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"Live" Emerald Princess, 16-Day Hawaii, July 6th to July 22nd

LACruiser88

By LACruiser88,
in Princess Cruises

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WoodstockGirl

WoodstockGirl

Posted
Posted

We've never sailed on the Emerald before, and are due to this upcoming October. 

We typically like to make a standing reservation to eat in the same dining room, at same time, at the same table, (hopefully the same staff) every night when possible. We make our standing reservation (thru the App).

Question: do you have any tips or information about which dining room would be our best pick?

WG

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Princessfan20

Princessfan20

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2 hours ago, Teechur said:

This story simply doesn't pass the "smell test".

How old are these "children"? Are they actually teenagers? If you contact Security with the time/ place, and express your concern, I'm sure that they can review CCTV footage and tell you what is true.

 

Meanwhile, you are describing an event you didn't witness, and may be surprised at what you learn.

I've taught high schoolers for 40+ years and know that even really nice kids can be devious occasionally. I've also witnessed incidents where angry parents refused to watch a security video of their child's actions because it would prove that they had been deceived.

Agree.  This story is all based on hearsay.  What is creepy are people who post things they “heard” about others on a cruise ship on CC.

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mustarddrill

mustarddrill

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

Agree.  This story is all based on hearsay.  What is creepy are people who post things they “heard” about others on a cruise ship on CC.

I witnessed this event last night while standing in line for an elevator. The older lady from the original post was taunting this group of kids. Once the kids were finally on the elevator the lady stood between the doors so they wouldn’t close and proceeded to take pictures of the kids while saying “I hope your parents are proud this will be on Facebook”. My wife and I wanted to tell the lady to lighten up and let the kids have fun but we didn’t want to get involved.

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milogurd Holiday Sharing Rare

milogurd

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, mustarddrill said:

I witnessed this event last night while standing in line for an elevator. The older lady from the original post was taunting this group of kids. Once the kids were finally on the elevator the lady stood between the doors so they wouldn’t close and proceeded to take pictures of the kids while saying “I hope your parents are proud this will be on Facebook”. My wife and I wanted to tell the lady to lighten up and let the kids have fun but we didn’t want to get involved.

 

Off topic here, but I really like your CC Member Name! 

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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3 hours ago, WoodstockGirl said:

Question: do you have any tips or information about which dining room would be our best pick?

We have not heard any negatives about any of the MDR's.  The menu's are the same.  The MDR's are busier between 5 pm and 7 pm.

 

We have been in the Botticelli MDR and have been very happy with the food and service.

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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This afternoon we had a lengthy conversation with a very senior officer re: the gastrointestinal infections (G.I.) onboard.

 

We were told that when the G.I. announcement was made there were 8 confirmed cases at that time.  Also, that during the entire voyage there have been approx 30 confirmed G.I. cases.

 

We were told that there were many inquiries regarding the "700" cases that passengers thought they heard.

 

I must apologize for not verifying the number we thought we heard.  I am very sorry for the misinformation.

 

 

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wallyj

wallyj

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3 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

This afternoon we had a lengthy conversation with a very senior officer re: the gastrointestinal infections (G.I.) onboard.

 

I must apologize for not verifying the number we thought we heard.  I am very sorry for the misinformation.

 

 

Hi @LACruiser88, Debbie and Rafael, hope u do not mind I use your first names as we have actually met in person, at of course, one of your favorite haunts being Vines on another ship.

 

10 hours ago,  @schuddle reported in post #405 after speaking to an officer the Captain said ‘several’ and not ‘700’, so if you have been following, we got that update.

 

Sounds like the ship is trying to mitigate any further cases and I am hoping for a normal non delayed embarkation on Saturday when you return to San Pedro.

 

Thank you for another ‘live’ filled with informative commentary and great pictures. 
 

You wear your Panama hat well! Thank you for including a pic and nice to see you were able to travel as a multigenerational group and do lots of together and separate activities.

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Sam.Seattle

Sam.Seattle

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am really going to have to think twice about sailing on Princess again.  Since the Pandemic, we have been cruising with Celebrity and were looking forward to checking out Princess again. This cruise has been just average for us. 

 

* The sofa in our Mini suite is in terrible condition.

*The bed is very comfortable.

*The stateroom attendant is very efficient and nice.

* The flour issue is really unfortunate. Not having white dinner rolls was disappointing. As I previously said, the pizza is yucky!

* No individual water bottles.  Really?

* On two different occasions, the desert I tried to order in the MDR was not available.

*The specialty Premium deserts are just soft Ice cream with assorted goodies.  They look fun, but were just soft Ice Cream and toppings in a very fun old school glass container.  

* The food in the MDR has been just average and only hot once. I am not exaggerating.  We have fixed seating at 8:40pm with the same servers who have been very good.

* The casino dealers are very nice and sociable.  I did get put off when I asked to play the Roulet table and was told there was not a dealer available.

* The posting of a sign in the MDR that simply says "10" is a tacky way to asked for a good rating.

* I wish the buffet had eggs benedick. 

