Long Review of Emerald Princess, 3/3/28/10, with Photos

[lindamsn]

Is there the small lotions in the bathrooms?

[pcrum]

Is there the small lotions in the bathrooms?

 

In the bathroom, we were given the spa's brand (Lotus Spa) of eucalyptus body lotion, shampoo, and conditioner. There was bar soap. I wasn't thrilled with the shampoo, so if you have "problem" hair like mine, you might want to bring your own.

[lindamsn]

Ok, thanks.

[BalconyGal]

Thank you for your review, it was awesome! I always love a review with pictures.

[pcrum]

 

Ok, I admit it, I'm a bit of a Type A personality and it bothered me my photos were so small, so with the help from a fellow CC member (thank you scraphappylady!), I uploaded my photos to photobucket to try to make the menus more readable. I'm going to post the menus again, so they can be read this time. Now they are really big...anyone know how to get somewhere in between?

 

 

 

 

 

[pcrum]

 

[Whoo]

I can't wait!!! Thanks for the review, and all the great pictures.

[pcrum]

Sides Available:

 

 

[pcrum]

[macusr]

Next Sunday, I am going on my first cruise. Thanks for the great review and all the pictures. I feel like I am starting to get my sea legs...

 

Linda

 

Sounds like you'll be on the 4/18 Emerald sailing? Are you lovecruisin50's sister Linda?

[luv2gonow]

Loved your review....funny...I'm a carnival girl....and I'm usually on the Carnival board.

I want to cruise Alaska next summer....I was thinking of the Norwegian Pearl.....now I'm rethinking....you said food was terrible.

I know Princess has a good rep in Alaska....so I figured I'd come here and check out Princess.

 

Funny the 1st review I read is a Carnival lover:D Maybe I will stick with the Spirit to Alaska next summer.

What ship and itinerary did you do in Alaska??

thanks

kerri

[lindamsn]

Yes, I am. We will be sailing on Sunday. Are you going too?

[phantomII]

Loved your review....funny...I'm a carnival girl....and I'm usually on the Carnival board.

I want to cruise Alaska next summer....I was thinking of the Norwegian Pearl.....now I'm rethinking....you said food was terrible.

I know Princess has a good rep in Alaska....so I figured I'd come here and check out Princess.

 

Funny the 1st review I read is a Carnival lover:D Maybe I will stick with the Spirit to Alaska next summer.

What ship and itinerary did you do in Alaska??

thanks

kerri

We were on the Pearl to Alaska last Aug/Sept. We thought the food was great! I think we ate in the Dining room every night. Great cruise overall!

[BballinQT24]

Thanks for the detailed review and pictures! I loved it and was sad when I got to the last post.

[Hollybelle]

Fabulous review!!! We'll be sailing on the Emerald in just a few short weeks. I'm completely in agreement with you about there being more similarities than differences amongst the lines. This will be our first cruise with Princess so I thank you for the thorough review. I'm definitely looking forward to the piano guy! Hopefully he knows a little Ben Folds!! :D

[luv2gonow]

We were on the Pearl to Alaska last Aug/Sept. We thought the food was great! I think we ate in the Dining room every night. Great cruise overall!

 

Ok...I know the Pearl has a lot of restaurants.....do they still have MDR....is that where you ate???

 

I was looking at the Pearl because they go to Glacier Bay.....and i do like to try new things. I liked that Carnival had the MDR because you get to know your waiters every night.

How does it work on NCL.....do they rotate the meals from the different restaurants into the mDR??/

THANKS

Does anyone know when Princess puts out there Alaskan 2011 itineries:D

Kerri

[Esprit]

I really enjoyed reading your well written review.

 

We've been on Emerald twice and your findings mostly matched ours.

 

Thank you

 

Peter

[pcrum]

Loved your review....funny...I'm a carnival girl....and I'm usually on the Carnival board.

I want to cruise Alaska next summer....I was thinking of the Norwegian Pearl.....now I'm rethinking....you said food was terrible.

I know Princess has a good rep in Alaska....so I figured I'd come here and check out Princess.

 

Funny the 1st review I read is a Carnival lover:D Maybe I will stick with the Spirit to Alaska next summer.

What ship and itinerary did you do in Alaska??

thanks

kerri

 

We did the inside passage from Seattle on the NCL Star. Our port stops were Ketichan, Juneau, Skagway, and Prince Rupert, Canada. We had a balcony room (I wouldn’t cruise Alaska without one, the scenery is gorgeous). The room was a bit smaller than Carnival’s, but the balcony was about the same size. NCL does put a coffee pot in their rooms. The ship was fine and the decor of the ship reminded me a lot of Princess’, certainly not the “in your face” decor of Carnival, which although I have no problem with the decor of Carnival, others seem to! My main complaint with NCL was that we felt like in order to get a meal anywhere comparable to what we got for free in the MDR on Carnival, that we had to go to one of the restaurants that charge a surcharge. The MDR food was just not good. We ate at the Mexican restaurant that charges a $10 surcharge per person and the food was also pretty bad. They gave you a “free” margarita with your meal, but the drink was tiny, maybe 4 oz. We also ate at the French restaurant that charged a $20 per person surcharge. Here, the meal was excellent, but no better than what is served in the MDR on Carnival. It was not up to the standards of the Carnival’s Steakhouses (the only place on Carnival that charges a surcharge).

 

The buffet food on NCL was somewhat better;the breakfasts, lunches, and late afternoon snacks were good and there was a wide selection. The buffet line is set up cafeteria style, so you don’t have the different stations as on Carnival. The seating at the buffet area was at these long, industrial looking, school cafeteria like tables though, so there was not the cozy seating for small parties found on Carnival.

