Emerald Princess - January 5-15, 2008 - review and picttures
sue mullen
EMERALD PRINCESS – January 5–15, 2008
We are Sue (65) and Kevin (almost 65) and this was our 19th cruise, 6th
one on Princess. We have previously cruised on Princess, Royal
Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, HAL, Celebrity and Azamara.
In looking for airfare from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale, we
discovered the best deal was to fly down on SouthWest and home on
AirTran. Both flights cost us a little under $180 roundtrip/per person,
better then any other airlines. We had no problems with either flight
and were able to upgrade to first class for $60/person for the flight
home on AirTran. I think I am now very spoiled. lol
As we have been doing for years now, we flew down the day before the
cruise. This allowed us to take a flight at a more reasonable time and
not have to worry about missing the ship. We stayed at the Embassy
Suites which has a free breakfast every morning, made to order eggs of
any kind. They also had pancakes and waffles, but they were not made to
order and sat under a light to stay warm. Embassy Suites is a great
location and you can walk to many restaurants, a grocery store and drug
stores.
When we woke up on cruise day, walked to the end of our hallway and
could see our ship waiting for us. We used the hotel shuttle to go to
the pier, $6 per person and all went very smoothly. There were a lot of
ships in port on January 5th and I was surprised that there was no
congestion at all. We got out of the van, gave our luggage to the
porter and were directed to the Platinum check in area. There we had to
sit a short time until they opened up the check-in process. This went
very smoothly and we then had to sit and wait yet again to be able to
board the ship. We had arrived at the pier around 11:15am and were on
the ship in our cabin by 12noon.
Now the question is why did we book the Emerald Princess?
In August 2006 we cruised on the Crown Princess, sister to the Emerald
and other then a problem with a huge beam in the middle of our balcony,
we really enjoy a lot of what the ship had to offer. We had also had
very good food and service, particularly enjoyed having the
International Café available and had excellent dinners in the two
specialty restaurants.
Because of the problem with our balcony on the Crown, Princess gave us a
credit that had to be used by a certain date. Looking at the available
itineraries we saw that the Emerald Princess was doing a 10 day cruise,
going to Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and
Princess Cay. We liked this very much because we had never been to St.
Lucia, Barbados or St. Kitts before. Then of course it put us in St.
Thomas on a Saturday, which would make it easier to see my nephew and
his fiancé who live there and are teachers.
So it was a combination of what the ship had to offer and the itinerary
that made us decide to book this. The Emerald Princess did not
disappoint us in any way and turned out to be our best cruise ever.
Princess Patters:
As most of you know the Princess Patters is the daily schedule that you
find in your cabin each day. The reason I am even writing about it, is a
few things I noticed and don’t remember seeing in the past. The Patters
for the day we sailed had the usual information about that days
activities, drink of the day etc. It also had a small article and a
picture of Captain Giorgio Pomata, telling about where he grew up and
also about his career. It also listed all the ship’s officers by name
and job. What I haven’t seen before and really like having in the first
days patters is an itinerary showing our ports of call, arrival and all
aboard ship times, also listed the dress code day by day. What was even
nicer was a separate “cruise planner” that again listed day by day the
dress code, times in port, but the nicest thing it did was to show what
the evening entertainment was in the different venues. This was esp.
nice since there were some shows that were on more then once.
Our Cabin:
For this cruise we decided to book a balcony cabin on the Caribe Deck,
which we understood was partially covered and partially open. This
turned out to be an excellent choice, not only did we have a choice of
sun or shade, but if we sat in the covered area, no one could see us
from their balcony. We had a table with two chairs, plus two chairs
that had backs that could be adjusted and were very comfortable. Our
cabin was a typical balcony cabin with plenty of storage space and the
refrigerator kept things cold. There was more then enough hanging space
in the closet area, lots of shelves, but we could have used a few more
drawers. The bathroom was sufficient, 3 shelves over the sink and a
long shelf under the sink. The only negative to the bathroom was the
tiny, tiny shower, but this is normal for princess.
Our cabin steward Marlon was very good and the few things we asked for
were always there. He was on the quiet side, but always greeted us when
he saw us. A few days into the cruise I decided that an egg crate would
make the bed more comfortable. Kevin went to find him and I asked Kevin
to tell him that we wouldn’t be upset if he couldn’t find one. His
comment was that he “would” find one for us and when we next came back
to our cabin it was already on the bed. This is just one example of how
great the service was on the ship.
The Ship:
The Emerald Princess is a very large ship, but no longer the largest at
sea and it is 116,000 tons and has a 3100 passenger capacity. There
were only three places on the ship that felt crowded, the theatre which
wasn’t really large enough, the Horizon Court (which I will talk about
later on) and the deck space by the pools.
There are 4 pools on the ship, the Terrace Pool aft, the Spa Pool, both
of these are “adult only”. Then there are two mid-ship pools, one of
which has the MUTS screen. There are two hot tubs by each mid-ship
pool, 2 by the Spa Pool and one aft hot tub a few decks up from the
Terrace Pool. Unless you are an early riser it is almost impossible to
get a deck chair poolside. They do have an upper deck or two with plenty
of lounge chairs, but from what I saw they are in full sun.
We are hot tub people and found that the hot tub by the Spa Pool was the
best. It not only had the right amount of bubbles, but it hot as a real
hot tub should be. Most of the other hot tubs had water that was like a
luke warm bath.
Being such a large ship there are many entertainment venues/lounges on
the ship,
The Princess Theatre, Explorers Lounge, Wheelhouse Bar, Club Fusion, and
entertainers in the Piazza. In the Piazza there is Vines, and The
International Café which was a favorite of ours. Also the Crooners Bar
which is where we meet friends every night for a drink and lots of talk.
This ship really has something for everyone, no matter what your tastes are.
Food, Food and more Food…..
Horizon Court:
We went to the Horizon court for breakfast everyday and for lunch a
couple of times. At breakfast the ready made omelets were very good and
there was always bacon, sausage, smoked fish, fresh fruit, breads,
croissants and pastries available. The one time I saw their pancakes,
they were sitting under a heating lamp and didn’t look enticing. I am
sure there were other things that I didn’t notice.
A few times we found a table in the Horizon Court, but most of the time
went to the Café Caribe to find a table and never had a problem. Within
a minute or two after sitting down, someone would come and ask what we
wanted to drink; we never had to wait long. They would bring us juice
and coffee in the morning and iced tea at lunchtime. Also one day Kevin
didn’t see any bread that he could eat on his diabetic diet, so he asked
the person who got us our drinks. No problem, he went and brought back a
plate with a couple of different kinds of bread that Kevin could eat. I
was pleasantly surprised to find such good service in the Horizon Court.
