Just back from the Emerald Princess

[jobythebay]

It was the Baltic Sea cruise. I will post there as well but ask away!

[michellescw]

leaving next week

 

What are the must see tours?

 

thanks

michellle

[jobythebay]

leaving next week

 

What are the must see tours?

 

thanks

michellle

 

Vigeland Sculpture Park in Norway and then go to the Viking Museum. I recommend both. For those Jewish don't miss the Holocaust Museum; however, Princess tours don't offer this stop. We did Oslo on our own.

 

St. Petersburg - any tour you go with will take you to the highlights so don't worry about that port but do go on an organized tour.

 

Stockholm - the Vasa Museum is a must see but go early!

 

Helsinki - the Rock Church was cool - check to make sure it is opened unless you do a tour. We did the hop on hop off bus.

 

I need to write up my notes but off hand those were the highlights.

[Mozo9]

Did you sample room service breakfast? If so, what are the options, are the tea and coffee hot? Room service breakfast on X Solstice was rubbish, but very good on HAL.

[jg51]

... ask away!

Hello, "jobythebay."

Thanks for volunteering to answer questions.

We will follow up if you answer, "yes," to this one:

 

Did you have dinner at Sabatini's?

[jobythebay]

Did you sample room service breakfast? If so, what are the options, are the tea and coffee hot? Room service breakfast on X Solstice was rubbish, but very good on HAL.

 

Yes we did but never had coffee or tea.

 

Options were:

 

6 kinds of juice

 

about 6 kinds of cereal

 

pastries, croissants

 

egg, bacon, cheese on a muffin but we said hold the bacon and it was ok

 

fruit

 

There was enough and we took some of our breakfast for snacks on the excursions so that worked out well. Not an amazing assortment but for us it was fine for the one two times we used it.

[jobythebay]

Hello, "jobythebay."

Thanks for volunteering to answer questions.

We will follow up if you answer, "yes," to this one:

 

Did you have dinner at Sabatini's?

 

We did not but we were friendly with two couples who went there on different nights and the consensus was NO - not worth the money. On one occasion the waiter didn't even replace the dirty knife as they would in the dining room and they found the food to be just ok.

[Mozo9]

Thanks for the room service breakfast review. Sounds Ok and we love to have a relaxed casual breakfast on the balcony, it's one of our favourite things.

[jobythebay]

Oh I forgot yogurt!

[PescadoAmarillo]

Jo, did you see any Greek yogurt on board? Thanks!

[srpilo]

Was the Horizon Court open 24 hrs ??

 

 

 

Srpilo

[baby]

i'm interested too

 

thanks carol

[TracieABD]

Did they serve lunch in the the MDR on port days?

[TracieABD]

Was the MDR open for lunch on port days?

[bakery]

We just got off the same cruise, so I'll try to answer some of these questions too. We had dinner once at Sabatini's. It was nice for a change, but if you don't make it you're not missing too much. I'd say we preferred the Crown Grill overall. We actually found the service at both restaurants very good. On a longer cruise like the Baltic, we enjoyed eating at a variety of restaurants. (We started with traditional early dining but changed early on. We preferred the service at DaVinci's anytime dining to Botticelli, the only restaurant with service that disappointed us.)

 

We only ate at the dining room once on a port day, and that was Oslo. Yes, it was open, and probably busier than usual due to a sudden downpour. Most of the time we ate in town.

[Stu K]

thanks for the feed back guys! 128 sleeps to go.

 

May sound like an odd question but its a running joke from our 1st cruise. Do they have dirty bannana cocktail on the list still?

 

Thanks again Stu K

[jobythebay]

Jo, did you see any Greek yogurt on board? Thanks!

 

Nope - just regular but the coconut was very good:p

[jobythebay]

Was the Horizon Court open 24 hrs ??

 

 

 

Srpilo

 

6 to 11:30 am

11:30 to 3:30

3:30 to 5:30 (light snack)

5:30 to 11pm

 

Cafe Caribe opens at 4:00am to 9:30am and opens again at 11:00pm to 4:00a.m

[jobythebay]

thanks for the feed back guys! 128 sleeps to go.

 

May sound like an odd question but its a running joke from our 1st cruise. Do they have dirty bannana cocktail on the list still?

 

Thanks again Stu K

 

LOL don't know but I think they'll make anything you want. :eek:

[jobythebay]

Was the MDR open for lunch on port days?

 

However to add to bakery, it was not to be opened when we docked in Germany- I remember that specifically because we ended up not docking in Germany and the staff did a great job given they were not prepared.

[jg51]

We just got off the same cruise, so I'll try to answer some of these questions too. We had dinner once at Sabatini's.

Thanks, "bakery," for the information you provided. Now here is the follow-up that we were going to ask "jobythebay":

Was the old Sabatini's menu being used, or has the Emerald Princess now converted to the new Sabatini's menu? If you're not sure (because you never dined there under the old menu), here's how to know:

 

}}} With the old menu, before the meal, one would order only an entree, while the rest of the items would be brought out in what they called a "tasting" method of service.

 

}}} With the new menu, before the meal, one orders what one desires for each course.

 

.

.