 

There is free hard ice cream on the same deck as the buffet, in an ice cream parlor by the pool area. It is not self-serve, someone hands you your cones. The flavors changed daily, but it was good.

 

There is also a little cafe that offers fish and chips on one of the lower decks. This was a nice place for lunch. They had other things too, I think chicken wings and nachos.

 

We were given a welcome aboard mimosa or champagne upon arrival and they did the usual towel animals and turn down service. NCL does not do assigned dining times, so to eat in the MDR, you just went when you wanted to. There were two free MDRs that we could eat in, the Versailles and the Aqua. The menus each night were similar, but the Aqua was a little less formal. We ate there once and never went back. We preferred the Versailles. We never found a line for dinner. I don’t know if they take reservations for the MDR or not. We did make reservations at the restaurants that charge a surcharge.

 

We were on a Broadway themed cruise, advertised through broadway.com, so we didn’t have the normal NCL entertainment, so I cannot comment on the production shows. The guy in the piano bar was great though and played a lot of Broadway, but again, I don’t know if he always does that or if that was just for that particular cruise.

 

The pool area looked very nice, but was not in use very much, as the weather, even in July, was not conducive to sitting out by the pool. We did buy the week’s pass to the spa to use their indoor pool and hot tubs. This was a lovely area, but on sea days, almost impossible to get a chaise, as the space is limited.

 

We loved Alaska and I’d love to go again. In Ketichan, we did the “duck tour”, the bus tour in the vehicle that also turns into a boat. In Juneau, we did the whale watching tour and Mendenhall Glacier. That was the best excursion. Not only did we see lots of whales, but we saw sea lions too. Mendenhall Glacier is not to be missed...it is just beautiful. Our ship left Juneau and then sailed past Dawes Glacier, which was gorgeous. The scenery on the way to Dawes Glacier was wonderful...we just sat on the balcony for the entire afternoon watching this wonderful show of scenery. We saw sea otters on ice chunks in the water...it was gorgeous. Our third port was Skagway, where we did the White Pass Railway train. I’m not sure we’d do this again. It was very crowded and as the train track is through a mountain, the scenery is ok, but not spectacular. Our final stop was Prince Rupert, Canada, where there really is nothing. Just a few shops. They did have a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman meet our ship to pose for photos with his dog. There really wasn’t much there.

 

We spent the night before the cruise at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, which is literally next door to the port for NCL. It was an easy walk from the hotel to the port. This hotel extends out over the water and has gorgeous views. The Beatles once stayed there and fished from their balcony!! It is also within walking distance of Seattle’s main attractions. It was a short walk to the Space Needle and to the monorail in downtown. The night after the cruisel, the Edgewater wanted a much higher price (I think something was going on in Seattle that day), so we stayed at the Crowne Plaza downtown, which was also very nice and convenient for all the tourist attractions.

 

The spirit class ships of Carnival are our favorite, so if we did Alaska again, we’d probably do Carnival or Princess. I’d definitely pick an itinerary that didn’t include Prince Rupert. I’d have loved to have seen Vancouver, so maybe next time we’d sail out of there (I think it’s possible to still fly into Seattle and drive to Vancouver). I would not do NCL again because the cruises fares are typically higher than Carnival and to get a meal comparable to the MDR on Carnival, you have to pay at least $20 extra per person for dinner.

 

I think you’d do fine with either Princess or Carnival on your Alaskan cruise. Enjoy!!

 

Here is a link to our photos. http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=619771026/a=1243599026_1243599026/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

 

Any other questions, just ask!

[pcrum]

Fabulous review!!! We'll be sailing on the Emerald in just a few short weeks. I'm completely in agreement with you about there being more similarities than differences amongst the lines. This will be our first cruise with Princess so I thank you for the thorough review. I'm definitely looking forward to the piano guy! Hopefully he knows a little Ben Folds!! :D

 

Hollybelle: I read your Liberty review a while back...we are doing the Liberty over Thanksgiving and your review was one which helped me decide! Enjoy your Princess cruise...I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

[pcrum]

Hollybelle: Just read your RCL review and loved it. Great photos!! I've always wanted to do a New Year Eve cruise (12/31 is also my birthday). Sounds like you guys had a blast!

[Hollybelle]

Hollybelle: Just read your RCL review and loved it. Great photos!! I've always wanted to do a New Year Eve cruise (12/31 is also my birthday). Sounds like you guys had a blast!

 

Thank you! I've become quite addicted to that new camera and can't wait to use it on this upcoming cruise. The NYE cruise really was a lot of fun, but it just wasn't quite warm enough, even for the Caribbean. You should definitely try one sometime though, especially considering it would double as a birthday celebration! :D I only have the two cruises to compare, but I think I prefer Carnival to RCI. My parents definitely do, too (and they have many more under their belt than I do). I do realize we were on one of their oldest ships.

 

I can't wait to read your future reviews, especially that of the Liberty!! We almost ended up on her again for this Eastern itinerary, but the Emerald was just such a better deal... and I'm all about going with the best value for my money!! Like you said at one point, if the price is right... :)

[macusr]

Yes, I am. We will be sailing on Sunday. Are you going too?

 

Yes, I'm macusr and I'm the one who has been maintaining the roll call list.

[Coolmama_1]

Enjoyed your review! Thanks for posting.

[texasgirl29]

Well, Pam, you've just made me waste at least 45 minutes at work, wishing I was on a cruise instead of here! Oh, well, a 45-minute vacation will have to tide me over for a while! Thanks so much for posting your review!

 

JoAnn

[pcrum]

Well, Pam, you've just made me waste at least 45 minutes at work, wishing I was on a cruise instead of here! Oh, well, a 45-minute vacation will have to tide me over for a while! Thanks so much for posting your review!

 

JoAnn

 

Glad you enjoyed it!