Emerald Princess Review - October 11-18, 2009 - It's a long one!

[PirateGal]

Background

My husband and I (early 30's) chose the Emerald Princess after three previous cruises (2 on RCL – Mariner and Liberty of the Seas and 1 on Carnival - Liberty). We were first timers with Princess.

This was the Emerald Princess’ first 7-day Caribbean cruise after getting back from the Baltic and she will be doing this same route for the next 18-months.

Embarkation

We flew in on the day of embarkation (Sunday) and I don't recommend this to anyone since it's very stressful but we had a friend's wedding to attend on Saturday. We arrived in FLL around 11:15am after a direct flight on Southwest from Buffalo. It was our first time flying with Southwest and we were quite pleased with their service. We arrived on time and they were very quick with getting the luggage out, not to mention there was no fee for luggage.

We hopped in a cab and asked the driver to do a quick stopover at a grocery store. I mentioned Publix but he took us to Wynn-Dixie to pick up some water and pop. We arrived at port at about 12:30pm. The line was long and snaked out of the building into the hot, humid Florida afternoon. Once we entered the building, the line was split according to the decks that our staterooms were on. We were on board by 1:30pm.

Stateroom

We booked an obstructed outside guarantee and were assigned L102 on the Lido Deck. I had read some negative comments about the cabins in the very forward of the ship on the Lido Deck because the cabins were located directly under the gym. By the time I contacted our TA with my concerns, the ship was sold out so moving was not an option. Being easy- going travelers, we decided to try and make the best of the situation.


On the first morning, we were awoken at 7:20am to the sound of a very heavy man or woman just going all out on the treadmill. The stomping was loud and the vibrations rattled the glasses in our cabin. The pounding lasted about 40 minutes when we decided to get up and go to breakfast.


Just want to add that we are city dwellers and live on a busy main downtown street, and not in the quiet suburbs, so we are accustomed to a certain level of noise (traffic, construction, sirens, etc) but the pounding, along with the vibrations was even a little too much for us.

During the week, we heard stomping from the gym throughout the day. I did see signs on certain treadmills that said they were not to be in use before 8:00am. This cabin location is not for people who like to sleep in, have afternoon naps, or spend a lot of time in the cabin.


I mentioned our problem to the purser's desk on Monday morning and didn't hear anything back until Wednesday when they contacted us to see if the problems still existed. I said yes and they took note. On Thursday, Prakash from the purser's desk contacted us to say that we could be moved to a new room. The one cabin that was available was an unobstructed window on Deck 5 at the very forward of the ship. We were shown the room and it seemed tiny in comparison to ours and the window was 1/4 the size. We declined the room since we were already set up and there was only two days of the cruise left (a real case of too little, too late).

Our only solution was to spend as much time out of our room as possible ie: naps on the decks, reading in lounges, etc. It's a shame because we felt forced out of our cabin and that we couldn’t really relax in there.


I felt a bit comforted that Princess offered us an alternative but I don't really think they should even be selling these cabins...Maybe use the area for the crew or storage? There are also two suites in this area, not sure if they could hear the pounding from the gym above but our neighbours in L103 and L104 also said they could hear it.

We definitely felt some motion being at the very forward of the ship but we are not prone to seasickness and enjoyed the gentle rocking of the ship which usually put us to sleep. There was also a huge deck just outside our room that was open at sail away and Grand Turk day.


Outside our window, we saw a passage that the crew uses and then the deck. Not to worry though, the windows are tinted and people can’t really see in (believe me, I tried to spy into our own room) but we did try to keep at least the sheers drawn on the window all the time.


Our cabin steward was good but rarely spotted. We saw many of the other stewards on our floor but rarely saw ours. He kept that room clean and the ice bucket full…that’s all we can ask for!


Ohhh, but NO TOWEL ANIMALS! We didn’t receive any neither did a few other people we spoke to. Maybe the Emerald is not doing them anymore? Not a huge deal but I always enjoyed coming back from dinner to see what towel animal would be awaiting us. We did receive chocolates with our Patters.

Food

Buffets

I’m not a huge buffet fan by nature and usually avoid them because I know there are better offerings in the main dining rooms. But on the Emerald, I would say that there wasn’t a huge difference between the quality of food in the buffets and the MDR. I found the buffet offerings to be unappetizing and scarce.


