The Emerald Princess is a true throwback to the Love Boat of old, both good and bad.

As 2019 rolled around, we were both working at 90mph and realized that our next vacation wasn’t planned until midsummer. The likelihood of making it until then, while maintaining our sanity, was slim to none. So we went on the hunt for a quick (and reasonably priced) getaway that would give us a reprieve from the daily demands of work and home and found the perfect last-minute vacation….a 4-day cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver.

It departed from San Pedro/Los Angeles on Tuesday and arrived in Vancouver on Friday. Since I had never been to Canada, we decided to add a night on the tail end of the vacation to explore the city and have better flight options to choose from the day after debarkation. We also took advantage of the relatively low cruise fare to upgrade our cabin to a suite, taking advantage of a few of the extra perks that came with that cabin class.

Embarkation
The embarkation for this cruise was the most streamlined, expeditious, and uneventful experience I have ever experienced. It was simply fantastic! This cruise departed later than we are used to (4:00 pm), so our cruise documents instructed us to arrive at the pier at 1:00 pm. We arrived at 12:26 pm, and quickly realized that there were hundreds of passengers that had arrived even earlier and were already onboard enjoying the ship! We dropped our bags off with the porters and entered the terminal for check-in.

When we put our bags through the x-ray machine, something in our bags piqued the interest of security, so we were pulled out of line for a bag search. Unfortunately, the gentleman checking Paul’s backpack, which contained high-end video/audio equipment, did not realize he wasn’t merely unpacking a couple of Polaroid cameras and was extremely harsh, practically dumping the backpack on the table. He wasn’t using any gloves and dropped items on the floor during the process. Needless to say, I was not pleased and kindly asked him to be more careful.

During this time I struck up a conversation with another one of the security personnel and asked about the large box of banned items on the table, which was overflowing with alcohol, sodas, and other things, including walkie-talkies. Unbeknownst to me, they had banned the use of walkie-talkies onboard. So, do not try to sneak on booze, drinks or 2-way radios, you will get busted! Once the lavalier mic that triggered the search was cleared, we were sent on our way.

The rest of the lines getting through check-in were virtually empty, and we walked right up to the desk, received our ID cards, and followed the guides to the gangway. We were out of our Uber at 12:26 pm, through the entire check-in process and walking onto the ship at 12:47 pm!

“The room, however, while large and spacious, was sorely outdated and the age of the room was very apparent. I don’t think I have seen so many gold fixtures since watching an episode of “Fixer Upper.” Tiffany H.

Cabin / Suite perks
Our first stop was our cabin. Unlike other cruise ships we’ve traveled on, our room was ready as soon as we boarded. I am not sure if they prepped the suites first, but the main doors to cabin hallways weren’t sealed like other ships, allowing passengers to navigate to their cabin freely. Our luggage arrived at our door at 1:11 pm, less than one hour from reaching the pier. I have to say I was impressed.

The room, however, while large and spacious, was sorely outdated and the age of the room was very apparent. I don’t think I have seen so many gold fixtures since watching an episode of “Fixer Upper.” There was a spoon that had been stuck between one of the fixtures and the wall; I assume to remove a rattle by the prior occupants. The good thing about it being an older ship was that some of the more modern tech features present on other ships, that could be annoying, were not present. Most specifically, you did not have to keep your key card in the entry slot to power up the room. We loved that the balcony had a sliding versus swinging door. However, when the boat was rocking the sliding door would slide to and fro, which make this benefit a quick annoyance.

There were tons of hangers, which was great since I chose not to bring extra hangers from home for such a short cruise. I did wish the room had more drawer space rather than open shelving under the TV area. The biggest drawback for me was that the room didn’t have a coffee maker. There is something about getting up and having that first cup of coffee while you’re still sleepy-eyed and in your pajamas. Having to wake up and get into a condition that was presentable to the general population was not appealing or how I wish to start my vacation mornings.