* There were ladies walking the buffet asking for feed back and suggesting we provide them a 10-rating for service.  Again, this seems tacky.

* The International Cafe is excellent! The coffee was always good and we enjoyed the snacks.  Unfortunately, they were out of cookies on several occasions.  The staff was efficient, but seemed tired and just mechanical. 

*The Sanctuary is wonderful as it always has been.  Love it up there!  Just wish the weather was better on Sea days.

*The tender service in Maui is inexcusable.  Just do the math and they simply did not have enough boats in the water for the short amount of time we were in Maui.  Perhaps Maui could provide tender boats like in Cozumel that move people more efficiently.

*Kids....  Well, Kids will be kids and the parents are to be blamed for any bad behavior.  We are in the front of the ship and I really did not have negative encounters with the tweens or teens.  Actually, the few I did speak to were polite.

*The shows were good, We enjoyed them all.  Comparing to Celebrity, the new Edge class ships have an amazing round theater with a fully lighted wall that takes the live shows to a new level.  

*The gastro break out seem to be handled very well!  I appreciated the announcements and seeing the staff constantly washing tables, hand rails and other surfaces.

 

So, will I cruise Princess again?  Probably if the itinerary is good and the price is right.  I will comparison shop against Celebrity and see what best meets our needs.

 

I hope this brief review will assist those reading and shopping for their next cruise.  

 

 

Edited by Sam.Seattle
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TM

TM

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I've really enjoyed following along on this live post. Sam.Seattle  Thank you for your very honest comparison.  We've primarily done Princess, and will do so again next month, but are seeing some negatives and will probably be giving Celebrity a try.

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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The sun has emerged and with it so has the heat!  It is going to be a hot day.

 

We are off, walking to town for some shopping and lunch at our favorite restaurant in Ensenada.  Our granddaughter is staying onboard with her parents to swim all day.

 

20230721_100755.thumb.jpg.8ac69d09602ee2181a7acb195170a724.jpg

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PacnGoNow Holiday Sharing Rare

PacnGoNow

Posted
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20 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

The sun has emerged and with it so has the heat!  It is going to be a hot day.

 

We are off, walking to town for some shopping and lunch at our favorite restaurant in Ensenada.  Our granddaughter is staying onboard with her parents to swim all day.

 

20230721_100755.thumb.jpg.8ac69d09602ee2181a7acb195170a724.jpg

So, what is your favorite restaurant?

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Cruise Raider Great Review Rare

Cruise Raider

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, TM said:

I've really enjoyed following along on this live post. Sam.Seattle  Thank you for your very honest comparison.  We've primarily done Princess, and will do so again next month, but are seeing some negatives and will probably be giving Celebrity a try.


I was going to say the same about honest reviews!   

We were concerned about the Emerald being a little too old for our liking but my concerns vanished very quickly earlier this month!  Our one and only issue was the toilet in our cabin stopped working, was fixed and stopped working again.  I know not to flush anything that doesn’t belong so think it started on the previous sailing.  It was fixed a second time and fine from there on out.  
I was impressed that if you had a plus or premier package, bottled water was automatically placed in your cabin and restocked when getting low.  We also loved the food on the ship and think they’ve done a masterful job in redoing the buffet area.  We only went to the dining room twice and both times, that was for lunchtime.  The food was excellent!  Their wine options went above and beyond!  I did miss Alfredo’s / GiGi’s pizzeria!  We were served a cheese fruit and nut plate in Vines as the tapas.  The Crown Grill was an absolute delight! 
For the most part, we had phenomenal service onboard and it was also a cruise that was filled to capacity.   We have heard in the past that the Hawaii itineraries are harder on the staff as everyone is onboard for so many of the days.  And it is oftentimes not very warm on all those sea days that everyone crowds inside.  
Because the cruise was so busy and maybe because there were many that splurged on the premier package, they had a lunch offered in the Crown Grill and once in Sabatini’s, both on sea days.  I wish they would do that more often but I understand that crew may not be available.  
One other thing I loved was they had some new and creative games and completions onboard.  Since we had a lot of kids on our sailing, they had baby races in the piazza one day.  So cute!  
BTW, we usually don’t cruise on sailings that tend to attract a lot of young families with kids but I never saw even one child acting up the entire sailing.  
 




 

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wallyj

wallyj

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Hi @Cruise Raider, I was on the Emerald last month for a 7 day coastal and had the Premier package and bottled water was NOT automatically placed in my cabin and thus not restocked. I have not heard of this service on any other ships? 
 

I believe if you are in a suite, bottle water is supplied everyday as a suite perk.

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Cruise Raider Great Review Rare

Cruise Raider

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3 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Hi @Cruise Raider, I was on the Emerald last month for a 7 day coastal and had the Premier package and bottled water was NOT automatically placed in my cabin and thus not restocked. I have not heard of this service on any other ships? 
 

I believe if you are in a suite, bottle water is supplied everyday as a suite perk.


It was for a trial period that happened to hit on our cruise earlier this month.  We were in a balcony cabin.  

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