After a few days in Rome, we boarded the Emerald Princess for the next portion of our retirement celebration. Embarkation was very simple and we were on the ship quite quickly. Having planned the excursions ahead time, we were able to simply settle in and begin to unpack. Cabin A417 is nicely located in the middle of the ship and only a few flights below the main decks.

Pros - deck measured out for walking/jogging (3 laps = 1 mile), flexible dining times, great cabin steward Jose, fruit being in the room on a daily basis, wait staff in most restaurants very pleasant, art auction was fun with the experts helping us find what was "our" style of painting, trivia games were entertaining

Cons - limited fitness equipment for weight lifting - not a single bar bell, excursions over booked and not coordinated well (they needed 3 or 4 busses for some and that is fine but then divide out the arrival times so everyone does not spend their time waiting in lines), limited food choices - hard for a diabetic to calculate, more desserts than main entrees