Emerald Princess - Live

[Princess Chatterer]

Please do not flame me if you don't agree with my first Emerald Princess impression. This is day two in the morning and we sail from Venice at 1 pm, muster drill at 12:30 pm.

The transfer procedures at the Venice airport went perfectly. Princess had all the bases covered. The luggage carts require either a 50 cent, 1 e or 2 e coin which you get back when you plug your cart back into the cart line. Embarkation also went perfectly. Smooth and fast. The only slowdown was finding a place to fill out the health questionaire. No pens and no tables.

Internet on the ship seems to be working half a@@. My first two computers had a stream error in swiping my card and connecting to Princess .com was not allowed as that was a forbidden site. Go figure. This computer, my third, didn't require me to swipe my card so I'm off to the races. The pursurs desk staff is clueless about Inet packages.

Here is my take in no particular order

Heard from the future cruise lady that the Emerald Princess sister ship will be named the Ruby Princess. When you book on board you only need to pay $100 at that time for two because they give you a coupon which you can give your travel agent along with $100 cash for your second passenger or even your neighbor. Who ever uses the coupon gets the cabin credit. Since I don't know how to make bullets on this screen you'll just have to read along. The ship is beautiful. Very well laid out for traffic patterns. The photo gallery lane of traffic is very wide. I'll post pictures on princessshutter.com when I return. Cabin steward is top notch and even got us the Suite robes in our balcony cabin. Don't tell. Now here's my hit list. At 2 pm 1st cruise passengers were camped out in the casino waiting to leave, dining room was closed on embarkation day, Club Fusion had western art but the large painting next to the stage was gawd awful ugly and I mean ugly. Somebody in the art department really screwed up. The love boat dream is shaped the same but is nothing like the old love boat dream. The MUTS sound system has "issues" so NO MUTS at this time. The library books are all locked up tight. The only time you can check them in or out is basically 2-4 and 6-8. Big Bummer! Shampoo, conditioner and lotion is in bottles not tubes, TP is on much smaller rolls with less paper. Hallway carpets to cabin are color coded as on other Princess ships. No steps up in the dining rooms. New menu is totally goofy. I hate it. Bed linens are nice. Flat screen TV in cabin. Nice art work all around ship except what was mentioned above. No paintings in Princess Theatre and projection platform from ceiling construction not finished. Enclosed cigar lounge is located in the casino. Excursion desk is just outside the Princess Theatre in great location. You can now approach the Princess Theatre from either side from the Atrium. Cookie bar on five. Coffee quality has greatly improved and is slightly better in Horizon Court than in dining rooms. Princess gets an A for effort on Coffee quality. They charged every passenger $15 for Venice water taxi service but you can go to the Pursurs desk if you don't use it. No rust on patio. I wonder why? In cabin there are no drawers on right side of desk. Refig door is not connected to cabinet door. Sabatini's is way up high in the back of the ship and has a separate bar next door called Adagio. It is beautiful. Skywalkers is nicely laid out as well. Kids clubs are also beautiful. 98 percent of the passengers are American. No kids running wild. Oh yes, clean curtains in cabin but one luggage smudge on wall. Oh well, always room for improvement. <G>

This ship is close to perfect and I think Crooners on 7 is perfectly located. Crooners piano man was a exact clone of Elton John and Billy Joel and had fun kidding with the passengers. First night entertainment was a Venice pop orchestra and they were good. Rock band in Club Fusion was blasting the doors off. Why cruise directors won't control sound levels I don't know. The sound level from that band would have given passengers and crew permanent hearing loss in no time. Heard one 1st cruise Suite passenger complaining that his teak patio furniture was too big for his patio. I would have traded my aluminum furniture for his teak furniture any day. He also complained that he had to ask for some of the Suite freebys and was disturbed by the ping pong players above him. You know Suite life is so unfair. We heard from the first cruise people that the shows started off so so but got better as their cruise progressed. We do like the "Street" entertainers in the Atrium

More Emerald Princess - Live news at five.

W0KIE

[mommykim]

Thanks for ther "live from" thread and no flames from me. Sounds like you're calling it as you see it

[NorcalGuy]

Glad to hear your report Wokie.
How exciting!

Originally Posted by w0kie

Club Fusion had western art but the large painting next to the stage was gawd awful ugly and I mean ugly. Somebody in the art department really screwed up.

LOL, The whole concept of the Club Fusion was lame IMHO! Video screens everywhere, but everyone craning their necks to try to watch the "stage" from randomly positioned seating. Western Theme looks very odd in this venue.I miss the Vista Lounge layout very much, so much more focused.

We'd love to hear more about the new menus sometime along the way. Sounds like you aren't pleased with them. Not sure if I will be either. I kinda had my preferences and routines established with the old menus and always looked forward to my ship returns. That said, a little more spice would be nice. I'm from California and we use a lot of garlic and eat more Mexican and Asian food. I start to miss it after 2 weeks onboard.

