Island Hopping in the Eastern Caribbean: An Emerald Princess 5/2/10 Review (w/photos)

[CruiseCheers]

O M G I Spotted my whole family in these 2 pictures. I wasn't expecting cameo appearances until much later!!!

 

Andy, I know that my vision is weakening with age...but however did you pick your family out in this photo? I'm quite sure that Holly has a closer shot for your cameo appearance!

[7x5090g]

Andy, I know that my vision is weakening with age...but however did you pick your family out in this photo? I'm quite sure that Holly has a closer shot for your cameo appearance!

 

 

That's easy. I know exactly where I was at the time Holly shot the pictures. I knew Amy was doing line dancing on the deck and I know I was watching while sitting on the side with Aaren clinging onto me. So when I saw the picture and looked at the the general direction to pick us up.

 

Amy's was easy as she was the one with the orange hat.

 

You know if we can get 5 people writing reviews like this one and each shoot pictures, we will cross each others' paths and will have different vantage points

[7x5090g]

We are all very lucky that it is a down time for Holly at work....another reason she loves her job at Clemson. It seems that she gets alot of her review done during working hours. ;)

 

Ok so I have been waiting since 10:55 this morning for more posts. Looks like it will be a long trip before we hit St Maarten:cool:

 

Dying for more!!!!

[Hollybelle]

We are all very lucky that it is a down time for Holly at work....another reason she loves her job at Clemson. It seems that she gets alot of her review done during working hours. ;)

 

Sure it is a good thing that you remember your bartender. Ask Hollybelle if she remembers our Bushwacker bartender in St Thomas. I think it might be a good thing that I took a picture of Rui to refresh her memory.

 

A preview of things to come... man could that guy mix a drink!!! :cool: You should see the notes I took when we got back on board that afternoon... drunk handwriting isn't the easiest thing to decipher. :D

 

Sorry slightly off topic but actually we were also at WDW over Christmas. But I was there from Dec 21 to Dec 26 and then I was in Fort Lauderdale until Jan 1. We were within close proximity to each other but we just didn't know each other at that point.

 

Small world! You were there during the super busy time... we left just before the crazy "holiday" season truly began. Did you stay on property?

 

Ok so I have been waiting since 10:55 this morning for more posts. Looks like it will be a long trip before we hit St Maarten:cool:

 

Dying for more!!!!

 

I know, I know... I've just about got the sea day ready to go. It's a relatively short update so it will be up in full tomorrow morning sometime. Unless something pressing comes up at work. ;) And then the fun really begins after that.

[7x5090g]

Small world! You were there during the super busy time... we left just before the crazy "holiday" season truly began. Did you stay on property?

 

No I did not. It was really not that bad. I was in Animal Kingdom on Xmas day and there were hardly anyone there. I remember sitting in a few rides and wanting to go again, we did not even have to get out of the ride becuase there was no one in line at all!!

[cdngrl]

i am along for this journey too, and am thoroughly enjoying it. thank you. i get my first taste of the caribbean in october and your photo review is getting me even more excited. i'm looking forward to the rest of the trip.

[Hollybelle]

No I did not. It was really not that bad. I was in Animal Kingdom on Xmas day and there were hardly anyone there. I remember sitting in a few rides and wanting to go again, we did not even have to get out of the ride becuase there was no one in line at all!!

 

Smart decision to go to the Animal Kingdom that day. For whatever reason EVERYONE wants to be at the MK on Christmas morning. I remember Brett and I were there one year for Christmas and the Magic Kingdom was filled to capacity and the gates were closed by, like, 11 am. Madness, I tell you! :eek:

 

i am along for this journey too, and am thoroughly enjoying it. thank you. i get my first taste of the caribbean in october and your photo review is getting me even more excited. i'm looking forward to the rest of the trip.

 

Oooh you are going to have so much fun in October. I got my first real taste last May and hadn't looked back since!

[Hollybelle]

Day 3 – Tuesday, May 4: Day at Sea

 

There’s always less to report about sea days due to all the lazing around we tend to accomplish (both on the upper decks and in our batcave of a cabin). But let’s give it a try! We were up at 8:30, had breakfast at 9:15 and in our loungers at the Neptune pool by 10 am. Our apologies roll callers, we contemplated the meet and greet, but the call of the warm sun was just too strong for my sun loving self!

