Lousy room and location, but a lovely cruise through the inside passage of Alaska.

Item: Emerald Princess
Rating: 3.8
Author: NanIwasaki

Emerald Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

NanIwasaki

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Inside Passage With Tracy Arm Fjord (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 20, 2017

Ship: Emerald Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: P230

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

We were very disappointed in our room and its layout, and the extra price we paid to get an unobstructed view which was in fact obstructed and inaccesible. We were poorly located on the ship...on the bottom level and it was noisy because of its proximity to the water. We had a lovely time with friends and enjoyed our ports.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Loved the main dining room and great service from our waiter Rey and others'

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Two of the shows were entertaining but we were unable to get in several of them. Zumba class too crowded. Our group of 8 made our own entertainment.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Fun entertainment but not as good as some other ships I've been on.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Our room steward was almost nonexistent. We didn't have our room made up until late in the day and didn't get fresh towels until we threw them on the floor on the 4th day of the cruise. Waiters in the dining room were excellent and the staff was friendly throughout the ship.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Layout of the ship was okay for most floors, but we were the bottom floor and had to go to the atrium, up two floors, across and down to get to the dining rooms and theaters. Terribly inconvenient!

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

We paid $1000 more than our travel companions to get an unobstructed view. There were bars on the windows and a dresser and the beds blocked access to our window. The small table blocked our access to the bathroom and I was constantly bumping into it. Our friends beds had no bars to obstruct their views, and their beds were parallel to the window which allowed for a seating area with two chairs next to the window. Their room was supposedly partially blocked views because the lifeboats were above them. Additionally they were way better located 2 floors above us and easy access to the entire ship. See below pictures of our cabin with me in window and compare it with our friends' cabin.

Ship tip

Ask for a picture of your room and the location in relation to the rest of the ship. We were badly burned by our so called upgrade for an unobstructed view. We felt we had a downgrade and paid way too much for what we got.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Not enough time here. We went on a whale watch and visited the Mendenhall glacier.

Thumbs Up 3

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5

Charming small town. The train ride was great.

Thumbs Up 6

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5

We didn't do an excursion...no time.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

We were the last group to disembark (well after our travel companions) but it went rather quickly.

Traveler Photos

Friends rooms with so called partial view for $1000 less

Difficult to access views to take photos, Bad layout

4 Comments

Dutch3901 7 years ago

The reason I asked is that the Emerald exterior rooms are mostly balconies, with Deck 8 (the Emerald deck) being a lower deck has the majority of the ocean views. Most of those cabins are listed as "partially obstructed" "obstructed" or "fully obstructed". If you were assigned a stateroom before the cruised, the information is available at the Princess website...

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

sterld2126 7 years ago

Gotta say I love princess. But my wife said the last time she was out on her she was showing some wear. But the staff was amazing as always.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

GIL155 7 years ago

Gotta ask. Did you pick your cabin? or, assigned by the ship?

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Dutch3901 7 years ago

What category cabin did you have, if you don't mind me asking...

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Alaska Cruise

Wonderful and Tracy Arms Fjord brought tears to my eyes it was so beautiful! We loved all the stops!