Cruises on Emerald Princess

rjhmhz said:

We flew indirect from Gatwick thru Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale, to avoid Miami airport and would do this again. US Airways was excellent, and the very short transfer from Fort Lauderdale airport to hotel and hotel to pier was excellent. A real bonus when you have kids in tow. Our kids are 11 and 6, both loved the kids clubs and were there whenever they were open. The staff were excellent. Not many brits on board, but canadian, american mainly. We had treated ourselves to a mini suite as the cost was excellent - really enjoyed the extra space and the balcony. The cabin steward was excellent too, knowing our name from day one. Food was good in the main restaurant, although was dissapointed by the kids menu, which was the same every day, so our kids tended to eat in the buffet, then toodle off to the kids club at 7pm which left us to eat at a table for 4 with just the 2 of us! The pool areas were excellent, fabulous burger,chips, hot dog etc bar. Perfect for a midday snack. Entertainment around the noisier of the pools was fun. But if you wanted quiet you could find that around the other of the pools - or the adult only pool. At the end of the cruise we had a lunchtime flight, and hadn't pre-booked transfers to took a short excursion wiht Princess to the everglades for an air boat ride and gator show and afterwards they took us to the airport - well worth the $35/adult and $23/child. We didn't do any other excursion as they do come up expensive when there are four of you - we tended to get a taxi to the nearest beach! Definately check out your destinations on the net before you leave the UK and have in mind what you want to do before heading to the ship.

lbarker said:

rhiwderinray said:

The only problem we had on this holiday was at Miami airport and I vow never to board a ship in the USA. We were in a queue in passport control for nearly 2 hours! Fight home was delayed for 2 hours - enough said. It was almost as bad at Fort Lauderdale with chaos as some of the secuity scanners out of operation - luckily we have Captains Circle Diamond status so got through reasonably quickly. Once on board, everything changed to serenity and remained so for the remainder of the cruise. I have absolutely no complaints other than our cabin was beside the rear deck pool and the outside door slammed in the wind. The food, service and entertainment were excellent and we enjoyed all of the tours although some of them were a bit expensive for what we got. I loved the day on the private key surprisingly - something I did not expect to enjoy. Going on sister ship shortly - the Diamond Princess.

martinpayne said:

After a bumpy landing at Naples (I think the runway is very short) and collecting my luggage I boarded the transfer shuttle to the ship.... And boy, what a Ship. You actually caught first glimpse of the ship from miles away (she is very big), and it was amazing to see her just get bigger and bigger the closer you got, and then when you are parked in a coach just under the ship I think you get the big picture of really just how large she is. Anyway, I managed to get off the coach and on to the ship where I had my picture taken and was given my cabin key card (really quick and straight forward), and made my way to my cabin. I had a cabin with an obstructed view, and thankfully it was situated between two lifeboats (as it was in the brochure, so always worth a look), although I knew the lifeboats were there, I could still see out, and got plenty enough natural light when I wanted it (the blackout curtains work wonders in the mornings). The cabin itself was a good size, big enough to be comfortable, small enough to feel homely, with plenty of hanging space, and space to keep your folded belongings and shoes. The cabin had an electronic safe which was easy to use (as long as you remember the number you put in!!). The toilet and shower room was funtional and clean, a little cramped, but then, I'd rather have the extra space in the rest of the cabin than the other way round. The decor was nutural and clean. Our cabin steward (stalker) was Noli, very pleasent man, a lot of fun for a cabin steward (normally you don't really see them), sometimes felt like he was chasing you down the corridors. I had nothing to complain about in the cabin. OK, so having seen the cabin, it was time to look around the ship..... First port of call... A Drink!!! Having sampled most (probably all!!!!) the bars on the ship I can safely say that they are all fantastic, and actually reasonable value for money (around

key23 said:

This was the Emeralds 3rd cruise,embarkation in Rome went smoothly.Stateroom was clean and there was plenty of room for cases to be stored. the shower cubicle area wasn't that big but was adequate.There is an easy to use safe in the room and the bed was comfortable. There are 3 main dining rooms and 2 of these are for anytime dining but if you were willing to share a table with others then I never had a problem dining at the time I wanted to.The food in the dining rooms was always very good and nicely presented.The Horizon buffet sometimes got a bit crowded but you could always take your meal to the cafe caribe next door which was usually not as crowded.The tables were laid with cutlery wrapped inside a cotton napkin and when you sat down with your meal a waiter normally came fairly quickly to ask if you required a drink. The princess theatre normally had a musical show or an entertainer / comedian which was on for two shows to cater for eartly & late diners. In the explorers lounge we had comedians from the uk & usa and the resident showband.All things considered its quite hard finding entertainment to suit the many different people on a cruise and I think on the whole they did a good job . You could attend a port lecture each day in Club Fusion but you could also watch the same thing on your stateroom tv.The library seems to have a varied selection of books and has some board games but I was pleased that they also had a travel section.On this cruise the internet was really poor and this is one thing that does need fixing.There were various street performers in the piazza to entertain you for 10/15 minutes at various times in the afternoon. I did not go on any tours with princess but sometimes they put on a shuttle to get into town which you have to pay for.The only free shuttle was at Katakolon which was very easy to walk into which most people seemed to do. All in all it was a really enjoyable cruise with an excellent choice of ports though I did hear that some people were disappointed because they did not get enough time to really see Venice. The crew were friendly and helpful if you needed something.My room steward was very good and made up the room twice a day.The only time the ship seemed to be crowded was in the evenings on decks 6 /7 when tables were placed outside the shops for couple of hours to sell items. So if you are still wondering if this ship is for you,all I can say is give her a try because lets face it ,no ship is ever absolutely perfect And I think many people will enjoy cruising on the Emerald Princess.

akms said:

This was the Emeralds first cruise. The service could have been better but one must allow for it being a brand new ship.Disaster on leaving the ship as they could not let people leave on the quick disembarkation paying on credit card in dollars as there was a problem with their system. One of the ladies on the pursers desk was rather rude.