My wife and I sailed on 31 October 2008 for a 10-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise onboard on of the newest ships in the Princess Line, the Emerald Princess. While the ship itself was fantastic and the ports everything we hoped for on a cruise designed to celebrate my wife's birthday and my impending retirement, the attitude and performance of the Emerald Princess's crew made the experience easily the least enjoyable of any of our Princess cruises.

Embarkation was a snap. My wife is a Platinum Member, so we whisked right through the check-in line. I must say that the port facilities were much better than other places we have sailed from. We were the only cruise ship in port that day, so that may have had something to do with it.

Right after dropping our things off in our cabin, we headed for the lunch buffet. Not five minutes after sitting down, a server started with the pitch for the wine tasting. Inside of three hours we had received another three pitches for the event. I realize this is a moneymaker for Princess, but the hard sell was too much. Alas, this was but a harbinger of things to come. Read more