Emerald Princess - Jan 2010 (HELP)

[Canadian_Made]

Hello All,

 

My wife and I went on our first cruise last year (Ruby Princess) and we absolutely loved it. Now we are planning another cruise (with family members) and we are looking at the following ports of call, Princess Cays, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Grand Turk and Caicos.

 

If anyone can give us feedback on those ports and the ship that would be fantastic.

 

Thank you so much

[-Lew-]

If you liked the Ruby Princess, you'll love the Emerald! They're sister ships and virtually identical.

 

A good place to start for information about ports of call is here. Click on your port of interest just below the first photo. Also, check out your ports on the ports of call boards.

 

Lew

[hillhouse]

We did this itinerary in February as part of a CC group cruise on the Crown - and we're returning to the same ports next January on the Emerald, with 6 family members in tow.

 

The Crown is also a sister ship to the Emerald and Ruby (Emerald being the middle sister). We find this size and layout to be what we like - as Lew said, if you enjoyed Ruby, Emerald will be another jewel.:D:D:D

 

As to the ports - we're obviously biased. Plenty of beach day opportunities at all stops, and reasonable shopping opportunities in St. Thomas and St. Martin. That's what we look for, so the itinerary is a good fit for us. And I'll second the idea to spend a little time over at the Ports of Call area. You'll get a lot of port-specific info there. Whatever you choose, enjoy your next cruise - you're hooked now!:)

 

Dave and Pat

[garden2]

12 of us were on the Emerald in February--GREAT ship. We visited our friends on the Caribe deck (Cat-BA)& their balcony was wonderful-large with an overhang-we had a party as we left Aruba -held 4 chairs/ table & plenty of room for 8 of us. we were on the Aloha deck(CAT BC) & our balcony was small & had only the 2 charis with table. Needless to say we booked Ruby Princess for Med-9/25 & booked a BA cabin. Can't wait. Princess Cay is nice but I would not get off the ship after being there 4 times-Really is a beach day! BBQ was not nearly as good in the past-cold! One of our group did the glass bottom boat tour-loved it. St Marteen is fun to see-there were 6 of us last year & we went to the taxi stand as you get off the ship to the far right-anyway- island tour for x amount of dollars. There were 2 people wanting to go so they joined us-made it less money-so get a group. St Thomas is a shoppers paradise but if you have never been -take a tour for the morning. We like anytime dining-lots of women waiters. started in the Michelangelo but left there after 3 nights went to DaVinci-much quieter & found a great table-standing reservations. Service impeccable-always knew our drink order etc. We always ate between 815 to 8:30 said really busy earlier! Hope this is helpful!

[Canadian_Made]

Thanks for the quick replys! Last time we booked in November for January and we got limited selection (obstructed view room) which wasn't bad all. Do you think if we book in September that will have a much better choice or do cruisers book way in advance. I see people here book cruises almost 2 years in advance! lol

[jean s]

I usually book in September for February and get a decent choice of rooms. We did the same cruise last February and really loved it.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We spent 20 nights on the Emerald last January, and it was definitely our favorite Princess ship to date. We're scheduled for 30 nights on the Ruby next January/February, and I'm hoping it's just as wonderful.

[JimmyJ]

Greetings from Mississauga -

 

A group of us is planning on going on the Emerald on Feb. 07th.

We've been to those places before on other ships (except Turk/Caicos) which we're looking forward to.

Princess Cays is nice relaxing day on beach (wonderful water) - we had to tender in which took time, but enjoyed it and the buffet on the beach.

 

St. Thomas and St. Maarten - both interesting islands. Great duty free shopping... alas, the US people can take 5 bottles home - we?? only 1 :( Cruise to St. John was great (from St. Thomas) - Tour of St. Maarten shows both different sides of the island.

 

To me, though - the SHIP is my resort and I just love being on it. Looking forward to getting away.

 

Jim