Friscoonetwo

Sorry about that looked at the deck plans wrong My Bad

We were on the Emerald back in December, went up to the Riviera deck (deck17) at the end of the corridor is a door that leads out to the observation deck over the bridge. Assume since the Caribbean is a sister ship it is the same. Also, you could walk to the forward end of the Pomade deck, climb the stairs to deck 8 and watch from there. We watched going through the first lock from deck 17, the middle lock from the Pomade deck near the middle of the ship and the third lock from the aft on the Pomade deck. Get three different perspectives that way.

Also be aware that the reservation only guarantees you a seat. Watched parties of 4 or more show up 5-10 minutes before show time and expected to sit together. Nope reservation guarantees you a seat not 4 or more seats together.

Pam and Tagsfan are so right. One of best decision we made was to take the small ferry through the other 2 locks and into the Pacific. My DW nd I have pics of us touching the lock wall. That is how up close and personal you get to the locks on the tour. Be aware that the bus ride to the Galliard Cut where you pick up the ferry is about an hour but the scenery was nice.

We boarded about 11:45 and were eating lunch in the Buffet by 12:15. Did not notice any barding time on our tickets. We are among those who tend to ignore them anyway!

Hopefully they will have signs out for Aurea Boarding. When we went on the Seaside May 24th, was nothing indicating where Aurea boarding was. By chance we went in the left door, asked the person standing there where Aurea boarding. Oh he said right here, lifted the rope for us and we went right to security. Would have been nice if there had been signs outside directing Aurea passengers where to go. You will enjoy the perks with Aurea and we found ourselves spending a lot of time up Deck 19. And made good use of the spa.

DW and I are both retired and usually can take advantage of a move over. We usually book our flights from here in Maine to FLL on Soutwest so if we do get a move over offer, no charge to change our flights.

To anyone on the Crown right now, did they give you any reason as to why you missed Bar Harbor. DW and I were in Bar Harbor for a few days and were looking forward to seeing the Crown in the Harbor. Anthem of the Seas was in port on Monday and was impressive but really wanted to see the Crown.

Thanks in advance

Are you going to carry a roll of bills with you at all times to tip everyone who serves you? Such as the girl who brings you your orange juice in the buffet, then the young man who brings you your coffee refill, then the girl who clears your table when you go back to refill your plate? 3 different servers for one breakfast and at times could be more. Oh and how can I forget the girls who serve you warm cookies and milk in the Atrium in the afternoon, and can not forget the guys at Trident Grill as well as the ones at Scoops. I could go on but I think that the point is that there are so many who serve you aboard the ship, that to tip each and every one becomes a logistical nightmare to try and hunt them down at the end of the cruise to tip them, at least in my opinion. So leave it on so that all you serve you aboard the ship get their due.

This may sound like a rather dumb question. But if you have missed the ship and it is heading out to sea, how do they get the contents of your cabin safe to the post agent since the ship has left the port?

Not sure why you had to go to Deck 15 for your beach towels. Been on 7 Princess cruises and beach towels have always been in the closet by the bathroom and always replaced by our steward as we used them.

Been on the Emerald 3 times now and it is a great ship with great crew. As for the buffet issues, yes I have experienced things like that in the buffet and said something to a server or of the people behind the serving centers and it was taken care of. As an aside, I have seen the same behavior hotel breakfast buffets as well as at dinner buffets. Guess people like that are everywhere.

You could grab a taxi however minimum fare is $10.00 even if the meter is less. And from the port to Thrifty will it will be less. So you are looking at $10.00 plus tip as opposed to waiting a bit for the shuttle. Guess it depends on how valuable you figure your time is.

A thought on putting your name on the back of the card. Why? On a couple of different cruises I have picked up a partially used coffee card in the atrium. Turned them into the service desk, but with no name on them hard for the service desk to know the proper owner.

Also << DO NOT put your room number.>>

Add my thoughts to those who do not take insurance. I was one of you up until March 2013 when I fell on ice and broke my fibula in 2 places a week before the cruise. Orthopedic doc said, cruise in 1 week I don't think so. 2 days before we were to leave for the cruise, I was in surgery getting a rod and screws in my leg. What did I get back from Princess? Nothing and I did not expect anything. I had booked Southwest so did not lose that money and was able to cancel hotel room. So it was a $2200 hard lesson to learn. Will had insurance since and will continue to do so.

No theme nights for per say for the passengers but the serves in the MDR to dress according to the food theme..IE on Italian night they are dressed in an Italian theme

Close the windows. Think of the smart phone Buick ad

I know the tap water is free and perfectly fine to drink and I do drink it in the MDR but I don't drink water out of my own bathroom tap and I won't drink it out of a tap in the cabin bathroom.

The water in the MDR is the same water as in the bathroom tap. Am curious, does OP have 2 water systems in his house, one for the kitchen sink which is used for cooking and drinking and another system for his bathroom tap since he won't use it for drinking. Just asking.

As a retired teacher <40 years> I have to weigh in this on the teacher's side. The biggest percentage of times that I had to prepare work for a student who was going on vacation was a waste of my time. I would say that 90% of the time they came back with nothing done. Not that that was their fault. I taught pre cal as well as IP calculus and invariably had to tutor students that had missed 5-9 days because of vacations to get them caught up to the rest of the class.The subject matter needed me to present it to them. So why did I keep dong it? Had no choice according to district policy.

On our cruise on the Emerald last October, our steward came to our room and I said Hello Jafe using the name on the card in the room. he informed me that his name was Christian. Jafe had lad left that AM. By the time we returned to the room from dinner, Christian's name was on the card. So crew are changing all of the time. That cruise was also the first of the Caribbean season and the Emerald was just finishing a TA.

Does that mean that the school I worked at has to compensate me for the distress I suffered when NORO hit a few years ago and I got it? <Tongue In Cheek> Why is it that the cruise industry seems to be the only industry that gets all the negative publicity over NORO when it is everywhere?

Perhaps I used the wrong term when I said lounge area. Should have said that if you exit the door at the end of the corridor, you are in an open area on the aft of the ship. Guess I used the term lounge since there were lounge chairs out there. At least there were last year when we did the partial of the Canal. That area was also a great place to watch the approach to the Canal

The Coral has a lounge area just a few steps away from the self service laundry. DW would take her Kindle a relax out there while laundry was being done.

They are a part of the tip pool that your cabin gratuities goes to pay. So they are tippd in a way. But we usually will tip 10 and give them cash for the reason listed above.