We are going on the Emerald at the end of the month. We will be doing the two week Adriatic cruise. Has anyone got any advice they could give.
Sorry if this has been answered before but this is my first time.

Hi everton and welcome to HT!

I am sure you will plenty information in earlier posts in this topic and also by reading our reviews by clicking the link at the top of the page.

luci

Hi all,
I am new to the forum and looking to cruising on thomson emerald next year. Please can anyone advise on which cabin numbers are best? i prefer to be onthe 6th or 7th deck in a superior outside plus cabin but wondered if anyone has info about which cabins are best with regard to noise, size etc
Thanks Dawn

Dawn, two years in a row we have had superior outside cabin 415 without any noise problems.

hi, i booked a last min cruise on the emerald for next friday, i have searched the forums for answers to my questions but cant find what i need, so here goes. i am in a basic cabin, how bad are these? also a dumb thing i know but i usually take £200 of euro when i go away all inc, but although im a/i on ship how much should i take for trips, also im stoppin in turkey do they take euros there. i cant wait.

Hi Sixpenny,

I was on the Emerald in May and I had a basic cabin and it was fine - you have to register your credit or debit card or pay a sum of £200 as you get on board and any trips that you book through the destinations team will be charged to your account as will any purchases you make on board. You will need euros for when you are off the ship - I went to Lady's beach in Turkey and I also used the internet cafe and paid by euro but have the correct money where possible as they didn't seem to have much change.

Margarita

thanks for the info, i was just confused as euros are not used in turkey are they?

The currency in Turkey is the YTL or Lira, but they are well known for accepting hard currencies such as sterling or euros. You will find many goods prices in both those currencies in the markets.

Is it Kusadasi you are visiting? We found the shop and stall holders to be very persistent and annoying when we visited from a cruise, more so than Marmaris or Turgutreis. If it had been my first experience of Turkey it would have put me off ever visiting again as it did many of my fellow cruisers.

As it was I just gave some friendly banter back and said I might buy later, but all we really did there was visit an internet cafe.

luci

Hi all please can anyone tell me what night the captains gala night is on the thomson emerald this year and has everyone who has been this year had an enjoyable time many thanks johnboy.

hi the captains party was on a saturday night..

Many thanks for that.

I was on the Emerald last year and we had a great time. The ship is a little more "worn" that the Spirit but don't let that distract you! The only issue I had was on the excursion to Ephesus. On the way back to the ship the coach stopped at a carpet shop where we were all treated to half an hour's hard sell. In the end we just walked out. Other than that, no complaints at all!

Many thanks dangerman and welcome to the forum.

I have to say that my husband, sister and brother inlaw thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks on the Emerald, the staff, accomodation, food, entertainment and most of the ports were just fabulous, we could not find any thing to complain about at all. Compared to the usual two week package holiday that we have been used in the past where you hardly ever see a rep and even when you do they just dont seem to take any greivance you have seriously or do any thing about it which is very disheartning, especially when you are stuck in that particular situation for two weeks. We found that by comparison the cruise staff were by far much more helpful, curteous and caring than any holiday staff including hotel staff that we have had to just put up with in the past. Cruise staff are aware that things have to be dealt with properly to make the holiday makers stay on board as pleasureable as possible, they have no escape unlike the usual resort hotel staff and reps. We had no complaints what so ever and have already booked up for our next cruise next year and we only returned just over a week ago from the Emerald. We are going on the Spirit next year and we cant wait, if it is as good as the holiday we had on the Emerald this year then we are sure to have another wonderful holiday. The staff every where were just wonderful and couldn't do enough for you, from the cabin staff to the entertainment team, even the Captain went out of his way to be friendly and courteous at all times, I think Thomson's should be proud to have such a fantastic bunch to entertain and look after their customers, I just hope we have the same happy experience next year on the Spirit and you wont get any complaints from us. All thanks to a wonderful crew and entertainment staff on board the Emerald.

Hi Geraldine and welcome to HT!

Thank you for posting. If you havn't done so already, perhaps you would like to post a review of the ship by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

luci

Emerald cruise `Pearl of the Aegean` end of Aug `07.
Last minute at £1268 for 2. Standard cabin on deck 2. Relatively quiet, some wave noise...........but ok unless you think Titanic , hahah ! I am 5ft 6 ins and wondered how a 6 ft bloke would fit in the bed. I was worried I`d fall out if I turned over too quickly. Travelled on a T`son cruise last year too and cabin and bed were bigger. Clean though ,with friendly cabin staff.
Food was good but srvice at breakfast if one chose the waiter service area was painfully slow, so much so that one day I complained as we were hoping to get off the ship that morning..........Noticed that the waiting staff in this area were Greek trainees(?).
Coffee , tea and cold water available freely in The Bistro. Drinks reasonably priced at £2.30 lager,£2.25 daily cocktail, £9.10 house Merlot etc.
You are told you have to put in £200 if you choose to open your account with actual money but we had no comment made when we put in a starter of £80. We added to it when we decide to book the Ephesus tour with T`son`s to avoid being hassled in Turkey.
Tours........we did our own with the Ephesus exception. In Corfu, take the port bus 100 metres to port entrance (!) , turn left and walk for 10 minutes . Opposite BP garage , take small local boat which flits every half an hour to the Island of Vidos, a 15 minute trip for 1 euro return ! Quiet island with beaches, snorkling opportunities and taverna.
Rhodes, turn right for beach or head straight for old town...both walkable.
Santorini......cable up cliffs @4 euros or mule up the 588 steps. Queue.
Bus at top for picturesque village with the name sounding like OY ! Just over a euro each way and running regularly . T`son charge quite a bit for this . Make your own way and treat yourself at a taverna instead. Can take boat trip to volcano if you get off ship early enough as off shore excursions leave between 10 and 11 am. from port side.
Entertainment on board...........hm......husband was infuriated as the show team shout rather than sing. I had my fingers in my ears . We had seen Africa show on a different cruise where the performers really could sing so it was an awful experience on The Emerald. Everybody whom WE spoke to, was of the same opinion...........someone should tell them that they are out of tune and are simply making a noise. Like a school performance where the audience is captive as their kids are performing......we actually walked out in between `songs`.
Good piano player and amusing comedian........luckily.
Overal, for the money, we had a good holiday. The ship might be old but it has a handsome line and I thought her pleasing to look at, inside and out.
Value for money and fine for a week of one`s holiday.

Forgot............
Emerald.... Greek Isles Thomson reps

Please ask the Thomson people who are there to walk you on a `Port Tour`, what a Taverna is..............as neither of the 2 whom we asked, had a clue !

Looking for The Marina in Piraeus

Q Are there any tavernas there?
A What`s a taverna ?
Q Have you had any training with Thomson before you came to work on this ship?
A There were 500 people after my job and I got it.
Q So you don`t know what a taverna is ?
A No, never heard of it. What is it ?
No hope is there !!

Hi Silvasands and welcome to HT!

If you haven't done so already, I'd be grateful if you would copy and paste your review onto our Cruise Reviews site by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Thanks.

luci

Can anyone please tell me whether the aircon in the cabins on The Emerald is adjustable. We cruised on The Destiny last year and were pleasantly surprised to find that you can control the temperature in the cabin.

I have seen and heard reports about both The Celebration and The Emerald that the cabins are cold due to the over use of the aircon.