Live from the Emerald Princess - L.A. to Hawaii - 18 Jan - 02 Feb 2019

[grandmacruise]

22 hours ago, Croptop said:

I'll have more later but I figured I'd post this now along with a screenshot of the Internet Upgrade packages that are offered for those of us with the 250 min loyalty package:

The upgrade prices aren't spectacular and I opted for the extra 200 mins and will leave it at that.

 

 

 Thanks so much for posting this.  It looks like the plans are a tiny bit cheaper than if you purchase them ahead of time.  I’m disappointed with the discount. I might go with the free minutes too.  

[mjceditor]

21 minutes ago, grandmacruise said:

How does it work if you reach your plan’s MB limit?  Do you get slowed down or are you done for the day?  I can’t decide whether to take the surf or premium plan.  

I'm not sure, I never used more than my 300MB limit. I seem to remember and I may be wrong that you get cut off.

The great thing about this is you are always connected to the internet like you are at home. You can use you Internet Package on any device just not more than one at a time. Just log in at internet.princess.com. On the Pacific Princess there was no Internet on the balcony and spotty in our cabin. Good connection in the hallways and down by the shops and great connection in the Buffet.

[cr83687]

Love your review and sense of humor...we will be on the same cruise Feb. 2. Sailed with Princess many times but not on the Emerald. Looking forward to your continuing updates.....enjoy!

[dchip]

It’s going to be fun to follow along. I literally laughed out loud about the ship’s horn. Yes, its gotten me too. 

 

Have fun!

Denise

[miss prairie girl]

Thanks so much for starting this thread......Croptop.....this cruise to Hawaii is on our list......so enjoyable to read about your travels! Looking forward to the rest of your posts!

[Croptop]

19 January 2019 - At Sea

The seas overnight were rough but not horribly so. I did end up having to put the empty hangers on the floor to stop them from clanking together. And somewhere on the ship, something was banging with a rhythmic regularity that was faint but annoying. And, of course, I'm still on eastern time so once again it was wide awake at 0300hrs. I found Ant Man and the Wasp on one of the ship's channels and used it to zone out again.

 

Temperature through the day was around 15 degrees C (61ish F).

 

The Cruise Critic Meet & Greet was at 1000hrs up in Skywalkers. Turnout was pretty good. My thanks to Doris (@DMRick) who stepped in and organised things for us. We had a good representation from the ship's company present including the Captain, the Entertainment Director, the Customer Services Officer, the Food & Beverage Director, the Maitre d', and the Customer Relations Manager.

 

We had a good question and answer session with the officers and a few general announcements were made before breaking up into various other activities. 

 

I skipped out of the M&G a bit early and went to park my butt in my chair in the Sanctuary for the morning and "read". The only thing I read was the insides of my eyelids but by lunch, I was well rested. Just after 1100hrs, a fog rolled in and surrounded the ship. Now I'm ex-Army but I know my maritime procedures and I know that with fog comes ship's horns so I quickly packed up and beat a hasty retreat from the Sanctuary. Sure enough, about 40 seconds after leaving, the first blast sounded. So much for a quiet afternoon.

 

I figured I'd pop in to the Horizon Court for some lunch but the place was packed and an absolute zoo. One of the down sides to sea days, I suppose. I did a couple of laps looking for a place to park to no avail and finally gave up and wandered down the Botticelli dining room to see if I would have better luck there. Bingo! I was seated immediately at a cozy little table to myself and had some lunch.

 

Now I have to confess that throughout the day, I've been struggling with some queasiness. The seas aren't that bad -- only about 3 to 4 metre swells -- and I've certainly been in worse but for some reason on this journey the motion is getting to me a bit more that I'd have expected. So the afternoon and evening was a quiet one spent in my cabin just laying down and watching movies.

Hopefully I'll have my full sea legs tomorrow and will get a bit more active. 

[mjceditor]

Thank you for the update!

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Croptop, I sure hope your feeling better today. The worst thing possible is getting sick on a cruise vacation. Hope your up and posting soon, we love following your reviews.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

 

 

[Woobstr112G]

Just found your “Live From.”  We did this cruise on the Star back in November.  Love the sea days.  We will also be on the Emerald in March for a California Coastal.  I am looking forward to reading your future reports.

 

Have a great cruise.....

 

Bob

[h20skibum]

Following along with your live.  We did this two years ago from San Francisco.  Interested in how the internet is for you on this cruise.  Hope there have been some improvements.  It was pretty bad on our sea days.

 

Enjoy

[Micahs Grandad]

We get on the Emerald as you get off. Following your thread with great interest. thanks so much

[AF-1]

Great start to a wonderful report.  

[Cruisercl]

This is great! I am taking the same cruise on the Star December 2019.

I have not been on Princess for a few years so any 'stuff' you post will be very helpful.

What is the Sanctuary if you don't mind a question?

Will be following along.....

Thank you!

 

[casandbliz]

Following. We will be on the Emerald to Hawaii Feb. 24.

[Cathy64]

Also following we will be boarding on the 12th of March, hope your having a fab time 🙂

[jl88]

2 hours ago, Cathy64 said:

Also following we will be boarding on the 12th of March, hope your having a fab time 🙂

March 12 will be a day late... Ship leaves San Pedro March 11.  Hope to see you on board then.

[Cathy64]

19 minutes ago, jl88 said:

March 12 will be a day late... Ship leaves San Pedro March 11.  Hope to see you on board then.

