Emerald Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,873 reviews

Southern & Eastern Caribbean ... 3 weeks of sailing

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Emerald Princess
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Tweedy
6-10 Cruises • Age 2020s

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Sail Date: Apr 2011

Embarkation: We arrived at the pier around 11am and were seated in the Platinum area with all the other early bird arrivals. Shortly after we were on board and in our cabin. Our luggage did not arrive until after the muster drill so that gave us plenty of time to explore the ship before we really got settled in.Ship: The Emerald Princess is a beautiful ship. She is the largest ship I have sailed and holds about 3500 passengers give or take. Everything seemed to sparkle on the ship and you would always see crew out doing routine maintenance. There were plenty of areas to go to if you wanted to find a quiet place to read or just relax (other than your cabin).There are four public pools spaced throughout the top open decks of the ship. The Terrace Pool aft is an adult only pool. The water felt like bath water and was a little too warm for my liking. I like to feel refreshed when I take a dip. The chairs around this pool are popular but there are different levels where you can sit with easy access to the pool. The Calypso and Neptune Pools are mid-ship and very popular pools. The Calypso is where the big movie screen is and there was always something playing on the screen throughout the day and night. If you are sensitive to noise, I'd advise avoiding this pool during the day as it is loud and the screen is hard to see if the sun is out. It's a great place to catch a movie at night though. The Neptune pool is where the cruise director staff held their outdoor activities and by far the most popular pool. The water is 'refreshing' and cooler then the Terrace Pool. The Lotus Pool is located forward and connected with the Sanctuary and Lotus Spa but is available for all passengers to use. This is also the pool that has the swim against the current jet. We saw some people use it but it is not a quiet machine. There is a nice sun area adjacent to the Sanctuary that doesn't cost you with easy access to the Lotus Pool.The inside promenade deck is the place to be in the evening if you don't take in a movie under the stars or visit the casino. The Princess Theatre, Explorers Lounge, Crooners, Club Fusion and Wheelhouse Bar are located on this deck. You could call this the entertainment deck. The production shows happen in the theatre, the talent (hypnotist and comedians) are in the Explorers Lounge and there was dancing in a couple of the other venues. This is also the deck where you can walk completely around the ship outdoors.On deck 5 and 6 you could find the three main dining rooms, future cruise sales, internet cafe, the passenger services desk as well as the casino. I found the casino small compared to other ship casinos but let's be real, this isn't Vegas.The heart of the ship is the Piazza. It is a beautiful open area three decks high. Different entertainers perform throughout the day. If you have not been treated to the International Cafe on other ships, you must give it a try. Everything we tasted from here was delicious.We tried the Crown Grill restaurant once and regretted that we did not enjoy dinner in the venue more often. The food we had was tasty and the dessert, decadent.We had booked a mini-suite mid-ship. We felt minimal movement in this location but heard from other passengers that they felt a lot of motion forward and aft. In the past we have been either forward or aft but were totally confused as our point of direction was out of whack. We were still having problems after 20 days of which way to head. Our mini-suite was a perfect size for the 20-days. Having the larger bathroom with a tub is definitely a bonus plus the extra seating area with the sofa bed was nice to have. This is the 2nd time we've had a mini-suite. I'd be happy with a standard balcony cabin but would definitely not turn down a mini-suite if offered.If I had the opportunity to sail this ship again, I would.Crew: We found the crew on the Emerald Princess amazing. Everyone we encountered always had a smile on their face. The cruise director staff, despite the cruise director himself, was great. I never paid much attention to the cruise director and didn't think much him. I would hope that any future cruises I take with Princess do not have him working on board.Our room steward Sherrill was fantastic. She accommodated every request we had. There was one morning we were sitting out on the balcony and didn't know she was in our room until we walked back in. She laughed and said told us she wanted to quietly finish our room without us knowing she had shown up to do it. That would have blown me away but we did catch her in the act of cleaning.Islands: Every port we went to was unique in its own way. However, it certainly made you appreciate what you have at home and how fortunate we are. Many of these islands have high poverty rates and their housing showed this. Of course many of these islands have suffered devastating damage from hurricanes over the years. I wish the weather had been a little better on the first 10 days but it was actually perfect for the shore excursions we did since it wasn't too hot.Someone asked me if I had a favourite island between all the ones we visited. That was a hard question for me to answer. Each island was special but different from the other. Dominica was beautiful for the lush green rainforests, Barbados was scenic, St Kitts history was interesting. I could go on and on without pegging one as my favourite. They were all my favourites in different ways.Cruise Critic Meet n Greet: We attended the meet n greets for both cruises and met some great people. Both events were well attended and held up in the Skywalkers lounge.Passengers: There was definitely a different dynamic of passengers between the first and second cruise. There was an older crowd on the first cruise and a younger-family orientated crowd on the second. The first cruise was quiet and laid back. You really felt like you were on a vacation and we found the passengers very friendly. The second cruise was louder, busier and not as relaxing.My personal experience with some of the passengers on the second voyage was they weren't as friendly and in and a couple of instances rude. I was born with a flushed complexion and my cheeks are rosey 365 days a year. The number of passengers that told me I was burnt, to the point one person was actually arguing with me, was beyond my tolerance. I have never been so put off by cruise passengers as I was during this cruise. By the time the cruise was over, I didn't feel like leaving my cabin and was ready to go home.Despite the few passengers and how I felt at the end of the second cruise, we had a great time and look forward to our next trip to somewhere... just have to figure out where.

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