Emerald Princess after RCI Independence of the Sea's.

[nicochick]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have just returned from a 11 night sailing on Independence of the Sea's. We absolutely loved it and now have the bug for cruising and am already planning our next one! Although we absolutely adored IOS, it was our first ever cruise so we had nothing to compare it to and we would like to try a different line (and itinerary) to see how they compare/experience something different etc..

Do you think going from IOS to the Emerald is a good transition? Obviously having now experienced a large ship with plenty of choice etc.. we would like to keep to something which is relatively big, having really enjoyed the choice of dining rooms, bars and entertainment a large ship offers.

Any advise you have on the Emerald would be much appreciated, i.e best rooms to go for etc... We are thinking on doing the 10 night sailing in either the eastern or southern Caribbean next November but not sure which one to go for yet.

Thanks Nicola.

[Coral]

I actually don't think a larger ship gives you more "options". I found myself more limited on a larger ship due to more people on the ship vying for the same "options".

Except for "gelato" - I can't think of anything more that the Crown Princess (same as Emerald) over the Grand/Golden/Star Princess. To some extent - I found some of the older options such as Princess Theatre better used compared to Club Fusion.

[-Lew-]

Originally Posted by Coral

Except for "gelato" - I can't think of anything more that the Crown Princess (same as Emerald) over the Grand/Golden/Star Princess.

Although we love the Grand and the lower passenger capacity, there are some things we miss that the Crown and Emerald offer:

• The International Cafe

• Caribe Cafe

• Due to the covered pool on the Grand, MUTS is located at the main pool by the midship elevators. On the Crown and Emerald MUTS, with it's high noise volume, is located at the pool just forward of Horizon Court.

Lew

[Coral]

Originally Posted by -Lew-

Although we love the Grand and the lower passenger capacity, there are some things we miss that the Crown and Emerald offer:

• The International Cafe

• Caribe Cafe

• Due to the covered pool on the Grand, MUTS is located at the main pool by the midship elevators. On the Crown and Emerald MUTS, with it's high noise volume, is located at the pool just forward of Horizon Court.

Lew

They do have an International Cafe on the Golden and Star (the only thing missing was the Gelato).

And while I may have missed something - I walked by Caribe Cafe several times and it was just another extension of the Horizon Court serving the same items. For example at night, the Horizon Court was closed but the Caribe Cafe was serving what the Horizon Court used to serve at night. In the mornings, it was serving the same things as the Horizon Court also....

The location of the MUTs doesn't seem to be that different for me....

[Tatka]

I personally like Princess Grand Class ships more than Voyager (and probably Freedom) class of RCCL for many different reasons which I will try to list below. But keep in mind the first cruise for many people is THE BEST, and you will compare everything to it... even if you don't plan on doing so.

Our Princess cruise on Caribbean Princess was #7 out of 12 cruises and was our favorite. We had 2 more cruises later with Princess - Caribbean and Ruby. Both are the sister ships to Emerald, so experience should be pretty similar.

One of the main advantages for us is a ship design. RCCL ships are amazing, promenades, pools, glitz etc, but Princess ships in many areas will give you a feel that you are sailing on a smaller cozy yacht. Especially in pool areas. Instead of having 1 huge pool and small adult pool Princess ships have 4.5 pools spread out thru the Lido deck. Two other pools are pool where music band plays and MUTS - movies under the star/sun are shown, which is a great feature.

I would also give advantage in entertainment department to Princess. You won't see Promenade parades, but you will have more entertainment choices in addition to the main Theater. Check performances in Explorer lounge and music in Wheelhouse bar nearby... also very often you'll see musicians or street performers right at the Piazza (Central Atrium).

In term of dining venues you will have more flexibility and longer hours.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Originally Posted by Tatka

I personally like Princess Grand Class ships more than Voyager (and probably Freedom) class of RCCL for many different reasons which I will try to list below. But keep in mind the first cruise for many people is THE BEST, and you will compare everything to it... even if you don't plan on doing so.
One of the main advantages for us is a ship design. RCCL ships are amazing, promenades, pools, glitz etc, but Princess ships in many areas will give you a feel that you are sailing on a smaller cozy yacht. Especially in pool areas. Instead of having 1 huge pool and small adult pool Princess ships have 4.5 pools spread out thru the Lido deck. Two other pools are pool where music band plays and MUTS - movies under the star/sun are shown, which is a great feature.

