB, I love your Dad's attitude! He, and all of you, can cruise with us any day. :D

 

Barb,

 

The day passes at the Plaza Resort were $20 with a chair, $15 without a chair. Although I never saw anyone come around and check which one you had. We got into Bonaire at 12:00 noon, and when we got off the ship, there was literally ONE taxi waiting at the dock..she said all the other taxis were tied up with the other cruise ship that had arrived in the morning. She is the one who told us we could walk to the Plaza Resort, which is what we did..about a mile? You go right off the dock area, walk through the Divi Resort (that looked neat also, but do not know their policies) and then take a left through the Divi lobby. Once out on the street, take a right and just go straight. It looks like you are in a residential area, but trust me, the Plaza Resort is at the end of the road! It is very do-able! Once at the Plaza, on the right is a check-in area where you can purchase day pass. The $20 includes chairs (or these raised & covered cushioned bed things!), unlimited water or fruit punch all day (it was not too bad!), use of the pool, restrooms. There is also a beach bar and a restaurant. We just had drinks and chips. The beach (as most of them in Bonaire) is very rocky with lots of coral. Although I was snorkling and had fins on, I would strongly recommend water shoes of some sort if you want to enjoy the water. There are spots where you can be in the water and have the fish all around you without having to snorkel....

 

Eden Beach is nice also...much the same, but as we took a taxi there last year, I do not know if it is within walking distance. Alot of snorklers like to go over to Klein, but be aware that there are no facilities or amenities there! Debbie

[JWJs]

Thanks for posting your review! :)

 

Wow...too bad about the laundry room situation. You handled it quite well by just moving on to another one. No need to let a laundry king or queen ruin one's day. I did laundry 2 times on the 12/20 Emerald and had no problems I'm happy to say.

 

Thanks so much for info on Water Beach. Think we will try it the next time we are in St. Thomas. Tons of Conch shells in the water sounds cool. We found a lot on them in the water on St. John several years ago and haven't seen any in the water or on a beach since.

 

I didn't get a chance to try to waffles...they are a big deal on Celebrity and it's nice to know Princess now offers waffles. We did go to one afternoon tea and it was a neat experience. Loved the scones and clotted cream.

 

Thanks again for your 12/20 Emerald review. The 12/20 flew by for me and I love to re-live it as often as possible.:):):)

[regnig]

Debbie thanks for the information on Bonaire. It is about the only island we haven't been to and your details will be a great help. Barb

[debbiewp]

Oops..the ferry to Water Island is $10 round trip (not the $5) that I stated. In any case, a bargain to get to a beautiful beach.

[love2bonboard]

Despite some concerns at the thought of being on a cruise and missing all the traditional family holiday festivities, our family of 6 has nothing but thumbs up after our recent Christmas cruise on the Emerald...I will share a few observations on our cruise and will try and answer any questions.

 

Our family consists of me (53), hubby (54), son (25), daughter (22) and my parents (70-ish). This is our 9th cruise with Princess. With the exception of a Panama Canal cruise, we have never booked an excursion through Princess. We know what we want to do, we like being able to decide when we do it and when we have to get back to the ship…not to mention the financial benefit. Perhaps we have been very lucky, but we do ALOT of research (thanks to this board!) and most every trip off the ship has exceeded our expectations. And although we will sometimes do a tour of the island (such as last year in Dominica), we basically like to find a nice beach for swimming, sunbathing and snorkeling….and if we can shop a little on the way back, or see some of the island one way or the other, that’s fine. But I am not there for the shopping, so will have little info on that aspect.

 

All in all, we have little complaints…I will say that this is the first time we did not give an extra tip to either room steward or waiter. Everything was adequate and I can forgive a whole lot of errors if you just show a little PERSONALITY! We have had better service on previous cruises and waiters who were actually willing to smile and laugh every now and then…particularly since my family is pretty funny! This is also the first time we were forced to do anytime dining, but after the first couple of nights, my father was able to make reservations for the same time every night – same table – no problem. We never had to wait, and have decided that we prefer the anytime dining to the first seating traditional, which we have always had in the past. The menu had changed since our January 2008 cruise…we all love great food and were able to find something we all liked every night. And sorry, I just have to add how appalled I continue to be at the attire folks choose to wear into the dining room…I have seen all the posts on this and don’t want to start another, but that’s where I stand on the matter, FYI.

 

Princess Cay is what it is…very nice, relaxing day. I don’t really care for the lunch they serve there, but there is enough food back on the ship so it’s not a big deal to me. Oh, and they ran out of pina colada fairly early in the day!

 

Have been to St. Thomas about 8 times it seems…have spent some trips at Trunk Bay in St. Johns, and many others at Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas. This year, we went over to Water Island and loved it!! A beautiful beach, some snorkling areas, food...peace & quiet. Highly recommend if that is what you are interested in.

 

In Dominica, three of us went snorkeling at Champagne Reef – we had a great time despite the constant rain and maybe because we were about the only ones there most of the time. This is NOT a place for sitting on a beach! Last year, we arranged for a tour of the island, so the other three non-snorklers spent the day on the ship.