The couple of times we went to the Horizon court for lunch, we were not
impressed with the selection, but one thing they seemed to have every
day is a decent salad bar. The Café Caribe had different things, but we
didn’t check it out.
International Café:
First stop after seeing our cabin on the first day was the International
Café to buy our coffee card. It costs about $25 for 15 specialty coffees
and all the freshly brewed coffee you want. The coffee card can also be
used in the dining rooms and it was very nice having some great coffee
to finish off the meal.
Most days we ate lunch in the International Café, they had several kinds
of small sandwiches, salad, quiche and shrimp. After a light lunch, I
always had to get some kind of dessert. They had many cakes, pastries
and of course their famous cookies available an all at no charge. We
also stopped by the International Café at different times of the day,
sometimes to sit and relax with a good coffee, other times to get coffee
to go.
Botticelli Dining Room, second seating:
The most important thing about our dining room experience is that all
the food was excellent and the beef melted in your mouth. There were 4
or 5 main courses that were available every night and the one or two I
tasted were excellent.
As we entered the dining room the first night, we saw Marino who had
been our Head Waiter on the Crown Princess in August ’06. We recognized
each other right away and Marino escorted us to our table and said he
would be back later to chat. Later in the cruise Marino showed us where
our group sat on the Crown and also said to give his regards to “The
Coin Lady”.
We had a table for four, but the other two people never showed up during
the entire cruise. If we had not had Marino as a head waiter, we would
have asked to be switched to a table with other people. There was a
table for two next to us and part way through the cruise we started to
get friendly with the couple sitting there. In the long run we took
pictures of each other and exchanged email addresses.
The first night Kevin reminded Marino about his diabetic diet and of
course Marino made sure that he was well taken care of. Our waiter
Gordon was very quiet and a bit reserved, but made sure that we got
everything we needed and asked for. From the first night on, there was
always a basket of rolls that Kevin could eat. One night Kevin asked if
one of the sugar free desserts had any cake in it and Gordon came back
with a bowl of berries since what Kevin had asked about did have cake in
it and he knew Kevin couldn’t have it.
Our assistant waiter Rico was very sweet and efficient. He would
remember what we had ordered the day before, scotch, iced tea, wine, etc
and ask us right away if that was what we wanted. What ever we wanted
that day, we got very quickly.
Kevin and I have always agreed that we don’t want a table for two on a
cruise ship. We both like interacting with other people and we eat
dinner, just the two of us at home everyday. On this cruise we
discovered that we enjoyed a table for two, but it isn’t something that
we will do by choice in the future. After a few days of our table mates
not showing up, Marino said that he would keep us company. He was true
to his word and frequently stopped to chat with us.
Crown Grill and Sabatini’s:
These are the two specialty restaurants that you have to pay extra for
and they are both well worth the money we spent. Soon after boarding the
ship we went to each of the restaurants to make reservations. There were
no lines and we got the days and times we wanted without a problem.
We ate at the Crown Grill first and the entire meal and service were
excellent. We ordered a bottle of wine and they brought over the cheese
cart for us. Kevin said the cheeses he had were very good and better
then else where on the ship.
Kevin and I both ordered onion soup, but I asked for it without the
cheese. When the waiter brought mine with cheese, it was no problem
taking it back and getting it right. He even took Kevin’s back and
brought him a fresh bowl of onion soup when he brought mine. It just
wouldn’t be right Kevin having his soup while I sat and watched. We both
ordered the lobster and it was more then worth the $9 extra each. The
presentation was lovely and most important the lobster was the best we
have had and we have had the best in NYC and up in New England many times.
After going to the Crown Grill I wanted to cancel our Sabatini’s
reservation and go back to the Crown Grill again. Kevin was against this
idea and in the long run I was very happy that we did go to Sabatini’s.
The service in both was very good, as was the food. I still think the
service in the Crown Grill was a bit better then in Sabatini’s.
Ports and day by day stuff:
I had joined the cruisecritic.com role call for our sailing and we had
decided to have our get together on Sunday, the first day at sea, at
11AM. We meet a nice group of people and saw some of them from time to
time around the ship. Also attending this gathering was James Deering,
the Passenger Service Director and he set up another gathering for us on
the last sea day in the Adiago Bar. I found out that part of Mr.
Deering’s job is to monitor the cruisecritic roll calls, so I guess
Princess does hear a lot of what we post.lol Mr Deering is a very
friendly and caring person and did all he could to help a couple of our
roll call members who had problems. As Kevin and I walked around the
ship during our cruise, we often would see Mr. Deering and he would stop
and chat with us. We had many very nice conversations with him and it
was interesting to hear about his backround, what cruise lines and ships
he had worked on etc.
For Sunday afternoon I had set up a meeting with someone I knew from one
of my cruise groups, but I didn’t know him well and we had never meet in
real life. We decided to meet for a drink and see how things went. Paul
and Linda turned out to be so much like me and Kevin that it is scary.
They always went to dinner early and we had 2nd seating Traditional
Dining, so we decided we would meet at 7pm every evening for a drink and
some talk. As it turned out we had all booked the same excursion for of
the ports, so we spent the day together and of course we kept meeting
here and there on the ship and in the ports. We will be keeping in
touch and I hope that we will all cruise together many times in the
future. Meeting them turned out to be one of the highlights of our
cruise!!
Antigua
We had been in Antigua before and other then visiting Nelsons Dockyard,
we weren’t impressed with the island. Since we are not beach people, we
took our time going ashore and did some shopping.
St. Lucia
We booked a Whale and Dolphin watching excursion with Princess and it
just turned out that our new friends. Linda and Paul and a couple they
were traveling with had booked the same excursion. The boat took us way
out in the hope of seeing some Whales and/or Dolphins, but there were
none to be seen this time. It was disappointing, but they told us up
front that this might happen.
We had a lovely boat ride with good friends and we did see some great
scenery along the way. We also got to see the Pitons from the water,
many different views. There will be pictures of this trip and lots more
on our Webshots site, the link will be at the end of my review.
When we got off the boat we stopped in the mall at the dock and found a
lovely shop that had all kind of linens with flowers or birds on them.
We bought some Hot Pads as gifts for people back home. They also had
placemats, potholders etc. The designs were so pretty and are made in
St. Lucia.
Barbados:
In Barbados we did the Princess tour called “Finest Blends of Barbados”.
The tour took us the Mount Gay distillery, where we show how the make
their rum and from there we went to the Banks Beer brewery. In addition
to seeing how the rum and beer was made, there was a lot of free
sampling available (grin). Both of these were interesting, but we
thought the Bacardi Rum factory tour in San Juan was much better
St. Kitts:
In St. Kitts we did another Princess tour called “Plantations & Art
Gallery with Lunch”. We boarded a small van that was air conditioned and
comfortable. Our driver/tour guide told us about the history of the
island and on the way home drove in the opposite direction so we saw the
entire coastline of St. Kitts.
