Emerald Princess Cruises Reviews

I said I would update the back to back and we are now in receipt of a letter from Princess. Cruise forums statement about cruise reviews is “Please bear in mind that these are people's individual opinions, so try not to be put off a particular ship after reading just ONE bad review, because, as the saying goes, “one man's trash, is another man's treasure”! What had Princess to say about the repeats when we returned? They have stated “it is most regrettable you were unaware that your cruise was made up of two separate voyages” They stated “I (the UK customer service manager) have made our marketing and commercial teams aware of this so that notice can be given to passengers in the future”. The key points Princess ships are great we have been on many. The Emerald Princess is a superb ship the Hotel staff was the best we ever have had!. The knowledge of what could happen on back to back cruise now has posts on the web to the betterment of fellow cruisers and one can decide what they wish to book with better knowledge. I posted on the web our individual views, it is our view and NOT whinging. I believe that there is considerable confusion out there so some comments re the posted replies. Constructive comments yes, questions yes but please can posts have accurate facts! From the posted replies there seams to be some confusion so I will add: How to travel from UK to Fort Lauderdale The main carriers BA & Virgin both fly to Miami, thus a taxi or yellow bus to Fort Lauderdale, on way or the other one has to get to the ship at least the day before. Have we done long cruises with Princess? Yes 31, 30, 20, 19, 14 and done a back to back without the diet entertainment comment. How did we book this cruise? It was stated in the UK princess 20 day cruise. Did Princess Brochure state anything about repeats? No. It may well say differently in other countries brochures! Did we do anything to clarify what a back to back meant? Yes we wrote Princess October 2011 and asked and they Princess at Southampton never answered before we sailed despite us chasing for details! Dining As stated in the review we required one gluten free menu, this is something Princess accommodate well. This is normally is dishes from the menu cooked differently. Being GF is not easy as straight away the choice on the menu is reduced and selecting from a repeated menu is NOT fun!

From Miami airport you "took a cab to Fort Lauderdale this cost $80" In January at MIA we used the Super Shuttle up to Fort Lauderdale, Cost $62 for the two of us in the evening. Less traffic very fast journey. The little kiosk is outside MIA arrivals on the right, just go buy a ticket they have blue uniforms. Easy, we would use them again.

Although the menus may technically be the same, the fact that there are always umpteen choices, almost makes 'same' irrelevant. And if you particularly enjoyed a meal, there's the pleasure of having it again; if not you have something else. For me, it's win-win.

my son and I went on a 16day cruise round the ports as you and we really enjoyed it even the ship and crew were brilliant, I know the shows are repeats but there were things we didn't do one the first week that we did on the second could you not have done the same - dot lancs

Emerald Princess. We cruise about three times each year just came off this ship. December 2011 We travel on most of the best ships around. and we rate this ship as one of the top ships. compaired with Independence of the Sea .Navigator of the Seas, Celebrity's Constellation. Seven Seas voyager & several others. just done our Fifteenth cruise off again in two weeks Feb. 2012 short 11 day cruise between our usual three to four week ones. EMERALD PRINCESS IS A GREAT SHIP Pete.& Terry.

I can't believe al the whinging in the review. I would ask first of all why you did not fly into a US gateway airport and then fly on to Fort Lauderdale, thus avoiding the horrendous immigration at Miami (much easier and quicker at other US Gateways) and stay in a Fort Lauderdale hotel that provided an airport and cruise shuttle. It quite clearly states in the brochures that if you book a back to back cruise, then menus and entertainment are repeated. If you had queries which were not addressed by Princess, why did you not use this site to aske questions. I still cannot believe that if you have done 10 cruises that you could not have done some research beforehand. Even where you quote that the ships facilities were not available on transit day between 9 and 12 noon could have been ascertained beforehand. Who stays on board on turnaround days anyway if you are on a back to back? I always try to get off as early as possible on these days.You could also have found out from other cruisers on this site that you can do your own excursions in the Caribbean much cheaper than the ship's own.

No doubt there would be other issues relating to Thomson which would not rate well in comparison to Princess but on reading this there are two areas which are clearly better for the passenger. If you do a b-2-b with them, there is a complete 14-day programme of shows and cabarets so passengers aren't subjected to repeats. Also, the change-over day is very slick and presents no problems whatsoever for passengers who are doing a b-2-b. Your ship's card is valid until your departure day (i.e. 14 days - only needs their computers to be programmed to recognise b-2-b passengers) so you get off as and when you like on your middle day as you would on any other port day. The restaurants are all functioning as usual so it seems it can be done for the passengers' convenience - if there is the will to do it.

I get tired of people complaining aboutthe fact that menus and entertainment are virtually identical on both legs of a back to back cruise. What do you expect realistically? If you want a 14 day cruise or a 20 day cruise with different menus and entertainment etc. then go on a 14 or 20 day cruise. John Waddell, Canada

i have just been on this exact same cruise the same dates as yourself and i must admit i totally disagree (slight exceptions!). this is my third cruise in 4 years with princess (the second of which i got married onboard by the captain at sea day). i have been really impressed with princes however i do feel that prices have increased rapidly with drinks, excursions, and spa treatments. the back to back issue i was totally aware of returning to fort lauderdale and the only issue was having to leave the ship for about 2 hours whilst the ship was cleared for security reasons. the food was repetative however the selection was more than enough to ignore the repeats and choose something else to enjoy ! the professional photos are expensive (ranging from $19.99 - $44.99 each). a pint of Stella is $7.62 (including the 15% service charge added to all drinks!). an average bottle of wine is $27 upwards. i will cruise with princess again however i will compare other companies before booking