Back From Emerald Princess NZ cruise :-)

Hi,

Just returned on Monday from a 2 week jaunt on the Emerald Princess so thought I would pop a quick post in case there is any info that may be of interest to anyone else.

1st time for us on the Emerald & yes we had a great time :D.

The Upside:

1. Boarding pretty quick! We went at our allocated boarding time 1.30pm & from arrival at OPT to on board was about 50-60 mins tops & our luggage was there & waiting. Best/quickest boarding we've had in with our 4 past cruises.

2. The Vines - loved it. What a fab place for wine by the glass and the staff were super friendly. We had the complimentary sushi many times. Loved it. In fact my son had our 2 plates of it for dinner on more than one occasion. It was made to order & fresh.

3. Xmas decorations were added when we docked in Auckland. There was a team that zoomed around and by the time we left port the ship was Xmassy.

4. We had a mini suite & bed seemed very comfy - better than Diamond which was our last Princess cruise. Maybe new? Not sure. But the sofa bed for my son was the same hard ole plank :rolleyes:.

5. Crown Grill was lovely. Exceptional service and food was super tasty.

6. They are now offering the all inclusive photo package. $199 if you purchase within 3 days of boarding. Includes every single photo taken in paper & USB digital form. Great deal. We didn't go crazy and get photos every day and only did one formal night but we still had 91 pics which we were very happy with for $199. I am not sure if they are enforcing it but the price on some flyers says $299 if you don't sign up within 1st three days. They are also doing some green screen pics on casual nights which are fun. Your photo gets transposed onto various backgrounds eg Hobbiton or Auckland etc

7. First time to Napier - amazing loved it. Prettiest city. Used Hooters Vintage cars - exceptional fun tour in vintage car.

8. I thought everything was lovely & clean on the ship.

9. International Café was great too. Super nice to be able to get a toasted panini for lunch with salad.

10. Salty Dog - loved it! The $19 cover charge was reasonable & the food was very nice. The servings are not huge but we left very full every time. Omg I loved the chocolate dessert. We loved SD so much we went 3 times! It was nice to go and not feel like you had eaten a huge xmas dinner size meal. We went to Vines for predinner tipple then Salty Dog.

The Downside

Nothing major except that the weather wasn't the greatest. We didn't miss any ports so that was good. But a lot of people we cabin confined for the first few days. Luckily for us we weren't vomit level ill but we did have to stay up on deck due to constant nausea and we felt so much better out doors. We've been in rough weather before but I think the difference this time was the ship was pitching and rolling in the big seas. It was freezing on deck but at least we felt better up there. Missed formal night & felt pretty ordinary till we got to Dunedin. We were very happy to say land ho! A bit of entertainment cancelled early in the cruise due to weather & one cancelled as the performer was sea sick.

Coffee - I don't drink coffee but DH said the IC coffee was ok one day but pretty ordinary the next. He said it was a bit better than the coffee on the diamond but lets just say he was happy to get a "real" coffee in port. I had a hot choc one day that was yum but the one I got the next day I threw out as it was watery and ick. I guess it depends on who makes it.

Weather from NZ back to Sydney was also rock & roll & we were SO glad to be back home & on solid land again.

But of course overall lovely time & would we cruise again...yes absolutely no question we will but ah not for a while we need a little break :p.

...adding:

No probs with the air con in our cabin. Our cabin was in full sun at Syd OPT but it cooled down pretty quickly once we put the air con to low temp. That said we did have the a/c on the lowest setting the whole time. I like cool to sleep & it was fine until we got to the "warmer" north. Our itin was Syd > Sth Isl > Nth Isl > Syd. Once up at the north isl I did wish the a/c would go a little cooler but it was uncomfortable by any means just not cold.

No probs with plumbing in the cabin.

We did intend to try Share but didn't end up doing that. Once on board the $39pp seemed pricey compared to Crown at $29pp. If it had been the sme price as Crown we would have gone to Share but we had limited nights as we were sea sickish pretty much all sea days so only had the port nights to do restaurants.

Also adding the tender wait was pretty long which is always bit of a bore. We didn't rush as we figured it would be a wait so we tried to avoid to big queues but still to get to shore at Akaroa was more than an hour wait in the dining room with our tender tickets and a pretty big queue to come back.

Loved MUTS but unlike Diamond there was anyone handing out popcorn and not many seats set up with the MUTS pillows & blankets - but to be fair it was really really cold and rough so I guess that actually is fair enough LOL. The pools were mostly drained and netted due rough seas too.

Thanks for posting your review, to-dee. It was very helpful. Sorry to hear of the rough seas and your nausea, but crossing the Tasman is a wild card.

Thanks, getting super excited cited about our cruise on her.

Cheers, also loved vines as well.:)

Thanks, getting super excited cited about our cruise on her.

Start that countdown! She is certainly a lovely ship :D

Cheers, also loved vines as well.:)

I love that the white wine we had was so crisp and really nicely chilled - perfect!

