Wonderful introduction to small parts of South & Central America and Mexico

Emerald Princess Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 128

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5
Emerald Princess

16 Night Andes & South America (Santiago To Los Angeles)

Sail date: March 14, 2018

Ship: Emerald Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: D731

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

A great cruise and opportunity to spend time with my mother (80s) and sister. Excellent itinerary, and most everything about Princess cruise was 100%, probably one of the best itineraries I’ve been on. Did most excursions through Princess this trip and were all extremely good. Definitely want to return on a land based journey, a great introduction to these areas from the comfort of 1 room and a quality cruise company

Embarkation

5 out of 5
No lines, straight on ship, very quick embarkation and super friendly staff

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Amazing as always, tried anytime dining for the first tine and found it very flexible

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
All very good. Would be good to get more variety for younger generations

Entertainment

5 out of 5
All excellent

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Quite different to the previous Princess ships we’d sailed on and struggled a nit to find our dining room as it could only be accessed from aft lifts. But once we mastered the layout thought it was excellent

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Mini suite aft. The bed on the pull out couch was ‘extremely ‘ uncomfortable but the twin beds were great. Not a bad mini suite but when the couch was set up as a bed it hampered accessibility to the balcony

Ship tip

There are saunas and steamroom in the male and female toilets near the spa and sun deck pool. Very few people seem to know about these but are available to all.

Ports of call

Valparaiso (Santiago), Chile

5 out of 5
Valoariso wasn’t actually where the Emerald left from eventually it left from San Antonio port. However we were still lucky enough to visit Valpariso. We had stayed in Santiago 2 nights and arranged a very inexpensive transfer to San Antonio Port via Valpariso for the day , stopping at lots of places of interest but with most of the day in Valpariso. Wonderful twin towns and do go and visit the colourful wall art up overlooking Valpariso- well worth it. We organised this transfer from our Santiago hotel

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

5 out of 5
Another ‘banger’ of a day this time in Nicaragua and another Princess excursion. Full and exciting day easily managed for guests. Plenty to do and more great local food and drink included. Amazing colourful people and buildings. Stunning out on the lake seeing all the privately owned islands and school with amazing backdrops . Quite a long journey from the port to Grenada on the Pan American highway but this was an incredible journey from the bus window seeing all the diversity of the area and a lot!! of pictues taken from the windows

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

5 out of 5
Took a disembark tour through Princess to Long Beach. Nothing really in the San Pedro area (was also there 4 weeks ago boarding a cruise). This tour took you to the main part of Long Beach near The Outlet stores and of course within a few 100 metres of Long Beach itself. You are there around 4 hours on this tour and bags are safely secured in the bus while awaiting transfer to LAX. The Outlet stores are great value with quality items and shops, Columbia, Nike, Maceys, Gap, Converse to name a few. Thete is also a gree local shuttle to take you around the Long Beach atea to the Queen Mary and other sites. We were so impressed by the Long Beach area that we returned here pre cruise a month ago and stayed in an amazing boutique hotel which provided free bikes and for 2 days we had a blast biking around Long Beach atea and shopping again at the Outlet of course

Callao (Lima), Peru

5 out of 5
Another great Princess full day excursion seeing the highlights of Lima. This trip covered so much and gave you a really good feel for the city. Another huge lunch with copious amounts of local alcohol served. City tour, main sights, markets, churches, several museums, overlooking the beaches, saw people surfing and locals enjoying their city. Easily managed by my Mum then 87

Coquimbo (La Serena), Chile

4 out of 5
Went on a Princess , very good day with lots of variety and things to see, drink and eat. Got to sample a lot of local alcohol as included . Huge lunch included, which Mum shared with some of the local friendly canines

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

5 out of 5
Loved loved this day in Costa Rica. Such a great day on a Princess excursion. A real day for lovers of nature. Cruising on a river, lunch and a journey through a rainforest. Mum (87) managed this excursion easily. The whole day was a highlight. Excellent guide on the river cruise pointed out the different birds, even got to see the grandaddy crocodile

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5
What a cracker of a place. A small first glimpse at Mexico for the day on a Princess excursion into Puerto Vallarta. Tequila factory and stunning show, lots of Tequila sampling. Lunch included beside a gorgeous beach with banging latino music and friendly people - a day to remember and hopefully return to in depth.

General San Martin (Pisco), Peru

5 out of 5
Princess excursion, hot day but worthwhile visiting ancient site of Tambo Colorado. Unfortunately phone died so no pictures

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Easy as always
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5 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Fiesta83    4 years ago

Awesome review

debflip44    5 years ago

Glad you had such a great time ❤️

Doggydad196422    5 years ago

Would very much like to do this cruise.

bobduck1993    5 years ago

Sounds like you had the perfect cruise !