Emerald Princess 12/9 - 12/19

[rolex24]

We just got back from a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Emerald Princess. This is the first time I have ever submitted a cruise ship report but am compelled to in this case.

 

Embarkation out of Fort Lauderdale went fairly smoothly. No issues and we were aboard the ship, and enjoying lunch in the buffet quickly.

 

One of our pieces of luggage didn't arrive with the others and it arrived about 4pm just as we were departing. It turns out that suitcase was snagged due to a bottle of scotch that I had stowed it. This was a cruise for our third anniversary and my wife is from Canada and myself from the states. She bought me a bottle on her trip down as a present and I stuffed it into my luggage before boarding. The long and short of it it was confiscated and destroyed according to their new policy. Frankly I doubt that the passage contract supersedes US law in which destruction of private property is actionable. The contract jurisdiction is maritime law and I haven't had time yet to decipher if their policy is legal or not. I will write back once I have checked that out.

 

In any case, I had several conversations with apologetic yet unhelpful F&B people of increasing responsibility. In the end I was told that the policy is there to protect revenue and not for liability reasons. On a normal cruise, I would enjoy a glass of single malt (not available by the bottle on ship for purchase) in my cabin prior to dinner, and still would enjoy wine at dinner and drinks in the bar. On this cruise we didn't spend one dime; no photos, no drinks, no shore excursions, nothing. This will be the last cruise on princess or any other line that has a policy of destroying passengers private property.

 

We have cruised on many different lines, this was our second on princess. From now on we will stick with one of the upscale lines for this reason and others discussed below.

 

The ship is nice, showing some age in places but generally quite lovely. The food in the MDR was poor with the exceptions of the appetizers which were fabulous. Its quite obvious that the person responsible for appetizers has more imagination and skill than the chef that selects and constructs the main dishes.

 

Food in the horizon court was equally poor in both variety and execution. Eggs many times were cold. The scrambled eggs seem to have some sort of filler in them, and the coffee was abysmal likely due to the concentrate they use. Pizza as before was great.

 

The bed was perhaps the worst that I have slept on since boyscout camp years ago. There is no excuse for a bag of springs for a bed on what is supposed to be a 5 star cruise.

 

The net result of all this is that the Emerald Princess at the current time is in no way a 5 star ship, a tarted up 4 star perhaps but certainly not deserving of 5 star status.

 

Disembarkation was a nightmare. Long lines and no apparent coordination. I am not sure what happened here. This generally goes fairly smooth on most ships.

 

Lastly there is an interesting dichotomy that I have noticed in cruise ship service. It seems that the lowest ranking people, cabin stewards and wait staff have the best customer service skills. Jose was our cabin steward and he was an absolute delight. Andrea from Romania was our waitress and in all of our cruises we have not encountered a more efficient, professional and personable waitress. These folks would be a credit to any cruise line, in my opinion they would be better served working for a better line. The higher ranked people however, seem less inclined to please, or even value passengers. I found them cold, distant and decidedly unhelpful.

 

In the end the money we saved by not spending on the ship for photos and drinks we gave out as extra gratuities to the hard working cabin and waitstaff that actually deserved it.

[OCruisers]

Noticed this is your first post. Thanks for your time to give us your opinion of the cruise.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Loonbeam]

As an FYI, since you agreed to the passage contract on booking, from a legal standpoint you have princess permission to search and confiscate alcohol that your brought on board in violation of said contract as long as they notify you of the policy, which they did. It's settled law. The policy for alcohol other than wine is not new by the way, just more strictly in force, it's been in place for at least as long as I can recall.

 

This doesn't invalidate your other points BTW (though I suspect it may have set the tone), one of my recurring issues with cruising is the variance on food based on the chef in charge and its been my opinion that Princess has slipped a bit in the oversight areas and/or has been cutting back of house staff to save money since they have not been able to raise fares overmuch.

 

I also agree that some of the senior staff are far less engaged than the operational staff (with notable exceptions), part of this has to do with compensation by gratuity, and part has to do with cultural differences (by that I mean more of a corporate/management culture than ethnic/geographic although that plays a part). I'll say it again, the second tier management (MD, EC, Chief Purser, CD and Hotel Director) are the staff members who will make or break a cruise.

