scmo44

We have only done Disney cruises but sail away this weekend on the Empress.  For every bad review I have read, I have also read a good review.  While it will be 6 adults this time, no kids, I think the ship will have many things to offer.  I have read the food and Boleros are some of the best for Royal ships.  I can give you more feedback in a few weeks time.  Key West is a favorite spot of ours also and we are looking forward to it.  For the money, I think the cruise will be a fantastic way to see the Caribbean.  

And Twangster has an amazing trip report if you haven't read it yet.  The pictures and details made me so excited to try out this ship!

6 hours ago, Goofyfanatic said:

When you think of Empress think of cruising from days of old. You won't have all the bells and whistles but you don't always need those for a good time.

 

We had a 6:15 My Time dining every night and got the same wait staff each night. Shows are only once a night so plan accordingly.

 

 

what time are the shows?  planning a cruise for september and wanting to pick some dining times, thanks

We are all adults.  Interested in the beaches, food, or interesting tours.  We had planned a boat ride and snorkel on Grand Cayman and a walking/car tour of Cuba.  

Hi, our cruise to Key West, Havana and Grand Cayman now is a cruise to Key West, Costa Maya and Cozumel.  We have 10 people in our group.  We have not researched the two Mexico ports and are looking for recommendations.  None of us have been to these two ports.  TIA!  Shelly

Yes, just received the same email from our travel agent. There are other options but the friends we are traveling with are asking does this happen often? We spent a lot of time picking the right dates and itinerary that we preferred. Will this happen again? What are the odds?

I will have to contact our travel agent then. It was Empress of the Seas and I was searching for 5 day cruises so that is why it was not showing. If they have moved or cancelled our cruise would it not change in the planner section of RCI? When I log in it is there. I thought maybe they were just not selling it for the labor day sale prices. We usually cruise Disney and this is our first RCI. Do they do this often if it is cancelled?

Hi, we booked a cruise for next September 2019 from Miami to Key West, Cuba and Cozumel. Went to the website to look at prices for this weekend to see if they are having a sale. The websites, RCI and travelocity, etc. are not showing any cruises from Miami in September 2019? When I log in to RCI our cruise reservation is there. Confused.

Thanks everyone! I will check with a TA for group rates once we know how many are interested. To get the better rate when it drops do we have to book nonrefundable or refundable? Are you able to adjust to a better rate or room with the nonrefundable cruise?

Hi, we are planning a cruise for next August or September. I am gathering prices and itineraries for a group of couples. From past experiences will there be a better time to make the bookings? I remember seeing some good offers from travel agents on Black Friday but have had our cruises booked by that time in the past. Thanks for any advice!

Huh? You were really still too full from dinner the night before to have brunch?

 

The point of brunch is you have a very light breakfast, maybe coffee or tea and a little fruit or a slice of toast early, then brunch and no lunch afterwards?

 

It is not as well as a full breakfast and lunch afterwards?

 

ex techie

I understand what brunch is. I actually would not eat a breakfast before having a brunch which would be my "breakfast and lunch". My point was that with all the meals offered on the cruise we felt like we had eaten way too much by the time the sea day came around and felt we would not be able to eat the two meals combined. We eat small meals at home and they just spoil you with a lot of choices and good food. We loved Palo for dinner and may just choose to go with that one extra special meal on our upcoming cruise.

1 oz. Baileys Irish Cream

1 oz. Rum (Preferably Dark Rum)

1 oz. Banana Liqueur

1 Banana

3 oz. Pina Colada Mix

 

Instructions

Put banana and liqueur into blender until it is a thick paste. Add Bailey's Irish cream, pina colada mix and rum. Blend well then add 1 cup of ice and blend again until smooth.

 

My better half's favorite. A server (Sylvan) who we had on several cruises recommended it, and she loves them now.

Sounds delicious!

We are on the Magic next month for a 5 day cruise. On the two sea days there is a Palo brunch offered to book. We booked it once on our first cruise and then cancelled as we were too full from all the meals to eat that large of a meal again. I have Palo dinner booked and then Palo brunch another day but am considering cancelling it again. We love Palo dinner. But it is sooooo much food.

Actually there is many ways to make a recipe from regular into gluten free. Even those things with a sauce. They can then label the food gluten free. For those with an allergy this could make the difference of an ok trip and an outstanding trip. Some processed meats have gluten, would be nice to have labels.

thanks for all the information. It will be our first time there but will make the best of it. Thinking about the hop on/ hop off trolley and just walking around. Should make for fun sights!

someone posted somewhere, can't remember where, that they used some OBC to by a Disney gift card on board, that way they took that home with them instead of losing the $.

Ok so I ended up finding a place online that would give me a $300 OBC for buying thru them so I called a local place and she offered me $50 OBC and I was like well such and such offered $300 and she was like oh well thats a good deal you should get that and it shocked me because you would think for $250 more she would have wanted my almost $8000 so anyways I moved along and called another company that is local and the lady was super nice and she was like well we don't have anything we can offer for these particular cruises she checked like 3 different systems so I mentioned the deal with other company and she was like let me get your number and call you right back and so 10 minutes later she calls me back and gives me a $350 OBC plus she set it up so that the cruise line picks my cabin and she said for the cabin category I have there was not many rooms left so she feels pretty good that they will run out of those rooms more then likely and that what happens then is Disney will upgrade our room free of charge to the next cabin up which was a $3000 difference .... Either way even if I don't get the free upgrade I am thrilled and she invited me to an event that Disney is hosting and said they would have some goodies for me when I arrived :-)

 

Not to mention using my paypal debit card to pay for the cruise so I get 1.5% cashback which is about $120 back which was a much better deal then the $50 OBC that the Chase was offering me to book using their card

 

So all together ended up with about $470 in discounts just from doing a little research

We booked our cruise last September with the GTY category like yours and was pleasantly surprised with an upgrade! Many people posted they received a small upgrade at that time. Good luck and great shopping around. We shopped around and also received on board credit and also free travel insurance. It definitely pays to ask!

Hi, we are due to stop in Key west on a saturday and wondered how busy it would be? There is also 2 other cruise ships there at the same time. Eurodam and Regatta? This will be our first time to Key West.