We just returned from the Emerald Princess April 25th sailing. I was celebrating my 40th birthday (on April 25th) with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, aunti, and boyfriend. I chose this cruise because of the itinerary specifically Grand Turk as boyfriend and I scuba dive and the Turks & Caicos are one of the world's largest barrier reef systems. Embarkation was fairly easy except the last minute form they had you complete before walking through security. There were not enough tables or pens and it got congested as people were arriving wanting to check in. The form asked if you had been ill in the last several days and if so, describe (as if someone who had been ill would fess up at this point). After that check-in was a breeze and the rooms were ready as soon as you boarded. We ate lunch then headed for the deck for adult beverages and photos. Each night we ate dinner in the Botticelli dining room. First night the prime rib was DELISH and I highly recommend this entree. The waiters were excellent, my only complaint is that they did not automatically ask if you wanted coffee with dessert and most nights they were too busy to get their attention to ask for it. We tendered to Princess Cays the next day. Boyfriend and I walked about 2-3 miles down the beach to a completely secluded area away from the hoards of people. We found interesting fossils embedded in the coral, some nice seashells and sand dollars and great snorkeling, without the crowds. After a couple of hours or so on our own, we walked back to the main area and had lunch consisting of hotdogs (all beef and yummy), hamburgers and "ribs". Towards the end of our stay we had a rain shower and the temperature went from HOT to frigid. Got back onboard and took a hot shower. During sea day we slept in but got up in time for the martini demonstration, funny. Had a flight of wine and comp sashimi at Vines and just enjoyed a day on deck drinking fruity drinks and beers. I also had some Stilton cheese at Vines and if you like blue cheese you must try the Stilton, absolutely wonderful. In St. Martin we rented scooters (brother & sis-in-law, me and boyfriend) and drove around the island. Stopped at Maho Beach and watched a few airplanes land and a jet take off. NOTE: to tourists...do not stand directly behind a jet while it is getting ready for take off. You would not believe how may people stood behind the jet and got blasted by sand (and fumes), silly tourists! There is a nice little beach pub to grab a cold drink and a grill next to it. We did not eat at the grill, but had a few Carib beers. Princess drops you in St. Thomas WAY TOO EARLY in the morning, 7:00 a.m. Nothing was open yet, but we were lucky enough to come across a Carnival parade, amazing how many speakers can fit on a truck bed and how loud it gets. It was an adventure walking down the street with locals listening to the sounds of Carnival. We eventually got to the Sky Ride, but it did not open until 10, we got there at 9 so we continued walking up the hill to the Marriot Resort where we took advantage of the public beach. We then took the water taxi back downtown since we were tired of walking at this point. That was a pretty nice little boat ride. We ate lunch at Gladys' great food, great service, funky smelling restaurant...definitely an old building and the musty odor to match. The main purpose of this trip for me was to celebrate my birthday and to dive one of the world's largest barrier reef systems, which we did in Grand Turk. We plan to come back to this island just for a scuba diving vacation! We chartered our dive trip with Blue Water Divers, highly recommend them (http://www.grandturkscuba.com), they have small boats and take out only a few divers/snorkelers at a time so you're not on some cattle boat being shoved into the water and then commanded back out once the first person sucks their air dry. After a two tank dive, Jessie dropped us off at Jack's shack, but we did not have time to try the jerk chicken, another reason to come back! From Jack's you can walk to the ship. Now some specifics about the cruise, all of the crew was friendly, our stateroom attendant, Somkit, was great, he even noticed we had several bottles of wine and brought us wine glasses and a bottle opener (without us asking) and got us an ice bucket large enough for our bottle of prosecco. Our stateroom was kept neat the entire time and ice bucket refilled daily! Waiters in the dinning room were good when it came to presenting the menu and serving dinner, but as I said, poor on asking for drinks. We brought at least 1 bottle of wine each night for dinner, but mom and aunti do not really drink wine and wanted iced tea, which had to be asked for every night. And as I mentioned already, coffee was not offered automatically with dessert. But the service was good and when we asked for anything we got it right away (even escargot, yummy!). The food was pretty good overall, the last night's dinner was the most disappointing, but other nights were fabulous. You must try the goat cheese soufflE! That was probably the most wonderful food surprise next to the Stilton cheese and escargot and rack of lamb (oh I could go on and on) and the baked Alaska was good, even though I'm lactose intolerant (I can eat cheese fine...ice cream does a job on me though). Entertainment: The comedy shows by James Michael and Phil Tag are must sees, hilarious! All other shows were mediocre and the tribute to Motown was a joke! It was more like a tribute to Disney meets Nashville...it is a horrible show if you truly enjoy Motown. Food: The pizza is delicious we tried to make sure the have a little room for a late afternoon/pre dinner snack. I really enjoyed the prosciutto/fungi pizza, but everyone else LOVED the pepperoni. I really enjoyed the all beef hotdog on Princess Cays and I'm sure it's the same hotdog served at the Trident grill, but my tummy is only so big so I never tried the hotdogs on the ship, though they looked tasty. The lobster tails for lobster night were great, not chewy or mushy (some past reviewers commented on this). Sashimi in Vines is good (except the pickled fish) and you can also order tapas and a cheese sampler (cheese cost extra). We enjoyed the English Pub lunch during sea days; the fish and chips were good and the Cottage pie. My favorite foods were: prime rib, rack of lamb, escargot, goat cheese souffle, Stilton cheese, linguine with clams, lobster tail and tiger shrimp (buffet) and fish and chips. Overall: The Emerald is a nice ship, but does not compare to Royal Caribbean ships (we were on the Navigator last year and that is the most exquisite ship I have ever seen thus far). The ceilings on Emerald are low and there is not much open space on board. The decor is nice and the use of wood and wood like finishes was nice. The ship is kept extremely clean. One plus is the use of real silverware in the dining room. We pre-ordered egg crates for our bed and were glad we did, highly recommend that to everyone. We attended the cooking demonstration and I got one of the cookbooks great show, would recommend you go and then take to quick tour of a galley. One last note, my sister-in-law asked me to comment on this. She thought the desserts in the main dining room were mediocre compared to the sweets elsewhere on the ship. We really enjoyed our vacation and I know I would cruise with Princess again. Now back to the real world and rain also a possible oil slick may be hitting our beaches mid-week! OH when is the next trip?!