We had a wonderful 28 day cruise. You can do and be as busy as you want to be or simply do nothing. Either is fine but we choose to be more low key and do our own thing anyway. Entertainment on board was so so. The production shows were amazing. The comedians were great but not enough in our mind. The music around the ship was pretty much the same type at the various venues except for the duo Char and Philly and the band Atomic. The others were not our taste but other passengers seemed to enjoy it. To each his own. We had an excellent cruise from embarkation to disembarkation and would highly recommend the Emerald and this itinerary in a heartbeat.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was excellent. We followed the time given to us and we just, pardon the pun, sailed right on through with no issues.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food all around the ship, mdr, marketplace, international cafe,etc were all superb. Great selections and wonderful service. I would have to say we did 3 of the specialty restaurants, crown grill, planks and share, and out of the 3 the crown grill was the best of them and that wasn't anything to rave about. Definitely would not recommend Planks or Share. Much better in the MDR and even the buffet for that matter. Won't do any of these again. We did the Crown Grill on the Royal on our first Princess Cruise back in 2017 and been on 3 more Princess Cruises since then without going again until this cruise and again wasn't overly impressed and we have done a steakhouse specialty restaurant sometimes 2 or 3 times on a 10 day cruise but will save our dollars next time and stick to the MDR or non specialty restaurants. Do try the gelato at International Cafe. We had it several times. It is 3.50 for 3 scoops and well worth it.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We tend to do our own thing so didn't really do much with the usual onboard activities but they were always full. Again to each his own. The activities seemed interesting but not enough for us to partake. We enjoy hanging out and reading or playing cards or just listening to music.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Just so so. Comedians were great but not very many. Music was pretty much the same in most venues with the exception of the duo Char and Philly and the band Atomic. These were our go to for music. They played a good variety. Again entertainment is subjective to each person's taste. We like music, rock and country, and comedy. The production shows they did have were few but amazing.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The service everywhere on board was exceptional to say the very least. Every crew member went out of their way to give absolutely the best service possible. The crew were always smiling and friendly. Cannot say one bad thing about any of the ships personnel at all. ABSOLUTELY EXCEPTIONAL!!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Loved everything about the Emerald. Very nice size and great layout. Very very clean and very well maintained. Probably one of our favorite ships to date. All areas were excellent indeed.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
P307 was an excellent location. Our room was the typical ocean view stateroom with all the amenities. Our room steward Adi was simply the best. His attention to detail was exceptional and we had no issues whatsoever.
Ship tip
Enjoy everything the ship has to offer or simply relax and find your own things to do, mostly what we did, and whatever you choose to do have an amazing time. We did. Try the selections at the International Cafe and if you are looking for a quiet place to read the Skywalkers on 18 is great for that during the day.
Bora Bora was beautiful. We did the Le Truck tour of the island. Definitely would not recommend at all. Wish we had opted for one of the small air conditioned vans we saw at the port after we got off the one we were on. We did an outrigger lagoon tour and swam with stingrays and sharks, well hubby swam with them while I was the photographer. The waters and resorts around the island were amazing. The people are wonderful. The land portion of the island was typical of any other small island we have visited. While Bora Bora was very nice it wasn't what we expected it to be. I guess if you were staying at one of the high end resorts the experience would be different but we enjoyed our visit to the fullest all the same.
We were docked here for almost 3 days. Lovely city. We did an island bus tour that could've went better but sometimes these are hit or miss. This one was definitely a miss, luck of the draw I guess, but we enjoyed our time here all the same. Shopped and toured the city on our own.
Booked an island bus tour the day before in Tahiti. Was not disappointed at all. We had a great tour guide. Bus was brand new with great AC. Saw all the key points of interest and had a lovely day here.
We checked into our hotel 2 days earlier than expected because we had had enough of the LA traffic. We really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the surrounding area of our hotel. Not sure about right in the hub of San Pedro as we stayed mostly in the area by our hotel right at the port.
Disembarkation was okay. Small delay, only an hour, in getting off but all went smoothly. Our luggage was in the terminal waiting for us when we got in there. We grabbed an Uber outside the terminal and headed to our hotel. No issues at all. One of our better disembarkations in San Pedro.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time and I'm so glad you shared this review as I'm going on emerald end of April to Hawaii and back.this has given me an idea of onboard ship.so excited and cant wait til I get onboard lol
Glad you had a wonderful cruise.
We're about to, (4th April '20) leave on our South Pacific Crossing Cruise, Sydney to Vancouver, so it was good to read your reviews on French Polynesia.
Never ceases to amaze me why people always complain about the tender ports. Of course it is backlogged. When you have 3000 or more passengers plus probably half that in crew trying to get on and off the ship in a couple of tenders that may hold 200 max maybe more. The tenders dont just leave because your ready. It has to be full. If you cant deal with tender ports then plan your cruises with stops that have DOCKS.
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