Our first stop was at the Batik factory, which also had a huge store to
buy things. We were told how Batik fabric is made, very interesting but
we all disappointed that they didn’t actually show us the process. You
can see some of the things they make at:
http://www.caribellebatikstkitts.com/Caribelle_Batik/caribelle_batik.asp
From there we were driven to the Kate Design Studio, an art gallery on
the Rawlins Plantation which is in a restored West Indian house. You can
see some of the art work in our Webshots site; yes, they didn’t mind us
taking a few pictures. Also they have a website:
http://www.katedesign.com/index_1.html
When we were done at the art gallery, we walked across the grass to the
Rawlins Plantation Inn to have lunch. We were greeted with a rum punch,
one of the best we ever had. Kevin could not have a rum punch because of
his diabetes, so asked if he could have rum on the rocks instead. There
was no problem, and they poured him one. Then we were invited inside to
enjoy a West Indian lunch buffet. Kevin and I have been to many Indian
Restaurants at home and I have to tell you that this lunch was excellent.
This tour was expensive, but worth the money and ranks as one of the
better of all the tours we have taken.
St. Thomas:
We docked at the new Crown Pier which has been getting a lot of negative
reviews. I can’t tell you about transportation. There are some stores
there now and there will be many more opening with time. The liquor
store we stopped in had less of a selection then we have seen in the
past at Havensight. There is also a Bernard K. Passman store there that
is famous for its black coral jewelry.
This is always our favorite port and that is because my nephew and his
fiancé live here. This visit was even better since we were there on a
Saturday and they didn’t have to take a day off from work to see us.
Adam had to take a test that morning, so Roxy meet us by the windmill
and took us back to their apartment. Since this is the first time we saw
them since they got engaged we wanted to take them out to lunch to
celebrate. Our normal restaurant Craig & Sally’s wasn’t open, so we all
decided to try Bella Blu instead and it was a very good choice. Bella
Blu is a little more expensive then Craig & Sally’s, but both are
excellent choices for a really nice lunch.
After a lovely lunch we went for a ride down a very holey road that only
locals use and we wound up at an incredible beach. It was not a sandy
beach and not a place for swimming, just for incredible views. There are
a lot of pictures of this on our webshots site and you can see the waves
crashing on the rocks, just beautiful. Then it was time to head back to
the pier, having had another lovely, non-touristy day in St. Thomas.
We will next be in St. Thomas in the summer of ’09 for a wedding on
Megan’s Bay!
Princess Cay:
We decided to get a late start so we wouldn’t have to wait for a tender.
About 10:45am we wandered down to the deck with the tenders, found a
huge crown and were told to go to the Princess Theatre to wait. We got
there and found the theatre was almost full. They did at least have a
good system and told you where to sit as you came in and the crew knew
what order the sections had been filled. An hour after we arrived at the
Princess Theatre we finally stepped foot on Princess Cay. The story we
heard was that the ship had arrived late and it took time to transfer
all the food, beverages, crew etc. Needless to say there were many
unhappy passengers. A lot of us think that they should of made an
announcement that there was a delay and to take your time coming down
for the tenders.
Once we got off the tender we found two lounges in the shade and had a
lovely day. We both spent some time in the water and some time relaxing
on our lounges. The lunch buffet did not impress us and I have seen
better on other cruise lines. The worst part of lunch was the flies all
over the place.
Overall we had a lovely day on Princess Cay and then had to head back to
the ship to start packing. This is always the saddest part of a cruise;
you know the next day it is back to reality.
Here is the link to our pictures:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/562350400bmdikn
George Leppla
"sue mullen" <kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:61pecfF...@mid.individual.net...
>
> EMERALD PRINCESS – January 5–15, 2008
>
> We are Sue (65) and Kevin (almost 65) and this was our 19th cruise, 6th
> one on Princess. We have previously cruised on Princess, Royal Caribbean,
> Carnival, Disney, HAL, Celebrity and Azamara.
Excellent review snipped....
Thanks for sharing this account of your cruise, Sue. Princess continues to
be one of my personal favorite cruise lines and I am glad you and Kevin had
a good time.
I dislike the part about having to pay extra for the lobster... but my
complaints about things like this are minor if people feel the added cost is
worth the value. I have had very few "added cost" meals on a cruise ship
where I wasn't happy with the results.
--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm
Feb. 8, 2009 Solstice Valentine http://www.cruisemaster.com/solstice.htm
sue mullen
George Leppla wrote:
>
> "sue mullen" <kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:61pecfF...@mid.individual.net...
>>
>> EMERALD PRINCESS – January 5–15, 2008
>>
>> We are Sue (65) and Kevin (almost 65) and this was our 19th cruise,
>> 6th one on Princess. We have previously cruised on Princess, Royal
>> Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, HAL, Celebrity and Azamara.
>
>
> Excellent review snipped....
>
> Thanks for sharing this account of your cruise, Sue. Princess continues
> to be one of my personal favorite cruise lines and I am glad you and
> Kevin had a good time.
>
> I dislike the part about having to pay extra for the lobster... but my
> complaints about things like this are minor if people feel the added
> cost is worth the value. I have had very few "added cost" meals on a
> cruise ship where I wasn't happy with the results.
Thanks George. As long as we book early enough to get traditional
dining, we also love Princess. I just am not crazy about the idea of
anytime dining, even though others love it.
If you had seem the presentation of the lobster and the utensils they
had to pick it clean, you would of thought it was worth the extra
money(grin). It was the best lobster we had and that includes some of
the best restauants in NYC and the best up in New England.
sue
Ermalee
Ermalee
Charles
<kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote:
> If you had seem the presentation of the lobster and the utensils they
> had to pick it clean, you would of thought it was worth the extra
> money(grin). It was the best lobster we had and that includes some of
> the best restauants in NYC and the best up in New England.
Do you think they have live lobsters onboard for the specialty
restaurant? I would guess they would if the lobster was that good.
--
Charles
Ermalee
My guess would be that they don't. Otherwise, I believe they would
serve lobster, and not lobster tail. I learned this from Howard and
Eileen, that if you want live lobster (tail) you should order the
whole lobster. We found a small wonderful restaurant in Miami where the
locals go, sort of in a strip mall. Don't remember the name.
Ermalee
sue mullen
Ermalee wrote:
> Wonderful review, Sue. I enjoyed every word. Thanks for posting it.
Thanks Ermalee, we enjoyed every minute of the cruise. The only downside
was coming home and getting sick.lol
How are you feeling now?
sue
sue mullen
I have a vague memory of a lobster tank in the Crown Grill, but I am not
sure. It sure tasted like it was fresh to me.
