Eastern Carribean, Emerald Princess or Freedom of the Seas

[gnaht101]

Hi,

 

I am a fairly new cruiser, having only been on one other cruise (Western Caribbean on Carnival Conquest) 4 years ago. I am planning a trip for end of october/early november with my parents and was wondering whether you'd recommend PCL's Emerald Princess or Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas for a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise.

 

The itineraries are different too.

Emerald Princes: Ft. Lauderdale - Princess Cays - Sea - St. Maarten - St. Thomas - Grand Turk - Sea - Ft. Lauderdale

Liberty of the Seas: Orlando - Cococay - Sea - St. Thomas - St. Maarten - sea - sea - Orlando

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

[rjscott]

We were just on the Emerald Princess last Feb and loved the ship. It's one of Princess's newest ships and although a big one, it never seemed overwhelming to me. I thought that the tendering was very efficient in those ports where we had to tender, which can be a drawback on such a large ship. At St Thomas, you will dock at Crown Bay, rather than Havensight, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is much less crowded, and there are shops there now and more being opened each day. They have a very good taxi system in place for getting people into town or on tours if you want to go around independently in St Thomas. Another plus on the Emerald Princess is that you have one more port, Grand Turk, which for me would be a plus. For others, that extra sea day would be more attractive. Only you know which is more appealing to you.

Happy planning!

[Caribbean Sunsets]

While either ship would be nice, I would go with the Emerald Princess as well. Even though it is one of the larger ships, I have never felt crowded and I travel during Thanksgiving. I've not been on the Emerald but have sailed on the Crown and the Ruby. All the same class with near identical layouts.

 

As a side note, the Caribbean Princess leaves from San Juan and alternates the itinerary every other week. Each week offers some nice islands.

 

Good luck planning your cruise.

[prince34]

Hi gnaht101,

 

It looks like my wife and I are booked on the same cruise (Princess Emerald end of Oct thru Nov 1) This is our first cruise and we are very excited. I hear that Princess is a 5 star cruise line and I think because you get to stop at 4 ports insteat of 3 the Princess is the best choice. Good luck on you choice and enjoy your cruise. :D