Since we were in a “Club Class” mini-suite, we were welcomed with two glasses of champagne, two ½ bottles of wine (one red, one white) and daily canapés (upon request). The GREAT thing about Princess, it that they let you bring one bottle of wine, per passenger, onto the ship! This was a huge perk that we have yet to experience on the other cruise lines we’ve traveled on and took advantage of it. If consumed in your stateroom, there are no fees attached. If you wish to have it with dinner in the ship’s dining room, there is a corkage fee associated with that.

Overall, the room was dated, but the bed was probably the most comfortable I have slept in on a cruise ship. Keep in mind, Princess does tout an upgraded mattress/bedding for their Suite guests so I am not sure how a standard room would compare.

Ship Features
The ship itself felt small for being able to hold the 3,351 guests that were aboard our sailing. Most ships we’ve been on take a while to get used to but not on this ship. The central atrium was small, with minimal seating, which made it almost impossible to enjoy the live entertainment or activities that were presented there. There was not a lot of common space to relax that wasn’t around the pool or open deck, and with the weather being frigid (mid 50’s), being outside wasn’t always an option. There were only three specialty (for fee) restaurants on the ship, compared to typically twice that number on similar size ships.

The Emerald Princess offered their web-based “Princess at Sea,” which was not an app like the other cruise lines we’ve traveled. The site allowed you to track your room charge balance and see the activities of the day. It also included free messenger service to enable you to keep in contact with other passengers. However, while free, the service was clunky and required you to log back in multiple times. The messenger feature was something that most other cruise lines charge for, but I would prefer to have paid for it if the service was user-friendly. For example, if you receive a text through the messenger, there was no notification telling you that you had a message unless you were on the site looking for the message. I don’t know about you, but the whole point of being on vacation is to not stare at your phone non-stop to see if you have a message waiting for you. The most prominent feature missing from the “Princess at Sea” was deck plans. While it would tell you the deck number where you could find things, there was no easily accessible deck plan to help you navigate the ship.

We have always made it a point to get in some exercise will on vacation, and this time was no different. The gym was small and busy during the time we visited. I did find it interesting that while the gym has one set of hours, the use of the treadmill had a more restrictive set of hours. I assume this was meant to minimize the noise of someone running on the treadmill to early or late in the day resonating throughout cabins on decks below. Surprisingly, there were only the old-fashioned water fountains in the gym and no bottled water dispenser or even cups. Bottom line is we got a work out in, but we’ve seen much better gyms.

Entertainment
We were sure to arrive early to the show “Magic To Do,” which was their exclusive musical production that was approximately 45 minutes long. Since there were minimal evening entertainment options, the show filled quickly, so you need to make sure you arrive early. The storyline felt fragmented although the magic tricks were entertaining and edgy. The lead singers were pretty good, but the dancers were mediocre at best. We experienced far better entertainment on NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines, but this at least beat out Carnival’s main productions we’ve seen.

The “Spotlight Showtime featuring Mentalist Justin Gentry” was held in one of the lounges. This was probably the best show on the cruise. It was extremely entertaining, and with audience participation, this was a crowd pleaser. It was only about 35 minutes but didn’t feel like it lingered on unnecessarily. Arrive early to this show as it turned out to be standing room only. Since it was held in the bar/lounge area, we arrived 45 minutes early, ordered something sweet, and enjoyed ourselves before the show started.

Finally, we went to their second production show “Blame It On The Boogie” which was a very short but excruciatingly long 30-minute show in the main theatre. I felt it was surprisingly short for being a production show. While this show had great costumes and cool themes, with significantly better choreography than “Magic To Do”, the singers were not up to par. When you tackle some of the most iconic singers of all time, karaoke voices will not do.

Dining
While I am not a huge fan of buffets on cruise ships because of the crowds, we often find ourselves there on the first day, late at night and when we wanted a quick snack in between meals. When we visited the buffet on the Emerald Princess, I was sorely disappointed at how small it was on a ship with a passenger capacity of 3000+. There are two entrances to the buffet, which are mirror images of each other on the port and starboard sides of the ship. The buffet stations themselves were within an enclosed area, adjacent to the seating, which made the small buffet feel even more confined and overcrowded. It was challenging to navigate, and I made it a point to get in and out as quickly as possible to avoid feeling claustrophobic.