 

Grenada – we went to Grand Anse beach first thing in the morning, then had to be back at ship for an early departure.

 

Bonaire – got day passes and swam and snorkeled at the Plaza Resort (on the last cruise we went to Eden Beach).

 

Curacao – our second time to Playa Porta Marie -- from early morning until 2:00 pm, then into town for shopping and beers.

 

In regard to another post, we have always bought two soda cards upon embarkation. This year, we didn’t do it as soon as we got on, and my daughter and I actually had to go looking to buy one on Day 2. Duh, you can get them at any bar – but we in no way had them pushed on us for those two days.

 

Princess really seemed to make the most of the holiday, and it seemed like there were plenty of Christmas activities for children…there was even caroling in the atrium on Christmas Eve with snow! And with two sports fanatics at home, I see plenty of football (and I like it)…but I would rather have had a movie at MUTS rather than the games some of those nights. But that’s OK, too.

 

I am not going to complain about the coffee (it is fine), the toilet paper (also fine), the slow speed of the internet (somwhow, everyone managed to live 10 days without many e-mails from me and my husband NEVER checked on work matters!), or the fact that they now added dreaded onions in the International Café’s chicken salad!!! We were together as a family on a beautiful ship for 10 days in the Caribbean…my father’s favorite sayings are ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’’ & ‘It doesn’t get any better than this!’’

 

However, I do have a few words for the couple who insisted on hogging BOTH washers first thing in the morning (7:45 am), and telling me it was pointless for me to be in line waiting for them to open the laundry room as they were not willing to give up one of the two washers (even tho they clearly could have fit their stuff in one load). To them, I say I found a laundry on another deck, and enjoyed the company of some much happier cruisers, and we were all willing to share and help each other getting that laundry done. And yes, there were plenty of pool chair hogs..although we always tried to get 6 chairs together, we NEVER left them empty and even took shifts going to lunch. My daugher and I watched chairs with just towels draped over them sit like that for literally hours.

 

Will try and answer any questions you may have…my 22-year-old daughter has taken over a lot of our cruise planning and is on the boards more often then me…..oh, and the four of us get a quad mini-suite with balcony….my husband and son are big guys, but we really don’t have any problem as none of us spend a lot of time in the room…

 

Only sad cus we will not be cruising again until January 2010!

Happy New Year! Debbie (in rainy Delaware)

 

I don't think using 2 washers is hogging anything....that is what they are there for. Maybe they didn't want to put all colors/whites/blacks in one washer with one temperature? I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying if you have two loads of laundry to do, then what is the big deal? Just go up or down one flight of stairs and use a different laundry room. I don't think it was rude of them to use 2 washers. Too bad it bothered you enough to send out a "shout out" on this board. I'm glad you had a nice time anyways. Happy future cruising.

[mizLORInj]

 

Didn't know about the waffles and ice cream...sounds yummy! BTW' date=' is this the "free ice cream" that is served at 3:30pm in the Horizon Court? We haven't done that yet (sailed twice previously with Princess), but hope to this time.

[/quote']

 

Yes, that's the free ice cream we all talk about. Line forms just before 3:30. There were 3 flavors to choose from in November, sprinkles, nuts, other toppings mentioned. Hot waffles at the other end of the buffet area and cookies/brownies too a couple times. Varied the ice cream flavors daily. We enjoyed this almost every day on our 10 nighter!

[debbiewp]

I don't think using 2 washers is hogging anything....that is what they are there for. Maybe they didn't want to put all colors/whites/blacks in one washer with one temperature? I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying if you have two loads of laundry to do, then what is the big deal? Just go up or down one flight of stairs and use a different laundry room. I don't think it was rude of them to use 2 washers. Too bad it bothered you enough to send out a "shout out" on this board. I'm glad you had a nice time anyways. Happy future cruising.

 

I don't believe I am going to respond to this, but since you chose to pull two lines from what I think was a very positive review...now here is the whole story that I chose not to bore you all with the first time. I initially arrived at the laundry at 7:00 am with laundry from 4 adults stuffed in a Macys shopping bag...some underwear, t-shirts, golf shirts and my husband's raunchy workout clothes from the week. My mistake...laundry does not open until 8:00 am. So I went up to 15, got a coffee and read for awhile. Returned at 7:45 am and waited behind said couple, holding one armload of clothing. And not that it matters, but it appeared to be all WHITES to me. The husband then suggested to his wife that they could just use one washer so that I could use the other one, to which she replied "No, because I have more laundry back in the room to do when this is done.'' So, yes....I do think using the two washers back-to-back, particularly when others were waiting, is a tad rude. And yes, I did go and use another laundry room...and was the first in line at that one. As the steward opened the door, the woman across the hall peeked her head out to ask if I was going to use both washers. And yeah, at home, I probably would have. But I said I would get it all into one and note for future cruisers -- the washers are quite large enough to get ALOT in there, and despite my concern that all the clothes would not dry in one load...they did!

 

I am not always Miss Goodie Two Shoes (as I am sure my dear family will attest to) but I do believe that there is a degree of consideration and kindness that we can show to fellow passengers in many ways and many places on the ship. This is not just a laundry room issue. But don't get me started on that!

