After a gap of 2 years it was good to be back cruising on the Emerald Princess again. We did not encounter any Covid problems ourselves but believe there had been some on deck 12 that delayed our embarkation by nearly 2 hours. Having to wear a mask was a nuisance but necessary. The crew all seemed happy to be back and service was good.

The inevitable cut-backs were noticeable and too numerous to list. Elite level guests no longer receive any free wifi and, with the new charges, it is cheaper and faster to use your phone. The captain was illusive as were any free drinks on formal nights but we eventually got escargot and lobsters on the second formal night. Overall food was still good but we could not book tables at the only two main restaurants (Da Vinci and Botticelli) that were open. The Michelangelo dining room was closed, as the number of passengers had been reduced from 3,080 to about 2,200. The Crown Grill was disappointing, with indifferent service and a 29 USD surcharge. We chose not to use the Horizon buffet.

Our Great Britain itinerary included pointless stops at Portland and Holyhead. Having 3 tenders in 8 days was tedious, especially as there is nothing much near Holyhead, where our tender broke down leaving us stranded at sea for an hour. Cork is a train ride from Cobh and getting from Greenock to Glasgow Central involves a 45-minute train journey. The port lectures were good but we were not tempted by any of the ship’s tours. Read more