The buffets are awkwardly laid out with one line to get in and that line moved all the way around the counters so if I by passed something and wanted to go back for it, I would have to butt into the line and endure stink eye for other passengers. At peak times, if all I wanted to get was some fruit, I would have to wait until my position in the line moved to the fruit section. I really prefer the open concept buffets with islands for food of the previous ships we have been on.


We could help ourselves to water, ice tea, coffee and tea at the drink stations but had to ask a server for the lemonade.


Ice Cream/Pizza/Burger Bar


Really enjoyed the pizza! Always hot and greasy but extremely satisfying!

Dining Room - Breakfast

We ate in the dining room for breakfast several times. The breakfast menu offered two specials every day along with the standard fare. Unfortunately, the breakfast entrees were rarely served hot or even warm. Specials included scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, and French Toast, cheese and asparagus omelet. But we did enjoy the super crispy bacon!

Dining Room & Wheelhouse Pub - Lunch

We had lunch in the dining room twice. On the last sea day, we ordered the Hungarian Goulash which was excellent. The dining room at lunch also offered excellent ice cream flavours – key lime and kiwi.

Lunch is also available in the Wheelhouse Pub on sea days at no extra cost. I ordered the fish and chips and DH had the cottage pie. Food was hot and delicious. We ordered cold beers (additional cost) to wash it all down.

Dining Room – Afternoon Tea

We tried the Afternoon Tea on the first sea day and had a good time. Servers came around with tea, sandwiches, hot scones with cream and little desserts while a pianist played in the background. I recommend the Afternoon Tea for something different to do.

Dining Room - Dinner

We chose the traditional late seating at 8:15pm and were seated at a table for six with two couples from Maryland that were travelling together.

Our waiter was Rodrigo from Brazil and we never got the name of our assistant waiter. Service was good for the most part, although there were some nights we were never offered fresh ground pepper, coffee or the coffee would come long after we had finished our desserts. Very minor in my opinion.

We found the dinner menus to be just adequate, and we didn’t find too many offerings to get excited about. On previous cruises, we always had a hard time deciding between two or three dishes but here, we found it difficult to choose even one dish we wanted.

Memorable dishes included the beef medallions on formal night, and DH loved the seafood pot baked in a flaky crust. Lobster night was on Thursday and each lobster tail came with two jumbo prawns which were better than the lobster!

Shrimp cocktail was available on the menu every night. We found the warm soups to be a tad on the salty side, and I didn’t care for the cold soups, where were more like fruit smoothies.

I would say the desserts were the most disappointing…I found myself ordering ice cream and sorbets just about every night just because those were the best on the list – I have to admit, the ice cream/sorbets were pretty fantastic, especially the hazelnut and mandarin flavors.

The head waiter of our section visited every night and spent at least 5-10 minutes chatting with us. Definitely a change from our previous cruises where we never saw the head waiter until the last night!

Crown Grill

We ate at the Crown Grill on Friday night (Grand Turk night) with an early reservation of 7:00pm. We were seated right away and our server was courteous (although did not introduce himself or tell us his name). We ordered a bottle of California red wine.

For appetizers, we ordered the sea scallops and the shrimp salad. Then, the shrimp bisque – excellent, best soup of the cruise! For mains, I ordered the fillet mignon and the lobster tails. DH ordered the Kansas strip and the lobster tails. For sides, we ordered mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes and grilled asparagus, which was all served family style. Our waiter also brought us one more side that wasn’t on the menu – bourbon marinated shrimp on a rice pilaf. The food was all excellent, definitely a bit higher quality than what is served in the main dining room. For dessert, DH ordered the sampler plate, and I ordered the S’mores Stack…an excellent way to end the meal. I would say that the meal was well worth the $25 per person surcharge.

I wish we would have made reservations at the Crown Grill on the Wednesday night (Italian night in the dining room), as lamb and king crab legs were served in the dining room on Friday night.

International Cafe

We stopped in at the International Café just after embarkation to grab a sandwich, Greek salad and small slice of dessert. And we came back during the week to eye the desserts. We wanted to try the gelato (3 sizeable scoops for $1.50) but just ran out of time.

What About The Coffee???

I had read many comments on CC about the dreaded coffee in the dining rooms and buffets (aka ‘the mix’). We had considered buying a coffee card that would allow us access to the specialty and drip coffees from the International Café. I was hoping that there would be a coupon book in our stateroom for a buy one coffee card-get the second free but the coupon book never arrived at our room and by the time we remembered about the coffee card, we were already three days into the cruise.