 

 

 

We just got back from a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Emerald Princess. This is the first time I have ever submitted a cruise ship report but am compelled to in this case.

 

Embarkation out of Fort Lauderdale went fairly smoothly. No issues and we were aboard the ship, and enjoying lunch in the buffet quickly.

 

One of our pieces of luggage didn't arrive with the others and it arrived about 4pm just as we were departing. It turns out that suitcase was snagged due to a bottle of scotch that I had stowed it. This was a cruise for our third anniversary and my wife is from Canada and myself from the states. She bought me a bottle on her trip down as a present and I stuffed it into my luggage before boarding. The long and short of it it was confiscated and destroyed according to their new policy. Frankly I doubt that the passage contract supersedes US law in which destruction of private property is actionable. The contract jurisdiction is maritime law and I haven't had time yet to decipher if their policy is legal or not. I will write back once I have checked that out.

 

In any case, I had several conversations with apologetic yet unhelpful F&B people of increasing responsibility. In the end I was told that the policy is there to protect revenue and not for liability reasons. On a normal cruise, I would enjoy a glass of single malt (not available by the bottle on ship for purchase) in my cabin prior to dinner, and still would enjoy wine at dinner and drinks in the bar. On this cruise we didn't spend one dime; no photos, no drinks, no shore excursions, nothing. This will be the last cruise on princess or any other line that has a policy of destroying passengers private property.

 

We have cruised on many different lines, this was our second on princess. From now on we will stick with one of the upscale lines for this reason and others discussed below.

 

The ship is nice, showing some age in places but generally quite lovely. The food in the MDR was poor with the exceptions of the appetizers which were fabulous. Its quite obvious that the person responsible for appetizers has more imagination and skill than the chef that selects and constructs the main dishes.

 

Food in the horizon court was equally poor in both variety and execution. Eggs many times were cold. The scrambled eggs seem to have some sort of filler in them, and the coffee was abysmal likely due to the concentrate they use. Pizza as before was great.

 

The bed was perhaps the worst that I have slept on since boyscout camp years ago. There is no excuse for a bag of springs for a bed on what is supposed to be a 5 star cruise.

 

The net result of all this is that the Emerald Princess at the current time is in no way a 5 star ship, a tarted up 4 star perhaps but certainly not deserving of 5 star status.

 

Disembarkation was a nightmare. Long lines and no apparent coordination. I am not sure what happened here. This generally goes fairly smooth on most ships.

 

Lastly there is an interesting dichotomy that I have noticed in cruise ship service. It seems that the lowest ranking people, cabin stewards and wait staff have the best customer service skills. Jose was our cabin steward and he was an absolute delight. Andrea from Romania was our waitress and in all of our cruises we have not encountered a more efficient, professional and personable waitress. These folks would be a credit to any cruise line, in my opinion they would be better served working for a better line. The higher ranked people however, seem less inclined to please, or even value passengers. I found them cold, distant and decidedly unhelpful.

 

In the end the money we saved by not spending on the ship for photos and drinks we gave out as extra gratuities to the hard working cabin and waitstaff that actually deserved it.

[Rick-cruiser]

"5 star ship"??. Where did you get that from?.

 

Princess is a *mainstream* cruiseline..... meaning average...standard... 3 star..

 

Oceania/Azamara are 4 star.. Crystal/Regent/Silversea are 5 star.

.

[rolex24]

I guess I got it from the vacations to go ship ratings which is what we generally go to for ship ratings. Is there another; hopefully more accurate source?

[IdahoCruises]

Destruction of property is considered a criminal act in which a person intentionally destroys property, whether private or public, for the purpose of vandalism. To destroy property in the eyes of the law means that it is an intentional act and one that does not occur by natural means. Furthermore, the destruction of property will not be considered a criminal act if it is done by the owner of such property. In the United States, the destruction of property is considered a misdemeanor crime, which means that no incarceration will be involved as part of sentencing by a judge or jury. Typically, the destruction of property is punishable by fines, often based on the amount of damage or value of the damaged property. However, destroying property as part of another criminal act, such as a felony, can result in jail time. It is important to consult the applicable Federal and State laws to determine the punishments associated with destruction of property. - See more at: http://criminal.laws.com/criminal-law/destruction-of-property#sthash.6RgzESKj.dpuf

 

Notice that this opinion refers to vandalism.

