Emerald Princess - what’s your vote?

[telecheck]

To be honest, I prefer the design of Grand-class ships over Royal-class ships. The wrap-around promenade deck makes a huge difference for me. On a Grand-class ship, I can stay in an inside cabin right above or below the promenade deck. This means that whenever I want to see the ocean, I can simply go up or down one deck, and I can comfortably spend the whole day sitting on the promenade. Unfortunately, Royal-class ships lack such a deck. The Lido deck is not a suitable replacement; it is too far up, and the fence obstructs the view of the ocean. If I were on a Royal-class ship, I would have no choice but to spend more money on a balcony cabin.

[Thrak]

I would sail Emerald Princess anytime. I love the large balconies on Caribe Deck. I love the quiet space of Adagio. I like the setup of the Piazza/Atrium far better than the setup on the Royal Class ships - which are much too loud for my taste. We have only sailed on two of the Royal Class ships - Royal Princess and Discovery Princess. Between those two I liked Discovery much better. I still prefer the older Grand Class ships though - even those such as Emerald Princess that have the extra passenger deck. I've never felt crowded.

[Coral]

I personally liked the ships that came before the Emerald/Caribbean Princess. The Grand, Golden, (old) Star, Sapphire and Diamond Princess. They had 500 less passengers and seem less crowded. Unfortunately most are gone. 

 

I agree about the Promenade deck. That is a huge plus. I just wish they had a covered pool.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I personally liked the ships that came before the Emerald/Caribbean Princess. The Grand, Golden, (old) Star, Sapphire and Diamond Princess. They had 500 less passengers and seem less crowded. Unfortunately most are gone. 

 

I agree about the Promenade deck. That is a huge plus. I just wish they had a covered pool.

 

For a huge promenade one can't beat Sapphire. Our first cruise was on the old R Class Sea Princess. It too had an extra wide promenade and we thought that was how they would all be. Imagine our disappointment when we found that wasn't the norm. If I remember right Coral has an extra wide Promenade as well but, of course, it's not a Grand Class ship.

[Coral]

32 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

For a huge promenade one can't beat Sapphire. Our first cruise was on the old R Class Sea Princess. It too had an extra wide promenade and we thought that was how they would all be. Imagine our disappointment when we found that wasn't the norm. If I remember right Coral has an extra wide Promenade as well but, of course, it's not a Grand Class ship.

I never heard the Sea Princess as an R Class ship. We called it the Sun Class ships (referring to the old Sun Princess). The Pacific Princess (2nd), Tahitian and Ocean Princess (2nd) were all R Class ships. These were Renaissance ships, thus, R Class. Approx 30,000 tons.

 

The Sun Class had the Sun, Dawn, Sea and Ocean Princess. These were around 77,000 tonns.

 

I agree about Sapphire and Diamond Princess wide promenade decks. I don't remember the Coral Princess having that wide but it has been awhile since I have been on that ship.

Edited April 25 by Coral

[gvre]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:20 PM, teecee60 said:

Just off a 15 night cruise on Emerald for the solar eclipse and Panama Canal. Great ship, no complaints at all. Just not as glitzy/new as any Royal Class ship. Would go again any time.

We also just got off. The ship and crew are great. Wished they had an Alfredo's like Sapphire.

Has IC very good sandwiches but no salads. Good Sprits bar is small but lots of fun.  Had an Aft Suite was awesome!

I would sail her anytime.

[CU64]

On 4/23/2024 at 7:02 PM, Treasure Hunter said:

We took The Emerald from LA to Hawaii and has a fabulous time. Last year we did NY round trip to New England/ Canada. Both times the service and CDs entertainment was great. It has a cosy, friendly feel. Would definitely cruise again.

Agreed

[23Skiddoo]

I too just got off the Panama Canal / Solar Eclipse cruise last week and, while the Emerald is looking a little tired in places, its one of my favorite ships in the fleet.  I love the layout of this ship.  I’ve been on the Royal class ships and prefer the Emerald and Ruby for reasons others have stated (Adagio bar, promenade, etc.). I also vastly prefer the Explorer’s Lounge to Princess Live.

[Treasure Hunter]

The old Star was a wonderful ship. We took her around the tip of South America  in the 90s followed by an NCL ship for safety. And then to the Baltic when St. Petersburg was just opening up to tourists. No stores or restaurants! We bought stuff out of people’s car trunks. Great memories of a comfortable friendly environment with great food. All Italian kitchen and wait staff who were having romances with the British hairdressers. The gossip was very entertaining. 

[Coral]

7 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

The old Star was a wonderful ship. We took her around the tip of South America  in the 90s followed by an NCL ship for safety. And then to the Baltic when St. Petersburg was just opening up to tourists. No stores or restaurants! We bought stuff out of people’s car trunks. Great memories of a comfortable friendly environment with great food. All Italian kitchen and wait staff who were having romances with the British hairdressers. The gossip was very entertaining. 

I actually went to Leningrad (and Moscow) in 1988. There were stores for tourists back then. I bought several things. We actually bought things from local stores as well. We did a land trip there and not via ship so we had more flexibility. It was pretty tourist friendly then. We spent 2 weeks there so we obviously ate at restaurants. Mostly ones for locals.

 

I went 20 years later to St. Petersburg and it was crazy.

