Awesome Cruise!
Emerald Princess Cruise Review to South Pacific
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 65
28 Night Hawaii/Tahiti/Samoa (Los Angeles Roundtrip)
Sail date: October 08, 2017
Ship: Emerald Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: C705
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Great cruise on Emerald Princess Highly recommend this cruise. Of course if you don't like sea days you will hate it but we both love sea days so... The ports were wonderful and the crew was absolutely fantastic. We booked a year and a half in advance under a Sip and Sail promotion so we both had the Premier Beverage Package. All drinks (with a few exceptions) $12 and under included. Restrictions were: 15 alcoholic beverages a day (6AM to 6AM). After that you were charged. If the staff thought you had "had enough!" you could be cut off after 15. Very reasonable limit and most will never drink that much. Large bottles of water not included but small bottles (including Perrier and San Pellegrino) were included. Canned soda "sort of" included as it was 25% off but "gun soda" was included. Had a freaking GREAT malt at the ice cream place which was covered. Asked for "lots and lots" of malt and they happily complied. Tasted like malts I used to get as a kid.Embarkation
Embarkation was smooth and easy. Not a glitch anywhere.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Bar staff (especially in Wheelhouse) were fantastic. Food was good and, for once, there was actually a little spice in the food. Maybe Princess is starting to learn what "spicy" means. Of course it was still not spicy enough for me but it was better than usual.
Onboard Activities
Don't use the pools and such but others seemed to enjoy the activities offered both on Lido deck as well as on Sun and Sports decks. One beef though is that MUTS (Movies Under The Stars) had very poor audibility. Perhaps they kept the sound lower than we are used to in order to accommodate those who didn't want the noise but it made it extremely difficult to understand what was being said in movies. We also felt this ship had much poorer layout of seating for MUTS than some other Princess ships we have sailed.
Entertainment
Most activities and entertainment were very good. Phillipa Cookman packed whatever venue she played in every time. The first singer in Crooner's didn't do much for us but he was replaced in Hawaii with a Frenchman who kept Crooner's packed every night.
Children's Programs
We are in our mid-60's and our children are all fully grown.
Service and Staff
Steward was great. Service staff was great. Bar staff (especially in Wheelhouse - Chris, Darshawn, Bruno, and Mike) - were beyond excellent. Truly unparalleled service and beyond friendly. They really made us feel like family. Noel (mostly in Skywalker's but floated around other venues as well) was wonderful. I "adopted" him as my son for the cruise. As he's from Jamaica and I'm a totally "white boy" I had to explain to people that he was "done" while I am only "half-baked" when I was asked about the skin color difference. When we entered one venue one evening my wife was a bit before me and he came up and gave her a big hug and said, "Hi, Mom! Where's Pop?" which got a few looks. Truly a personable young man who helped to make our cruise exceptional.
Ship Quality
Great ship. Totally well maintained. No complaints at all.
Cabin / Stateroom
Excellent location with largest balcony in its class. Love the large, half-covered half-uncovered, Caribe deck balconies!
Ports of call
Rode around on the "Hoppa On Hoppa Off" bus. Great way to get around and see things. Visited the Liliʻuokalani Park and Gardens which were absolutely beautiful.
Thumbs Up
3
Took a Princess excursion to Haleakala crater in order to "score" the US National Park for my wife. She's trying to visit all 59 US National Parks. Did the excursion this one time but wouldn't do it again. Long ride to the site and short stay followed by another long ride back. There was a stop for lunch on the way back and the lunch was quite good but, overall, there was way too much time spent going there and back compared to the time at the site.
Lahaina however is a great port.
Nice port. Just wandered around and visited Kona Brewery. GREAT BEER! Got lost for a while wandering back to the ship so got a lot of walking in here. :)
Beautiful island but...
Got totally ripped off by a taxi driver. Be sure to get a firm commitment as to cost (in detail) BEFORE you get in the freaking cab. Left a very bad taste in the mouth. Visited $2 Beach ($5 each) and it was a very crappy beach. Extremely disappointing. Should have done something else and, should we return to the island, will definitely be wary of cab drivers and won't return to $2 Beach.
Failed to pre-book an excursion (our huge Cruise Critic roll call group bought out most of the more popular private excursions about a year in advance) and figured we would just "wander around and find a beach". Nope. One small street with pretty much nothing there. Went back to where the tenders docked and booked a private excursion on a 6 person (plus guide) boat. Swam with rays and black-tip sharks about half a mile off shore (but inside the reef). Had a great time. Also snorkeled farther out - just outside the reef but still over the coral) where the coral was great, the fish were great, and the lemon sharks were deeper than we were. :)
Blew it at this port. Went with some other folks from our roll call to visit a resort. Very spendy and we would have been better off checking out the port rather than spending the day there. The lunch was fantastic but way more than we could eat. My wife ordered a Mai Tai at the infinity pool swim-up bar and then after lunch bought us each a beer there as well. When she closed out the tab she found that the Mai Tai was charged at $24 and the beers were $8 each. Bah. Total rip -off. Ah, well. Live and learn. Next time we will definitely do something else.
Beautiful island. Booked the FranckyFranck 4-Wheel Drive excursion. Visited the high places for fantastic views and some amusing commentary. Visited a vanilla grow and a number of other places. Purchased some wonderful jelly at the vanilla place but, unfortunately, my wife spaced out and packed it in our carry-on luggage so it was confiscated at the airport. D'Oh!
Disembarkation
Smooth, easy, and efficient. A total breeze.