Emerald Princess- Nov 30-Dec 10 mini review

[myraid]

Just back from the Emerald yesterday. Very tough coming back to reality, but I thought I would share my thoughts while they are still fresh. Our ports were Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica, St.Thomas and Princess Cays. My husband and DS (3) sailed with my parents and brother. This is our third Princess cruise and our first 10 day experience.

 

Pre-cruise- stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th. Great room, great location. We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and also from the hotel to the port. About $15 for each ride.

 

Embarkation- was a breeze. We arrived at the port at around 11. A bit of confusion as to where the cab let us off and where the luggage went, but once we figured that out, we went into the main building and were on the ship by 12:15. Our luggage arrived at 1:30, which I think is the main advantage to getting there early.

 

Room(s)- we had a mini-suite on Dolphin which was pretty much the same as the minis on the Grand and Star. Our room steward was able to put up a curtain to divide the living room from the bedroom area so that we could have some privacy from our DS when he went to bed. This worked out great. Parents had a balcony on Caribe which they loved for the half covered/half uncovered balcony and my brother had an inside room. Room stewards and service was good- no complaints from us.

 

More to come...

[sherman931]

Thanks for the review. Arriving early doesn't necessarily mean your luggage does too. On a previous cruise, although we dropped our luggage off to the handlers at 10:45 AM, didn't sho up in the room until 4:30 :confused: No big deal, but I wonder where it spent almost 6 hours? :eek:

[Sherri1]

Wondering what cabin your in laws had ? I am looking at C743 and would

like your comments if it by chance was it ? Thanks-Sherri

[sackman]

Wondering what cabin your in laws had ? I am looking at C743 and would

like your comments if it by chance was it ? Thanks-Sherri

 

 

I had a very similarly located stateroom on the Emerald last year. It's a good spot. The cabins are nice and the balconies are twice the size of standard balconies. Caribe deck is right in the middle of the ship, so you don't have far to go up and you don't have far to go down.

[mii]

Thanks for the review. Arriving early doesn't necessarily mean your luggage does too. On a previous cruise, although we dropped our luggage off to the handlers at 10:45 AM, didn't sho up in the room until 4:30 :confused: No big deal, but I wonder where it spent almost 6 hours? :eek:

 

Probably at the bottom of the pile.:rolleyes: That happened to me once, got there early, they took the luggage, and did not see it until around 4p.m. That has been quite awhile ago though, lately the luggage is arriving to our cabin faster and faster.

 

Marilyn

[brianroberts2526]

You don't realize how long a 10 night cruise is until you realize that the 10 night after yours; just got back...

[isufan]

How was the weather for your trip? We leave the 20th on the Emerald. What types of clothes did you wish you'd had more or less of? Did you ever need a jacket or sweatshirt? Rain gear? Thanks!

[SF]

Can't wait to hear more about your cruise as we are scheduled to sail this coming week. :) Glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves.

 

How was the entertainment? Who were the entertainers? Which dance shows were on board?

What times were the shows scheduled for 1st and 2nd seating passengers?

[myraid]

...more

 

Food- We had traditional early seating. This worked out best for us as we like to have the same waiters and same time for dinner. Also worked out well for my DS who I am proud to say survived the 1 1/2-2 hour dinners with no problem...:o. Our wait staff was great. The food was exceptional- I am a picky eater and was always able to find something.

 

We also ate a Sabatinis and really enjoyed it. It was a lot of food though, so be prepared. They basically serve you a little bit of everything from the Appetizers and pasta courses and then you pick your main course. Everything was excellent and my DS survived that dinner as well (almost 2 1/2 hours). He surved on spaghetti and meatballs at dinner every night!

 

We ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch every day. Really enjoyed the selection. Sometimes hard to find a seat in the first dining area, but you could always find something towards the back. They serve fresh waffles in the pizza area in the morning- this was not advertised, but trust me, well worth it! Also free ice cream in Horizon Court in the afternoon from 3:30-4:30. Long lines, but worth it. Cookies and milk by the pool around the same time, and also in the International Cafe, although we find this to be hit and miss.

