Emerald Princess-Solo Review

[TTEllis]

This is nothing more than a personal review of my 10 day cruise on the Emerald Princess last Nov.26th to Dec.6th. solo, solo meaning single by myself with noone else but me, and a statesroom thats mine and only mine(thats my definition of "solo"). Let me first of all start out by saying that I booked this cruise last June, I booked it "solo" with the only intentions of going by myself, at this point Im not sure I'll ever cruise with anyone ever again and I'll get to that later. I booked a Cat. BF(outside statesroom with balcony) and received an upgrade to a Cat. BC(I think) anyway I was in Baja-210 which was a great cabin, it was spotless and all things considered it was perfect. For me a balcony is thee only way to cruise and I wouldnt cruise without the balcony option. This was the 10 day Eastern Caribbean Islander itinerary and I cant say enough about it, a simply excellent itinerary. I flew to FFL on Saturday 11/24 and stayed in FFL 2 nites pre, embarkation was on 11/26(Monday) I got to Port Everglades at around 2pm and walked on the ship not one line anywhere. I know all too well how everyone is killing each other to get on the ship at 10am, I did that once years ago, never again. I took Princess advice got to the port right at 2pm and basically never saw a soul, it was perfect, I talked to several folks on the ship who were still fuming about waiting in a horrible line at 11am to get on the ship(imagine that).:rolleyes: I knew ahead of time that the ship was going to be 85%(minimum) seniors, it was 95%(minimum) seniors, beats the heck outta 500-600 unattended kids anyday. I dont have, or want any children and certainly dont want to babysit anyone elses on my vacation, never again.

 

*The Ship was enormous and simply beautiful really cant say enough about it, of course it being new didnt hurt a thing either but it was simply stunning smelled new. The ship was packed but never seemed crowded, there was always a place to go and be alone. Deck space was never a problem, with so many seniors onboard I NEVER had a problem finding a chair. The fitness facility was EXCELLENT I worked out basically everyday and it was wonderful. I never did the Sanctuary so I cant tell you anything about it. The Pools and jacuzzi's were spotless, the upper sun deck lay-out was excellent like I said never had a problem on the upper decks.

*The Crew I really dont know what to say other than that they were the cream of the crop so to speak. There's no way to say how wonderful this crew was especially under the circumstances, this crew made my cruise. My room steward Pista was AWESOME, and every single crew member male or female had a million dollar smile they were the BEST.

*The Food. The food in the Horizon Court was I thought good to great, especially breakfast. Let me first of all start out by saying the only problem I had in the Horizon Court was all the scooters and wheelchairs, it reached a point where it was basically silly and simply not worth it, after about oh 3 days of dodging scooters and wheelchairs I just ended up eating lunch in one of the dining rooms. Im not really sure what the answer is but if Princess is going to continue to market towards the "much" older senior crowd then there going to continue to have the headaches they are experiencing with this ship. When I say "they" were complaining about any and everything these were THEE most miserable people I have EVER encountered in my life I mean some really sorry individuals. I had dinner in The Crown Grille and it was incredible, this fall on my next cruise Im gonna have dinner in there certainly more than once for $25 extra it was more than worth it. I had a 22 .oz Porterhouse(rare) with scalloped potatoes and wild mushrooms smothered in 2 Double Absolut Vodka's, it was AWESOME. I ate EVERY meal by myself, if I want company I'll find it. I didnt do Sabatini's only because I had eaten there so many times in the past, I did have cocktails in Adagio I had a Basilica Mojito that was unbelievable.

*The Islands. This entire itinerary was just too much, Antigua was everything and more it was cracked up to be, saw oh a dozen beaches each one was paradise, I spent my day on Darkwood Beach and cant to this second quit thinking about it, beach was powder white sand and water was like glass true genuine paradise. St Kitts was a wonderful surprise spent the day at South Frigate Bay and the St. Kitts Marriott it was awesome. St. Lucia(my 3rd time there) only gets better, did a private tour with Cosol best tour I've ever taken anywhere. Swam between the Pitons and Jalousie Beach Plantation, took a shower under the waterfalls and drank and ate all day, it was very special to me. St. Thomas my 6th time there, I took the ferry from Redhook over to St. Johns the weather was a bit wishy washy so I spent most of the day at J.J's Texas Cafe with basically the only people on the island it was a blast. Im sure I left out some things but overall this cruise was more than what I had expected and that doesnt happen to me very often. Met up with my Cruise Critic group they were GREAT people, many of them I never saw again on the ship, but we did get to meet and that was nice. Im booking either the Emerald(10 day) again for this fall(11/30) or the Caribbean Princess(14 day) one ports out of FFL the other out of San Juan, I gotta just wait and see how that works out, but for me at this point Im pretty certain I'll never cruise with anyone ever again, sure I could find an array of females that would love to go with me, I want someone who's going to be a compliment to myself and my cruise experience not just some chick along for the ride, thanks but no thanks. Im booking this falls cruise by March 1st, single, solo and by myself I cant imagine any other way. Take care Todd

[cruisinryan]

I knew ahead of time that the ship was going to be 85%(minimum) seniors

 

How did you know?

[TTEllis]

How did you know?

 

Princess 7 day sailings average about 80-85% seniors if your TA doesnt tell you that you'll find it out on your own when you cruise. The 10 day sailings bump that figure up, the 10 day sailing I was on was 95% seniors, 95% being a conservative figure if you want to get specific it was closer to 97-98%. Hope that helps Todd

[Solo Cruiser]

Todd:

Thanks for giving us great reasons to cruise solo from a male's perpective. We so often hear these stories with emphasis on being female and traveling alone that I for one often forget there are men who prefer to travel alone as well. I had to smile at the scooters in the Lido story having experienced much the same thing on a different line. I started having my lunches in the dining room or at the grill by the pool just to escape :D . Thanks for the review.

[TTEllis]

The main reason I finally took the time to post a review is simply nothing more than to hopefully motivate others male or female to cruise solo. If I can do it anyone can, simply because one is single or alone doesnt mean you cant travel and see the world. Solo cruising has come some way in the last several years but the fact of the matter is there simply arent that many of us and I hope I can change that. I cant wait to cruise again this fall, solo is thee only way to go for me right now I had too much fun last fall not to do it again and again. Take care Todd