our Ratings says it all!

ship cleanliness: fantastic!
ship food: fantastic! All food types.
ship staff: Fantastic! especially Phil, Shaun, Jo and Debs
On board entertainment:fantastic! should be in Hollywood!

All i can say is what an excellent holiday. From the moment you arrive to the moment you leave they cannot do enough for you! i would definitely go back on board the Emerald!!!

The ship was lovely. We stayed for 1 week and called at all the main Greek islands. The shows were great and the crew were very polite and helpful. The food was excellent and the barbeque was superb! The cabins were quite large and spacious with a bath and a radio. We would sail on this ship again as it was one of the best but getting slightly dated now. We would recommend this holiday to everyone!

first cruise and the last! it wasnt like we thought a cruise would be , the ports of call {adriatic sea } were amazing , the ship and cabin were spotless and the staff worked very hard. were able to have endless supply of tea and coffee when ever you wanted it,but the evening meals were a let down , food was raw on some occacations and cold, the "entertainment; was appaling we were expecting top shows , all we had was the reps dressing up and trying to sing and dance, the next day they could be seen with their reps uniform on helping with cases .it was worse than a butlin talent show, the other entertainment was a duo , the male singing was very good but the woman had a awful voice and kept spoiling his singing.we enjoyed the food in the buffet during the day . but the nights were long and tedius.

I went on the Adriatic Explorer cruise, Venice, Trieste, Ronvinj, Split, Dubrovnic and of course Corfu.

This was my 7th time on board.

Personally I would always give top marks for the Emerald but being objective against some of the other ships, see below:-

Cleanliness

The boat is kept very clean, both inside and outside, every port you dock, the lads are painting the exterior. Spilages and rubbish are removed very quickly. If you are a late night person, all public areas are hoovered and everything cleaned very well. Most people do not notice. This may be because the boat is of an older class, not one of the new monster ships with all glass and metal. The Emerald has a lovely faded beauty, like a woman of a certain age, the beauty is there but not noticed by all

Food

Well, top notch. I prefer to have a formal meal in the evenings so the emerald suits me as all evening meals are formal (not DJ, just trousers and shirt). This is accompanied by one big formal (DJ) night. All other times snacks and meals can be obtained buffet style. I have never liked buffet style so only use it every now and again

Staff

Officers and crew are excellent. Very friendly. Slight problem this year with new all inclusive passes and additional paperwork and swiping to be done at tills which has slowed service down, but this should improve over the course of the year. Also a number of passengers who indulge in great quantities of alcohol have transferred from the Topaz. Hopefully, these will pass on to the spirit and not return

Entertainment

The entertainment was good, however, compared to previous years it was nor as good. However, this is the groups first year and things should improve, they were still passable.

Would I go back

Yes, I am already booked for October

We did this cruise last October. We had to collect our luggage from the carousel and take it to the ship. They took it on board for us. I see in this year's brochure they say that once you check in at the airport, you don't see your luggage anymore until it's in your cabin. Do you know if this applies on the return journey too? Do you check in on the ship to come home?

We didn't do any organised tours from the cruise. We did it all ourselves. It's easy.

Kefalonia....It will depend on what you want to do. The inland lake and caves tour is worthwhile but we have holidayed on the island before so we just got the ferry to and from Lixouri. Then had a stroll around Argostolli. It's easy to get a local bus over to Lassi if you want to spend time on the beach.

Trieste...The ship docks right in town so we spent the morning there, went back for lunch, then went ashore again in the afternoon.

Venice...It's easy on your own. Walk straight up the quayside and through the barrier at the top of the road. Cross the bridge over the railway line (The Orient Express parks up there), cross the main road, go through the bus station to the canal and get the Vaporetto( waterbus) to St Marks Square. Just get a one way ticket.
The Bridge of Sighs is just to the right of the square behind the palace.
Once you have seen all you want in that area go straight across the square to the back and follow the signs for Rialto.
It's a lovely walk and you see the minor canals and the local area. Explore the Rialto area then return to the same side of the bridge that you arrived at. It's well signposted to walk back to the ship from there. Don't forget.....don't buy anything in the square it costs an arm and a leg.

Split......you dock right in town and it's market day! The shops and market are to the left and beaches to the right of the ship.

Dubrovnik... Docks quite a way out. Quite a few people shared taxi's into town. Plenty of them both inside to port and outside the gates. We got the local bus there and back. Many more people did the same. Buses every few minutes stop just outside port gates.

There are maps and instructions on how to do it yourself on board the Emerald. There is also a do it yourself talk.

Don't forget there is free tea and coffee 24/7 at the front of deck 6. Bar prices were reasonable.

The ships photographer takes picturs galore........wait until the last night of the cruise ....they put them all back out....then you can pick the best ones out!

If you think of anything else give me a shout or pm me.