We’re not huge coffee snobs so we didn’t find the regular coffee to be too bad. It’s definitely drinkable. My strategy, taken only 3-4 sips at breakfast and with dessert just to get a taste and abandon the rest. I started ordering green tea as an alternative.

Ports of Call

The itinerary for this cruise was the main reason we chose the Princess Emerald.

Princess Cays - A beautiful private island with wide, white sand beaches (no water shoes needed), plenty of seating in the sun and shade. The tendering process took a bit longer than we expected. We arrived at the Princess Theatre around 9:20am and were given tender tickets. About 30 min. later, we were called to the tender which took another 20-25 minutes to reach the island.

There was a BBQ buffet offered on the island that included burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, salad, fruit and cookies.

St. Maarten - We booked the island tour with Bernard (http://www.bernardstours.com/) and couldn't be more pleased. Bernard met us by the visitor's centre half an hour after the shipped docked. We had to wait about 30 minutes for some late comers which cut into our tour time.

Our first stop was a rocky beach to look at some sea urchins and shells. Then onto Orient Beach which I think is one of the better beaches I have ever been to...nudity aside, the beach was quiet, mature, no radios or music, and very few children. I don't have a problem with the nudity at all...next time we are in St. Maarten, I wouldn't hesitate to just take a cab straight there. A friend of ours rented a Seadoo for $50 for 30 minutes...the price also included a few chair rentals but we just sat on our towels. Bernard gave us 1.5 hrs at the beach and then we met back at the van.

Next on the tour was a visit to the French open market for souvenirs (30 minutes there), and then on to Maho Beach. Unfortunately, we had missed the landings of the bigger planes but we did see two smaller planes land. By the time we arrived at Maho, the sun was starting to hide behind clouds and we were tired from the day's tour.

Bernard charges $35/person for the island tour, which also includes drinks from his stocked cooler (Carib beer, Coke, Diet Coke, water and rum punch). I highly recommend this tour, especially for first time visitors to St. Maarten.

St. Thomas - With careful instructions taken from CC, we decided to brave the journey to Trunk Bay, St. John on our own. We docked at Crown Bay at 7:00am and we headed out of the terminal to catch one of the "dollar bus rides". We didn't have to wait too long for one to pass by.

The weather in St. Thomas that morning was rainy and wet...and it was also rush hour for locals going to school and work. The ride to the Red Hook ferry dock took a little bit more than an hour but we got a scenic tour of St. Thomas. The bus also passes by the downtown area and Sapphire Beach. In fact, the Red Hook ferry dock is almost immediately after the entrance to Sapphire Beach. We missed the 8:00am ferry by only 15 minutes and had to wait until 9:00am. The ferry took only 15-20 minutes over to St. John's and once there we took an open air cab to Trunk Bay.

Two and a half hours after we docked in St. Thomas, we finally arrive at Trunk Bay and the sky got dark and it started to rain for about a half hour but then it was hot and sunny. The beach itself isn't very large, but it was quiet, maybe only 6-8 people when we arrived and then a Princess excursion arrived around 11:00am. We didn't see any water sports, just snorkeling. There may have been chair rentals but we just sat on our towels. We left the beach around 12:15pm in order to catch the 1:00pm ferry back to be on time for the 4:00pm sail away.

If we go to St. Thomas again, I don't think I would make the effort to journey over to Trunk Bay again. The total cost was $60 for two people and it was a bit nerve racking to try to catch the ferry on time and be back before sail away. I'm glad we did it, but I wouldn't do it again. It was not a hard trip to do on our own but we spent a lot of time in transit than on the beach.

Grand Turk - We decided to just spend the day close to the ship in the cruise centre. There is a beach right where the ship docks and plenty of free chairs. The beach has lot of coral though, not sharp, but uneven so we had to watch our step. Water shoes would have been helpful.

Entertainment

We saw a few shows in the Princess Theatre – the Welcome Aboard show, the Motown show and the stand up comedian. We missed the other productions about shoes, tribute to pop stars and the farewell show.

We also watched the finals of Princess Pop Star (karaoke competition) and a comedy routine in the other lounges.

We watched 2 movies at Movies Under the Stars. Well, technically one and half movies. We started watching “The Proposal” but half way through the movie, it cut out and some dolphin footage came on. We waited 15-20 minutes and the movie didn’t come back so we left. We also watched “Star Trek”. We loved the concept of MUTS but felt that there really wasn’t enough seating for it. We had to arrive at least 20-30 minutes in advance to find seats…perhaps if people didn’t save 5 chairs at once, there would have been enough seating for all those interested in the movie. The fresh popcorn, cookies and pizza served at MUTS was great!