 

Princess also has a cruise contract which you agreed to and you have, in essence, broken that contract by violating it.

 

Hope you had a nice cruise, tho....

[patterson3]

"5 star ship"??. Where did you get that from?.

 

Princess is a *mainstream* cruiseline..... meaning average...standard... 3 star..

 

Oceania/Azamara are 4 star.. Crystal/Regent/Silversea are 5 star.

.

 

Using your rating system, how would you differentiate between a line like Cunard and a line like Carnival, both of which are 'mainstream" and therefore presumably "3 star"?

[bigguy6]

If you go to the top of this page and hit REVIEWS then go the the Emerald Princess you will find this ship gets 4 stars. Also many individual reviews of this ship there. Guess you should have started with this site.

[rolex24]

I just looked. Except it gives some Princess ships a 5 star rating alongside with Regent, Silversea and Seaborn which simply aren't in the same league. That is how I got to the vtgo rating which goes to 6 stars.

 

It would be nice to find an honest and objective rating system with enough resolution to discern differences between the ship. Had I seen the cruise critic rating of 4 for the Emerald Princess I likely wouldn't have booked it. Yet it rated 5 stars on VTGO.

 

There is a lot of variation among the mainstream line ships. I've decided to solve both problems by just sticking to the true luxury ships. For the 3-4 times a year we go the extra cost compared to my time is negligible if it means we will have a consistently good experience.

[sminfiddle]

This is the first time I have ever submitted a cruise ship report but am compelled to in this case.

 

... The long and short of it it was confiscated and destroyed according to their new policy. Frankly I doubt that the passage contract supersedes US law in which destruction of private property is actionable. The contract jurisdiction is maritime law and I haven't had time yet to decipher if their policy is legal or not.

Yes, please update us on your findings.

 

The policy (contract language) dates back to before the "new" wording on luggage tags / boarding passes, which "new" language is now over a year old.

 

 

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

[OCruisers]

rolex .... Please, this is in no way intended to be an ugly question ... just interested.

On which cruise lines are you now allowed to bring a bottle of scotch on the ship?

 

