Emerald Princess 2019 Drydock

[CatherineSoloTraveler]

On 4/15/2019 at 9:19 PM, NavyVeteran said:

Thank you for this information. I hope it's correct. After reading your post, I saw it in the ship details also.

 

However, I just looked at the deck plans for Emerald Princess again, and they show Pizza and Ice Cream Bar - not Coffee and Cones - on the Lido deck. This seems to conflict with the description.

Latest refurbishments of eateries on Emerald Princess are now shown on the Princess website> https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=EP

[strobellayjam]

Any photos from fellow CCers of the Emerald post drydock?  We're sailing on her in 40 days and wouldn't mind a sneak peek.

[NavyVeteran]

On ‎06‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 7:22 PM, CatherineSoloTraveler said:

Latest refurbishments of eateries on Emerald Princess are now shown on the Princess website> https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=EP

I just got back from the Emerald, and they have Slice & Coffee and Cones at a single location as shown in the updated deck plans. Slice is adjacent to Coffee and Cones, but I didn't see anyone eating pizza a la mode. I had no problem getting milkshakes. However they did not have brewed coffee as in the International Café - they had coffee Americana instead if you wanted it.

[crystalspin]

Thanks NavyVeteran, for bringing this thread back up the stream. I finally read it all. We're on the Emerald next February: HAL fankids testing out Princess for 28 days! In for a penny in for a pound, as they say.

 

Just applied two of those Father's Day 5% gift cards last night and noticed one-device Medallion Net was in my cart ($129.99)... don't remember putting it there, but it seemed a good price so I paid that off too.

 

 

[CatherineSoloTraveler]

8 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

I just got back from the Emerald, and they have Slice & Coffee and Cones at a single location as shown in the updated deck plans. Slice is adjacent to Coffee and Cones, but I didn't see anyone eating pizza a la mode. I had no problem getting milkshakes. However they did not have brewed coffee as in the International Café - they had coffee Americana instead if you wanted it.

Thank you NavyVeteran.  Hope you had a great cruise.   Maybe I will be the first person to place an order for a "pizza pie à la mode" ;~)))  I have 2 cruises booked on Emerald spring 2020 & 2021. 

[CatherineSoloTraveler]

Hello to anybody who has cruised recently on Emerald Princess.  I have a QUESTION:  has anybody purchased/used any of the new MedallionNet™ connectivity packages?  which one (there are packages where you do not stream)?  How did it work?  Princess is saying they have "the best at sea" (same thing RCL claims!) 

 

I travel solo and my family/friends at home want to know I am OK.  I own a Samsung Tablet and no cell phone:  I need to find a way to send a cheap (<-read 'no cost') email or learn if there is a way to send a text message from a tablet!

[PaulBertTravelers]

We are on it now. Unless you are platinum or Elite it’s not free. As Elite you get 150 minutes per week but it’s very slow they offer many upgrade options and I very limited option for a lot per day to a small fee to email only. AT&T has a cruise package compatible with the Emerald for $100 per month that gives you texting, and voice with 200 mb of data that works when at sea but not in port and $60 month that works in port but not at sea with 1 gigabyte of data, free texts and inexpensive phone calls. 

[Redwing55]

On 6/10/2019 at 7:24 AM, CatherineSoloTraveler said:

Hello to anybody who has cruised recently on Emerald Princess.  I have a QUESTION:  has anybody purchased/used any of the new MedallionNet™ connectivity packages?  which one (there are packages where you do not stream)?  How did it work?  Princess is saying they have "the best at sea" (same thing RCL claims!) 

 

I travel solo and my family/friends at home want to know I am OK.  I own a Samsung Tablet and no cell phone:  I need to find a way to send a cheap (<-read 'no cost') email or learn if there is a way to send a text message from a tablet!

I don't think anyone can answer your question for the Emerald, since the new internet is not yet operational on her.  I think it comes online in August???  The current one wasn't bad, but I had low expectations since we've used it on earlier cruises.  You might do better by checking other threads where the new system is operational.   Good luck.

[PaulBertTravelers]

The new internet is running, there are 5 or 6 options plus free minutes for frequent cruisers. The free minutes are slow and you can’t stream and lots of stuff is blocked. The fastest tier is extremely fast, you can steam (Netflix and VoIP). Nothing is free except on ship websites. You can also sign up with your phone carrier and use your home plan with AT&T that runs $100 per device per month, this on only available on ships with newer internet.

[Ep010835]

3 hours ago, PaulBertTravelers said:

The new internet is running, there are 5 or 6 options plus free minutes for frequent cruisers. The free minutes are slow and you can’t stream and lots of stuff is blocked. The fastest tier is extremely fast, you can steam (Netflix and VoIP). Nothing is free except on ship websites. You can also sign up with your phone carrier and use your home plan with AT&T that runs $100 per device per month, this on only available on ships with newer internet.

 

“The new internet is running” - really? Are you certain??

 

The “new” internet, aka MedallionNet isn’t supposed to be operation on the Emerald until August. 

 

Also, MN doesn’t have tiers. The “old/current” shipboard internet does however. MN is unlimited both for elite/platinum as well as for all others. (The Elite/Plat discount is another subject altogether.)

Edited June 12, 2019 by Ep010835

[PaulBertTravelers]

They said it is I have no way to know. They offer unlimited for $. I didn’t need it. Much of the rest of Medallion is not working. 