 

The International Cafe was great. We tried a little bit of everything and the cost is really nominal. The caramel apples are to die for and if you wrap them tightly with plastic they will keep in your fridge for a couple of days...:D

[myraid]

How was the weather for your trip? We leave the 20th on the Emerald. What types of clothes did you wish you'd had more or less of? Did you ever need a jacket or sweatshirt? Rain gear? Thanks!

 

I think we brought just the right amount, but then again I like to wear something different at dinner every night and also like my DS to do the same. Probably brought too many shorts and tshirts because you really tend to live in your bathing suit and cover up during the day anyway unless you have a non-swimming tour.

 

We never needed a jacket or sweatshirt. I did have a light sweater at dinner. No rain gear required, although of course that is hit and miss. We had a bit of rain in Grenada, but only for a few minutes and then it passed. Plus it was really hot that day, so the rain was a bit of a welcome!

 

It was a bit cool in the early morning on Princess Cays, but I still got by with just my bathing suit and a towel around my shoulders!

 

Have fun on the Emerald...you will love it and I miss it already!

[myraid]

...more

 

Ports-

 

Aruba- we did the glass-bottom boat tour offered through Princess. It was pretty good. The water was a little rough, but it was pretty clear and my son enjoyed it. It was supposed to be about 1 1/2 hours, but ended up a bit longer. We walked around town a bit- it is quite nice there, although we found the prices a bit high.

 

Bonaire- we did the beach break offered through Princess. It was awful. The beach was full of rocks and coral. We brought beach shoes and even then had a very difficult time walking around on the beach. Forget about going in the water- it was impossible. This was a major disappointment for us as my DS was very much looking forward to the Beach. The breakfast that they offered was dismal. A group of us complained to the tour desk and they graciously offered us a 40% refund. I will be following up with Princess directly on getting the rest of my money back. We paid $79 PP for this and it was a complete waste of money and time- we couldn't wait to get back to the boat.

 

Grenada- just got off the boat and walked around. The vendors right at the port area are very pushy and the port area is very congested with traffic. But it is a very beautiful island to look at from the boat and I'm sure if we left the immediate port area we could have found more to do. But we arrived at 12 and my DS needed a nap, so we just walked around for a bit and went back to the boat.

 

Dominica- took a shuttle to the downtown area. It was $2 PP each way. It was nice, but not much to do. The rest of my family took a bus tour, which they enjoyed- they visited a waterfall and some other stops. We wanted to take a cab to Trafalgar Falls but did not want to spend 40-50 minutes in a cab. I found the people here to be very friendly- much more than Grenada.

 

St.Thomas- we took shared transportation (basically a mini-bus) to Magen's Bay. We docked at Havensight, so we walked to the mall from the boat (you could also take the free mall shuttle). It was $8 PP one way and our driver came back and picked our group up a few hours later. $4 PP to get into the beach and $5 (I think) to rent chairs. Magens Bay is beautiful and totally worth the trip. Try to get there early and grab a picnic table under some shade- you will need it later in the morning when it gets really warm and the beach gets packed!

 

We walked around downtown later and did some shopping. I love St.Thomas- I have been before and it is my favorite port.

 

Princess Cays- we rented a bungalow. Got priority tender and full lunch delivered. For us it is well worth it. There were 6 of us and we enjoyed every minute of having our own little beach house. We requested a specific bungalow and they were able to meet this request.

 

PS- to the person who asked the Entertainment question- I will answer in a day or 2- we didn't really see many shows, but my family did and I also have the patters at home, so I can check for you.

[RM]

Nice review so far, looking forward to the rest. Thanks

[pnut362]

Thanks for the review - DH and I did this exact cruise in March of this year. Am sorry to hear that you did not have a good time in Bonaire. We did an island tour in the morning, snorkeling in the afternoon, then lunch and went to another beach and snorkeled some more. It was a beautiful island and one of the places that I could see myself going back to take a land vacation at.

