We just returned from a wonderful 28 day cruise to Hawaii, Samoa and Tahiti on the Emerald Princess. We had a great time and met the most wonderful people. We met a group of ballroom dancers that grew each day as we found different dance venues. Most popular was the Princess Band at Club Fusion in the evening. The weather was great, the food good and the service was wonderful. Every little glitch was handled well by the Princess staff usually with a very personal touch. We took the Ultimate Ship’s Tour. We were among the very last people boarded because of an immigration hold up when the ship arrived in LA and there were still 4 spaces available when we finally go to the Passenger Service counter. For those of you who think the cost is too high, (and I was one of those people) each participant gets 4 photos taken during the tour, a luxury Princess bathrobe, a Princess apron, an 8 X 10 picture frame and personalized note paper as well and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries at the end of the tour. The tour covers the medical center that is far more sophisticate than you might think, the laundry, the galley led by the Head Chef with drinks, the engineering section or control center of the whole ship, the anchor bay, the print shop, the photo processing lab and, of course the ship’s bridge where we got a Q & A with the Captain and a photo. I usually poo poo people who think something expense is well worth it, but in this case I have to agree. We got great values for our $150 each. The robes alone go for $90 and the photos usually cost $25 each. They stress not to take pictures but once on the bridge the First Officer said to take all the pictures we wanted. We left our cameras behind as requested so couldn’t take advantage of the offer. If you take the tour bring your camera just in case. The photo package has paid off for us a s well, $250 pre-cruise, $300 once on board. We have well over 200 pictures with 4 formal nights.

Speaking of formal night, we didn’t see many tuxes, maybe 10% but 98% of the men wore ties and jackets. I wore a tie every night in honor of our 50th anniversary making us the one of the best dressed couples on board. We coordinated when we could and got lots of great compliments from very kind people. It was fun.

Our complaints are crowd based. These ship carry too many people and they are getting bigger. Anytime dining is a zoo if you want to eat early. If you want to see a show, you have to get there at least an hour early. The lines stretch through half the ship. It really doesn’t matter where the shows are, in the Explorer’s Lounger or the Princess Theater. People were irate. Many didn’t get in. When they could they scheduled three shows, the last at 10 pm. For an older crowd, which we are, 10 pm is a bit late, so those shows were easy to get into even minutes before. There seems to be an attitude on board that you have to be early for everything, shore excursions, Pub Lunch, afternoon tea and even fixed dining. The lobby in front of fixed dining, which begins at 6 but is available when the doors open at 5:30, is usually packed at 5. I just don’t get it. People were upset because the door weren’t open a 5:15. We always showed up for our shore excursion about 10 minutes before the posted meeting time, just incase I made a wrong turn somewhere. Even arriving 10 minutes early, hundreds of people on our tour were already there waiting. Hurry up a wait was a military thing, not a cruising thing. Then there are many of the tours themselves. Most were sold out before we cruised and many were very very very crowded, 10 to 15 busses all going to the same place, inadequate seating and one tour that served a barbecue lunch ran out of food before many people made it through the line the first time, not a good thing for cruise people. Read more