[Princess Chatterer]

This Club Fusion is exactly the same design as other Club Fusions. Little dinky stage and lots of alcoves. The art I am refering to looks like a bunch of childrens western cartoons. Totally and completely out of place in a nightclub. Coke stickers are $48 and coffee cards are $24. The dining room menu has everything listed without categorys so you have to study it to figure out if something with a foreign name is a soap or a salad or what in the heck is this suppose to be? The main dish is standard Princess fare so you can figure that part of the menu without wasting a lot of time. The dining room has been redesigned with fewer chairs and more benches. I didn't think our fixed seating waiters were as attentive as our past Princess fixed seating waiters. We had to go for quite a bit of time with no water during dinner. Food quality is the same as on other Princess ships. The desert menu left side is 100% mixed drink advertising.

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks for taking the time and letting us know what the ship is like. Have they finally solved the mattress problems or are they the same mattresses that need a topper?

[spongerob]

Thanks for the updates, W0kie. Will look forward to photos.

[larsen]

Originally Posted by w0kie

The dining room menu has everything listed without categorys so you have to study it to figure out if something with a foreign name is a soap or a salad or what in the heck is this suppose to be? The main dish is standard Princess fare so you can figure that part of the menu without wasting a lot of time. The dining room has been redesigned with fewer chairs and more benches. I didn't think our fixed seating waiters were as attentive as our past Princess fixed seating waiters. We had to go for quite a bit of time with no water during dinner. Food quality is the same as on other Princess ships. The desert menu left side is 100% mixed drink advertising.

Since the menu is no longer divided or grouped into courses is there some pattern as to how they serve the different items? Do the "foreign" named items still have a detailed description or does one just have to take a leap of faith here. If the main courses haven't really changed is all Princess's ovation just over a rearranged menu format or do you sense a positive change?

"Benches" in the dining room? I haven't seen those since the "old Star" days. Have the addition of them made the dining room more intimate?

Hope you continue to enjoy your cruise and for letting come along with you.

[cruiserjanet]

w0kie, if you meet John & Carmen from Canada, please tell them Janet from California said hello. We met them on our Hawaii cruise and they are very nice. I talked to them a week ago and they were excited about going on this cruise as they are celebrating a milestone birthday for her.

[Eileen G]

Wokie thanks so much for posting! We leave 5/5 and can't wait. Have a really great trip.

[m steve]

Thanks for your post.

[JotWorld]

Hello Wokie, Greetings from "Down-Under" Live on the Pacific Princess, one of your older little sisters Thank you for your Live, I'll be following it closely, please post when you can
My best to you on the Emerald!
Bill(Jot)

PS I won't tell about those Suite robes in only a reg balc cabin , if you don't tell that our Steward, got us a Full Bottle of Champagne instead of two glasses in our suite. (Is it a deal?)

[JotWorld]

Originally Posted by w0kie

Heard one 1st cruise Suite passenger complaining that his teak patio furniture was too big for his patio. I would have traded my aluminum furniture for his teak furniture any day. He also complained that he had to ask for some of the Suite freebys and was disturbed by the ping pong players above him. You know Suite life is so unfair.
More Emerald Princess - Live news at five.
W0KIE

Wokie, We don't think the suite life, is unfair at all
(How do you like those robes?)
BTW Our teak furniture has plently of room on our balc.
We Love it!
Bill

PS is that the one & only Maurizo, the singer & piano man?

[pretenda]

for taking the time to post, the ship sounds great and can't wait until our turn. Have a great time and we look forward to your further updates.

[mississauga]

Thank you so much for starting this Live. Like many others, I appreciate that you are taking the time out from your precious vacation to take us vicariously along on your cruise. This is the one ship we are all anxiously waiting to hear all about.

Please do not flame me if you don't agree with my first Emerald Princess impression.

There is no reason for anyone to flame you. After all , it is your impression and thoughts. Also, we should all be appreciative that you are willing to take the time out to post.

[TJM001]

We are booked on the Emerald next February so we will be looking forward to your impressions and opinions good or otherwise. Keep the reports coming.

[Seal]

Hi

What a deal--this is the day--2 "LIVE FROMS" this means good reading ahead

Thanks so much for making the effort for us at home

Have a great Journey

Nancy

[WarEagle76]

Thanks wOKie, knew we could count on you. We're leaving for Venice and Emerald in a few weeks and figured they'd still be ironing out some of the rough spots. Could you clarify the statement:

"They charged every passenger $15 for Venice water taxi service but you can go to the Pursurs desk if you don't use it."

How do they track who uses it? Are you given a card? Do you use your cruise card?

Also, by benches in the dining room do you mean banquettes where they have "bench" type seating along the wall and a chair on the other side with mulitple two-tops together? I believe they have these in the smaller dining rooms on Sapphire Princess.


Thanks-Steve

[barante]

I will be waiting breathlessly for your updates.
If you can, please scan and post menus after your return.
Thanks again. You are our hero.

[TorontoTL]

They have benches in the dining rooms on the Sapphire and Diamond Princess ships as well. They work well and in those ships the dining rooms felt very intimate.

Wokie thanks for posting your live from thread. It sounds like you're having a great time. I think that the new design Princess is using starting with the Crown are very good overall, except maybe the continued use of the western theme in Club Fusion.

Other than the menus being confusing, how is the food? Do you see many changes from the current Princess menus in comparison other than the layout,are there many new dishes?

[Marie-Claude]

Hi w0kie!!

Already back cruising?? I'm glad you're enjoying the Emerald - we actually just booked the New Year cruise on her!!

Like everyone, I'll be anxiously awaiting for the rest of your Live from !!
Thanks!!
MC