In response to the "srpilo" question ("Was the Horizon Court open 24 hrs ??"):

6 to 11:30 am ... 11:30 to 3:30 ... 3:30 to 5:30 (light snack) ... 5:30 to 11pm. Cafe Caribe opens at 4:00am to 9:30am and opens again at 11:00pm to 4:00a.m

Wow! Are you sure about that, "jobythe bay?" Can you check your Patters, if you kept them?

 

Those are very different from the hours that we experienced on Ruby Princess in 2009 (which were nearly the same hours that we read in April, 2011, Patters from the Crown Princess that were posted on this forum). The surprises (the second of which we hope is a mistake) are two:

 

}}} You are showing the buffet breakfast to be served BOTH in Horizon Court and in Cafe Caribe (furthest aft part of the deck) -- even though it was previously served only in Horizon Court. We see an advantage in its being available in both places.

 

}}} You are showing the dinner buffet to be served in Horizon Court, but NOT in Cafe Caribe -- even though it was previously served ONLY in Cafe Caribe! We would be VERY disappointed if dinner were no longer served in Cafe Caribe, because of the layout of the serving and dining areas. We can't help but think that you are mistaken, because you are saying that Cafe Caribe is now closed for almost fourteen hours straight (9:30 AM to 11:00 PM)!

 

These matters are very important to us, because we will soon be aboard the Emerald Princess. Thank you so much for your past and future replies.

.

[jobythebay]

Thanks, "bakery," for the information you provided. Now here is the follow-up that we were going to ask "jobythebay":

Was the old Sabatini's menu being used, or has the Emerald Princess now converted to the new Sabatini's menu? If you're not sure (because you never dined there under the old menu), here's how to know:

 

}}} With the old menu, before the meal, one would order only an entree, while the rest of the items would be brought out in what they called a "tasting" method of service.

 

}}} With the new menu, before the meal, one orders what one desires for each course.

 

In response to the "srpilo" question ("Was the Horizon Court open 24 hrs ??"):

 

Wow! Are you sure about that, "jobythe bay?" Can you check your Patters, if you kept them?

 

Those are very different from the hours that we experienced on Ruby Princess in 2009 (which were nearly the same hours that we read in April, 2011, Patters from the Crown Princess that were posted on this forum). The surprises (the second of which we hope is a mistakes) are two:

 

}}} You are showing the buffet breakfast to be served BOTH in Horizon Court and in Cafe Caribe (furthest aft part of the deck) -- even though it was previously served only in Horizon Court. We see an advantage in its being available in both places.

 

}}} You are showing the dinner buffet to be served in Horizon Court, but NOT in Cafe Caribe -- even though it was previously served ONLY in Cafe Caribe! We would be VERY disappointed if dinner were no longer served in Cafe Caribe, because of the layout of the serving and dining areas. We can't help but think that you are mistaken, because you are saying that Cafe Caribe is now closed for almost fourteen hours straight (9:30 AM to 11:00 PM)!

 

These matters are very important to us, because we will soon be aboard the Emerald Princess. Thank you so much for your past and future replies.

 

Hi I double checked. That came from the Patter for our Oslo day. The times change depending on the port.

 

So for example I am looking at St. Pete and see that Cafe Caribe is not open but Horizon Court is open from 11:00pm to 4:00a.m.

 

For Tallin it says Cafe Caribe: 4am to 6 am (continental); 5:30 to 11 pm and 11 to 4 am.

 

Horizon closed at 5:30pm

 

For port days it is listed like this:

 

Cafe Caribe 12 to 5:30 buffet

and Horizon Court is the same as originally posted. It seems that Cafe Caribe was an extension of Horizon Court but with a separate buffet area. Many times there would be signs saying xxx is closed but xxx is open.

 

I didn't eat in Sabatinis. Maybe bakery can help with that one.

 

Sorry if this is confusing. I found the eating times/places confusing and I was on the ship! :eek:

[caribill]

The surprises (the second of which we hope is a mistake) are two:

 

}}} You are showing the buffet breakfast to be served BOTH in Horizon Court and in Cafe Caribe (furthest aft part of the deck) -- even though it was previously served only in Horizon Court. We see an advantage in its being available in both places.

 

}}} You are showing the dinner buffet to be served in Horizon Court, but NOT in Cafe Caribe -- even though it was previously served ONLY in Cafe Caribe! We would be VERY disappointed if dinner were no longer served in Cafe Caribe, because of the layout of the serving and dining areas. We can't help but think that you are mistaken, because you are saying that Cafe Caribe is now closed for almost fourteen hours straight (9:30 AM to 11:00 PM)!

 

 

In our experience, both the Horizon Court and Cafe Caribe have been open for breakfast although the variety of food is greater in the larger Horizon Court. We have also found both open at lunch, but with the Cafe Caribe often having a theme with different foods than the Horizon Court.

 

Also in our experience, sometimes dinner is from the Cafe Caribe, sometimes from the Horizon Court. I do not know what causes them to change the locations on a cruise. But no matter where you get the food, you can always sit in the other if you like the layout of that dining area better.

[bakery]

With reference to Sabatini's, we didn't eat at the old one, but on this cruise we ordered both the appetizer and entree at the beginning of the meal. We ordered dessert and coffee after we had finished the entree. Hope that helps!

[mysweetness]

I am planning on an Emerald cruise during Thanksgiving .

 

can anyone tell me anything special I can expect...besides turkey ?:)

 

thanks