Edited April 25 by Coral

[Mud_Shark]

Another vote for "meh".  For the right itinerary we would sail on her again, but definitely prefer the royal class.

 

We are just getting off Caribbean princess on Saturday.  Cruise was fine, but could list probably 20 minor things broken or warped or loose.  Plus, there just is not enough seating in the horizon court, but that is more of a Caribbean princess problem alone.

We cruised emerald right after the COVID restart, and they had not yet touched up maintenance on areas that had been left untouched for a year so maybe our perception is skewed.

[Treasure Hunter]

I think so. We were on the Emerald in September and she looked great. Dated for sure but still a joyous atmosphere. 

[Teechur]

13 hours ago, Coral said:

I actually went to Leningrad (and Moscow) in 1988. There were stores for tourists back then. I bought several things. We actually bought things from local stores as well. We did a land trip there and not via ship so we had more flexibility. It was pretty tourist friendly then. We spent 2 weeks there so we obviously ate at restaurants. Mostly ones for locals.

 

I went 20 years later to St. Petersburg and it was crazy.

I visited Leningrad, Moscow and Uzbekistan in 1984 and returned to L & M in 1986 (Sputnik Tours). Sold lots of cheap electronics to local hustlers and lived large on the proceeds. Great times and made some good friends. An amazingly strange and primitive place compared to the U.S.

 

Visited St. Petersburg (again) in 2017 on the Regal Princess. Much improvement but still strange.

 

[Thrak]

On 4/24/2024 at 5:42 PM, Coral said:

I never heard the Sea Princess as an R Class ship. We called it the Sun Class ships (referring to the old Sun Princess). The Pacific Princess (2nd), Tahitian and Ocean Princess (2nd) were all R Class ships. These were Renaissance ships, thus, R Class. Approx 30,000 tons.

 

The Sun Class had the Sun, Dawn, Sea and Ocean Princess. These were around 77,000 tonns.

 

I agree about Sapphire and Diamond Princess wide promenade decks. I don't remember the Coral Princess having that wide but it has been awhile since I have been on that ship.

 

D'Oh! My bad. I know that Sea Princess was not an R Class ship. What a dork mistake. Sorry about that but many thanks for the correction. We never sailed on the R Class ships. We thought we might sail on Pacific Princess but Princess sold the ship before that happened. Thanks again for catching that and making the correction.

[nini]

It is refreshing to hear positive things about the Emerald. We sailed the Emerald in Spring 2022. Of course, we were "sliding" off of covid, which "may" have contributed to the crankiness of many crew members. We had never seen so many negative and frowning crew members before on a Princess ship. A crew member (waitstaff) actually snapped at us while we were seated in the buffet area. We had just asked a question and wow........ This was not the Princess we loved.

Not all crew was like this of course, but the down mood was palpable.

 

It was quite a positive contrast on the Sky last June! And yes, Explorer's Lounge is MUCH better than "Princess Live" on the Sky... for sure.

[cruisermsoon]

Just a note about the R-class ships, which I first encountered on the Pacific Princess, and immediately became enamoured.

Since then I've been working my way through the Azamara ex-R ships, Journey, Pursuit, Quest, and most recently the Onward, which is the ex-Pacific Princess one, and have become a devotee of the  Azamara line, especially as the ships on other lines get larger, more crowded, and noisier!

[Treasure Hunter]

Try the Oceana Sirena . It was a Princess ship that we sailed in Tahiti and then with Oceana to Cuba. So sorry that Princess sold the two it owned.

[Treasure Hunter]

Especially now that many ports won’t let the big ships in ( Venice, Key West) or in the case of Montenegro the channel isn’t deep enough. The new Sun Princess is too big!

[chrysalis]

9 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Try the Oceana Sirena . It was a Princess ship that we sailed in Tahiti and then with Oceana to Cuba. So sorry that Princess sold the two it owned.

Actually, they owned three....the Tahitian, the Pacific, and the Royal

[susancruzs]

My 1st Med cruise was on the Royal in '07, it was great.  I've since been back to the Med on the Emerald, new Royal, some cruises smaller is better.  Just my thought, of course.

[Cruise Raider]

I absolutely love the Royal class ships but cruised on the Emerald Princess last year.  I had such a great time on the Emerald and thought she was in great shape.  
I especially love what they had done up on the buffet area.  It looks so much more modern and clean.  I wouldn’t hesitate to cruise on the Emerald again!  

[teh3505]

Enjoyed the reviews. We are sailing on her May 20 - 30, 2024.

[tml1230]

4 hours ago, teh3505 said:

Enjoyed the reviews. We are sailing on her May 20 - 30, 2024.

I hope you do a live" from" or review on your May cruise !

we cruise on the emerald 3 weeks later from FLL to Quebec City and would be interested in your thoughts....Although more than 5 yeas ago, we have sailed on the Emerald twice.  Both were outstanding experiences!

 

safe travels!

[tulok]

4 hours ago, tml1230 said:

I hope you do a live" from" or review on your May cruise

@teh3505 And we will be sailing on 6/9. I will concur with tmi1230, and will be looking forward to your review.

[dockman]

I am so happy that many cruisers gravitate to the bigger more glitzy newer ships.

 

Hopefully means less demand and better deals on the smaller and older ships for me.