Very Memorable Mediterranean Cruise With Fabulous Ports of Call
Emerald Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 112
7 Night Mediterranean And Aegean (Rome To Athens)
Sail date: August 17, 2019
Ship: Emerald Princess
Cabin type: Suite
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Not sure why Gibraltar, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Genoa, Milan, Pisa and Florence were not mentioned. All are great cities, several I had not been to before. I always take a cruise because of the ports visited. All of the ports on this 21 day Mediterranean Cruise were great, thus the trip was great. It was hot and humid, not a day of rain in 25 Days. The Emerald was simply the transportation and the hotel. I would not sail on her again. The suite was nice, probably not worth the additional cost. It was a wonderful, memorable experience which I will more than likely not do again, there are other places to see and the years are coming to an end. We do Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand next year and Holy Land In 21. Beyond that who knows. This is a trip everyone should do at least once in their lifetime.Embarkation
No problem, we were onboard in 10 minutes
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Since we were in a full suite we had what Princess calls Club Class Dining, I really saw no better service however than what we usually have in the main dining room. We did have breakfast for free in the Crown Grill whenever we wanted, which was excellent and the fresh squeezed orange juice was wonderful. We also ate at The Club Grill, Steamers and Plank BBQ which were both very good. We ate a couple times on the Lido deck, it was ok but not real impressive. Overall the food choice was not impressive. I did like that you could get the full dinner for room service if you were in a full suite.
Onboard Activities
I really like that they had a self guided Bible Study Daily. I could only participate on sea days, but it was great. The Sanctuary Pool and Spa was nice, no children.
Entertainment
This was a 21 day cruise that the treated as three 7 day cruises because you could book only one week so all shows were repeated every week. There production shows are getting really old, it is as if the never expect you to cruise with them again. One show they have been doing for literally over 10 years. I think people are getting tired of repeats. No show we went to in the Princess Theatre was full, a few were less than 20% full. We did not go much after the first week. One comedian was really good, his second show in the Explore’s Lounge was standing room only. He got off in Athens.
Service and Staff
I hate to say it but this was our 19th Cruise with Princess and the staff on this ship was the worst of any ship I have ever been on, of any line. There were of course exceptions like the staff in the Crown Grill and other speciality restaurants but several personnel were unbelievable, Mark in the tour desk was argumentative, rude, condescending, arrogant and combative all four times I had to deal with him, and he lied on multiple occasions. Some Picture taking staff were rude and belligerent. A few checking you back in after an excursion were very rude. To be in a full suite, our room steward was only adequate. So many staff would say they would do something and then never follow through with it.
Ship Quality
Right above the full suites on the 14th floor was the pool area and tables for the Lido deck’s outside dining. It was incredible loud at all hours of the night with kids running until midnight and then cleaning staff moving chairs and tables at 2 to 5 AM. It was so bad they had to give every Suite a 1,500 credit. The credit was nice, the noise and lack of sleep was not. A design flaw in the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
We were in the Princess Cay Suite, R402. It was a great room as far as the size and amenities. Two doors onto the balcony. Full bathtub with jets, separate shower, fresh flowers, fruit, free laundry, etc. but there were problems as well, see note on noise from pool area above the suites, phone did not work at times, one of the televisions did not work at times, other minor problems as well.
Ship tip
Go on a different Princess Ship. I would never go on the Emerald again because of the rude staff.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We got on in Rome and spent three days there before embarking. It was my 5th time there so we did some different things. We did the Catacombs which was the number One highlight of the entire trip. we also did the Borghese Museum which was fabulous, also Castle de Sant Angelo and several other great places.
We had been here before but we did a cruise of the Amalfi Coast that was fabulous. We also did Pompeii which we had done before and it was nearly 100 degrees but still an awesome place.
We had never been here before and we found it delightful and charming. Still not sure why we went there twice but we did different things each time. Our Lady of the Rocks was really nice. The old port walled city was quite interesting, with stores we found no where else on the trip.
Wonderful Port. We had been here before but it is the kind of place you want to go back to. We did the Achilleion Palace, Paleokastritsa Village, The Monastery of the Virgin Mary and the Old Corfu Town. All was great but my wife’s cell phone was stolen so that ruined our day there.
We went to Heraklion and saw the Knossos Palace. It was one of the highlights of the trip. It was a long way out there and back but beautiful countryside.
We had been here before and were not as impressed this time. It had grown significantly and from our point of view was a lot dirtier, more congested, and less friendly to Cruise tourists. Old town charm was still there and that special spot near the windmills and where the water meets the old town.
We had been here before and my wife did not feel up to doing the steps up to the Acropolis so she stayed on board. I did the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Mars Hill, Temple of Zeus, Old Stadium, Plaka, and out to the Poseidon Temple. Loved the spot where the Poseidon Temple had been built. I had not been there and it was the highlight of the day.
Santorini was a “must see” for us to choose this vacation. I had been there several times but not in the last 12 years. Oia is still wonderful but Fira was a bitter disappointment. In an obsession for the greed of the almighty “euro” they had destroyed it. So many bars with never ending awnings block all the views that made this place so fabulous. Stores along the street only care about money. I hate to say it but I would never go back and I would never tell people to go there again as I have in the past. Such a wonderful place, gone.
We had never been to Sicily. It was a pleasant surprise. We went to Taormina. It was wonderful. As most days this trip it was incredibly hot and humid that day but the village is so unique. They say in the description that you may have to climb the steps to get to the parking lot. Ignore that, the guide said that would only be if all 6 elevators went out. In all her years she has never even seen one go out. My wife almost did not go because of that one sentence. You go up 7 floors to get to Taormina. It looks down on the coastline. You take the elevator then back down to the parking lot. You do have to do a few steps but not 7 floors. The churches are great, I was a little disappointed in the Greek Theatre. The modern equipment detracts from the setting. Messina is nice too especially the Duomo and the fountains. I liked the Neptune fountain though it was very dirty.
Cruise line is Wrong here, the ship stops in Naples on the way back, not Salerno. Naples harbor, right across from Castle Nuovo. I went to The Archilogical Museum of Naples which blew me away. It was above fabulous. They have all of the major artifacts taken from Pompeii. They had just opened a section that has not been opened in 25 years. It was unreal, dozen’s of actual floors discovered in Pompeii. They give you little shoe covers because you are walking on the actual floors of Pompeii. Hundreds of statues, water pots that are intricately decorated. Jewelry of all descriptions, artifacts that are intact, colorful and original. It is awesome. Rooms of beautiful mosaics, coins, hundreds of statues from busts to ones 15 feet high. I was in there two and a half hours. A place I had heard so much about and had always wanted to go, worth every penny. I then did the Nuovo Castle. It looks like a Castle complete with a mote. Interesting art work inside. I then went to Herculaneum. It is far better than Pompeii. It is not gutted of all its treasures as Pompeii is. It is more in tact. Better mosaics, plus an on sight air conditioned museum. It is a must see if you are near Naples.
There is so much to see here I almost passed on the best thing which in my opinion is Monserrat. It is fabulous. The setting is great. The church is wonderful, the inclined railroad on up the mountain. It is all just great. The best thing is the tour is only 4 hours and you are in port 18 hours so you still have time to see Barcelona. Do not bother with Parc Guell, it is not worth your time, construction everywhere, nothing to see. Sagrada Família is awesome, an absolute must see and you have not seen it if you only see the outside. It is not in my opinion a place of worship but it is a very unique building, nothing else like it in the world. Picasso Museum is also worth seeing.
Disembarkation
Was on the bus to the airport in 10 minutes.