Emerald Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,873 reviews

This experience with Princess will be our last

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Emerald Princess
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txsgrl101
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2014
Cabin: Balcony

Sailed with two other couples out of Houston bound for Western Caribbean; all have sailed before on numerous lines, including Princess. Got to port relatively early for departure, so luggage drop off and parking went fairly smoothly. Check in went fairly quickly as well, but we were not allowed to board the ship and rather held in the seating area for 1-1/2 hours. No explanation as to why we could not board after check in. Ship did not leave on time (scheduled to depart at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday; we actually finally left port at 10:30 a.m. on MONDAY MORNING). Numerous lame excuses as to why we could not leave (late arriving passengers, then a container ship coming in, then finally blamed weather). 18 hour delay in departure of course blew our first port of call (Honduras) off the schedule, so we were informed we would stop instead in Maya Riviera, Mexico instead. On the morning we were supposed to dock in Majahual, Mexico, there was one attempt made to dock, and then docking was aborted (winds?) and we were informed we would not dock, but rather limp to our next port of call (why they could not attempt to dock again in an hour or so remains a mystery). Royal Caribbean ship was already tied up at the same dock, so apparently they had better skills, or a more manageable ship?

Arrived day four in Belize City; tendering began an 1-1/2 later than scheduled. Many shore excursions cancelled due to inclement weather (cancelled the night before we even arrived). Left late in the evening. Fifth day in Cozumel, arrived at dock on time but disembarking was once again delayed by almost an hour and a half (no idea why). No signage on ship to direct you where to go to either access gangways or to tender on port days and crew was scarcely visible; once you disembarked, it was a game of hide and seek to find where to meet on the piers for excursions. Announcements on the ship were not heard in the cabins (unless it was the captain; all others were piped into the hallways, but not cabins). This made hearing announcements regarding delays very difficult to hear. Last night at sea we were hit by a squall line and the ship listed severely to starboard (to the point that glasses in the cabin were sent smashing, and bottles at the bars were thrown about, etc.). Very scary; ship did not seem very stable in the wind; in fact the entire cruise was very rocky (in spite of seas not being any higher than 4-1/2 to 7 feet). On the plus side, food (traditional seating dinner) was very good and choices were quite varied. Staff was friendly and helpful, but few went out of their ways to do anything above and beyond what should be expected. Cabin was clean, nice, and we didn't notice any smells that were unpleasant. Entertainment was fun and shows were good.

Overall, this cruise was relaxing but we were disappointed with the overall experience and the numerous excuses as to why there were delays or problems (when they bothered to explain at all). Since everything was blamed on the weather, there were no offers of compensation; not even a complimentary cocktail when we could not begin our trip on time. Royal Caribbean has Princess beat hands down.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BD

Nice cabin; plenty of storage space. Showers were very small though and the beds were extremely hard.

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