The cruise director was Lisa Ball. I thought she did an adequate job, friendly and outgoing without being overbearing.

Activities

We attended the Meet and Mingle on our first sea day and it was a pleasure to meet everyone from our roll call. I thought it would have been a nice touch if someone from the cruise staff would have popped in and said hello but we were left on our own. I believe we were supposed to have a bartender to take drink orders but no one showed up until the last 5 minutes of the Meet and Mingle.

I used the gym several times and as an avid runner, used the treadmills (can’t beat ‘em, might as well join ‘em!). The gym was a good size and offered the standard treadmills, ellipticals, and weight equipment. Although my DH who is 6’2 was not able to use the treadmill or elliptical because he was too tall and risked hitting his head on the low ceiling. I think the Emerald could improve the running track. It’s very tiny – 16 laps equals 1 mile. I think I’d be very dizzy before I could finish 1 mile.

We found the casino to be small in comparison to the other ships we were on. We’re not big gamblers but do enjoy putting in a $20 donation into a slot machine. We didn’t find a whole lot of choice in machines (only 5 were nickel machines) and they did not have my favourite – The Cleopatra.

We attended the cooking demonstration on the morning of the last sea day which was entertaining but also included a tour of the Deck 6 gallery so we got a quick sneak peek behind the scenes.

Pool Deck

The two main pools were very busy but we did find a quieter space just outside the Sanctuary on Deck 16. We toured the Sanctuary on embarkation day and decided it wouldn’t be worth it to us to pay the entry fee. We enjoyed this quieter area but it was a trek away from the mid-ship buffet and getting water.

I found the layout of the upper decks very confusing. The decks at the back of the ship are tiered and there are many nooks and crannys at the aft. We couldn’t really walk around the ship without having to enter and then exit the buffet, climb stairs up and then down to another deck. The only deck that we could almost walk around the ship is Deck 7 (Promenade) and I say “almost” because we still had to go up and down a small flight of stairs at the forward and aft of the ship on that deck.

End of the Cruise

We paid off our shipboard account in cash but were disappointed that we couldn’t see the account activity on the TV in our room. Not a huge deal since we just requested a print out from the purser’s desk early on our last sea day. By the time we came back to pay it off, there was a huge line, mostly of people requesting a print out and then going over every charge at the desk. I think this problem could be alleviated if the account activity was available on the television and we could see ahead of time how much we owe and if there are any incorrect charges.

We received gold luggage tags for departure. Our call time was 8:20am at the Gatsby Casino but we weren’t called to leave until 9:00am-ish. Usually we do the self-disembark but we didn’t to pick up the rental car too early. Once we were off the ship, we found our luggage neatly stacked by the “Lido” signage where we picked up our sea passes when we embarked.

Overall Impressions

We were really thrilled to be going on a Princess ship for the first time but at the end of the cruise we found ourselves feeling that maybe our expectations might have been too high.

We still had a great time…amazing weather, beautiful islands and a week away from work. But we didn’t find many things about the Emerald Princess that excelled over than the previous lines we had sailed, in a few cases, it was actually worse (food, ship layout, room location) and there wasn’t anything that impressed us or made us feel we had to come back right away and do it all over. We may sail with Princess again in the future but it will definitely not be one of our first choices.

[chasekenslee]

We were on this cruise and would have to totally agree with everything PirateGal said!
We were also on the Lido deck forward and the noise from above was crazy! Would start about 6am and would continue thru out the day! We enjoy our afternoon naps on cruises, but could not get a single nap in on this cruise. While it did not ruin our experience, it was a total nusance!
Another note that I would like to add is how "boring" the nights seemed to be. It could have just been us, but every bar or club we went to around 10-11 seemed to be dead. But again this did not ruin our cruise! Just made us go to bed earlier.
We would definately go on the Emerald again....we would just be more careful on our room location

[Woodmnky]

I am sorry that you were not as thrilled as your felt that you could have been by Princess. I do thank and applaud you for a very well written, well rounded review of your cruise.
Having only sailed on Princess, I have often wondered if I was to change lines for a cruise if I would experience a similar let down because it was not the same familiar experience that I have had on Princess.
Wherever your cruises may take you, enjoy.

[delta_glenn]

We had an inside cabin - having already done the balcony thing on the Eastern Caribb. Stateroom was very nice, well laid out, and the bed was topped with an egg crate when we got on board, as we had pre-ordered / requested.