We sat two tables away from where we sat with you and Jeff on the Crown
Princess.lol
sue
sue mullen
On formal night they had the lobster tails. What Charles and I were
talking about was in the Crown Grill, which is one of the specialty
restaurants on the ship. They might have the fresh lobster in the
specialty restaurant because they only need it is small quantity. No way
could they have enough "fresh lobster" for the dining rooms.
sue
Ermalee
Each day is a little better. No cruises booked yet though.
Ermalee
sue mullen
This is good, as long as you are making progress. I am sure you will be
booking a cruise soon and hope it will be the Sleazy and/or the Solstice.
sue
Ermalee
Sue, I am most interested in Freedom of the Seas (VIKINGS), and the
Solstice (Valemtine).
Ermalee
sue mullen
Ermalee wrote:
> Sue, I am most interested in Freedom of the Seas (VIKINGS), and the
> Solstice (Valemtine).
I would love to do the Freedom of the Seas with the Vikings, but it just
doesn't work for me so soon after thanksgiving. As I am sure you know,
we are already booked on the Solstice. The ship is going to be so
different, it has really sparked our interest. I hope you will be on the
Solstice with us.
sue
Gregory C. Read
I very much enjoyed your review and photos. Very nice job. Our favorite
ship is the Crown Princess and we love spending time in the
Piazza/International Cafe. Sounds like we would be just as happy on the
Emerald Princess.
Thanks,
--
Greg
"sue mullen" <kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:61pecfF...@mid.individual.net...
>
> EMERALD PRINCESS – January 5–15, 2008
>
Dory Samuels
Princess. Thanks for taking the time to post all the interesting
details of your cruise.
~~DORY~~
________ / /___/ /___/ /_________
\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cruise Crazy
line and you just reenforced why we like it so much.
~~DORIS~~
________ / /___/ /___/ /_________
\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Princess Star 3-30-2008
Princess Star 4-11-2008
Carnival Legend 9-7-2008
RCCL Grandeur 12-8-2008
Boomer
>
What's with the $9 per person extra charge for lobster? I realize there's a
charge for the specialty restaurants but is that something new or was it a
"special lobster"?
Ray Goldenberg
>
>What's with the $9 per person extra charge for lobster? I realize there's a
>charge for the specialty restaurants but is that something new or was it a
>"special lobster"?
Hi Boomer,
Princess has had extra charges in their specialty restaurants that
vary depending on what you ordered for years.
Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--
Philip and Heather Johnson
are about to leave on the Miracle March 14th. I can cruise on anything(G)
thanks again,
Phil.................................>a day in a dingy is better than a day
in the snow, provided it's not on lake erie.
Peri
>
> EMERALD PRINCESS – January 5–15, 2008
(snip great review)
> Here is the link to our pictures:
> http://travel.webshots.com/album/562350400bmdikn
Sue, I loved your review. It made me feel as if I were on board with
you. Great job.
The photos are fabulous, as well. Looks like you had wonderful weather
and saw some very interesting sights.
Gosh, we're only back two weeks from our Explorer cruise, and I'm ready
to set sail again!
~ Peri
sue mullen
Gregory C. Read wrote:
> Sue,
>
> I very much enjoyed your review and photos. Very nice job. Our favorite
> ship is the Crown Princess and we love spending time in the
> Piazza/International Cafe. Sounds like we would be just as happy on the
> Emerald Princess.
Thank you.
We usually ate lunch at the International Cafe and often stopped for a
specialty coffee in the afternoon. One day Kevin wanted Sashimi for
lunch, while I was having something from the International Cafe. He
walked over to Vines to place his order and the guy said he would bring
it to him. I was amazed to see that they were willing to deliver it on
the other side of the very crowded Piazza and the guy had no problem
finding Kevin.
The Emerald is exactly like the Crown, the only real differences are
things a passenger would not notice. You would be happy on any of the
three sisters, the Crown, Emerald or the Ruby which will be delivered soon.
sue
sue mullen
Dory Samuels wrote:
> What a terrific review. After reading it we are now tempted to try
> Princess. Thanks for taking the time to post all the interesting
> details of your cruise.
Thanks Dory. As big as the Emerald is, you don't often notice the size
and I don't recall it feeling crowded except around the pools.
sue
sue mullen
was our best one.
sue
sue mullen
I have seen other specialty restaurants with an extra charge for a
particular iten. There were plenty of other good choices on the menu,
just that night we were really in the mood for lobster. Turns out it was
a great choice, since it was one of the best lobsters I ever had.
sue
sue mullen
but this cruise was the best of all we have been on.
Hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Miracle.
sue
sue mullen
Thanks Peri! It was fun writing the review and remembering everything
about our cruise. We did have great weather and it wasn't too hot.
I know what you mean about being home a short time and being ready for
another cruise. We are home not quite 5 weeks now and finally we are
both rid of whatever bug Kevin picked up near the end of the cruise.
sue
Surfer E2468
Great review,and the pictures are really good,we have sailed many
different ships,but PRINCESS is the best of them all.
surfer e2468
<
cruise lover>
sue mullen
Surfer E2468 wrote:
> SUE;
> Great review,and the pictures are really good,we have sailed many
> different ships,but PRINCESS is the best of them all.
Thanks Annie, glad you enjoyed it. Princess is at the top of our list,
but only if we can get Traditional Dining. I know Anytime works for some
people, but it just isn't right for us.
sue
D Ball
> EMERALD PRINCESS - January 5-15, 2008
Hi, Sue,
I just finished reading your review--tell Kevin he's in serious danger
of losing his spot as the family's reviewer, LOL. It was a delight to
read, and so informative. And the pictures were fabulous! (I think you
have said Kevin is the photographer, so if so, he gets his gold star
there!) The candid of you two on Crown Grill night, I think it was, is
a keeper!
What fun to hear that after all your many cruises, there is still room
for one to emerge as the best yet. Didn't you love those extra few
days? And I'm sure seeing some new Caribbean ports, sharing a lovely
day in St. Thomas "like locals" with your nephew and his fiance and
finding new cruise friends in Paul and Linda added to your overall
experience.
Wow, I didn't know James Deering ended up at Princess--I thought he
was returning to HAL, where he worked before NCL. He is such a great
guy and so good at what he does. We met him as the HD on the NCL Star
in Hawaii. This was a year or two before NCL secured the legislative
exemption from making the Fanning Island trek, and James had developed
a personal interest in the people, culture and history of the island.
His Cruise Critic gatherings had become legendary because he
personally attended the meetings & offered "perks" to attendees
throughout their week aboard, he gave tours of the most fabulous
suites when unoccupied and he shared all sorts of interesting handouts
about Fanning Island.