 Opps, my mistake lol x

[ljhershey]

Would you mind posting the names of the ships officers for us?  I'm on the next cruise and am grateful for any comments you share, and love your sense of humor.   Your movie choice reminds me of one of my favorites "Amazon Women on the Moon"!

[Sasksilver]

Following, this is on my bucket list.  Enjoy your cruise!!

[IrishLassie]

Following along.  Hope your feeling better.  Looking forward to more pictures

 

[brt49]

Only minutes offered on our Mediterranean cruise in August. ☹️ 

 

Were the unlimited plans offered in the personilizer?

[Croptop]

Apologies for the lack of updates. For some reason, I am finding it virtually impossible to get Cruise Critic to load in a timely manner on Emerald's internet connection. Only now as we're steaming in to Hilo and I'm able to connect my phone to the the cell network and create a hotspot am I able to load CC (man I miss being able to use Tapatalk).

 

I had a bunch of stuff written for the sea days but it's all history now so I'm not sure it's worth posting. The temperatures have gotten steadily warmer and the seas steadily smoother over the last 4 days and my seat in the Sanctuary is looking more and more like a good idea.

 

I will say that never in any of my prior cruises have I seen such large and consistent lineups for the buffet. It seems like as soon as a serving line opens, people are lined up and wanting to eat. I guess that's what happens when there are a bunch of sea days. While I know that everyone's food tastes are different, I'll just say that for me, the food has been ok. Not stellar; just ok.

 

On the first formal night, I had dinner at the Crown Grill which is usually the highlight of every cruise I take. This time, though, it didn't seem quite as "special" for me as it normally is. The option to add a lobster tail (without paying an added fee) is gone, the asparagus spears where so small as to be blades of grass, and the serving size of the Black and Blue Onion soup seemed smaller than usual (but I could be mis-remembering). And the ribeye steak was just... ok. Maybe it was the last vestiges of the sea sickness talking. Or maybe I've just ordered the same thing at the Crown Grill so many times that I'm getting jaded. Don't get me wrong, as a whole, the meal was good. The service was attentive and prompt. But it just wasn't that truly special meal that I remember from prior cruises on other Princess ships.

 

We're just pulling up to the pier in Hilo as I type this so it'll soon be time to go ashore and explore a bit. For now, I'm just hanging out in the Sanctuary where I'll wait to let the masses go ashore before I venture out.

 

I've noted some of the questions asked of me in the posts above and will do my best to gather up answers and post them.

[Cathy64]

20 minutes ago, Croptop said:

Apologies for the lack of updates. For some reason, I am finding it virtually impossible to get Cruise Critic to load in a timely manner on Emerald's internet connection. Only now as we're steaming in to Hilo and I'm able to connect my phone to the the cell network and create a hotspot am I able to load CC (man I miss being able to use Tapatalk).

 

I had a bunch of stuff written for the sea days but it's all history now so I'm not sure it's worth posting. The temperatures have gotten steadily warmer and the seas steadily smoother over the last 4 days and my seat in the Sanctuary is looking more and more like a good idea.

 

I will say that never in any of my prior cruises have I seen such large and consistent lineups for the buffet. It seems like as soon as a serving line opens, people are lined up and wanting to eat. I guess that's what happens when there are a bunch of sea days. While I know that everyone's food tastes are different, I'll just say that for me, the food has been ok. Not stellar; just ok.

 

On the first formal night, I had dinner at the Crown Grill which is usually the highlight of every cruise I take. This time, though, it didn't seem quite as "special" for me as it normally is. The option to add a lobster tail (without paying an added fee) is gone, the asparagus spears where so small as to be blades of grass, and the serving size of the Black and Blue Onion soup seemed smaller than usual (but I could be mis-remembering). And the ribeye steak was just... ok. Maybe it was the last vestiges of the sea sickness talking. Or maybe I've just ordered the same thing at the Crown Grill so many times that I'm getting jaded. Don't get me wrong, as a whole, the meal was good. The service was attentive and prompt. But it just wasn't that truly special meal that I remember from prior cruises on other Princess ships.

 

We're just pulling up to the pier in Hilo as I type this so it'll soon be time to go ashore and explore a bit. For now, I'm just hanging out in the Sanctuary where I'll wait to let the masses go ashore before I venture out.

 

I've noted some of the questions asked of me in the posts above and will do my best to gather up answers and post them.

Good to hear that the sea sickness has gone and you are enjoying your cruise, shame about the food! When did it get warm enough to sit out on deck? I am not looking forward to the first few days when we go 😞 have a nice day Cathy x

 

[Croptop]

3 minutes ago, Cathy64 said:

Good to hear that the sea sickness has gone and you are enjoying your cruise, shame about the food! When did it get warm enough to sit out on deck? I am not looking forward to the first few days when we go 😞 have a nice day Cathy x

 

 

Weather-wise, I think we got pretty lucky and had temperatures between 15-18 degrees C (low- to mid-60s F) from day 1 and I was able to hang out in the Sanctuary from the very start. If it got a little too cool, the attendants provided some nice little fleece blankets to keep warm with. 

[Croptop]

8 hours ago, brt49 said:

Only minutes offered on our Mediterranean cruise in August. ☹️ 

 

Were the unlimited plans offered in the personilizer?

 

Yes. The unlimited plans were offered  in the personaliser for my cruise. I don't remember the exact pricing but it was slightly higher than the upgrade pricing that was offered onboard that I posted earlier.