We preferred the Horizon court breakfasts over the MDR, but split lunches betw MDR, Horizon, and the Burger/Pizza bar. We always checked the menus posted outside the MDR before we went in for a meal to see if there were items we wanted to order. We also did the English Pub in the Wheelhouse bar and found it to be a nice diversion. Afternoon tea was fun with the strings playing, very enjoyable.

Embarkation was delayed because of EP coming in from the Baltic and USCG / Customs doing a bit of due diligence with the crew giving the ships first arrival in Port Everglades. At least, that was the explanation. Boarding began for everyone at 12:30 PM and we were in group # 3 and in our stateroom by 1:05 PM.

I really like how Princess does the emergency drill by having passengers meet in designated areas (we were in the Princess Theatre) instead of lining the rails with the life jackets on. Fort Lauderdale was in the midst of an October heat wave (approx. 95 degrees when the EP departed) and it was much more comfortable inside than outside.

The deserts in the Horizon Court for dinner were really plain. The dining room had much better deserts for dinner.

In the evenings, we watched MUTS (Angels and Demons) and Football (being from Nashville, the Titans game sucked - but every Titans game has this season). We also went to the see the Hypnotist show which was outstanding both evenings. The Princess Theater shows featured great musicians, but only marginal in regards to dancing and singing. The piano bar was fun as well sing a longs, etc.

Wifey got the coffee card and used about 1/3 of it. Good thing we get to keep it and use it again on our next cruise aboard the Ruby.

Missed the "memo" about tips being auto charged to our account each day. Was stunned to see it on the bill when I previewed it the last sea day but when I realized what it was, I was ok. Next time, don't have to carry so much cash onboard for end of cruise...

Not a huge point, but now the cabin TVs got both ESPN and ESPN2. While at sea, ESPN2 becomes main ESPN at times (like Saturday for college football). Nice surprise. Internet was slow - at times, super slow, at other times, super frustrating slow.

As for ports, we did not book excursions - it was our 4th time to the islands. Was surprised by how aggressive the street vendors in Phillipsburg were now. Guess the economy has gotten to them hard. Plus, this is now the start of the Caribb. season so maybe they were anxious to make a sale. But, it reminded me of how agressive the street vendors in Nassau were/are and why we don't get off the boat when its docks there anymore. When you get off the water taxi, bulk up because they are waiting on you.....

In summary, the main objective for us in this cruise was to relax, and that objective was accomplished in spades and diamonds! Thanks to the Sanctuary, the art gallery, and the Chef's Table event, this was a cruise we will not forget and we would cruise the EP next week if our employers would permit!!!

[Sandyrella]

Thanks PirateGal, etc. for your reviews! We are going on this ship in February so we've anxiously been waiting for reviews for this itinerary.

Can any of you tell me when formal nights are?

Also, PirateGal, we are thinking of doing Bernard Tours in St. Maarten but I was disappointed to read that you did Orient Beach first. I was hoping for the alternate itinerary...Marigot, Maho, the Orient Beach. Do you know how flexible he is? We will probably still do this regardless but I usually like to end my day at the beach, not start it. How was traffic? I read that we are there with 4 other ships, including the Oasis of the Seas. I'm a little worried...

Thanks again for taking the time to write!

[tequilasunrise]

I really like detailed reviews, Thanks for writing it!

[PirateGal]

Originally Posted by Sandyrella

Thanks PirateGal, etc. for your reviews! We are going on this ship in February so we've anxiously been waiting for reviews for this itinerary.

Can any of you tell me when formal nights are?

Also, PirateGal, we are thinking of doing Bernard Tours in St. Maarten but I was disappointed to read that you did Orient Beach first. I was hoping for the alternate itinerary...Marigot, Maho, the Orient Beach. Do you know how flexible he is? We will probably still do this regardless but I usually like to end my day at the beach, not start it. How was traffic? I read that we are there with 4 other ships, including the Oasis of the Seas. I'm a little worried...

Thanks again for taking the time to write!

Glad you enjoyed my review...I know it's long but I figure somebody might be able to take away some info from it!

The formal nights are Tuesday and Thursday nights (lobster on Thursday night).

You can try to email Bernard and suggest an alternate itinerary. I know there was another group that day that skipped Orient Beach because there were kids and they went to another beach. Bernard is pretty good about responding to emails.

