Emerald Christmas Market Cruise

First experience with Emerald us off to a good start. Documents and backpack have arrived a month in advance. There are explicit directions on where to meet in the Munich airport for the transfer to Emerald Dawn at Nuremberg.,

 

 

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I’m looking forward to your impressions of Emerald in comparison to Scenic. Mona and I will be booking our next river cruise after the 2019 schedule comes out.

 

What kind of backpack does Emerald give you?

 

 

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I’m looking forward to your impressions of Emerald in comparison to Scenic. Mona and I will be booking our next river cruise after the 2019 schedule comes out.

 

What kind of backpack does Emerald give you?

 

 

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The backpack is very similar to Scenic's but it's gray and teal. Scenic's document case was thick and leather. Emerald's is ripcord type fabric, very flat and looks like it could hold an iPad. (Not certain since I don't have an iPad.) Emerald did not send socks, eye mask or inflatable neck pillow. (That's fine with me since I have that stuff.)

Since this is a Christmas Market cruise, the land tour focus on those so it might be difficult to compare with Scenic's tours. There are two optionable tours at an added expense. One to Rothenburg ob der Tauber at 95 euro and one to a castle near Cologne. Doubt that I'll do either. I been to Rothenburg and really enjoyed the town but it will be a zoo before Christmas.

This time we're not in aquarium class but on the middle deck. Probably won't get much use of the balcony feature.

No free flowing liquor on Emerald but wine and beer is included at lunch and dinner. No stocked mini bar but there is a refrigerator with water and you can put in your own stuff.

The backpack is very similar to Scenic's but it's gray and teal. Scenic's document case was thick and leather. Emerald's is ripcord type fabric, very flat and looks like it could hold an iPad. (Not certain since I don't have an iPad.) Emerald did not send socks, eye mask or inflatable neck pillow. (That's fine with me since I have that stuff.)

Since this is a Christmas Market cruise, the land tour focus on those so it might be difficult to compare with Scenic's tours. There are two optionable tours at an added expense. One to Rothenburg ob der Tauber at 95 euro and one to a castle near Cologne. Doubt that I'll do either. I been to Rothenburg and really enjoyed the town but it will be a zoo before Christmas.

This time we're not in aquarium class but on the middle deck. Probably won't get much use of the balcony feature.

No free flowing liquor on Emerald but wine and beer is included at lunch and dinner. No stocked mini bar but there is a refrigerator with water and you can put in your own stuff.

 

I don't remember the socks, eye mask and neck pillow. Maybe that's an extra perk after you get Gold status?

 

I'll be interested to know how much they charge for beer, wine and cocktails outside of mealtimes. I'm also curious about general service level differences. We like the window wall and the balcony too much to be interested in aquarium class, but I don't know how important free booze and a butler are. We didn't make all that much use of our butler so I don't think I would miss that.

 

We're not real heavy drinkers but a beer in the afternoon and a couple of drinks in the evening was pretty standard on our cruise in 2015. Depending on the price per drink that could certainly amount to quite a sum by the end of the cruise.

 

Christmas markets sounds like a great time but as long as we have kids who want to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas it's probably not in the cards for us.

 

Who are you cruising with this time?

I'm not Gold status on Scenic but did get socks, etc. Nancy and I will be gone from Dec 5 to Dec 13. So the trip fits in nicely between the holidays especially since we're not coming in early or staying afterwards. Got a price that includes flights and airport transfers. Air department was easy to work with and we got the flights we wanted.

I rarely drink so even the wine and beer is not important to me. I'll try to get some pictures of prices and menus to post here.

I might be wrong on the color of the card. We got Scenic club cards a few months after our cruise in 2015. Maybe they forgot to send your card but remembered you in their system.

 

Thanks in advance for the menus and prices.

 

 

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Remember that on river cruises you can bring on your own alcohol to drink in the cabin and I think on Emerald you should have a mini fridge (I think that seems to be standard on European river cruises, at least). We often picked up local beer and wine on shore and had cocktails while getting ready for dinner (with the tv Yule Log on and carols playing on our laptop ;-) a nightcap before bed, and even had drinks up on the (cold, cold) deck one afternoon. I haven't been on Emerald or Scenic, but Avalon had half-price happy hour in the lounge before dinner if you wanted to socialize - local draft beers were 2 euro, not sure the wine or cocktail prices....

Emerald scores again! Since our plane arrives early in Munich, a private driver will meet us and drive us to Nuremberg. We'll arrive around 11:30 and, since the ship doesn't arrive to around 1:30, the driver will take us wherever we want to go and watch our luggage. I've been to Nuremberg twice before so we'll probably visit the Christmas market. We like to hit the bricks after an over night flight so this suits us just fine.

 

 

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That sounds wonderful! Hopefully the first of many great experiences on the cruise.

 

 

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Nancy and Nancy, I hope you have a great time in your cruise.

 

 

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Thanks, Joe.

 

 

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