I agree with those comments. Having been on the AOS and the Liberty OTS besides many other RCI ships, I still prefer Princess. It is a totally different ambiance onboard than with RCI.

Yes, RCI has all the neat venues, things to do, and fantastic cabins, but Princess something more. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it feels more like a cruise. It's intimate. It's more relaxed.

If you want an experience like you already had with RCI, then you might be disappointed with Princess. You have to appreciate it for what it is - a totally different experience. The food is light years ahead of RCI's, as is the service - and those things are what keep us coming back to Princess year after year.

[antsp]

We did a back 2 back cruise from the Voyager of the Seas to the Emerald Princess got of one and straight onto the other, it was strange to watch the Voyager depart that night before us. Princess is a lot more refined than RCCL and to me wins hands down, i think what put me off RCCL was the tattoo shop on the royal promenade, Butlins at sea it was

[Colo Cruiser]

There is no comparison IMO.
They are like night and day.

What did you think of such a large ship?

[Woobstr112G]

I might like to try it just to say I did.....

Bob

[Tatka]

Originally Posted by antsp

We did a back 2 back cruise from the Voyager of the Seas to the Emerald Princess got of one and straight onto the other, it was strange to watch the Voyager depart that night before us. Princess is a lot more refined than RCCL and to me wins hands down, i think what put me off RCCL was the tattoo shop on the royal promenade, Butlins at sea it was

Sorry for off-top, but have you ever sailed on P&O Ventura? It looked exacltly like Grand class ship of Princess, but what are the differences?

[dsmeryage]

Originally Posted by Coral

They do have an International Cafe on the Golden and Star (the only thing missing was the Gelato).

And while I may have missed something - I walked by Caribe Cafe several times and it was just another extension of the Horizon Court serving the same items. For example at night, the Horizon Court was closed but the Caribe Cafe was serving what the Horizon Court used to serve at night. In the mornings, it was serving the same things as the Horizon Court also....

The location of the MUTs doesn't seem to be that different for me....

My wife and I have cruised 36 days aboard the Emerald Princess during the past two years and I can definitely say the Caribe Cafe does NOT serve the same menu as the Horizon Court during lunch and dinner. In fact, on most nights the Caribe Cafe has a theme like Italian, Mexican, Italian, etc. During lunch most selections there are unique and not offered in the Horizon Court. I would agree that their late night menu is similar to what the other Grand-class ships would serve at that time. Also, the Horizon Court shuts down and the Caribe Cafe is normally the only late night spot on those ships which have this area.

[Coral]

Originally Posted by dsmeryage

My wife and I have cruised 36 days aboard the Emerald Princess during the past two years and I can definitely say the Caribe Cafe does NOT serve the same menu as the Horizon Court during lunch and dinner. In fact, on most nights the Caribe Cafe has a theme like Italian, Mexican, Italian, etc. During lunch most selections there are unique and not offered in the Horizon Court. I would agree that their late night menu is similar to what the other Grand-class ships would serve at that time. Also, the Horizon Court shuts down and the Caribe Cafe is normally the only late night spot on those ships which have this area.

Well - maybe things have changed as the Horizon Court wasn't open at all during dinner hours (unless it closed down by 7:30 which is when I often ran up there, I still consider 7:30 dinner hours). Only Caribe Cafe was open and it was serving items very similar to what the dining room was serving but in buffet style. Just like the Horizon court used to do. There were a few different items but like I said, the same as the Horizon Court on other ships.

During the rest of the time, from what I could tell, it was just an extension of the Horizon Court. I know for breakfast, it didn't have anything different. I know I walked through at lunch but don't remember if anything was different. I guess it wasn't memorable.....

I heard people say there were changes but I didn't realize what they meant - someone was complaining about the lack of seafood selections. Since I am not a seafood eater, I didn't ask anything more.

[hillhouse]

Our first cruise was also on a Voyager class. We loved it so much, we returned to do another big ship cruise on RCCL - and brought 16 of our best friends and family members. So what the heck am I doing in the Princess forum? And, you'd probably expect me to either praise Royal Caribbean's big ships or blast them, right?

