Finally, Lee and I would like to sum up our cruise by addressing Princess Cruises and our ship, the Emerald Princess.

We have sailed with Princess before and we were always satisfied if not elated by the food, the service, and the accommodations. However, Princess is not our first choice for a cruise line. We like Celebrity much better. Thus, we have a number of categories in which to assess them:

Dining — This aspect of our cruise was truly wonderful. It was, frankly, the best dining experience we ever experienced on a cruise. Since Lee prefers to eat Vegan, we were somewhat leery, since Princess only offers Vegetarian options. However, our waiter (Dorde) and the Head Waiter spoke personally with her daily to discuss the next evening’s menu. In addition, they gave her numerous other dishes (besides what was on the menu) to taste and prepared them if she desired. She truly got individual attention! One evening she had eight (8) plates in front of her while I had just one.

Lee’s Vegan Dinner

Stateroom — Our stateroom was okay, but the bathrooms, especially the showers, on Princess ships are absolutely TINY. They should reduce the number of staterooms and offer bigger bathrooms.

Internet — Besides being extremely expensive, internet service aboard ship was excruciatingly slow which is why I was unable to post pictures until we reached our hotel in Copenhagen.

Entertainment — This aspect of our Princess cruise was better than we expected. We especially enjoyed a group called Beatles Celebration who were absolutely fantastic (we both love The Beatles and this group sounded just like them).

Arrangements — NEVER book air with Princess again! We had problems getting to Copenhagen and then returning to Boston. We were treated as standby passengers on our outbound flights (ridiculous since we had booked months in advance!) and we could not confirm our inbound flights until we reached the Copenhagen airport. Needless to say, our arrival and our departure were both extremely stressful.

Emerald Princess — This ship is absolutely beautiful, with many amenities. Unfortunately, the weather during our cruise (it was very cool and often rainy) prevented us from enjoying some of the outdoor features of the ship.