Disappointing

Emerald Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 31

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Verified Review
Emerald Princess

15 Night Panama Canal - Ocean To Ocean 2-Day Canal Experience (Los Angeles To Ft. Lauderdale)

Sail date: January 17, 2023

Ship: Emerald Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: B535

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Despite staff shortages, the service was exceptional & pretty much the highlight of the cruise. Upon initial booking, we reserved a cabin on the Aloha deck, port side at the front as we didn't want to be near the elevators for more quiet. Our cabin had been changed to Baha deck, mid-ship, ocean view about 24 hours after making final payment for no apparant reason. Cheap Cruises had no idea why & referred us to Princess. First they said the cabin was not available (but it was available weeks before when we booked it?????), then they said it was an upgrade because it had a balcony (so did the initial cabin). After 45 minutes on the phone with a Princess representative who had to check with a supervisor, we were moved back up to the Aloha deck, port side at the rear of the ship. As the balcony was on an angle, it was actually better than the initial cabin, but this experience definitely started the cruise off on the wrong foot! We've cruised with Princess multiple times (as well as other cruise lines) but it's been a while. It was notable that we seemed to be nickled & dimed to death for many things that were included in the past. *Internet package was $75 more when purchased on the ship than if purchased in advance of cruise (unwelcome surprise!). Water bottles that were freely dispensed while exiting the ship for shore excursions are now being sold. Medallion app did not work with dinner reservations. Made reservations on the app about 2 months prior to the cruise, only to find several weeks later that they had been changed. Revised the reservations on the app, at which point could not always get time or dining room of choice. When we arrived on the ship those reservations had been cancelled. Many of our fellow passengers had similar experiences. Food quantity was substantial, be we remembered the quality as being better. Had to plan on getting to a show or activity 30-40 minutes prior in order to get seating as the spaces filled up quickly. Was this this worst cruise we'd ever been on, absolutely not, but can't say it was the best either. Would't say we'd never cruise again, but it's time to put that concept on a hiatus!

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Specialty restaurants (Crown Grill/Sabatini's) were quite good. Main dining room, fish & deserts were consistently good, but all else fairly mediocre.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Art auctions - nothing special

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Room steward was stellar. Wait staff were excellent.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Ship design was typical. All areas of the ship were clean & constantly being maintained

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was changed to A746. Very clean, in good condition.

Ship tip

Major problem with medallion app & dinner reservations

Ports of call

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

3 out of 5
Have been to PV multiple times, so did not take excursion. Easily accessible to several tourist shopping areas & mall

Huatulco, Mexico

3 out of 5
Huatulco By Land & Sea - guide was good, bus comfortable. Tour so-so

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

3 out of 5
Scenic Drive, Cultural Show & Shopping - Cultural show - sophmoric. Tourist shop had surprisingly good quality merchandise at reasonable prices.

Fuerte Amador, Panama

2 out of 5
Frank Gehry Biomuseo & Panama City Tour. The museum exterior looked great in the photos, but was quite weary in person. Tour guide, as well as initial museum docent, were not clear as to how to proceed through the museum. Interactive exhibits really didn't do much. City tour was interesting.

Panama Canal Transit

4 out of 5
Interesting to see how the process works.

Cartagena, Colombia Did not visit port

Rough waters - ship could not dock safely.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Was impressed at how seamlessly it went. Took advantage of the express baggage feature & amazingly, despite airline delays & changes, the bag made it to our final destination! Bus transit (arranged on ship) well organized.

Traveler Photos

Gatun Lake
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3 Comments

Ship2Shora    1 year ago

We cruised the Mexican Riviera on the Emerald & loved it😎

javawoody    1 year ago

Appreciate the review

golfermike    1 year ago

Thank you for your review. We will be taking a 18 day cruise on her in April. We have had problems with the Medallion apt our last few cruises.

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