FairestOfThemAll37
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2013
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I've just returned from a 7-day Western sailing on the Emerald Princess. I thought I would do a review/comparison of different aspects of the cruise. This was my first Princess cruise.
I don't sail with children so I can't really speak to any of the offerings there. The demographics on Princess definitely skewed older. I think this may have been exacerbated by it being outside of school breaks.
I'm not sure which ship to compare the Emerald to as it's an older ship but about the same capacity as the Fantasy/Dream.
The ship
The ship had just been in dry dock in December and she looked great. The interior stylings are more reminiscent of Disney than other ships with deeper wood tones, but also a lot of gold accents. IMO that ship is beautifully appointed and feels more refined than some other ships.
The Stateroom
It's difficult to compare this stateroom to any of the Disney staterooms I've been in because I've only every sailed in a standard balcony on Disney whereas we had an aft suite on the Emerald. I will say that I understand the obsession with aft balconies, it's so serene and almost mesmerizing watching the wake of the ship.
The bed on the Emerald Priness is the only cruise ship bed I've come across that rival the DCL beds. It was like sleeping on a fantastic cloud.
MDR
Like most other lines, you eat in the same dining room on Princess every night. They have the same problem as most other lines in that the tables for 2 are so close together you might as well be sharing a table.
The food was disappointing. It was just not well executed. I find that almost all cruise ship food tends to be shades of taupe and you have to work to get ample vegetables, but this was below even my meager expectations. We ended up eating in the specialty restaurants and doing room service one night to avoid the dining room.
Disney gets the edge on MDR food.
Buffet
I really hate buffets and try to avoid them. I only visited Cabanas once lol. The Horizon Court on the Emerald did not have a ton of choices in comparison to a lot of buffet options on other ships including Disney. It was, however, absolutely spotless. I've really never seen a buffet area kept so clean. The buffet has clearly marked entrance and exit and they have somebody staffed to make sure people sanitize and that no plates or cups come into the food area. The staff was also really efficient and prompt on clearing plates and offering drink orders.
Disney wins on variety
Princess wins on organization, cleanliness, and plate clearing
Food itself is about even
Other food options
I was really impressed with the offerings on the Emerald as far as quick serve type food goes. The coffee bar area had various salads and paninis that were all fresh and there seemed to be new options daily. They also have an outdoor grill area and a pizza place by the pool. Their pizza boasts best pizza at sea and it didn't disappoint. It's actually the only cruise ship pizza I've found to be edible.
There are definitely more options that aren't pizza/fried on Princess.
Princess wins here but Disney gets a nod for chicken fingers by the pool.
Entertainment
We don't do shows on any line so I can't compare the shows. There were movies shown in the theater but they were older movies that had already been out for awhile.
Princess really shines with their Movies Under The Stars or M.U.T.S. Every night there is a movie that plays at 7pm and 10pm. They have seating available on two levels on the pool deck where the put padded cushions over the deck chairs and have warm fuzzy blankets available. During the movie the crew comes and hands out bags of popcorn (which the pop on deck) and warm cookies. They also have coffee and hot chocolate available. It was such a fun way to watch a movie on board and the cushions and blankets make it very cozy comfortable.
Service
I've had both good and bad service on Disney so I will compare my experience on Princess to my best service on Disney.
Princess uses the tag line "the consummate host" to refer to their service, which is an apt description of the service we received. Every staff member we encountered was friendly and professional. We mentioned in passing to our waiter at the specialty restaurant that we didn't like the MDR but said it could just be our tastes and didn't really think anything of it. The next day we got a call to see what we were unhappy about etc. etc. so clearly our off handed comment made its way up the chain.
We really couldn't have been happier with the service.
Service-tie
Private Beach
We visited Princess Cays as our last stop. I was really excited to see how this compared to Castaway Cay.
Princess tenders to its private beach, which to me is both a plus and a minus. Because the tenders are so small, you get dropped off right in the center of the beach. The tender ride doesn't really take all that long and there is something to be said about not having to haul towels, snorkel gear, etc. but a few hundred feet to your chair.
There are 4-5 different areas on PC including an adult only area. While I always choose Serenity Bay, I found no reason to seek out the AO area as there were only a handful of children in the area we chose.
The beach had several little half moon area that lended well to swimming and snorkeling and lifeguards were stationed throughout.