 

View of the pool from my lounger:

 

At about 12:30 Brett and I lost track of my parents for awhile and wandered down to the Wheelhouse Bar to check out the pub lunch. Thanks for the tip, Pam (pcrum). Had I not read about it in your review I don’t know that we would have realized they served lunch there. Relatively speaking, it was very good. And piping hot, which is always a plus. It was nice to walk up and be seated and greeted (like in a normal restaurant), but even nicer that we didn’t have to pick up the bill (like in a normal restaurant). Best of both worlds!

 

 

 

 

Seeing that I hadn’t properly doused myself with enough radiation yet, I made my way back up to the sun deck. I’m an avid sunscreen user, but I’m always freaking out that I might have missed a spot. Anyone else do this? Therefore, I decided to call it quits around 3:30ish... you know, just when the sun was starting its descent. :rolleyes: At this time I had to make a difficult decision: nap or run. Hmmm, tough one. Had there been a legitimate jogging track I may have run, but I’m not the biggest fan of treadmills so the batcave won out. :D

[Hollybelle]

After my nap it was just about time to check out the sunset, but first... MORE cookies from the International Café!

 

I think the title of this next shot should be: Abandonment. The chairs were all left in disarray as the sun set and cruisers retreated to their cabins to get ready for formal night.

 

 

[Hollybelle]

Eh... I was left a little disappointed with tonight’s sunset; it was one of those ones that really lacked color. I’m starting to think I was spoiled by the sunsets on my RCI cruise in December. They were simply breathtaking. And I’m not sure if that had to do with the time of year or if it’s just hit or miss. Although, there were certainly some better ones to come later in the week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hollybelle]

As I was walking back to the cabin I noticed the Calypso pool area was already set up and ready for the first MUTS showing:

 

And the Neptune pool area was all but deserted:

 

 

[Hollybelle]

I headed in about 7pm to quickly get ready for dinner. We were about ready when my mom knocked on the door with an extra mimosa in her hand. Mmmm... free champagne and mimosas. I’m in! Okay now, don’t shoot me, but I find the champagne waterfall to be incredibly cheesy. Surely we can’t be the only ones that secretly want to witness a train wreck and see it all come crashing down (with no one getting hurt, of course). I can just envision the rousing chorus of “Opas” being shouted throughout the atrium. That being said... LOVE the free champagne so if the waterfall is what it takes to get my complimentary mimosas then so be it. Carry on, Princess, carry on!

 

We ran into Heath (syobwoc) and Audra again, looking smashing in their formal duds. They made some room for me on the stairs so I could take a quick picture documenting the cheesiness. It's not very sharp, but you get the idea:

 

We shared a bottle of wine with our dinner and the duo of Daniel’s provided excellent service, yet again. How ‘bout more dessert pictures… tonight we have chilled cookies and cream, a chocolate soufflé and some kind of pear pastry:

 

[Hollybelle]

After dinner we wandered around a bit, checking out the Princess Theatre. We got there about 30 minutes prior to showtime and couldn’t find 2 seats together, let alone 4. Brett and I weren’t all that bothered by it and took off for Crooner’s instead. We settled in for some piano bar fun.

 

 

Okay… I love the atmosphere usually found at piano bars, but this one really wasn’t doing it for me. I think it could be due to a few different things. First off, for a piano bar to be fun there are two key ingredients: good songs/player and a lively crowd. The piano guy was good, but he wasn’t trying to actively engage the crowd. That being said, the crowd just wasn’t into it. They acted as if the piano guy was background music in a bar and not the main form of entertainment and center of attention as he should be. I’m thinking this could be, at least partially, attributed to the set up of the “bar.” The piano guy is kind of stuck back in a narrow corner, and access to the bar is blocked off on that end in the evenings due to the performances happening at Explorer’s next door. You can kind of see what I mean in this next picture. That's him way back on the right hand side:

 

Since I’ve kind of been comparing lines I have to say, hands down our favorite piano bar (and singer) was on the Monarch of the Seas. He was extremely interactive with the audience and the bar was in a prime location. Anyhoo, we didn’t last long at the piano bar and eventually ended up back in our stateroom drifting off to dream about the next day’s festivities in St. Martin.

 

There’s that darn ceiling again, taken from my seat at Crooner's:

 

 

 

Up next... we arrive in St. Martin!

[7x5090g]

 

 

 

A very familiar picture indeed. Hey I was there at that time too (or may be just finishing). We missed each other again:(?