The outdoor, poolside pizza station and hamburger grill were often crowded but due to the openness, made standing in line bearable and it moved relatively quickly. I was disappointed that the soft-serve ice cream was not self-serve and you had to stand in line to get a cone so small that it would have left a 2-year old wanting more. There were coffee, water, and ice tea stations in the buffet area but not readily accessible without navigating through the sea of passengers in the crowded buffet to get some water. There was also lemonade in the buffet, but it was only upon request (not at the drink stations), which made it more of an inconvenience since getting a refill was so challenging. Unlike other cruise ships, the Emerald Princess did not have water stations positioned throughout the ship for easy hydration.

One of the Club Class perks was a private area of the dining room in which to have your meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner were offered daily). This was by far the best thing about the Club Class! During dinner, the lines for the main dining room were at least 50+ people long waiting to get seated. We walked up to the private entrance, gave the maître d our room number, and we were seated in seconds. The other nice thing was that the Club Class dining staff remained constant throughout the cruise, meaning we had the same waitress each time, and she was exceptional! She was engaging, funning, and would make food recommendations that were spot on. The service was always prompt, and we never had to ask for drink refills, as the staff was attentive to our every need. The food was just ok, but the service was impeccable.

We were able to dine in one of the specialty restaurants on the ship, the Crown Grill. Here we experienced the exact opposite of the main dining room; the food was delicious, but the service was horrendous. My water glass stayed empty for well over thirty minutes, and our dirty plates remained in front of us for almost the same amount of time in between courses. The meal itself took over 2 hours of our lives, and we found ourselves rushing to the other side of the ship afterward to make the show on time. But the food quality made up for the mediocre experience; Paul even described his steak as “the best piece of meat he’s ever eaten.” Knowing that my husband has exceptionally high standards when it comes to his meat, this was saying a lot! We did receive this meal as a wonderful show of the Princess’ commitment to service and did not have to pay for the specialty dining experience. (there was extensive loud maintenance that ruined our naptime one day, and the staff extended their apologies by offering a free dining experience). While the food was the best we experienced on the ship, we would have been disappointed had we paid for such poor service.

Debarkation
The most important thing when it came to the debarkation was that there was no luggage assistance! The debarkation paperwork we received in our stateroom the night before debarkation was not clear on how to obtain luggage tags so I made a visit to the Customer Service desk, at which time they told me that due to it being a short cruise, everyone was self-assist and would carry off their luggage based on your group number.

Unfortunately, the Club Class didn’t seem to get you priority debarkation since we were not amongst the first groups to be called. We did have the opportunity to head to the Club Class waiting area in one of the lounges, where coffee would be available. We were not rushed out of our room like the other cruise lines do with announcements every 5 minutes to hurry up and get out of your room, only to wait an hour or more in a lounge somewhere. The paperwork did state that we were to have cleared our stateroom by 8:00 am but seeing that no one was pushing us out, we stayed in our room checking emails and reconnecting to the world until our meeting time of 9:20 am to get off the ship.

Since it was self-assist, we had to drag our pretty heavy suitcases through the ship to disembark but didn’t find it a challenge to get into an elevator. Once we disembarked, it was pretty effortless from there to pass through customs and to step foot on land once again.

The Sum Up
It was a great last minute getaway and solved an immediate need for a vacation. However, we did have some pretty high expectations for the Princess brand and left feeling pretty disenchanted as a result. I am sure it had a lot to do with the itinerary (one-way, short duration) and the age of the ship (inaugural sailing in 2007). Keeping this in mind, we won’t count the Princess line out, but it fell pretty low on our list.

We were looking forward to the cuisine, and the dining missed the mark for me. The entertainment options and limited activities of interest left us feeling a little stir-crazy at times. I think we will continue to look for cruises with more specialty dining options and high-end entertainment until we shift gears and look to have a more “calming” cruising lifestyle.