Here is a brief review of our Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Emerald Princess - May 30 to June 6th.
Background: We are a family of 3 (our daughter turned 9 during the cruise) and this is our 5th cruise overall (first on Princes, one on Carnival, 3 on Royal Caribbean). We drove down the day before and stayed at the Cambria Suites in Dania Beach. This is an excellent hotel with a good location (especially if you have a car). They let us park there for the cruise week for $30 and provided free transport to the pier.
Embarkation: Arrived at the pier around 1:15 PM and check-in was smooth. The only glitch occurred when we were crossing the gangway and we finally realized that our cabin had been re-assigned. The lady at the desk (we were supposed to be on the Dolphin deck) did not mention this. Turns out we were "upgraded" to an outside on the Plaza Deck, P336 to be exact (right beside the International Cafe).
Very noisy location. Right beside the International Cafe...literally.
We had initially booked an inside on the Dolphin Deck and we were upgraded to this room without coordination. In hindsight...we would have preferred the inside cabin.