 

And thanks for the tips on the waffles.. have heard about them but never saw them offered when we went.. maybe we were just not around at the right time. We also LOVED the international cafe. Do they charge for everything now? I heard they were but when we were there the only thing they charged for was like choc covered strawberries, gelato and the candy/caramel apples. We had sandwiches, pasta, donuts, cake, pies, etc that was all free. :D

[SF]

Would also like to know if the sandwiches, salads, etc are still free at the international cafe? They were when we sailed on Emerald this past year. At that time they were also charging for the candy apples, gelato and strawberries but the cost wasn't too bad. They had some type of deal where you got three gelato flavors for a nominal amnt. What's the cost for gelato now?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. Arriving early doesn't necessarily mean your luggage does too. On a previous cruise, although we dropped our luggage off to the handlers at 10:45 AM, didn't sho up in the room until 4:30 :confused: No big deal, but I wonder where it spent almost 6 hours? :eek:

 

 

I agree we get on really early and never get our bags before 5 or 6. :eek:

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[Sandie]

Thanks so much for the great review and tips. We take this cruise in February. Is there any way that you could look back over the Patters to tell me the dinner themes for each evening and which nights are formal nights? We are trying to decide which nights we might want to go to Sabatini's or one of the other restaurants. Thanks!

 

Sandie

[Jeff_R]

We were on the same cruise and fell in love with Bonaire. It was one of the best stops we had on that trip.

 

We just walked about 200 yards to the Divi Flamingo resort and for $10pp you can use their facilities all day and you get a free rum punch with your ticket. They had a nice pool if the ocean wasn't your thing. The entire beach in Bonaire is broken but smooth coral. We are a fairly young family and had little trouble walking on it but if you were of limitied mobility I could see you could have serious issues getting to the water. I wore strapped adventure type sandals for walking and had no problems.

 

The snorkeling there was so spectacular I would say to everyone that goes there not to miss it. You can rent equipment right at the Divi Flamingo for $10pp and there is so much marine life around the piers at the resort you don't even need fish food. The four of us spent so much time in the water we were exhausted but didn't want to leave. Probably 3 or more hours face down in the water. Sometimes not touching bottom or lifting my face out of the water for an hour at a time. The water was something like 86 deg F and was like cool bathwater to swim in.

 

St Thomas, we went to Coki which many referred to as better than Magen's Bay. Magen's Bay there is no snorkling, but Coki has a beautiful beach plus snorkling. We saw a school of tiny baby barracuda feeding on small minnows for about a half hour. Not dangerous but interesting. St Thomas was so full of beggars and wheeler dealers that it put us off going back there. Plus the cab ride was multiple times the cost of any of the other islands we went to.

 

Grenada was good, we went on the Spices of Grenada tour which was worth it. Plus a visit to a rum plantation Westerhall were you can sample and buy. Westerhall had a really neat museum. I read not to get off the boat there unless you had a tour booked or the street vendors would crush you.

 

Dominica, we booked with Levi Baron at Bumpiiing Tours. Awesome time. Levi is a geniunely nice guy and gave us about a 7 hour eco tour that was something to treasure forever. We visited the UNESCO world heritage site (virgin Carribbean rainforest) swam in the Emerald Pool, soaked in the hot springs at Trafalgar, almost vomited at the boiling sulfur ponds...ok they weren`t that bad. Levi was full of info at every stop and took good care of our group on the trails keeping an eye out for any dangers like places to bump your head. If you go to Dominica you would be silly not to try and get into one of his tours.

 

Aruba, we went to eagle beach to the Amsterdam which was worth the really cheap price to use their chairs etc. Nice beach but nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Princess Cays, if you have children walk to the left down to the tidal pools and lift a few rocks. Starfish, uchins, colorful fish etc. everywhere. Try not todisturb thing too much though and put the rocks back where they were so that others can visit and see the tidal pool ecosystems. Amazing amount of life squeezed into such a tiny space.

[myraid]

Would also like to know if the sandwiches, salads, etc are still free at the international cafe? They were when we sailed on Emerald this past year. At that time they were also charging for the candy apples, gelato and strawberries but the cost wasn't too bad. They had some type of deal where you got three gelato flavors for a nominal amnt. What's the cost for gelato now?

 

 

Yes, sandwiches, salads etc. were free. Caramel apples were $3 (did I mention that was worth it)? Gelato was $1.50 I think for 3 flavours. Chocolate fondue was $5 (again, worth it!). They also had a really nice selection of deserts that were free as well. We didn't try any of the "tapas" type stuff, but again, the charge was not significant. It was a really nice place to hang out and my DS loved watching the entertainment in the piazza.

