Emerald Princess - pool and movie screen

I had the great pleasure of experiencing a 15 day cruise on the Emerald Princess. The cruise went to Cabo San Lucas, Huatulco, Costa Rica, through the Panama Canal, Columbia, and Grand Cayman. It also made a stop in the middle of the ocean in a perfect location for viewing the total eclipse on April 8th.

Overall, I had a terrific time on this cruise. After having been on the Harmony of the Seas, this ship seemed small in comparison. It was completely sold out too, but it never felt crowded at all.

I had an obstructed view oceanview stateroom. I was really worried that I'd be looking at nothing but a big orange lifeboat out the window, but it turned out not to be that bad. I still got plenty of light and had a decent view from my window. The stateroom overall was very nice and clean. I do think they overdid it a little with the mirrors though - it's almost as if they were trying to stop people from eating so much by reminding them of how fat they are with all those mirrors in the stateroom! ?? It did have a nice, big closet area to hang your clothes, and I loved the way the medallions worked - the door would just unlock for you as you approached it.

The food overall was very good. Princess says that their cruise ships have won accolades for having the best pizza at sea. Nothing is going to top New York pizza, but I will say that theirs is one of the best I've tasted outside of NY.

The ship had a lot of activities for sea days, plenty of fun things to participate in. Lots of trivia and games, plus there were comedians, lots of live music, and a few big shows to see. They also had experts to give lectures on various subjects. There was a destination specialist, a naturalist, and because of the eclipse they had an astronomy expert too. All of these lectures were very entertaining, informative, and extremely well attended. They held most of them in the theatre and quite a few were standing room only. They also showed movies every evening on a large screen outside and would bring out really nice cushions and blankets to put on the lounge chairs for watching the movies, and popcorn too - my favorite!

For me, the biggest highlight of the cruise was the total eclipse! We had an absolutely perfect view from the middle of the ocean. It was just an amazing sight.

The next highlight was going through the Panama Canal, which was something I had wanted to see for quite a long time. I sat at the front of the ship for most of the day just watching. We went through the new locks. It was possible to see a little of the older ones in some places. I'd like to experience those someday too. I discovered that many people on the ship had read a book about the building of the canal before sailing. I wish I had thought of doing that. I have started reading it now. It's called "The Path Between the Seas: the Creation of the Panama Canal" by David McCullough. So far it is really fascinating. I've been reading it in my spare time, so at over 700 pages, I might just finish it in time for the next total eclipse. ??

I enjoyed animal themed excursions during this trip too. I saw tucans, monkeys, parrots and sloths in Costa Rica, humpback whales in Cabo San Lucas, and giant sea turtles and dolphins in Grand Cayman.

A couple of the ports we stopped at required the use of water shuttles. They were very well organized with getting people off the ship in these cases. If you were going on a Princess-booked excursion at any port, they also had an excellent setup for getting everyone where they needed to go.

The ship was very clean, and nothing looked old or worn out. The ship's crew was terrific. These people work really hard. They were all so friendly and helpful.

I do recommend the Princess plus package. It covers all non-alchoholic drinks and 90% of the alchoholic ones, plus gratuities, wifi, and a few other benefits. Unless you're happy drinking mostly coffee, tea and water for the whole cruise, and don't have any need for wifi, the plus package is totally worth the price.

The one thing this cruise ship did not have was a collection of water parks, ice skating rinks, zip lines, bumper cars, roller coasters, surf riders, merry-go-rounds or giant slides. While I did enjoy those things when I was on the Harmony of the Seas, I didn't miss them on this cruise. There is a kids club on the Emerald Princess, and there were children on board the cruise I was on. But if your kids are accustomed to the water parks and such, then Princess might not be the best choice for your family vacation. Aside from that, this was a wonderful cruise experience. Great people, great activities, and a great ship. I highly recommend giving Princess a try!

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