Emerald Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose this cruise because of the ports of call and our Parents, who went with us, are Platinum members on Princess. The check in was the quickest we have experienced in comparison to Royal Caribbean. The Food choices each day in the restaurants were excellent and very appealing to look at.
PROS: Check in process was efficient and quick
The itinery was great. Ports of call were gorgeous and perfectly fit our bucket list.
Cabin Review
Interior
Cabin was very spacious and was extremely surprised with how soft the bedding was. Huge improvement from previous bedding quality. The Cabin Stewards were very efficient and professional. They responded to any requests you made quickly.
Port Reviews
Rome (Civitavecchia)
Scheduled tha Princess transfer from the airport to the ort. The process was very efficient and quick.
Salerno
Pompei/ Amalfi Coast Boat excursion purchased for $189. Boat trip cancelled and substituted with a drive to Sorrento and being dumped at the square for an hour to spend on your own. They did credit us $39.95 for this change but this hardly equalled what we lost out on. They should have compensated us $80 at least. How can you compare a 2 hour boat cruise down the Amalfi coast to being dumped in a citysquare. You don't have time to see anything. I felt that Princess robbed us of some money here. They also didn't give us any say on the matter. Poor experience.
Kotor
we decided not to take any more excursions based on our experience in Salerno. We arranged private excursions in the rest of the ports. I Kotor we took an excursion to Perast and visited Our Lady of the Rock and took a panoramic drive around the area. Total trip was around 4-5 hours. We sat right on the water in a beautiful cafe and had drinks and soaked up the atmosphere and watched the boats go to the islands.
Corfu
As I discussed in Kotor section. We were turned off by our excursion in Salerno booked through Princess. We made our own private arrangements in Corfu. We visited Mouse ISland, the main square, fort and spent a couple of hours at a beach club swimming in the crytal clear water, enjoying the comfortable facilities. Truelly paradise!!
Mykonos
Again, avoided the excursion desk based on our poor experience and lack of value in Salerno. Booked our own private excursion for 5 hours and visited Ornos Beach and walked around town. We visited the Windmills and hired comfy sun loungers/ umbrellas. Waiters coming around for drink and food orders. Very chic!!!
Athens (Piraeus)
We disembarked here but took a half day trip around Athens including the Acropolis with Skip the Line tickets already arranged and with the driver. Fantastic trip and the driver/tour guide was very informative, funny and safe. He dropped us off at our pre-arranged hotel just in time for check in. Would recommend Athens Shore Excursions for all tour needs. Picked us up in Mercedes Mini Van and it was very comfortable and fit all our luggage too.