lizjoemom

I will be on this cruise as well! First time on Princess, I'm really looking forward to it!

Hi all, this is my first Princess cruise on the Emerald. We will be doing PC from FLL over Thanksgiving. It is a 10 day cruise and I was wondering which nights are formal nights and are formal nights usually the lobster night? I am looking at booking our specialty dining but don't want to miss the formal nights in the MDR. Thanks for the info!

Thank you!

Can someone please tell me which specialty restaurants are currently open on the Emerald? Is there an Alfredos? Any info would be appreciated.

We will be going on Emerald in November. I am very glad to hear that they have opened Planks and Steamers! The website doesn't have them listed as alternative dining options. Thanks!

If they did that, most people would not be able to cruise at all. Look at Virgin's prices, they include all gratuities, food, wifi and what they call "essential" beverages; coffee, tea, water, juice, but have to pay extra for various levels of alcoholic drink packages. The prices are way more than Princess and other mid/better cruise lines. It's all about what people are willing to pay. My DH doesn't drink alcohol but needs wifi and we like alternative dining, so we will pay the upgrade on our 10 day on Princess, which doesn't even come close to the price of a 5 day Virgin cruise. Either way, the cruise is a business, they are in it to make money, the customers need to decide if they are willing to pay the price.

Agree. This will be our first time on Princess and we plan on upgrading to premier. DH will need to have internet access for work on multiple devices, so we had already planned on purchasing the wifi. I feel that there is value in the upgrade if just for the wifi and gratuities (including bar gratuities). In January on Carnival Celebration, my sister in law and I paid about 550 dollars each for the drink package alone. Yes, there were alternatives to the dining room that were free of charge, however, we still had to tip. There were other casual alternatives like the backyard bbq and emerils that were an upcharge and of course the fine dining is additional ($45pp I think). All in we probably spent close to the same amount as DH and I are spending on this, longer cruise on Emerald to PC, (I do realize it is a smaller ship with less options) but still works out to about the same price. We looked at other cruise lines for this trip, we have been looking a loooong time, and have found that even with the premier upgrade cost, for us, it is more affordable and the ports are ones that we are looking forward to seeing for the first time. Either way, cruising is and always has been an affordable option for us, especially when traveling with our kids when they were young.

thanks so much to everyone for the great info. I'm thinking we will just do the premier, seems to be worth it, I especially like the idea of reserved seating for the shows as last time I was on Carnival it was difficult to find good seats! Also, we will definitely use the specialty dining and will have enough devices to be able to post a live post every day! Stay tuned.....

That is a good point, I will work the numbers that way as well! Thank you!

Thank you very much, it's beginning to look like we are leaning towards the premier (only because we need multiple devices).

Wow! Thank you so much for breaking it all down for me like that, it is exactly what I was looking for! Now I will do some number crunching! Thanks again!

DH and I will be sailing on the Emerald in November and he will be needing to get a wifi package so that he can use his laptop and phones. I am trying to make an informed decision about whether or not to go all in for the new Premier pricing or just do a la carte, but having never been on Princess before I need some information and am hoping some of you can help me out. We are looking at the premier package because he needs multiple devices connnected and we enjoy the alternative dining and specialty restaurants when we cruise. However, he doesn't really drink at all except for bottled water (very little soda or alchohol), and I enjoy a few drinks while cruising but I know I won't be drinking 15 drinks during the day. All the other stuff, fitness classes, desserts, etc....we would probably not be using too much. So my question is about prices on board. How much is a water bottle or top shelf/better liquor drinks? What is the charge for the specialty restaurants (fine dining) and is it hard to make a reservation at them while on board?(if I cant get a reservation then what's the point?) What is the cost for room service now with the new price structure? (I haven't been able to find a clear cut answer). I appreciate any info that anyone can give me so that I can make the best decision for us. Thanks so much! Happy Sailing!

Thank you, I appreciate your honesty. I recently went on one of Carnival's new ships and wasn't sure what to expect from cruising after the pandemic, but my fears were unfounded as it was one of the best cruises I've ever been on, hopefully, this cruise will be good too, since they have had time to work out the kinks! Thanks again!

Thank you for your explanation!

Can you elaborate on why it was so bad? Makes me a little nervous, it's my first time on Princess and we are going on the 10 day PC out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Emerald. I mean, we will still go no matter what (we have cancelled PC 2 times already during Covid), but I would like to know what to expect. Thanks! Also, to the original OP, sorry that you aren't having a good time. Some cruises/cruise lines just don't resonate with everyone. I do believe that a bad day at sea is better than a bad day at home! LOL. As long as I don't have to go to work or cook or clean....I personally was an NCL cruiser years ago, but when they changed to freestyle, I hated it! haven't been back on NCL since, so to each his own. I hope you are still on the cruise it gets better!