[Midnight_Buffet]

5 hours ago, PaulBertTravelers said:

The new internet is running, there are 5 or 6 options plus free minutes for frequent cruisers. The free minutes are slow and you can’t stream and lots of stuff is blocked. The fastest tier is extremely fast, you can steam (Netflix and VoIP). Nothing is free except on ship websites. You can also sign up with your phone carrier and use your home plan with AT&T that runs $100 per device per month, this on only available on ships with newer internet.

This sounds like the old internet options (Surf Plan, Premium Plan, etc..).. They are unlimited but only 500mb are at the "higher" speeds (which are still really slow even when there's good connectivity). 

 

I'm due to be back on Emerald in August right when MN is supposed to kick in. I think the biggest clue that's still on track is that I can't pre-purchase internet.. it's just not an option for me.

[PaulBertTravelers]

We also could not pre-purchase internet

[Xyla]

I can't pre-purchase internet for my July 13th cruise either. It's driving me nuts because I'm taking a course that will require at least some connectivity and I'd like to know what the cost will be.

[Midnight_Buffet]

Hmm that's interesting.. i thought it was just me since I am going to be on-board when the MN goes active in early August. It'll be interesting to see how it works and how much it costs.

[crystalspin]

OTOH, there is/was a note in my Cruise Personalizer "Freedom has MedallionNet!", a link, and a price (a nice price may I add) -- for our cruise next February. The purchase page is labelled MedallionNet Voyage Package for unlimited and the only other product on the page is In-Room Calling To Shore.

[brt49]

My cruise is on 8/17. I currently have one option.

[PaulBertTravelers]

There was a similar banner when we boarded Saturday as one of many options. 

[chamima]

We're also on her for 28 days next February.

As far as internet - we're Elite and on other threads people are saying that it's better to wait to upgrade until boarding to get a discount for giving up the Elite free minutes towards the unlimited package.

Any news on that?

 

Also - are there any photos of any of the new loungers or any changes in the cabins?

 

Thanks!

[Ep010835]

3 hours ago, brt49 said:

My cruise is on 8/17. I currently have one option.

 

That’s exactly what should be there when MedallionNet is up and running.

 

All of the previous offerings are moot when MD has been turned on. This is great news.  

[Ep010835]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

We're also on her for 28 days next February.

As far as internet - we're Elite and on other threads people are saying that it's better to wait to upgrade until boarding to get a discount for giving up the Elite free minutes towards the unlimited package.

Any news on that?

 

Also - are there any photos of any of the new loungers or any changes in the cabins?

 

Thanks!

 

AstroFlyer posted a wonderfully accurate and succinct summary of how to best utilize the Elite/Plat discount. It’s on another thread so you might want to search his/her recent posts. This was posted in the last few days. 

Great way to save some $. 😃

[crystalspin]

18 hours ago, chamima said:

Also - are there any photos of any of the new loungers or any changes in the cabins?

 

There are pictures on the Cruise Deck Plans membership site of "Cabin E508 Photo Credit MEGATLX Uploaded in 2019" -- as well as several other cabins in the vicinity, much have been with a group. Pics show nice small-pattern rust-color carpet (that may or may not be new, one 2016 photo shows similar/same carpet, but one 2017 shot shows awful mustard-gold carpet with large circle pattern). New photos also show NO BARREL CHAIR.

 

These are the obscured OV's on Emerald Deck so no loungers.

[PaulBertTravelers]

This is Planks BBQ open for breakfast with custom omelettes. You pick your ingredients, put them in a cup, trade for a pager, when pager goes off you have a wonderful omelette exactly as you want it. No mistakes.  They will also deliver custom coffee beverages to your table. 

[Scottygirl1]

On 6/10/2019 at 2:16 PM, NavyVeteran said:

I just got back from the Emerald, and they have Slice & Coffee and Cones at a single location as shown in the updated deck plans. Slice is adjacent to Coffee and Cones, but I didn't see anyone eating pizza a la mode. I had no problem getting milkshakes. However they did not have brewed coffee as in the International Café - they had coffee Americana instead if you wanted it.

 

Here is the current mini suite cabin and hallway.  The mini suite was pretty dated.  The hallway was equally dated but the public areas all looked fine.  

 

 

[chamima]

On 6/10/2019 at 8:58 PM, Astro Flyer said:

Here’s my experience on a Royal Princess cruise last month for a MedallionNet plan which was best by waiting until boarding the ship.

 

In advance anyone could purchase an unlimited plan for 14 days...$120.  Onboard as an elite level passenger here were my options...$90 unlimited or 250 free minutes.  I have no way to know if there was a lower price on the ship for passengers not eligible for the free minutes.

 

If my experience is standard fleetwide then for passengers eligible for free minutes (platinum/elite) waiting to purchase onboard was 25% cheaper.  Thus for my cruise it was best to purchase onboard & to pay with OBC.

 

 

22 hours ago, Ep010835 said:

 

AstroFlyer posted a wonderfully accurate and succinct summary of how to best utilize the Elite/Plat discount. It’s on another thread so you might want to search his/her recent posts. This was posted in the last few days. 

Great way to save some $. 😃

 

 

 

 

Is this the post you were referring to?

(It's nice that the SEARCH feature works again!) 😀

Edited June 14, 2019 by chamima