Unfortunately there wasn't much care in cleaning the beach. It was in bad need of a good combing. I have no issue with sticks and leaves and feathers as that sort of natural beach debris. Unfortunately there was some refuse mixed in (cigarette butts, we found a whistle, beer bottle caps, etc.) that really detracted. A beach shouldn't need cleaned but people are bleeps.
This is a personal and minor issue, but the sand wasn't the right color lol. I'm very partial to more white sand beaches and it really makes a difference for me.
The cookout lunch was pretty tasty and they offered a wide variety of food.
There were tons of options for waterspout rentals.
CC wins again-it's the only area where Disney is consistently a substantial cut above for me.
The island food is a tie
Suite perks
As I mentioned I can't really speak to DCL concierge perks, but I'll give the rundown of Princess.
Princess (except for the Regal and the Royal) don't have a dedicated concierge or concierge lounge, which we thought was odd. This didn't really affect us as on other lines we've almost never used the concierge. If you are a cruiser who prefers to go through the concierge for everything this is definitely a downside.
For check-in and boarding their was a priority line as is pretty standard. There was a bottle of sparkling wine when we arrived in our cabin. There was also a complimentary mini-bar setup with various mini bottles and mixers. I don't drink much and prefer a proper cocktail or wine when I do so we swapped it out for two coffee cards. The coffee cards were each good for 15 specialty coffees.
There was a nightly happy hour for suite guests but we never attended.
By far the best suite perk I have encountered was complimentary laundry service. We sent a bag out almost daily and returned with only a few more delicate items and the clothes I wore off the ship as dirty laundry.
The other great perk was the suite breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants. The food was fantastic and it was such a quiet and relaxing way to start the day.
Coffee
Neither line has drinkable standard coffee.
I pay for coffee on any cruise as I really prefer iced coffee. I find the pay for coffee is usually tolerable.
This one is a tie for last place. Nobody wins, especially not the cruisers.
Overall I had a fantastic cruise on the Emerald Princess. I would recommend it for adults who prefer a more quiet experience. I did not see that many children and don't think the activities are there for minor cruisers.
I don't sail with children so I can't really speak to any of the offerings there. The demographics on Princess definitely skewed older. I think this may have been exacerbated by it being outside of school breaks.
I'm not sure which ship to compare the Emerald to as it's an older ship but about the same capacity as the Fantasy/Dream.
The ship
The ship had just been in dry dock in December and she looked great. The interior stylings are more reminiscent of Disney than other ships with deeper wood tones, but also a lot of gold accents. IMO that ship is beautifully appointed and feels more refined than some other ships.
The Stateroom
It's difficult to compare this stateroom to any of the Disney staterooms I've been in because I've only every sailed in a standard balcony on Disney whereas we had an aft suite on the Emerald. I will say that I understand the obsession with aft balconies, it's so serene and almost mesmerizing watching the wake of the ship.
The bed on the Emerald Priness is the only cruise ship bed I've come across that rival the DCL beds. It was like sleeping on a fantastic cloud.
MDR
Like most other lines, you eat in the same dining room on Princess every night. They have the same problem as most other lines in that the tables for 2 are so close together you might as well be sharing a table.
The food was disappointing. It was just not well executed. I find that almost all cruise ship food tends to be shades of taupe and you have to work to get ample vegetables, but this was below even my meager expectations. We ended up eating in the specialty restaurants and doing room service one night to avoid the dining room.
Disney gets the edge on MDR food.
Buffet
I really hate buffets and try to avoid them. I only visited Cabanas once lol. The Horizon Court on the Emerald did not have a ton of choices in comparison to a lot of buffet options on other ships including Disney. It was, however, absolutely spotless. I've really never seen a buffet area kept so clean. The buffet has clearly marked entrance and exit and they have somebody staffed to make sure people sanitize and that no plates or cups come into the food area. The staff was also really efficient and prompt on clearing plates and offering drink orders.
Disney wins on variety
Princess wins on organization, cleanliness, and plate clearing
Food itself is about even
Other food options
I was really impressed with the offerings on the Emerald as far as quick serve type food goes. The coffee bar area had various salads and paninis that were all fresh and there seemed to be new options daily. They also have an outdoor grill area and a pizza place by the pool. Their pizza boasts best pizza at sea and it didn't disappoint. It's actually the only cruise ship pizza I've found to be edible.
There are definitely more options that aren't pizza/fried on Princess.
Princess wins here but Disney gets a nod for chicken fingers by the pool.
Entertainment
We don't do shows on any line so I can't compare the shows. There were movies shown in the theater but they were older movies that had already been out for awhile.