Thanks so much for telling us about your Emerald experience.

It makes the wait for those of us travelling on her later in the season feel a little shorter. :D

Thanks for posting your review, to-dee. It was very helpful. Sorry to hear of the rough seas and your nausea, but crossing the Tasman is a wild card.

So true ...it was our 3rd round Aust -NZ - Aust cruise & 1st one where we lost any days due to feeling blech ....so we've had a good run till now:p.

Interestingly we've had rougher weather on other crossings but for some reason this one had pitching up and down and rolling side to side & it seemed to be going everywhere at once (probably my imagination LOL). A couple of crew said to me they felt sea sick for the 1st time. One of the photographers said he had never heard the waves pounding like that when he was in his quarters. And we even had the unfortunate timing to see someone lose their cookies just near the lifts on the Horizon level, poor lady.

But like you say its a wild card and overall still a lovely holiday big thumbs up :D

So true ...it was our 3rd round Aust -NZ - Aust cruise & 1st one where we lost any days due to feeling blech ....so we've had a good run till now:p.

 

Interestingly we've had rougher weather on other crossings but for some reason this one had pitching up and down and rolling side to side & it seemed to be going everywhere at once (probably my imagination LOL). A couple of crew said to me they felt sea sick for the 1st time. One of the photographers said he had never heard the waves pounding like that when he was in his quarters. And we even had the unfortunate timing to see someone lose their cookies just near the lifts on the Horizon level, poor lady.

 

But like you say its a wild card and overall still a lovely holiday big thumbs up :D

Different types of movement effect people differently, often those why can handle roll are done in by pitch etc and others are ok with either but in trouble when it's both.

Start that countdown! She is certainly a lovely ship :D

 

 

 

I love that the white wine we had was so crisp and really nicely chilled - perfect!

Start the countdown .... start the countdown.

Obviously don't know me too well, currently down to hours, keeping our roll call entertained with my countdown, I suspect they think I'm a real nutter.

Different types of movement effect people differently, often those why can handle roll are done in by pitch etc and others are ok with either but in trouble when it's both.

So true I now know our family is in trouble with the double combo but otherwise we wont even notice the rough seas.

And I now have more sympathy toward those troubled by sea sickness. I was very glad to have packed heaps of remedies as they all got a look in for the first time.

Start the countdown .... start the countdown.

 

Obviously don't know me too well, currently down to hours, keeping our roll call entertained with my countdown, I suspect they think I'm a real nutter.

Gotta love the countdown it reminds me of being a kid & counting down xmas :D

So true I now know our family is in trouble with the double combo but otherwise we wont even notice the rough seas.

 

And I now have more sympathy toward those troubled by sea sickness. I was very glad to have packed heaps of remedies as they all got a look in for the first time.

 

 

 

 

Gotta love the countdown it reminds me of being a kid & counting down xmas :D

Yeah prett similar 214 hours here. But hey would I count.

Thanks so much for that review too_dee... we are all a little excited..

especially Mr Gut, (as you can tell...lol...):D:D:eek::eek:

cheers

S&D

Thanks for the review, shame about the weather but there is not much anyone of us can do there.:D

We were on this ship for the same trip and would echo what to_dee said about the rough Tasman Sea. Many cruisers who has sailed it numerous tmes before said they have never seen it that rough, Waves were 4 meters high. Glad I took Dramamine with me.

Tender wait was annoying, seemed inefficient.

One comment about the menu in the Dining Room (we chose Anytime Dining so we ate in Michelangelo most nights). Food was pretty good but menu was not varied. They had steak only 2 nights out of 13 and the menu was uninspiring. On the other hand as an American I appreciated them offering turkey on Thanksgiving Day. That was a nice touch. Desserts of course were top notch.

Pizza bar was quite good-its New York style- thin crust.

The lack of a viewing guide for TV was annoying. We are used to having one channel list all the programs and times and Princess does not have that.

Thank you for the information regarding your Emerald Princess cruise - we fly to Australia next weekend prior to joining the ship for Christmas & New Year.

Do you remember what films were showing on MUTS ?

Thanks Nic

Sorry I don't. We didn't watch any MUTS . They had The Man who knew infinity on in the room. And good selection of American sports

We were on this ship for the same trip and would echo what to_dee said about the rough Tasman Sea. Many cruisers who has sailed it numerous tmes before said they have never seen it that rough, Waves were 4 meters high. Glad I took Dramamine with me.

 

Tender wait was annoying, seemed inefficient.

 

One comment about the menu in the Dining Room (we chose Anytime Dining so we ate in Michelangelo most nights). Food was pretty good but menu was not varied. They had steak only 2 nights out of 13 and the menu was uninspiring. On the other hand as an American I appreciated them offering turkey on Thanksgiving Day. That was a nice touch. Desserts of course were top notch.