We just made a last-minute booking on the Caribbean Princess for
Spring Break/the week including Good Friday and ending Easter Sunday.
I don't expect it will be the Princess ship for us, and I imagine we
will feel the impact of the holiday crowd. Nonetheless, we love
Princess generally and have been "grounded" for a while, so are really
looking forward to getting back out there. Your review gave me several
reminders of things I need to investigate (e.g., do we dock at Crown
Pier in St. Thomas and where do we buy coffee cards on the CB) and
look forward to (e.g., the beef quality report is encouraging, and I
will happily pay $9 on top of the specialty restaurant charge to get
some great lobster, especially because you Atlantic coasters are
recommending it!).
I reserved the $25 beach shade thing w/ 2 loungers for Princess Cays.
Do you think that's overkill, i.e., was there ample shade and plenty
of loungers? Of course, thinking about a holiday cruise crowd, I might
be "better safe than sorry."
Glad to hear you two are finally feeling better!
Thanks so much, Sue.
Diana
sue mullen
D Ball wrote:
answered inline:
> I just finished reading your review--tell Kevin he's in serious danger
> of losing his spot as the family's reviewer, LOL. It was a delight to
> read, and so informative. And the pictures were fabulous! (I think you
> have said Kevin is the photographer, so if so, he gets his gold star
> there!) The candid of you two on Crown Grill night, I think it was, is
> a keeper!
I got us started writing reviews but at some point handed the job over
to Kevin. This time we had such a great cruise that I really wanted to
write about it.
Normally Kevin is the photographer, but at times I steal the camera from
him or take some with my old camera.lol
> What fun to hear that after all your many cruises, there is still room
> for one to emerge as the best yet. Didn't you love those extra few
> days? And I'm sure seeing some new Caribbean ports,
There will always be another "best" cruise as long as we continue
cruising. We love the 10 day cruises, but untill Kevin retires we will
mostly have to go back to 7 day ones.
sharing a lovely
> day in St. Thomas "like locals" with your nephew and his fiance and
> finding new cruise friends in Paul and Linda added to your overall
> experience.
St Thomas is always a highlight for us.lol It is hard to say which was
better, seeing family or making me cruise friends(Hi Paul!!)
> Wow, I didn't know James Deering ended up at Princess--I thought he
> was returning to HAL, where he worked before NCL. He is such a great
> guy and so good at what he does. We met him as the HD on the NCL Star
> in Hawaii. This was a year or two before NCL secured the legislative
> exemption from making the Fanning Island trek, and James had developed
> a personal interest in the people, culture and history of the island.
> His Cruise Critic gatherings had become legendary because he
> personally attended the meetings & offered "perks" to attendees
> throughout their week aboard, he gave tours of the most fabulous
> suites when unoccupied and he shared all sorts of interesting handouts
> about Fanning Island.
James has been on many cruise lines and just found that Princess was the
best fit for him right now. He was telling us all the cruise lines he
has worked for, but other then RCCL I don't remember which ones he
mentioned.
He did invite some of the cruise critic people to dinner, but we weren't
included. There were a couple of cruisecritic people who had some issues
and those are the ones he paid special attention to.
> We just made a last-minute booking on the Caribbean Princess for
> Spring Break/the week including Good Friday and ending Easter Sunday.
> I don't expect it will be the Princess ship for us, and I imagine we
> will feel the impact of the holiday crowd.
Wonderful, I hope you have a fantastic cruise!! The Caribbean Princess
was supposed to go into drydock for some enhancements, but it was
canceled. From what I have been reading, they are doing some of the
upgrades as they sail. Check out the cruisecritic Princess boards.
> review gave me several reminders of things I need to investigate
(e.g., do we dock at Crown
> Pier in St. Thomas
I think when the Caribbean Princess is in St. Thomas, it docks at Crown
Bay. You can check this out on cruisecritic also.
> I reserved the $25 beach shade thing w/ 2 loungers for Princess Cays.
> Do you think that's overkill, i.e., was there ample shade and plenty
> of loungers? Of course, thinking about a holiday cruise crowd, I might
> be "better safe than sorry."
We lucked out and found 2 lounges in the shade, they were under a large
canopy. We figured that if we found shade, we would stay at the beach
longer, but if we didn't we would take a swim and head back to the ship.
If being at the beach is important to you, then I think you did the
right thing.
sue
Surfer E2468
Have been on a lot of princess ships,but never the emerald,are there
places to sit on the promenade deck in the shade? We are not into
sitting by the pool or hot tubs.
surfer e2468
<
cruise lover>
Jeff
trip....but have been way too lazy! lol....
Jeff
sue mullen
Surfer E2468 wrote:
> SUE:
> Have been on a lot of princess ships,but never the emerald,are there
> places to sit on the promenade deck in the shade? We are not into
> sitting by the pool or hot tubs.
There were some, but not a lot of chairs on the Promenade deck and they
were not lounge chairs.
Keep in mind that the Crown and Emerald are sisters with almost no
difference between them. Soon there will also be the Ruby, a 3rd sister
ship.
sue
Jeff
Diana I think you are probably right to be better safe than sorry! And
I think you are in FLL the day before Easter when I am?? I am leaving
for the Costa Med 3/22 and flying down that morn. Let's do lunch, lol....
Jeff
sue mullen
Jeff wrote:
> Good job Sue! Keep thinking I'll do write up of the Costa Med
> trip....but have been way too lazy! lol....
Thanks Jeff!!
Now it is time for you to stop being lazy and write that review.lol
sue
Jeff
Maybe eventually!!! Was also a great cruise. Can't wait to go back to
Roatan next month....so unspoiled!
Jeff
John & Lola
>
> EMERALD PRINCESS – January 5–15, 2008
>
> one on Princess. We have previously cruised on Princess, Royal Caribbean,
> Carnival, Disney, HAL, Celebrity and Azamara.
>
> In looking for airfare from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale, we discovered
> the best deal was to fly down on SouthWest and home on AirTran. Both
> flights cost us a little under $180 roundtrip/per person, better then any
> other airlines. We had no problems with either flight and were able to
> upgrade to first class for $60/person for the flight home on AirTran. I
> think I am now very spoiled. lol
>
> As we have been doing for years now, we flew down the day before the
> cruise. This allowed us to take a flight at a more reasonable time and not
> have to worry about missing the ship. We stayed at the Embassy Suites
> which has a free breakfast every morning, made to order eggs of any kind.
> They also had pancakes and waffles, but they were not made to order and
> sat under a light to stay warm. Embassy Suites is a great location and you
> can walk to many restaurants, a grocery store and drug stores.
