Emerald Princess Review
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When I read negative reviews on this board, I always take them with a grain of salt. I mean, how can anyone have a bad time on a cruise? I have cruised frequently on many different lines but this was my first cruise on Princess. Last year when I cruised on NCL's Pride of America I had read negative reviews of the ship, but I found them unfounded and had a fantastic cruise. With that said, I had heard very good things about Princess but did not find this ship to be up to my expectations.
The cruise started typically enough. The information from the cruise line said to arrive at the port at 1:00pm and that at 2:00pm it would be less crowded. I live near the Port so we arrived around 12:00 noon to find what appeared to be thousands of people in line for embarkation. Fortunately, my companion was Platinum on their Captain's Circle Program so we were given priority boarding but I sure was happy I wasn't waiting in that line. The Emerald Princess carries over 3000 passengers but does not appear to have the amenities for that many. Frequently there were lines, no place to sit down and eat, and on one occasion we were turned away from a show because the theatre was full.
The sail away buffet was very nice and the first night there was a seafood buffet with lobster claws and crab "knuckles" that we enjoyed, but the buffet mostly went down hill after that. The specialty restaurants on this ship are popular for the most part because the food in the dining rooms is only adequate at best. My companion just got off the Caribbean Princess three (3) weeks before and said that the food on that ship was very good and that there was no comparison; even with the same menus. One evening at dinner we both ordered the Duck Breast and what was presented was blood red with an inch of fat around it; we both declined and sent it back choosing to leave the dining room rather than reorder as we had both lost our appetites. The food on the lunch buffets for the most part is horrible, but they do have real pizza ovens on this ship with pizza that rivals that from a pizza restaurant so at least you have that option. Lunch in the dining room is good if you have the time; I would say in most cases lunch in the regular dining room was better than dinner.