[pcrum]

Hey, were we on the same ship (albeit different sailings??). Your dinner dessert photos look soooo much tastier than what we experienced!!! That chocolate chip thing...it looks like raw cookie dough, which would be a big hit with my kids!! How did it taste?? Also, we never saw creme brulee on the menu at dinner and I noticed it on your previous night's dinner! Maybe Princess changed their dessert menus from our sailing. I will have to look at Andy's menus to see!

 

You must have had a real theater crowd on your sailing. Both you and Andy mentioned the crowded theater. Or maybe DH and I went to a show no one wanted to see, because 30 minutes before showtime on the one and only show we saw, there were a total of 4 people in the theater and two of them were us!

 

I agree with you about the piano bar. The piano was kind of stuck back out of the way. We enjoyed the one set we attended, but never went back, so that says something, because the piano bar is usually one of our favorite places on a ship!!

 

Glad we can spread the word about the pub lunch, along with Andy! I am a complete anglophile, so hope Princess keeps this up for a long time!

 

Loving the review. Can't wait for the ports!!

[BalconyGal]

Oooh, I hope not... especially considering we'll still need to fit into the bathing suits that last day! :D But those International Cafe cookies were oh so gooooood!

 

 

 

Heather... I linked my most recent Disney review in the first post of this thread. However, it's not connected to any of the ones prior to that. I've written 6 total; if you follow this link (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=534877&highlight=christmas+cape) it'll take you to my December 2009 report, which then has a link to all the previous ones (July 09 is probably my favorite). I don't imagine you'll want to read them all, seeing as that'd probably keep you busy for eons! :eek:

I have eons...LOL. I wrote a review of the Saratoga Springs resort for a trip advisor website and took about 1000 pictures there. So, I am very interested in your take and pics! I'll check it out, thanks!

[BalconyGal]

We are all very lucky that it is a down time for Holly at work....another reason she loves her job at Clemson. It seems that she gets alot of her review done during working hours. ;)

 

Sure it is a good thing that you remember your bartender. Ask Hollybelle if she remembers our Bushwacker bartender in St Thomas. I think it might be a good thing that I took a picture of Rui to refresh her memory.

Is this Hollybelle's mom? Thank you for passing down your love of photography to your obviously talented daughter!

[DiTomCruisers]

What a great review Holly! Thanks for sharing.. What are you using for a camera?

[blueridge20]

Holly,

 

There is an outdoor track, but it is very small. The track is above the Skywalkers lounge near the miniature golf.

[jimboarch]

My wife and I will be sailing on the Emerald Princess July 25th,2010 for 7 days.We're getting all excited again! We love Princess. We love cruising this will be our 35th time!! Hoping to meet new friends!! Marlene & Jim.:p:cool:

[kittikats sister]

My wife and I will be sailing on the Emerald Princess July 25th,2010 for 7 days.We're getting all excited again! We love Princess. We love cruising this will be our 35th time!! Hoping to meet new friends!! Marlene & Jim.:p:cool:

 

WELCOME to Hollys review.

Wow, 35 cruises and this looks like your first post on Cruise Critic.

You may already know but there is a roll call for your July cruise http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1164481 .

[Hobbster]

Hollybelle,

 

Met your parents in Hot tub the late afternoon of St Thomas day if I remember correctly. Had a nice conversation with them, but could tell they were enjoying the cruise. We had a great time, snorkeling was fantastic, esp in St Thomas.

[rdsqrl]

This is such a wonderful review -- I'm just loving your writing style and the photos are amazing. I know how much time and effort this takes; thank you so, so much! Can't wait for the rest!

[lorenzod]

Do you know if they give prizes for the trivia contests they have during the cruise and what are they? Also has anyone seen the"If I were not upon the sea"? I have not seen it in years and wondered if they do a good job with it.

Marsha:)

[CruiseCheers]

Is this Hollybelle's mom? Thank you for passing down your love of photography to your obviously talented daughter!

 

Yes, this is Hollybelle's very proud mom. I do love photography, but my Sony point and shoot just isn't keeping up. I now have the feeeeever. I am thinking that I need to catch up with Holly's equipment. She assures me that she will be my very own talking manual if I will purchase a Cannon.

I have enjoyed reading all of your comments on Holly's review. I am thinking that we need to redo this vacation so that all of us can really meet.