Cruise Ship Review: Emerald Princess

It’s about time that I start posting about our New Year’s Caribbean Cruise. After months filled with residency interviews, this was a much-needed trip. It was our first time not having to fly somewhere for our cruise, which made it a lot easier to go over a holiday.

We cruised on the Emerald Princess out of Houston. It was my second time on a Princess cruise, and I had forgotten how much I like Princess.

The Emerald Princess was, in one word, elegant. The ship was still beautifully decorated for Christmas, especially the grand staircase. If you ever get a chance to cruise during Christmas or New Year’s Eve, I would recommend it. Princess really went all out to help us celebrate the holidays.

Our room:

If you have ever looked at cruises (or even airline tickets) during the holiday season, you know that prices are more than twice what they are during another time of the year. We got an inside room and thought it was comfortable and spacious. Our only complaint was that there weren’t any pullout drawers to store clothing (which Royal Caribbean inside rooms have). My in-laws had a suite, so we could visit their balcony.

Food:
Since we went on a Royal Caribbean cruise in October, I couldn’t help but compare the food on Princess to the food on Royal. The food on Princess easily won. I really liked the meals in the dining room, especially the desserts. Princess has created some specially crafted chocolate desserts called “Chocolate Journeys” for its 50th anniversary…and I still can’t stop talking about the Chocolate Journey I had. I keep saying I want to go on another Princess cruise in 2015 just to have another Chocolate Journey. What can I say? I love my chocolate.

Princess did a special meal for New Year’s Eve, complete with pink champagne sorbet as a palette cleanser. It was a fun meal, and a great way to kick off our celebrations!

Chris and I went to a specialty restaurant called The Crab Shack one night to stuff our faces (literally, it was so much food!). I don’t think I have mentioned it on the blog before, but if I had to pick a favorite food, it would be crab. I get it every chance I can, so I was excited to try out the Crab Shack. I thought the Alaskan king crab wasn’t very good, but the snow crab bucket more than made up for it. Chris also got oysters, shrimp, and clams, so we left the restaurant feeling like we had eaten enough for a week.

Entertainment:
I was impressed with the entertainment on the Emerald Princess. Like I mentioned in my Brilliance of the Seas review, we aren’t big fans of the singing and dancing shows, but this ship had so much more to offer. The magician was impressive, especially with his slight of hand tricks. The comedians were great, and I really enjoyed the kitchen galley tour. For New Year's Eve, Princess did "the largest balloon drop at sea," which was really fun.

Though we have cruised the majority of our cruises on Royal Caribbean, we wouldn’t hesitate to cruise on Princess again. Next, I will be sharing our fun excursions at each port.

PS-I have had several people who have never cruised before e-mail me questions (which is fun! I love answering your questions), so I am considering doing a first-time cruisers FAQs post. If you have any questions, send them my way, and I will include them.