>
> When we woke up on cruise day, walked to the end of our hallway and could
> see our ship waiting for us. We used the hotel shuttle to go to the pier,
> $6 per person and all went very smoothly. There were a lot of ships in
> port on January 5th and I was surprised that there was no congestion at
> all. We got out of the van, gave our luggage to the porter and were
> directed to the Platinum check in area. There we had to sit a short time
> until they opened up the check-in process. This went very smoothly and we
> then had to sit and wait yet again to be able to board the ship. We had
> arrived at the pier around 11:15am and were on the ship in our cabin by
> 12noon.
>
> Now the question is why did we book the Emerald Princess?
>
> In August 2006 we cruised on the Crown Princess, sister to the Emerald and
> other then a problem with a huge beam in the middle of our balcony, we
> really enjoy a lot of what the ship had to offer. We had also had very
> good food and service, particularly enjoyed having the International Café
> available and had excellent dinners in the two specialty restaurants.
>
> Because of the problem with our balcony on the Crown, Princess gave us a
> credit that had to be used by a certain date. Looking at the available
> itineraries we saw that the Emerald Princess was doing a 10 day cruise,
> going to Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and Princess
> Cay. We liked this very much because we had never been to St. Lucia,
> Barbados or St. Kitts before. Then of course it put us in St. Thomas on a
> Saturday, which would make it easier to see my nephew and his fiancé who
> live there and are teachers.
>
> So it was a combination of what the ship had to offer and the itinerary
> that made us decide to book this. The Emerald Princess did not disappoint
> us in any way and turned out to be our best cruise ever.
>
> Princess Patters:
> As most of you know the Princess Patters is the daily schedule that you
> find in your cabin each day. The reason I am even writing about it, is a
> few things I noticed and don’t remember seeing in the past. The Patters
> for the day we sailed had the usual information about that days
> activities, drink of the day etc. It also had a small article and a
> picture of Captain Giorgio Pomata, telling about where he grew up and also
> about his career. It also listed all the ship’s officers by name and job.
> What I haven’t seen before and really like having in the first days
> patters is an itinerary showing our ports of call, arrival and all aboard
> ship times, also listed the dress code day by day. What was even nicer was
> a separate “cruise planner” that again listed day by day the dress code,
> times in port, but the nicest thing it did was to show what the evening
> entertainment was in the different venues. This was esp. nice since there
> were some shows that were on more then once.
>
>
> Our Cabin:
> For this cruise we decided to book a balcony cabin on the Caribe Deck,
> which we understood was partially covered and partially open. This turned
> out to be an excellent choice, not only did we have a choice of sun or
> shade, but if we sat in the covered area, no one could see us from their
> balcony. We had a table with two chairs, plus two chairs that had backs
> that could be adjusted and were very comfortable. Our cabin was a typical
> balcony cabin with plenty of storage space and the refrigerator kept
> things cold. There was more then enough hanging space in the closet area,
> lots of shelves, but we could have used a few more drawers. The bathroom
> was sufficient, 3 shelves over the sink and a long shelf under the sink.
> The only negative to the bathroom was the tiny, tiny shower, but this is
> normal for princess.
>
> Our cabin steward Marlon was very good and the few things we asked for
> were always there. He was on the quiet side, but always greeted us when he
> saw us. A few days into the cruise I decided that an egg crate would make
> the bed more comfortable. Kevin went to find him and I asked Kevin to tell
> him that we wouldn’t be upset if he couldn’t find one. His comment was
> that he “would” find one for us and when we next came back to our cabin it
> was already on the bed. This is just one example of how great the service
> was on the ship.
>
> The Ship:
> The Emerald Princess is a very large ship, but no longer the largest at
> sea and it is 116,000 tons and has a 3100 passenger capacity. There were
> only three places on the ship that felt crowded, the theatre which wasn’t
> really large enough, the Horizon Court (which I will talk about later on)
> and the deck space by the pools.
>
> There are 4 pools on the ship, the Terrace Pool aft, the Spa Pool, both of
> these are “adult only”. Then there are two mid-ship pools, one of which
> has the MUTS screen. There are two hot tubs by each mid-ship pool, 2 by
> the Spa Pool and one aft hot tub a few decks up from the Terrace Pool.
> Unless you are an early riser it is almost impossible to get a deck chair
> poolside. They do have an upper deck or two with plenty of lounge chairs,
> but from what I saw they are in full sun.
>
> We are hot tub people and found that the hot tub by the Spa Pool was the
> best. It not only had the right amount of bubbles, but it hot as a real
> hot tub should be. Most of the other hot tubs had water that was like a
> luke warm bath.
>
> Being such a large ship there are many entertainment venues/lounges on the
> ship,
> The Princess Theatre, Explorers Lounge, Wheelhouse Bar, Club Fusion, and
> entertainers in the Piazza. In the Piazza there is Vines, and The
> International Café which was a favorite of ours. Also the Crooners Bar
> which is where we meet friends every night for a drink and lots of talk.
>
> This ship really has something for everyone, no matter what your tastes
> are.
>
> Food, Food and more Food…..
>
> Horizon Court:
> We went to the Horizon court for breakfast everyday and for lunch a couple
> of times. At breakfast the ready made omelets were very good and there
> was always bacon, sausage, smoked fish, fresh fruit, breads, croissants
> and pastries available. The one time I saw their pancakes, they were
> sitting under a heating lamp and didn’t look enticing. I am sure there
> were other things that I didn’t notice.
>
> A few times we found a table in the Horizon Court, but most of the time
> went to the Café Caribe to find a table and never had a problem. Within a
> minute or two after sitting down, someone would come and ask what we
> wanted to drink; we never had to wait long. They would bring us juice and
> coffee in the morning and iced tea at lunchtime. Also one day Kevin didn’t
> see any bread that he could eat on his diabetic diet, so he asked the
> person who got us our drinks. No problem, he went and brought back a plate
> with a couple of different kinds of bread that Kevin could eat. I was
> pleasantly surprised to find such good service in the Horizon Court.
>
> The couple of times we went to the Horizon court for lunch, we were not
> impressed with the selection, but one thing they seemed to have every day
> is a decent salad bar. The Café Caribe had different things, but we didn’t
> check it out.
>
> International Café:
> First stop after seeing our cabin on the first day was the International
> Café to buy our coffee card. It costs about $25 for 15 specialty coffees
> and all the freshly brewed coffee you want. The coffee card can also be
> used in the dining rooms and it was very nice having some great coffee to
> finish off the meal.
>
> Most days we ate lunch in the International Café, they had several kinds
> of small sandwiches, salad, quiche and shrimp. After a light lunch, I
> always had to get some kind of dessert. They had many cakes, pastries and
> of course their famous cookies available an all at no charge. We also
> stopped by the International Café at different times of the day, sometimes
> to sit and relax with a good coffee, other times to get coffee to go.