 

It really was NO BIG DEAL to me, and if I had NEVER gotten the laundry done, it would not have mattered one bit. Sorry my "shout out'' bothered YOU enough to respond to it...it really was meant in jest.

[Janie1111]

Great review. We are thinking of doing a christmas cruise this year. How far in advance did you book this? Thanks

[debbiewp]

Great review. We are thinking of doing a christmas cruise this year. How far in advance did you book this? Thanks

 

Janie,

 

I would book as soon as possible! We usually advance book on our last cruise for the next one, but in Jan. 2008, my father had some health concerns and we did not do it while on the ship. A big mistake, as you really can't lose if you do it that way. I'm thinking we decided in March, and although my parents were able to book a mini-suite, we were on the wait list for a quad mini-suite. One became available in July (but due to TA mistake we lost that) and it was not until Labor Day that another one opened up. It would not have been our first choice for location, but everything worked out. Meanwhile, we had booked our flights, so we were going somewhere even if we did not get a cabin! FYI: with such late bookings, we never stood a chance at getting traditional first or second seating, (wait list again) but anytime dining turned out to be good for us also. Good Luck and you will have lots of fun if you decide to do a Christmas cruise!

[IKE]

Great review! Glad you enjoyed the cruise. It seems You run into miserable people everywhere. To bad it was in your Laundry room. You wonder why they bother to cruise and not enjoy a nice Holiday time and be just happy. We sail Emerald in Late March. Just got off RCL"Explorer" and also ran into some miserable people. They are all over. We had a "Ball"!. Happy New Year! IKE

[Chas N Keith]

Debbie,

 

Your comment about the washers is completely right on. LOVE2ONOARD, or whatever her name is is out of line for her comment.

 

I can't believe the nerve of some people. Sheesh!

 

Great review!

[JWJs]

Debbie,

 

Your comment about the washers is completely right on. LOVE2ONOARD, or whatever her name is is out of line for her comment.

 

I can't believe the nerve of some people. Sheesh!

 

Great review!

 

I totally agree about the OP's comments being right on! It's really too bad some people like to hog the washers and dryers and I wonder if they are also chair hogs.

[love2bonboard]

I don't believe I am going to respond to this, but since you chose to pull two lines from what I think was a very positive review...now here is the whole story that I chose not to bore you all with the first time. I initially arrived at the laundry at 7:00 am with laundry from 4 adults stuffed in a Macys shopping bag...some underwear, t-shirts, golf shirts and my husband's raunchy workout clothes from the week. My mistake...laundry does not open until 8:00 am. So I went up to 15, got a coffee and read for awhile. Returned at 7:45 am and waited behind said couple, holding one armload of clothing. And not that it matters, but it appeared to be all WHITES to me. The husband then suggested to his wife that they could just use one washer so that I could use the other one, to which she replied "No, because I have more laundry back in the room to do when this is done.'' So, yes....I do think using the two washers back-to-back, particularly when others were waiting, is a tad rude. And yes, I did go and use another laundry room...and was the first in line at that one. As the steward opened the door, the woman across the hall peeked her head out to ask if I was going to use both washers. And yeah, at home, I probably would have. But I said I would get it all into one and note for future cruisers -- the washers are quite large enough to get ALOT in there, and despite my concern that all the clothes would not dry in one load...they did!

 

I am not always Miss Goodie Two Shoes (as I am sure my dear family will attest to) but I do believe that there is a degree of consideration and kindness that we can show to fellow passengers in many ways and many places on the ship. This is not just a laundry room issue. But don't get me started on that!

 

It really was NO BIG DEAL to me, and if I had NEVER gotten the laundry done, it would not have mattered one bit. Sorry my "shout out'' bothered YOU enough to respond to it...it really was meant in jest.

 

This is exactly why this board gets to me sometimes. I clearly wrote that I wasn't trying to be mean and that I was sorry that it bothered you on your cruise and that I am glad you had a good time anyway and happy future cruises....how do you respond and others after you....with snotty replies. You know I just wanted to say that maybe they were not "hogging" two washers to be rude, rather they had different clothes requiring different temperatures...It is a 30 minute wash, if someone has two loads, no big deal....I either wait the 30 minutes or I go somewhere else. OMG, the way you all reply to people who are just trying to give another side of the story. GEEZ RELAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[love2bonboard]

Debbie,

 

Your comment about the washers is completely right on. LOVE2ONOARD, or whatever her name is is out of line for her comment.

 

I can't believe the nerve of some people. Sheesh!

 

Great review!

WOW, I am out of line for giving another side of the story....like hey, maybe that person had to wash her brights and whites seperately....crazy I know. Maybe it was the OP being rude to say to the other person that she doesn't have to the right to use two washers....who makes any of you queen of the laundry room and able to say how much should fit into one washer and how many washers one is allowed to use. "I can't believe the nerve of some people", yeah, well I can't believe you guys are so rude on this post when I clearly was stating that there must be another side to this, and what part did you miss of my message about, "not trying to be mean", and "I'm glad you had a nice time anyway", "and happy future cruises" Oh what nerve to be so nice in my email. GIVE ME A BREAK YOU GUYS.