[myraid]

Thanks so much for the great review and tips. We take this cruise in February. Is there any way that you could look back over the Patters to tell me the dinner themes for each evening and which nights are formal nights? We are trying to decide which nights we might want to go to Sabatini's or one of the other restaurants. Thanks!

 

Sandie

 

Off the top of my head (I don't have the patters with me), the formal nights were the first and last sea days on our itinerary. We did Sabatinis on the second sea day- we booked it as soon as we got on the ship. Italian theme in the dining room was on the Dominica day. I don't really remember any other specific themes except the Captains Farewell dinner which was the last sea day (2nd formal night) and the landfall dinner which was the last night. I will check if the patters have more info.

[myraid]

Jeff R, sounds like you had great tour experiences. I know we would have loved Bonaire if we only had a better beach experience. I think as our DS gets older, we will get more adventurous.

[myraid]

...more

 

Entertainment- we did not see any of the shows. Actually, my husband saw the "motown" show, but that was it. My family saw most of them and they thought they were great, except the last show which had a contemporary rock theme. The shows started at various times during the evening. 7:15 was meant for the late seating diners and 9:15 was usually for the early diners. But sometimes there were shows at 8:30. You generally had to get there 1/2 hour early to get a seat. I heard from everyone that it was pretty hard to get a seat any later than that.

 

We sat in the Piazza a lot and watched the piano players, violinists/cello players. My DS loved that music. They also had a juggler/musician/comedien in the piazza for a few nights and he was so popular they moved him to Explorers lounge. We all loved him. They had an acrobatic show- a husband and wife who were great. I really enjoyed the Piazza on this ship.

 

We spent a lot of time in Skywalkers nightclub, but not in the way you might think- we would go up there after dinner and let DS run around- it is the perfect way for him to blow off some steam and the view up there was great. There was hardly anyone up there, so it's not like we were bothering anyone.

 

My brother saw a few movies and football on MUTS and other than having to get there early to get a seat, he thought it was great. They didn't show any kids movies at night, so we didn't go to any of them.

 

We spent all of our time at the Calypso pool- the one with the MUTS. A lot of chair saving going around and no one really enforcing the "no saving" policy. We did not find it to be much of a problem because we were usually only at the pool in the mornings and we got there pretty early.

 

I can't think of much else- I will post some misc stuff later- if anyone has any questions, I am happy to help where I can!

[nyctravel]

So interesting to read the different impressions people have of the ports. In Bonaire my group took a $5 pp taxi to Sorobon Beach. Lovely beach, very few rocks, water great, had some really strong pina coladas at the bar there...Grenada was rainy but we wound up at some local restaurant and had the best nutmeg rum punch, wasn't bothered too much by pushy vendors. Dominica was where we encountered some problems. Beautiful island but we girls were followed by men offering us drugs, wanting to "show us a good time," children begging on the streets, the "beach" that the patter had said was there, well, it might have been there at one time but it sure wasn't there in November, just a bunch of rocks and debris...Next time I'm in Dominica I'll definitely look into a guided tour.

[Solara]

Would also like to know if the sandwiches, salads, etc are still free at the international cafe? They were when we sailed on Emerald this past year. At that time they were also charging for the candy apples, gelato and strawberries but the cost wasn't too bad. They had some type of deal where you got three gelato flavors for a nominal amnt. What's the cost for gelato now?

We were on the Emerald in October. Salads, sandwiches, cakes, cookies etc.....are still all free. The things they are charging are the same as before.

[myraid]

All in all, we really loved the cruise and love Princess. We will be sailing them again soon- hopefully next year on another 10 day cruise. I really think 10 days is the way to go (at least for us).

 

Some random thoughts- you definitely need water shoes at Princess Cays. There are lots of little shells that make the sand pretty rough, at least where we were.

 

I found the staff to be really friendly and helpful. Thought the service was great.

 

We brought some US coins and laundry detergent and dryer sheets for the laundry- we did 2 loads of laundry. $1.50 for each wash and dry cycle.

 

We were in a mini on Dolphin and did not find the exposed balcony to be a problem.

 

I think that's it..this was supposed to be a "mini" review, but it didn't turn out that way! :D