>
> Botticelli Dining Room, second seating:
> The most important thing about our dining room experience is that all the
> food was excellent and the beef melted in your mouth. There were 4 or 5
> main courses that were available every night and the one or two I tasted
> were excellent.
>
> As we entered the dining room the first night, we saw Marino who had been
> our Head Waiter on the Crown Princess in August ’06. We recognized each
> other right away and Marino escorted us to our table and said he would be
> back later to chat. Later in the cruise Marino showed us where our group
> sat on the Crown and also said to give his regards to “The Coin Lady”.
>
> We had a table for four, but the other two people never showed up during
> the entire cruise. If we had not had Marino as a head waiter, we would
> have asked to be switched to a table with other people. There was a table
> for two next to us and part way through the cruise we started to get
> friendly with the couple sitting there. In the long run we took pictures
> of each other and exchanged email addresses.
>
> The first night Kevin reminded Marino about his diabetic diet and of
> course Marino made sure that he was well taken care of. Our waiter Gordon
> was very quiet and a bit reserved, but made sure that we got everything we
> needed and asked for. From the first night on, there was always a basket
> of rolls that Kevin could eat. One night Kevin asked if one of the sugar
> free desserts had any cake in it and Gordon came back with a bowl of
> berries since what Kevin had asked about did have cake in it and he knew
> Kevin couldn’t have it.
>
> Our assistant waiter Rico was very sweet and efficient. He would remember
> what we had ordered the day before, scotch, iced tea, wine, etc and ask us
> right away if that was what we wanted. What ever we wanted that day, we
> got very quickly.
>
> Kevin and I have always agreed that we don’t want a table for two on a
> cruise ship. We both like interacting with other people and we eat dinner,
> just the two of us at home everyday. On this cruise we discovered that we
> enjoyed a table for two, but it isn’t something that we will do by choice
> in the future. After a few days of our table mates not showing up, Marino
> said that he would keep us company. He was true to his word and frequently
> stopped to chat with us.
>
> Crown Grill and Sabatini’s:
> These are the two specialty restaurants that you have to pay extra for and
> they are both well worth the money we spent. Soon after boarding the ship
> we went to each of the restaurants to make reservations. There were no
> lines and we got the days and times we wanted without a problem.
>
> We ate at the Crown Grill first and the entire meal and service were
> excellent. We ordered a bottle of wine and they brought over the cheese
> cart for us. Kevin said the cheeses he had were very good and better then
> else where on the ship.
>
> Kevin and I both ordered onion soup, but I asked for it without the
> cheese. When the waiter brought mine with cheese, it was no problem taking
> it back and getting it right. He even took Kevin’s back and brought him a
> fresh bowl of onion soup when he brought mine. It just wouldn’t be right
> Kevin having his soup while I sat and watched. We both ordered the lobster
> and it was more then worth the $9 extra each. The presentation was lovely
> and most important the lobster was the best we have had and we have had
> the best in NYC and up in New England many times.
>
> After going to the Crown Grill I wanted to cancel our Sabatini’s
> reservation and go back to the Crown Grill again. Kevin was against this
> idea and in the long run I was very happy that we did go to Sabatini’s.
>
> The service in both was very good, as was the food. I still think the
> service in the Crown Grill was a bit better then in Sabatini’s.
>
> Ports and day by day stuff:
>
> I had joined the cruisecritic.com role call for our sailing and we had
> decided to have our get together on Sunday, the first day at sea, at 11AM.
> We meet a nice group of people and saw some of them from time to time
> around the ship. Also attending this gathering was James Deering, the
> Passenger Service Director and he set up another gathering for us on the
> last sea day in the Adiago Bar. I found out that part of Mr. Deering’s
> job is to monitor the cruisecritic roll calls, so I guess Princess does
> hear a lot of what we post.lol Mr Deering is a very friendly and caring
> person and did all he could to help a couple of our roll call members who
> had problems. As Kevin and I walked around the ship during our cruise, we
> often would see Mr. Deering and he would stop and chat with us. We had
> many very nice conversations with him and it was interesting to hear about
> his backround, what cruise lines and ships he had worked on etc.
>
> For Sunday afternoon I had set up a meeting with someone I knew from one
> of my cruise groups, but I didn’t know him well and we had never meet in
> real life. We decided to meet for a drink and see how things went. Paul
> and Linda turned out to be so much like me and Kevin that it is scary.
> They always went to dinner early and we had 2nd seating Traditional
> Dining, so we decided we would meet at 7pm every evening for a drink and
> some talk. As it turned out we had all booked the same excursion for of
> the ports, so we spent the day together and of course we kept meeting here
> and there on the ship and in the ports. We will be keeping in touch and I
> hope that we will all cruise together many times in the future. Meeting
> them turned out to be one of the highlights of our cruise!!
>
> Antigua
> We had been in Antigua before and other then visiting Nelsons Dockyard, we
> weren’t impressed with the island. Since we are not beach people, we took
> our time going ashore and did some shopping.
>
> St. Lucia
> We booked a Whale and Dolphin watching excursion with Princess and it just
> turned out that our new friends. Linda and Paul and a couple they were
> traveling with had booked the same excursion. The boat took us way out in
> the hope of seeing some Whales and/or Dolphins, but there were none to be
> seen this time. It was disappointing, but they told us up front that this
> might happen.
>
> We had a lovely boat ride with good friends and we did see some great
> scenery along the way. We also got to see the Pitons from the water, many
> different views. There will be pictures of this trip and lots more on our
> Webshots site, the link will be at the end of my review.
>
> When we got off the boat we stopped in the mall at the dock and found a
> lovely shop that had all kind of linens with flowers or birds on them. We
> bought some Hot Pads as gifts for people back home. They also had
> placemats, potholders etc. The designs were so pretty and are made in St.
> Lucia.
>
> Barbados:
> In Barbados we did the Princess tour called “Finest Blends of Barbados”.
> The tour took us the Mount Gay distillery, where we show how the make
> their rum and from there we went to the Banks Beer brewery. In addition to
> seeing how the rum and beer was made, there was a lot of free sampling
> available (grin). Both of these were interesting, but we thought the
> Bacardi Rum factory tour in San Juan was much better
>
> St. Kitts:
> In St. Kitts we did another Princess tour called “Plantations & Art
> Gallery with Lunch”. We boarded a small van that was air conditioned and
> comfortable. Our driver/tour guide told us about the history of the
> island and on the way home drove in the opposite direction so we saw the
> entire coastline of St. Kitts.