LuLu

~~~~

[rolex24]

Honestly I am not sure which do allow or do not allow. I have never had a problem before. I have had bottles kept from port duty free but they have always simply held them for pick up on the last night. I have no problem with this and many times buy bottles to bring home that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. This was the policy on this cruise for liquor purchased at ports as well. When I asked the F&B guys why they destroyed bottles at embarkation and only held them when brought on board during port calls. All I heard was a lot of seal talk... "arrh arrh arrh arrh arrh"

 

I watched folks and spoke with many on port calls. Countless people bring reasonable quantities of quality beverages with them for the same exact reasons I did. Countless others buy them at port calls. The two "alcohol policy" officers I saw were most often sitting at the table and goofing off. The only people I saw surrendering liquor at ports were doing it voluntarily. Most were simply bringing on board with not a question asked.

 

At least for me, Princess had a lot more to lose by this policy than gaining. As I said before, regardless of what I might bring with me I have always spent quite a bit on board. I'll not travel again on any line that destroys private property simply to increase revenue. If that means traveling on Oceania or similar lines that supply quality beverages both in the room and out so be it.

 

In response to the gentleman that suggested this experience tainted my view. You are certainly right it did cause the cruise to start off on a bad note. However, no amount of scotch would have made the poor quality of food any better nor would it have made the bag full of springs for a bed any more comfortable.

[homeinboca]

On this cruise we didn't spend one dime; no photos, no drinks, no shore excursions, nothing. This will be the last cruise on princess or any other line that has a policy of destroying passengers private property.

 

We have cruised on many different lines, this was our second on princess. From now on we will stick with one of the upscale lines for this reason and others discussed below

.

 

Had you put the bottle in your carry on, rather than try to hide it in your luggage, you might have had it confiscated at check in, and returned to you at the end of the cruise, similar to what happens when you come back from ports with duty free.

[caribill]

One of our pieces of luggage didn't arrive with the others and it arrived about 4pm just as we were departing. It turns out that suitcase was snagged due to a bottle of scotch that I had stowed it. The long and short of it it was confiscated and destroyed according to their new policy.

 

Question: Was your suitcase locked and they broke it open or had you checked your suitcase with it unlocked?

 

If it was locked, they should have asked you to unlock it.

[Loonbeam]

There are no lines at all that I am aware of that 'allow' hard liquor to be brought onboard for onboard consumption. Haven't been for a long time. The luxury all-inclusive lines enforce it probably the least because there's no revenue in it for them, in fact if you bring your own it often means less they have to provide and you have already paid for it.

 

Now, does that mean that policies are enforced consistently? Nope. You got unlucky in that someone was being super diligent. You might have cruised next week and gotten it through or even later the same day depending on who was scanning your bag.

 

This comes up a LOT on threads on here about Rum Runners and the like and my response has always been the same. If you try to smuggle it on board and make it, good for you. If they catch it and trash it, smile, nod, and accept it as part of the cost of beating the system.

 

As far as ratings, there is no common rating system like a zagats or Michelin for cruise lines. Pretty much everything out there is on a customer review or editorial level, and represents grades versus expectation not level of service (we can use TA as an example, a 5 dot rating doesn't mean its a 5* hotel - it means that the people who posted reviews gave it consistently high scores, which means you can have a 5 dot Holiday Inn Express).

 

Instead, lines are divided into classes. Some people may put lines into different groups, but here's my list:

 

Mass Market ("2-3 Star":

 

Carnival, Costa

 

Mid Market ("3-3.5 star"):

 

RCCL, Princess, HAL, Celebrity, NCL

 

Mid Market Plus(3.5 star):

 

Disney

 

Luxury(4 star +):

 

Regent, Oceana, et al.

 

Again, these are my ratings based on what my view of a star system would be. You can make the argument that even specific ships on lines could move between the groups in same cases. But when people ask me for guidelines, these are what I use. (Please do not start a debate over which lines go where)

 

If you have the budget, the luxury lines may make sense for your expectations. It's always a personal preference. Neither of us drink, so the alcohol priced into the fares on those lines is actually a negative as an example. Everyone should choose their lines based on their own priorities (which is why I loathe posts where people ask why should ABC line be my favorite - then again to digress further I always think it should be itinerary first, ship choice second anyway, loyalty should be the least factor)

[MSN-Travelers]

Honestly I am not sure which do allow or do not allow. I have never had a problem before. I have had bottles kept from port duty free but they have always simply held them for pick up on the last night. I have no problem with this and many times buy bottles to bring home that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. This was the policy on this cruise for liquor purchased at ports as well. When I asked the F&B guys why they destroyed bottles at embarkation and only held them when brought on board during port calls. All I heard was a lot of seal talk... "arrh arrh arrh arrh arrh"

 

I watched folks and spoke with many on port calls. Countless people bring reasonable quantities of quality beverages with them for the same exact reasons I did. Countless others buy them at port calls. The two "alcohol policy" officers I saw were most often sitting at the table and goofing off. The only people I saw surrendering liquor at ports were doing it voluntarily. Most were simply bringing on board with not a question asked.

 

