Emerald Princess Review
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Remember the advertisement where you feel like a king or queen on board? Those days are over. I guess the economy and rise of popularity have made it diffcult for cruise ships to maintain those standards. While the Emerald Princess was beautiful and well maintained, with many entertainment venues, service was slow and not so enthusiastic, and automatic gratuities or upcharges seemed excessive.
After a wonderful visit in Barcelona, (avoid the Famiglia church, it is under MAJOR construction and the entry fee is not worth it, simply walk around the church on the outside.)Check in to the ship was fast and simple, our rooms were good size with plenty of storage. the bathroom was very tight, our sons laughed they could us the toilet while showering!!! Our room steward introduced himself and was on his way. I think it was this first day that sushi was at the buffet, the kids were so excited, but returned with much chagrin as it was almost inedible, as were the salty dumplings. Dinner that night took almost two hours, with incredibly slow service, the food was good, but nothing inspiring. We were seated within 15 minutes of putting our name in for the freestyle dining.
Aux Provence was just stunning, it was storybook like and we purchased cheeses and tapenade to take back to the ship. We returned to the ship in the afternoon and now had a chance to explore it a little better. The pizza was fantastic, however, ice cream, milkshakes, sundaes, etc. were an extra charge. The REAL Sushi was an up charge, tapas were an upcharge, and we learned that although we had paid for a soda sticker, (free unlimited sticker.) a 15% gratuity was charged even if you got it yourself. 15% was automatically charged on to everything!!!! We were seated again in about 15 minutes for dinner, once again, dinner was a long undertaking with slow service and we often went with empty water glasses and simply poured our own wine. About the third day our daughters asked, "where are the towel animals on our bed?" While the beds were made and toiletries most often replaced, (not always, we once ran out of toilet paper!!!) Turn down with chocolates involved removing a pillow and small coverlet placed strategically where you feet would be on the bed while lying there during the day. Much more cost effective and efficient.