>
> Our first stop was at the Batik factory, which also had a huge store to
> buy things. We were told how Batik fabric is made, very interesting but
> we all disappointed that they didn’t actually show us the process. You can
> see some of the things they make at:
> http://www.caribellebatikstkitts.com/Caribelle_Batik/caribelle_batik.asp
>
> From there we were driven to the Kate Design Studio, an art gallery on the
> Rawlins Plantation which is in a restored West Indian house. You can see
> some of the art work in our Webshots site; yes, they didn’t mind us taking
> a few pictures. Also they have a website:
> http://www.katedesign.com/index_1.html
>
> When we were done at the art gallery, we walked across the grass to the
> Rawlins Plantation Inn to have lunch. We were greeted with a rum punch,
> one of the best we ever had. Kevin could not have a rum punch because of
> his diabetes, so asked if he could have rum on the rocks instead. There
> was no problem, and they poured him one. Then we were invited inside to
> enjoy a West Indian lunch buffet. Kevin and I have been to many Indian
> Restaurants at home and I have to tell you that this lunch was excellent.
>
> This tour was expensive, but worth the money and ranks as one of the
> better of all the tours we have taken.
>
> St. Thomas:
> We docked at the new Crown Pier which has been getting a lot of negative
> reviews. I can’t tell you about transportation. There are some stores
> there now and there will be many more opening with time. The liquor store
> we stopped in had less of a selection then we have seen in the past at
> Havensight. There is also a Bernard K. Passman store there that is famous
> for its black coral jewelry.
>
> This is always our favorite port and that is because my nephew and his
> fiancé live here. This visit was even better since we were there on a
> Saturday and they didn’t have to take a day off from work to see us. Adam
> had to take a test that morning, so Roxy meet us by the windmill and took
> us back to their apartment. Since this is the first time we saw them since
> they got engaged we wanted to take them out to lunch to celebrate. Our
> normal restaurant Craig & Sally’s wasn’t open, so we all decided to try
> Bella Blu instead and it was a very good choice. Bella Blu is a little
> more expensive then Craig & Sally’s, but both are excellent choices for a
> really nice lunch.
>
> After a lovely lunch we went for a ride down a very holey road that only
> locals use and we wound up at an incredible beach. It was not a sandy
> beach and not a place for swimming, just for incredible views. There are a
> lot of pictures of this on our webshots site and you can see the waves
> crashing on the rocks, just beautiful. Then it was time to head back to
> the pier, having had another lovely, non-touristy day in St. Thomas.
>
> We will next be in St. Thomas in the summer of ’09 for a wedding on Megan’s
> Bay!
>
> Princess Cay:
> We decided to get a late start so we wouldn’t have to wait for a tender.
> About 10:45am we wandered down to the deck with the tenders, found a huge
> crown and were told to go to the Princess Theatre to wait. We got there
> and found the theatre was almost full. They did at least have a good
> system and told you where to sit as you came in and the crew knew what
> order the sections had been filled. An hour after we arrived at the
> Princess Theatre we finally stepped foot on Princess Cay. The story we
> heard was that the ship had arrived late and it took time to transfer all
> the food, beverages, crew etc. Needless to say there were many unhappy
> passengers. A lot of us think that they should of made an announcement
> that there was a delay and to take your time coming down for the tenders.
>
> Once we got off the tender we found two lounges in the shade and had a
> lovely day. We both spent some time in the water and some time relaxing on
> our lounges. The lunch buffet did not impress us and I have seen better
> on other cruise lines. The worst part of lunch was the flies all over the
> place.
>
> Overall we had a lovely day on Princess Cay and then had to head back to
> the ship to start packing. This is always the saddest part of a cruise;
> you know the next day it is back to reality.
Very nice review Sue. I enjoyed your pics.
Lola in Hamilton
John & Lola
sue mullen
John & Lola wrote:
> "sue mullen" <kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:61pecfF...@mid.individual.net...
>> EMERALD PRINCESS - January 5-15, 2008
>
> Very nice review Sue. I enjoyed your pics.
>
> Lola in Hamilton
Thanks Lola! Hope all is ok with you and John.
sue
LVTravel
Depending on the time you want to eat, you can get continuous reservations
for the anytime dining at a specific table. We (wife and myself) did the
Emerald Princess, Dec. 16-26th and since it was a last minute booking,
couldn't get the traditional dining (we normally like early dining). Went
to set reservations immediately upon boarding and got the same table in
Michelangelo Dining Room at 6 PM with the same waiter and asst. waiter each
night, just like formal dining. Late sitting dining can also be reserved
the same way (IIRC for anytime after 8 or 8:30) but not between 6:30 & 8 or
8:30.
(By the way, the head waiter, Massimo, on that cruise in that restaurant was
the hardest working person I have ever seen on any cruise ship. He did
everything from being a great head waiter and the job that entails to taking
orders, to busing tables, etc. He made the Energizer Bunny look lazy. This
person got a generous personal tip in addition to the normal gratuity from
my wife and myself, as well as a personal letter of praise from me to
Princess.)
John & Lola
Yes, we're busy and the computer was in the shop for a couple of days. I'm
ready for this winter to end!!!
Lola in Hamilton
sue mullen
LVTravel wrote:
> Depending on the time you want to eat, you can get continuous reservations
> for the anytime dining at a specific table. We (wife and myself) did the
> Emerald Princess, Dec. 16-26th and since it was a last minute booking,
> couldn't get the traditional dining (we normally like early dining). Went
> to set reservations immediately upon boarding and got the same table in
> Michelangelo Dining Room at 6 PM with the same waiter and asst. waiter each
> night, just like formal dining. Late sitting dining can also be reserved
> the same way (IIRC for anytime after 8 or 8:30) but not between 6:30 & 8 or
> 8:30.
I know people who did this on the Emerald and it worked fine for them.
If we were traveling with friends it would be ok for us, but if we are
traveling alone, I would rather have Traditional Dining and have the
same tablemates every night.
sue
sue mullen
John & Lola wrote:
> "sue mullen" <kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:621mamF...@mid.individual.net...
>>
>> John & Lola wrote:
>>> "sue mullen" <kjmu...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:61pecfF...@mid.individual.net...
>>>> EMERALD PRINCESS - January 5-15, 2008
>>> Very nice review Sue. I enjoyed your pics.
>>>
>>> Lola in Hamilton
>> Thanks Lola! Hope all is ok with you and John.
>>
>> sue
>
> Yes, we're busy and the computer was in the shop for a couple of days. I'm
> ready for this winter to end!!!
I hate being without my computer and hate it when it isn't working ok.
Once winter is done, we will have to work on another RTC/Md/NY/NJ etc
gathering.
sue
John & Lola
That sounds like a good idea Sue.
Lola in Hamilton