 

Pizza bar was quite good-its New York style- thin crust.

 

The lack of a viewing guide for TV was annoying. We are used to having one channel list all the programs and times and Princess does not have that.

Cheers for your input, IMO, the Princess pizza is a real stand out compared to other lines.:D

We were on this ship for the same trip and would echo what to_dee said about the rough Tasman Sea. Many cruisers who has sailed it numerous tmes before said they have never seen it that rough, Waves were 4 meters high. Glad I took Dramamine with me.

 

Tender wait was annoying, seemed inefficient.

 

One comment about the menu in the Dining Room (we chose Anytime Dining so we ate in Michelangelo most nights). Food was pretty good but menu was not varied. They had steak only 2 nights out of 13 and the menu was uninspiring. On the other hand as an American I appreciated them offering turkey on Thanksgiving Day. That was a nice touch. Desserts of course were top notch.

 

Pizza bar was quite good-its New York style- thin crust.

 

The lack of a viewing guide for TV was annoying. We are used to having one channel list all the programs and times and Princess does not have that.

Totally agree re tv ...having previously been on the Diamond with on demand the Emerald tv was pretty lame to say the least. Lots of channel flicking due to lack of guide.

And thank you so much for posting about your feedback on the sea conditions & what you experienced & heard....that was good to hear as we're kind of questioning if we lost our sea legs and feeling like it will be a while before we cruise again. So good to hear that it wasn't just us. I mean I grew up around boats & have done some super rough whale watching cruises in Alaska & this was my first sea sickness experience.

Gosh I so agree re: tenders in fact we didn't even bother to get off for Bay of Islands as we've been there before & we didn't want to spend an hour plus waiting to get off the ship via tender.

Thank you for the information regarding your Emerald Princess cruise - we fly to Australia next weekend prior to joining the ship for Christmas & New Year.

 

Do you remember what films were showing on MUTS ?

 

Thanks Nic

Hi Nic,

The films I remember are :

The Man Who Knew Infinity

Secret Life of Pets

Me Before You

World of Warcraft

Through the Looking Glass

Ghostbusters (the 2016 one)

Star Wars The Force Awakens

The Martian

The Legend of Tarzan

Independence Day Resurgence

Batman v Superman

Minions

Divergent Allegiant

After the day they screen on MUTS the film is then on ch 48 on the tv the day afterwards.

The films they didn't have as I wanted to see them so I remember them not being there are Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them. But that's not to say other films wont be added as time passes of course.

cheers

Dee :)

Also on a side tangent topic as a new item added to our cruising pack list....

turn your eyes away if easily offended due to delicate topic :p:o:p:o:p:o

....but I have to say wow Poo Pourri ....I bought the Ship Happens scent as well that's my sense of humour & it made me laugh pre-cruise. But I have to comment & we all agreed in the confines of a ship cabin & its facilities it was a brilliant product that really works.

Also on a side tangent topic as a new item added to our cruising pack list....

 

turn your eyes away if easily offended due to delicate topic :p:o:p:o:p:o

 

....but I have to say wow Poo Pourri ....I bought the Ship Happens scent as well that's my sense of humour & it made me laugh pre-cruise. But I have to comment & we all agreed in the confines of a ship cabin & its facilities it was a brilliant product that really works.

I would never have thought to bring any potpourri, we normally have a balcony cabin so getting fresh air isn't an issue.

I would never have thought to bring any potpourri, we normally have a balcony cabin so getting fresh air isn't an issue.

LOL!!! Not for fresh air, we have a balcony too.

Not potpourri POO Pourri

It's a spray oil based for the toilet. You spray it in the bowl before you go. The bottle is small non aerosol small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Imagine spraying like essential oils type thing. The blurb says the oil creates a barrier & then everything is as per normal but the smells as such are trapped below the water. You can get all different scents. Including the one I mentioned which I thought was cruise appropriate :p

There is a utube video on it which is amusingly direct as to how it works.

Anywhooo we were dubious to say the least but it does work.

LOL!!! Not for fresh air, we have a balcony too.

 

Not potpourri POO Pourri

 

It's a spray oil based for the toilet. You spray it in the bowl before you go. The bottle is small non aerosol small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Imagine spraying like essential oils type thing. The blurb says the oil creates a barrier & then everything is as per normal but the smells as such are trapped below the water. You can get all different scents. Including the one I mentioned which I thought was cruise appropriate :p

 

 

There is a utube video on it which is amusingly direct as to how it works.

 

Anywhooo we were dubious to say the least but it does work.

LOL, okay I get it now.:cool:

LOL, okay I get it now.:cool:

:p sorry to mention unmentionables hehe

o.k. ....... this thread suddenly went in an unexpected direction...:D

anyway, I'm glad the Salty dog went down well. I've yet to try it. Looking forward to it though. Did you get to try everything on the menu between you? I believe you also get to choose 3 sides with each main..?