At least for me, Princess had a lot more to lose by this policy than gaining. As I said before, regardless of what I might bring with me I have always spent quite a bit on board. I'll not travel again on any line that destroys private property simply to increase revenue. If that means traveling on Oceania or similar lines that supply quality beverages both in the room and out so be it.

 

In response to the gentleman that suggested this experience tainted my view. You are certainly right it did cause the cruise to start off on a bad note. However, no amount of scotch would have made the poor quality of food any better nor would it have made the bag full of springs for a bed any more comfortable.

 

If you had come here and done a little research, your experience with alcohol confiscation and destruction would have been the expectation rather than a surprise.

 

This topic was discussed heavily (487 replies) in this November 5th thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1919298&highlight=caught+liquor

 

Your first post on this board and it is to complain about something that is common knowledge. The fact you put the bottle in your checked bags indicates you were attempting smuggle the liquor aboard and knew it was against established policy for Princess.

[bigguy6]

There are no lines at all that I am aware of that 'allow' hard liquor to be brought onboard for onboard consumption. Haven't been for a long time. The luxury all-inclusive lines enforce it probably the least because there's no revenue in it for them, in fact if you bring your own it often means less they have to provide and you have already paid for it.

 

Now, does that mean that policies are enforced consistently? Nope. You got unlucky in that someone was being super diligent. You might have cruised next week and gotten it through or even later the same day depending on who was scanning your bag.

 

This comes up a LOT on threads on here about Rum Runners and the like and my response has always been the same. If you try to smuggle it on board and make it, good for you. If they catch it and trash it, smile, nod, and accept it as part of the cost of beating the system.

 

As far as ratings, there is no common rating system like a zagats or Michelin for cruise lines. Pretty much everything out there is on a customer review or editorial level, and represents grades versus expectation not level of service (we can use TA as an example, a 5 dot rating doesn't mean its a 5* hotel - it means that the people who posted reviews gave it consistently high scores, which means you can have a 5 dot Holiday Inn Express).

 

Instead, lines are divided into classes. Some people may put lines into different groups, but here's my list:

 

Mass Market ("2-3 Star":

 

Carnival, Costa

 

Mid Market ("3-3.5 star"):

 

RCCL, Princess, HAL, Celebrity, NCL

 

Mid Market Plus(3.5 star):

 

Disney

 

Luxury(4 star +):

 

Regent, Oceana, et al.

 

Again, these are my ratings based on what my view of a star system would be. You can make the argument that even specific ships on lines could move between the groups in same cases. But when people ask me for guidelines, these are what I use. (Please do not start a debate over which lines go where)

 

If you have the budget, the luxury lines may make sense for your expectations. It's always a personal preference. Neither of us drink, so the alcohol priced into the fares on those lines is actually a negative as an example. Everyone should choose their lines based on their own priorities (which is why I loathe posts where people ask why should ABC line be my favorite - then again to digress further I always think it should be itinerary first, ship choice second anyway, loyalty should be the least factor)

 

From what I understand Disney Cruise Lines allows you to BYOB

[CI66774]

From what I understand Disney Cruise Lines allows you to BYOB

 

I believe only one bottle of wine/champagne or a 6 pack of beer - no hard alcohol (at least when I sailed last year) and it had to be in your carry-on.

 

While I don't agree that Princess should destroy the contraband, I do believe they should store it (at a significant cost to the pax) and return it at the end of the cruise.

[caribill]

While I don't agree that Princess should destroy the contraband, I do believe they should store it (at a significant cost to the pax) and return it at the end of the cruise.

 

I disagree partially.

 

I think Princess should store it at no cost just as if it was brought on board at a port of call.

 

Many times (especially when traveling overseas) before a cruise, people will purchase a special liquor to bring home with them after the cruise. There should be a policy in place to allow this.

[OCruisers]

I disagree partially.

 

I think Princess should store it at no cost just as if it was brought on board at a port of call.

Many times (especially when traveling overseas) before a cruise, people will purchase a special liquor to bring home with them after the cruise. There should be a policy in place to allow this.

 

Gosh, I thought they did this in ports of call.

 

You cruise lots. Know you've seen the desk set up when returning from ports where purchased alcoholic beverages can be checked and stored until the end of the cruise. Does Princess not still do this? :confused:

 

Like you, seems they would do the same for those embarking.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[caribill]

Gosh, I thought they did this in ports of call.

 

Know you've seen the desk set up when returning from ports where purchased alcoholic beverages can be checked and stored until the end of the cruise. Does Princess not still do this? Yes. Just not at the port of embarkation.

 

Like you, seems they would do the same for those embarking.

 

LuLu

 

see above in red

Edited December 23, 2013 by caribill

[Loonbeam]

That is correct, although they are known to be somewhat liberal in enforcement on the wine side..

 

I believe only one bottle of wine/champagne or a 6 pack of beer - no hard alcohol (at least when I sailed last year) and it had to be in your carry-on.

 

While I don't agree that Princess should destroy the contraband, I do believe they should store it (at a significant cost to the pax) and return it at the end of the cruise.