For those of you who have read my previous reviews and "Live Froms" you may remember that I do not generally care for the LARGE ships. So, this will come as a surprise to you, as it did me ... I LOVE ... no, really, LOVE .... the Emerald Princess. As a disclaimer, I am not a Princess cheer leader. I try to give an honest, balanced assessment of the cruise because 1) writing these helps me remember my trip (as I save them on my hard drive) and 2) I enjoy sharing the information, as I have learned from so many others here. But so far (end of day two as I write this), this has been a winner.
Flight from LAX to FLL via Houston
This has nothing to do with Princess, so I'll make it quick. We have never flown Continental, but we've decided it's the "quiet" airline. Quiet because you don't hear about it going into bankruptcy, you don't hear it complaining about fuel increases, and you don't hear it complaining that it's impossible to be a profitable airline in this day in age. I do not know if it's profitable, but it quietly doles out a great product, clean newer airplanes, and the nicest flight attendants we've encountered in a long time. And they still serve food! Not a lot, but enough to get through the day. (Unfortunately, after writing this, Continental was in the new with the New York crash). With Houston being its major hub, we were a little put off by our 3-plus hour layover ... until we found Pappadeux (sp?). I had never had a catfish Po' Boy before. Incredible. A long, but enjoyable day.
E707 on the Emerald Princess is referred to as a partially obstructed and sometimes fully obstructed cabin. There actually is quite a decent view outside the cabin window, as the box that houses the inflattable life rafts sits between E705 and E707. The cabins with the full life boats in front of them are actually more obstructed than E705 and E707. We've actually booked E703 on the Ruby as it is just forward of E705 and completely unobstructed.