The day we were in St. Maarten, there were 2 other ships - the Carnival Glory and the Sea Princess...both slightly smaller than the Emerald. Traffic was a bit heavy as we left Maho Beach but Bernard is very mindful of the time and we got back to the ship with an hour to spare before sail away.

Hope that helps and have a great time!

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[bhopal21]

Thanks for the review Pirategal.

We are to be onboard The Emerald in February and this will be our 10th Princess cruise but the first on the mega-liners.

Mike

[hawkette64]

We traveled with PirateGal, and another couple, on the Emerald. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, ranking it as one of the best, our third on Princess. We booked an inside guarantee and were upgraded to obstructed oceanview, E508. A small lifeboat obstructed the bottom portion of the window, but a very nice view considering. We had breakfast in the buffet except for debark day, lunch in the buffet except for one sea day in the Wheelhouse, anytime dining except for embark night and one night in Sabatini's and almost every night a bedtime 'snack' in the buffet. We like seafood and weren't disappointed. A very nice day on Princess Cays, however it was a bit of a wait to get a tender. The bar-b-q wasn't bad. Also on Bernard's tour in St. Maarten, excellent tour however wish we had seen a big jet at Maho. Took a taxi to Megan's Bay, always enjoy our days there. Rented a golf cart from Nathan on Grand Turk and had a fun time. Enjoyed the evening shows in the Theater, the hypnotist and the Karaoke. First time we tried to watch a movie Under the Stars, will do that again. Also found the deck layout very confusing, never did know which way was forward or aft. Room steward very efficient and knew our names the first day. Would return next week if possible .

[rcacace]

I know what you meant about Trunk bay being much to long of a trip. We've done it three times (both on our own & ships tour) and although it's is a great beach to visit, considering the time & cost involved for the short amount of time spent there I would choose a beach on St Thomas in the future.

[JWJs]

I enjoyed reading your detailed Emerald cruise review. Sorry about the problem of treadmill traffic vibrations in your stateroom. What a bummer! Thanks for posting. Our 12/20/08 Emerald cruise was one of our best cruises ever. I was disappointed with the dining room food but everything else was perfect. Our next cruise is on the Holland America Statendam and I'm quite sure it will not come close to being as wonderful as we have found Princess to be. Time will tell.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting the detailed review. We sail in four weeks. We were on the Emerald a few years ago--so I know a lot of what to expect. Our two most recent cruises were on a HAL ship and a Celebrity ship. We went with Princess to get our free Internet access (as Platinum status). But we've also missed a lot of the things that Princess does well--like the afternoon tea.

[CRUZIN'NANA]

Hi, Pirategal!

We were on the ship with you as well--believe we talked to you while waiting to get onto one of Bernard's vans in St. Maarten. We liked our tour with Bernard very much.

Enjoyed reading your review and agreed with you on many points. We took this cruise for sheer relaxation, and other than the huge disappointment of Princess' "mishandling" of the Meet-and-Greet, I tried not to get stressed over anything else all week. It was nice to return to the Eastern Caribbean ports that we are familiar with.

Personally, I found the buffet food lacking--pretty bland for the most part and overall, uninteresting (except for the crab and shrimp). The food in the MDR was better, and of course, the Chef's Table menu was outstanding. We did enjoy the International Cafe and pub lunch at the Wheelhouse. Never got to the Crown Grill--by the time we called to make a reservation late in the week, it was booked up for the remainder of the cruise.

Perhaps we'll sail with you again in the future!

Linda

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Thanks for the review. I thought it was very informative and fair.

[Caribbean Sunsets]

oops...double post...boards still acting up.

[lahoban]

Originally posted by Pirategal "DH loved the seafood pot baked in a flaky crust."

This was the best! I wish I had the recipe.

[Langley Cruisers]

OP, thank you for your informative and thorough review. I loved your touches of humor throughout. We found many of the same things you did, including poor buffet layout, deck confusion, and entertainment to name a few.

Thanks for the port info; have been to St.Thomas twice now and were considering making the trek to St.John, but completely understand and agree with your assessment. Thanks for that.

Glad you enjoyed her, overall. We did too and also may choose Princess again, but we are fairly loyal to RCI and are interested in trying one of the newer Holland America ships. We'll see.

[Hank1468]

We are set to have Traditional Late Seating...When are the shows for the late-seating? Are they before or after dinner? Thank you!

[caribill]

Since you made stops outside the USA before reaching St.Thomas, did you have to go through some sort of immigration procedure there?