15 Nights Spanish Passage Cruise

Excellent cruise for the Panama Canal

Either Princess and the Emerald Princess has upped their games, or a bunch of the older sour reviews have no basis. Or maybe I just have not done enough of the competitors' cruises. But I believe the older sour reviews should be should be substantially discounted if you are thinking about this Panama Canal cruise. The "World Harvest" buffet food items were regularly rotated, and reasonably fresh. It's large, with plenty of choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The three main dining rooms provide different ways of scheduling, i.e., reservation, just-show-up, or traditional seating. 7 pm reservations were gone before the ship sailed; you need to log onto the Princess website to grab these. We used the just-show-up dining room most of the time and rarely had to wait long. They vary the menu with new items every day, combined with some favorites they repeat. We enjoyed all of the food. We also tried two of the restaurants with an up-charge - the Italian restaurant which was outstanding, and the steakhouse which was a bust, with an overcooked (but quickly replaced) steak, and some pretty tough ribeye that seemed like sirloin. We also frequented the International Cafe for daily gelato, fresh cookies, and an occasional sandwich, the soft serve, and pizza places, which were all good. You can also get coffee in to-go cups, but we eventually used their free room service for daily morning coffee. The cabin was good, and I would not call it "dated" or "needing a makeover" as some have said. The steward cleaned the room every time we left (which they know from the Medallion system). The steward never has to knock on a door to find out if you're gone. The Medallion system (which resembles Apple AirTags) was outstanding, automatically unlocking your door, making purchases easy by detecting you and putting your face on nearby point-of-sale systems, and clocking you on and off the ship for excursions. We did not need our passports to get on and off the ship; just the Medallion and a driver's license. The Medallions come with a neck holder, but we bought a watch band made for Medallions off Amazon which really worked well. Amazon and the ship sell various holders for the Medallions. This ship's WIFI, which uses StarLink, was reasonably fast and reliable. (WIFI has a fee, but it comes with a beverage+ package you're going to end up buying anyway.) The entertainment was good, but the theater sometimes filled up and we missed a couple of the "production shows". But there are plenty of other entertainment venues with plenty of room so there's always something to do. You're not going to get a David Copperfield magic show on a cruise ship, because the magician has got to carry all his props as he goes from the ship to ship. But the musical shows were really good, with a solid group of musicians and performers that Princess hires from all over the county and trains in its studio near LA (I learned this from a video on the ship.) We had mixed feelings about the various excursions (Bonair, Cartegena, Port Limon, and Grand Cayman), except that Princess nails (and controls all of) the Panama Canal excursions (or just stay on the ship for a return trip through the new locks). We did the Panama Canal railroad excursion which goes from the Atlantic to the Pacific which also included a bus tour and one of the Visitor Centers. We heard good things about the other tours too. Princess also had a knowledgeable speaker and videos providing information about the Canal, the train, and the locks. The tours start after the ship transits the Atlantic-side locks; then the ship turns around and goes back to the Atlantic to pick up all the people at Port Colon, Panama, who went on excursions. There are vantage points all over the ship to see the Canal, but we just stayed on our balcony with a room-service breakfast for the transit through the new locks to Lake Gatun. The ship broadcast the Chiefs/Bills on their giant outdoor movie screen ("Moves Under the Stars") serviced by plenty of bartenders. That was a hoot. We walked a couple of miles every day around the Promenade Deck 7 (deck 8 around the bow), and there were always workers cleaning that ship. We would not hesitate to book another Princess cruise, especially the Emerald Princess.

The Emerald was a wonderful ship!

Wanted to cruise the Panama Canal, and Princess offered the Emerald. At first I didn't think we'd enjoy being on such an older ship. What a wonderful surprise to spend the 12 days on this lovely vessel! She was fantastic! The cruise itinerary was perfect. The excursions offered were fun! The staterooms although a little dated, were quite comfortable, and roomy. The bathrooms on the Deluxe Balcony still have tubs with shower curtains that need to be updated to walk ing showers. Other than that it was a great stateroom. The decor of this ship give the air of elegance. It's art deco-ish in detail, the International Cafe is right where it should be on deck 5, adjacent to the Piazza (where everything happens!), the restaurants were above average, and the staff, as always, were friendly, warm, and welcoming. We were pleasantly surprised, and would cruise again on the Emerald.

Emerald Princess November Cruise

Just returned from our family cruise on the incredible Emerald Princess. I had read many reviews before embarkation and was disappointed on what previous passengers had said, But I was pleasantly surprised to have experience a cruise without any problems or issues. We loved our 12 day cruise on The Emerald. She's updated and looks as beautiful as any other cruise I've taken with newer ships. The itinerary was second to none and I will sail her again . The food was hot and tasty. The window cabin was clean and quiet. If the ship rocked the hangers in the closet would make creaking sound but I brought ear plugs incase of loud neighbors which never happened. My room was always cleaned multiple times daily. Fresh hot pizza and ice cream next to pool area put 6 pounds of added weight around the waist. The steak house was delicious. And the reserved dining room was our go to dinner restaurant.