Last year, we wanted to "keep it fresh", so we tried the Crown. Once again, it was love at first sight - and once again we're returning with family and friends to a big Princess ship. Same folks, different strokes.

If you and your husband truly think that a little change is good, you're headed in the right direction. If you might struggle with trading an ice rink, flowrider, and rock climbing wall for MUTS, more smaller venue entertainment choices (love that trivia) and 24 hour food, then maybe you'll want to do some more comparisons. While RCCL definitely offers more onboard choices for the physically active, Princess gets our nod for entertainment, food and refinement. We've enjoyed the changes just as much as we've missed them - so it's been a fun, refreshing experience for us. Who knows what we'll choose next? To us, it's a comforting advantage to know that we now have at least 2 alternatives that don't require us to feel we're giving anything up - for us it's now more about itinerary and pricing instead of the cruise line.

And what kind of cabin did you have on IOS? Mentioning that should get you plenty of comments from others. For us, the sig says it all. We don't need a lot of room (although the upgrade to a GS on Voyager was a hoot), but we can't do without a balcony. We found a good trade in giving up a few square feet in room size in a standard Voyager class balcony cabin for a larger, half-covered, half-open Caribe balcony. And, we've always tried to stay as close to mid-ship as possible. Even with the Royal Promenade, a mid-ship cabin made everything in general easy to get to - and the same philosophy works even better for us with the centrum and piazza on the grand class ships.

However you decide, you can't go wrong. You've already made the best decision of all - to cruise again. Maybe some day we'll see you on the Emerald - or the Freedom. It's all good!

[Tatka]

While I like Princess better overall, I think cabins are planned smarter on RCCL. With the same standard size +/- 160 sq ft RCCL was able to create seating space with a loveseat. Princess did a goo job with a clothes storage (almost a separate room), but I think seating space is more important.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We truly loved our Emerald Princess cruises last January. I've never been on Freedom Class of RC ships, but we were on the Mariner shortly after being on the Emerald last year. There were admittedly things I liked better about each cruise, but when it came to the ship, I preferred the Emerald Princess. Somehow, when you are on a RC ship larger than the Radiance Class, you lose that connection to the ocean, and I truly missed that on the Mariner. Except for the theater and dining room (RC has it all over Princess in those respects), I prefer the Emerald.

But I like the Radiance ships best of all!

[Tatka]

I actually like Dining rooms on Princess.. Too bad they switched Anytime DR to Fixed Seating DR. It has abudance of tables for two.. and you can pretend you eating in the different restaurants every night by changing tables.

I think ambience of Princess is a key for us.. Quiet, not in your face, not glitzy, but classy.

[nicochick]

Thanks everyone for your valuable information and comments. We are certainly ready and very willing to embrace a different ship and cruising experience etc.. We loved the IOS but also are open minded and if anything going by some of the Princess Patters I have come accross, it seems like there may actually be more entertainment going on than we had on IOS, but whichever way I'm sure we will have a great time!

[icyfrost]

Originally Posted by Colo Cruiser

There is no comparison IMO.
They are like night and day.

What did you think of such a large ship?

Can you explain your experience on the night & day comparison?

[flynrph]

Originally Posted by DrivesLikeMario

.......Yes, RCI has all the neat venues, things to do, and fantastic cabins, but Princess something more. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it feels more like a cruise. It's intimate. It's more relaxed.

The term I use to describe this, "Understated elegance."

[Down South Cruiser]

Hello all,

I have sailed 15 times with Royal Caribbean & have been on all classes of their ships. So like hillhouse said "So what the heck am I doing in the Princess forum?" While we have always been satisfied with the ships & service of RC, we are looking for something different. We just got off the Freedom of the Seas last week & are itching to book another cruise. It looks like we are going try a February cruise on the Emerald. I have never been on a Princess ship before but anxious to give it a try for a change of pace. Maybe you guys can give me some ideas about the best location on the ship to book a mini-suite. I also need to learn more about all the dinning options. Do you guys set things up ahead of time or do you decide day by day where to go? Any & all information about the best ways to do things would be helpful. Thanks