Princess really shines with their Movies Under The Stars or M.U.T.S. Every night there is a movie that plays at 7pm and 10pm. They have seating available on two levels on the pool deck where the put padded cushions over the deck chairs and have warm fuzzy blankets available. During the movie the crew comes and hands out bags of popcorn (which the pop on deck) and warm cookies. They also have coffee and hot chocolate available. It was such a fun way to watch a movie on board and the cushions and blankets make it very cozy comfortable.
Service
I've had both good and bad service on Disney so I will compare my experience on Princess to my best service on Disney.
Princess uses the tag line "the consummate host" to refer to their service, which is an apt description of the service we received. Every staff member we encountered was friendly and professional. We mentioned in passing to our waiter at the specialty restaurant that we didn't like the MDR but said it could just be our tastes and didn't really think anything of it. The next day we got a call to see what we were unhappy about etc. etc. so clearly our off handed comment made its way up the chain.
We really couldn't have been happier with the service.
Service-tie
Private Beach
We visited Princess Cays as our last stop. I was really excited to see how this compared to Castaway Cay.
Princess tenders to its private beach, which to me is both a plus and a minus. Because the tenders are so small, you get dropped off right in the center of the beach. The tender ride doesn't really take all that long and there is something to be said about not having to haul towels, snorkel gear, etc. but a few hundred feet to your chair.
There are 4-5 different areas on PC including an adult only area. While I always choose Serenity Bay, I found no reason to seek out the AO area as there were only a handful of children in the area we chose.
The beach had several little half moon area that lended well to swimming and snorkeling and lifeguards were stationed throughout.
Unfortunately there wasn't much care in cleaning the beach. It was in bad need of a good combing. I have no issue with sticks and leaves and feathers as that sort of natural beach debris. Unfortunately there was some refuse mixed in (cigarette butts, we found a whistle, beer bottle caps, etc.) that really detracted. A beach shouldn't need cleaned but people are bleeps.
This is a personal and minor issue, but the sand wasn't the right color lol. I'm very partial to more white sand beaches and it really makes a difference for me.
The cookout lunch was pretty tasty and they offered a wide variety of food.
There were tons of options for waterspout rentals.
CC wins again-it's the only area where Disney is consistently a substantial cut above for me.
The island food is a tie
Suite perks
As I mentioned I can't really speak to DCL concierge perks, but I'll give the rundown of Princess.
Princess (except for the Regal and the Royal) don't have a dedicated concierge or concierge lounge, which we thought was odd. This didn't really affect us as on other lines we've almost never used the concierge. If you are a cruiser who prefers to go through the concierge for everything this is definitely a downside.
For check-in and boarding their was a priority line as is pretty standard. There was a bottle of sparkling wine when we arrived in our cabin. There was also a complimentary mini-bar setup with various mini bottles and mixers. I don't drink much and prefer a proper cocktail or wine when I do so we swapped it out for two coffee cards. The coffee cards were each good for 15 specialty coffees.
There was a nightly happy hour for suite guests but we never attended.
By far the best suite perk I have encountered was complimentary laundry service. We sent a bag out almost daily and returned with only a few more delicate items and the clothes I wore off the ship as dirty laundry.
The other great perk was the suite breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants. The food was fantastic and it was such a quiet and relaxing way to start the day.
Coffee
Neither line has drinkable standard coffee.
I pay for coffee on any cruise as I really prefer iced coffee. I find the pay for coffee is usually tolerable.
This one is a tie for last place. Nobody wins, especially not the cruisers.
Overall I had a fantastic cruise on the Emerald Princess. I would recommend it for adults who prefer a more quiet experience. I did not see that many children and don't think the activities are there for minor cruisers.
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We've only been on Royal (Oasis, Freedom) and Disney (Fantasy) and although we loved the Fantasy, it has priced us out for now, with the exchange rate...although DD11 LOVED the cruise, she places her cruise on Fantasy and on Oasis as equal as although she loved the Aquaduct, the other pools are just scary- couldn't pay any of us to get into the kids bobbing in life jackets starting at as screen soup. She loves swimming, hence loved all the pools on Oasis. We may try Princess with them having more Alaska and also went coast cruises (we are from the west coast so the big flights can be costly) The round-trip from Vancouver to Hawaii is very appealing to us also
Great itineraries and great prices. Which itinerary are you doing? We are on the 10 night from Barcelona to Athens.
