Emerald a HUGE disappointment

Currently on the Emerald Princess - New Zealand.

While New Zealand ports are great the shipboard experience is not.

The food is awful the buffet is sub-standard and I've had to buy my own peanut butter, vegemite, margarine and green tea bags. The green tea bags keep getting stolen, by passengers. The vegemite, peanut paste and margarine are in the buffet in open jars and I saw a kid lick a spoon and put in back. Does anybody care .... no !!

The entertainment is woeful and the cruise entertainment staff are amateurs.

I'm not a celebrity but get me outta here.

The only good thing are the service crew who are, as usual, magnificent.

Would NOT recommend this ship.

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When I was on the Diamond for a NZ cruise, the vegemite came in little individual packets.

When I was on the Diamond for a NZ cruise, the vegemite came in little individual packets.

Every Princess cruise I've been on, including Emeral last month.

The green tea bags keep getting stolen, by passengers.

Not quite sure how consumption by other paying passengers equates to theft. ;)

Vegemite, I use it to kill the rats. It's vile.

Vegemite, I use it to kill the rats. It's vile.

Love is in the taste of the Aussie. :)

The green tea bags have been disappearing into passengers bags - according to the crew. This deprives other passengers of enjoying a cup of tea. So I don't think dozens of teabags being taken at a time constitutes consumption.

This is the only ship, I've ever been on where the vegemite and peanut butter and margarine has not been in individual servings. It's just not hygienic.

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Wow!! That is terrible. Did you complain to someone at passenger services and what did they say if you did??

Tony

The green tea bags have been disappearing into passengers bags - according to the crew. This deprives other passengers of enjoying a cup of tea. So I don't think dozens of teabags being taken at a time constitutes consumption.

This is the only ship, I've ever been on where the vegemite and peanut butter and margarine has not been in individual servings. It's just not hygienic.

 

 

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Love Marmite - Hate the buffet so never ever use it. No comment except that did you bring your concerns to the hotel manager ? .

Every Princess cruise I've been on, including Emeral last month.

No packets of Vegemite on Diamond last week. A big jar with a spoon. Oh dear. Never thought of anyone licking the spoon.......:(

No packets of Vegemite on Diamond last week. A big jar with a spoon. Oh dear. Never thought of anyone licking the spoon.......:(

Packets on Diamond Dec '15 and Emerald Dec '16 but could have changed since.

We were on the Emerald from Sydney in November and my husband tells me that they had the individual packets of vegemite and peanut butter.

I can only think that they had run out due to all the Aussies and put out the large jars:p

Packets on Diamond Dec '15 and Emerald Dec '16 but could have changed since.

Yes sure has. We just got off last week from Diamond.

I certainly can agree with you about the Emerald's food and certain other things that you didn't mention.

It's not one of the better Princess ships for sure.

I was on the Emerald for B2B cruises in Nov/Dec. I certainly agree about the food. The sugar-free jam was also in an open jar. While I didn't observe a child lick it and put it back, on several occasions the same spoon was used for several other jars.

However, I found the entertainment quite good.

Arlene

I don't remember what ship it was on but I saw a kid drop a cookie & pick it up only to put it back on the tray and take another one.

Also on the last Royal trip a woman dropped the tongs for the rolls & then just put them back on the counter.

I guess they do the same thing at home. :rolleyes:

No packets of Vegemite on Diamond last week. A big jar with a spoon. Oh dear. Never thought of anyone licking the spoon.......:(

You probably don't want to think about what else goes into those wall mounted soap dispensers in the shower besides soap. :eek:

Sorry, couldn't stop myself from posting...

All the posters who have seen people drop food or tongs and put them back on the tray.... did you tell someone so they could remove it? 2x we have seen disgusting things (different ships) and told someone. They didn't seem to be as mortified as we were or as quick as we would have thought to remedy the situation but they ultimately removed the offending item.

I am trying to see how open jars of peanut butter, etc. At a buffet is any different than all the other buffet offerings; salad dressings that you ladle out onto your salad, sliced cheeses, soup, etc, etc.

I go back and wash or Purelle my hands again after going through any buffet line. Who knows what is lurking on all those buffet utensils.

Tongs should be changed as often as possible. They are only as clean as the worst person to have handled them. A fresh spoon should be used each time if things are served out of a jar or better have a staff member dispense it. Tea bags and other attractive items should be dispensed by a staff member. Buffets are generally very disgusting places. Last week I saw a woman get half sick on the chair next to her. She finished her meal and left. Staff wiped the table down and not the chair. Next people about to sit down and noticed the chair was sticky and wiped it with there hand and then proceeded to handle and eat a bun. She may as well of wiped the chair with the bun.

You cannot fix stupid.

For fellow peanut butter lovers I have a recommendation if you ever sail to Hilo, Hawaii. Go to the open market downtown and buy all the coconut peanut butter you can afford. Take it back to the ship and hide it in you cabin. Go to the buffet and get a table knife, bread, jelly and a big glass of milk and take that back to your cabin. Then you can make the best PB&J sandwiches ever. Makes a great bedtime snack.

As for those people who take more tea bags than they should and those people who drop tongs etc and put them back and those people who lick spoons and put them back--------all are a product of bad parenting and a lack of common sense and courtesy. None of which is the fault of Princess Cruises.

99.9% of the things that have displeased me on a cruise have been caused by passengers, not crew.

It's easy to see why the MDRs might see more clients after reading this.

All the posters who have seen people drop food or tongs and put them back on the tray.... did you tell someone so they could remove it? 2x we have seen disgusting things (different ships) and told someone. They didn't seem to be as mortified as we were or as quick as we would have thought to remedy the situation but they ultimately removed the offending item.

I tell th estaff every time I see anything.

The kid with the cookie- they disposed of a few dozen cookies in the trash.

The woman with the tongs- immediately replaced.

In both cases I would have said something to the individual but they were at a distance & left.

I do have to wonder if they ran out of the packets of Vegemite and peanut butter due to people taking them - as the OP says was done with the tea bags.

Personally, if I saw some kid lick the spoon and return it to the jar I would have spoken up and reprimanded the child - loudly so that other passengers and staff noticed what had been done. I don't care if the parents don't like it. I also would have taken the jar and insisted that the staff deal with the issue.

Kinda like the guy I saw in the buffet line taking shrimp with his fingers, eating them and double dipping them in the main container of cocktail sauce, licking his fingers off and doing it again.