Fabulous staff and service, as we've come to expect on Princess ships. We're used to this class of ship but Emerald was new for us with some venues we've not seen before. Food in upcharge dining venues is an area where we'd prefer Princess concentrated on quality, not quantity. All new ports for us but we skipped the major cities and went for more uncommon excursions. None of them were outstanding but there was nothing to fault with them either. A very good ship, good captain, great staff, and a lovely break with no complaints.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Couldn't have been easier, probably helped by a late afternoon arrival; barely a soul ahead of us in the terminal.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We used this cruise to try some of the newer venues we've not experienced before on Princess ships. Salty Dog Gastropub wasn't really to our tastes but it was good enough; the Ernesto burger was nothing to write home about and pretty much impossible to eat sensibly with hands or with cutlery on account of its ridiculous height. Steamers seafood had reasonable food but way too much of it; we would prefer the upcharge venues to concentrate on quality rather than quantity. Share by Curtis Stone was the best of the venues we ate at with some good quality dishes and sensible portion sizes. No complaints about MDR food. The loaded fries at the poolside grill were neither here nor there and the inability to have the specialty pizza rolls without chili flakes ruled out trying them so disappointing overall. Buffet was very good.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Didn't really do much in the way of activities; what there was on the ship was just what you'd expect to find on a Princess cruise.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Musicians weren't the best but were certainly very good. We knew and were recognised by the DJ from a previous cruise so that helped the nightclub experience aboard.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
It's where Princess shines. Great service, great banter.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was perfectly fine. New designs in place for the Steamers, Planks, Share, and Slices venues looked very nice indeed.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
A typical balcony cabin on Caribe deck so with the bonus of a double-size, half-covered balcony. We always choose to cruise on this deck on Grand-class ships.
Ship tip
It's not immediately clear that you need to book ahead for the Salty Dog, Planks, and Steamers because they're not offered online unlike the other dining venues. However, you do need to, even if it's only earlier in the day you'd like to dine.
Took a boat excursion down the coast to visit Camogli, Santa Margherita, and Portofino. Camogli was the most interesting and Portofino the most attractive. However, none of the places were wildly different from one another and none of them held any long-term appeal beyond eye candy.
Long drive to San Gimignano. Would've liked a bit longer here as there were a few places of interest we didn't really have time to look at. After that, a wine tasting at Tenuta Torciano: a lot of fun, some great hosts. Finally, free time in Pisa to get up close to its tower. Again, more time would've been nice as it would have given the chance to get into some of the nearby buildings. People posing for photos were entertaining; salespeople constantly pestering were decidedly less so. A very good trip overall, though.
We had a debark tour here which was listed as "St Peter's Basilica and the Colosseum" but a more accurate description would have been "St Peter's Basilica and a drive past the Colosseum". The basilica was excellent, though, helped by a fabulously entertaining and knowledgeable guide. Hitting Rome for a tour like this on a Saturday probably helped to not get bogged down in traffic, too.
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