We are a couple on our 50's (actually was celebrating my 50th birthday while onboard) and this was our 10th cruise with Princess, 33rd cruise when counting them all. The cruise on the Emerald far surpassed our expectations as we thought the service was superior to many of the cruises on which we have sailed. Everyone from our room steward, John, to the staff in the dining areas, room service, purser's desk, etc. was great. We chose this cruise mainly because of the itinerary to the Southern Caribbean and really not because of the ship itself. We much prefer ships with a maximum of 2400 pax but were very happy as everything was handled well for the number of pax onboard.

We boarded in Ft Lauderdale where there was a long line to check in. We were whisked by this line to the platinum /elite check in and it was a breeze. Before we knew it, we were onboard to find our digs for the week. We entered the elevator to be taken to our deck. Gone are the days where they deliver you to your room, but that is just fine. Soon after setting down our carry on luggage, the room steward came to our door to introduce himself and ask if we would like some champagne. We also requested bathrobes, an extra pillow, wine glasses and such and that the beds be placed back together (they were originally made up as twin beds when we boarded) ...but all when it was convenient for him. He was back with a bottle of champagne for us to begin our celebration. We investigated the ship a bit, went and had lunch and upon our return, the beds were already made up into a queen, the pillows and robes and wine glasses had arrived, as did our luggage. Everything was off to a great start...yoohoo!! Our room steward never slacked off throughout the entire cruise...he was simply fantastic.

We booked a mini suite on the Emerald deck (we definitely wanted a covered balcony) because all mentioned they were the most coveted mini's on the ship. We did find the room design a bit inefficient. The area with the tv's stuck out into the room - caused kind of a bottle neck, but really only while packing and unpacking. Otherwise it was not too obtrusive. The bed was very comfortable (we preordered an egg crate topper). The shelving was very plentiful and the rooms have a good closet design. Our bathroom had a full tub which was fantastic. The toilet had a bit of trouble once in awhile when trying to flush it but would always work if given a try 5 minutes later. Sometimes the cold water from the sink would only come out warm. The extra room made up for all of this! The balcony had two reclining chairs and two regular chairs and a table. It wasn't as big as the Caribe deck balconies but sufficed just fine for the two of us. We had very boisterous neighbors towards the back of the ship so sometimes made our relaxing on the balcony all but relaxing. Thankfully, there were really no smokers on our area so weren't bothered by that. My biggest complaint about the aft cabins on this ship is that they vibrated and rattled like crazy. We have been in aft cabins on other ships that were barely affected, but this one was something else. It actually sounded like they were running a jack hammer when we were pulling into port. When moving along at night, there was a rattle behind the headboard that was quite annoying....anywhere else might have been ok, but it was right behind your head. We reported this to purser's desk and she mentioned we would have to call right at the time it was happening. Well, we just learned to live with it as it wasn't all the time. Think it happened more when the ship really got moving...which is at night. Read more