Emerald Princess Review
Excellent Cruise and Ports...lower food standards
Rating by category
Additional details
This was a itinerary that both my wife and i wanted to do and we are very happy we did. The Emerald Princess is still in good shape, seemingly well maintained with a few small areas that needed deep cleaning. Our interactions with most of the staff were always positive and there were those who did go above and beyond.
Embarkation was a bit chaotic in Buenos Aires but once in the terminal the embarkation went well. Disembarkation was a shambles..more on that later.
Dining was very inconsistent with some great meals in the Dining Room and some just bad meals as well. Any lamb meal on the ship was inedible more like mutton. What's having a burger on the every dining menu??? Horizon court was it's usual however some of the speciality nights were excellent. We also dined in the Speciality restaurants, Curtis Stone's Share was a disaster, I ordered lamb and it was bad as everywhere else onboard. Also the serving of the excellent scallops that are offered came cold what a waste. Again inconsistent, 4 good courses, 2 bad courses. Wine has increased in price and the selection was poor with many missing choices. And NO MORE WINE CARD on board and we heard about 5 different excuses why.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Room Steward was superb, little to complain about our accommodations.
Port Reviews
Montevideo
A nice city, clean and interesting.
Stanley
A very interesting place. Hard to get non ship excursions unless you book them well in advance.
Puerto Montt
Both interesting and beautiful area with lots to see. Petrohue Falls was very very busy and crowded.
San Juan del Sur
Ships tour to Granada and the Lake. A longish bus ride but Granda was very nice and the lake boat was good but a little to short, likely because of the bus transit times.
Santiago (Valparaiso)
Stopped in the square to not to walk anywhere beyond it for safety reasons, at least there was a Starbucks there.