marasmoney

I hope they are not adding any more rooms. If they are, they will have to liberally coat passengers in oil and have them sleep head to toe and in layers.

 

For those of you not familiar with the ship, it was once nicknamed the Royal Caribbean "Yacht." It was a lovely jewel of the ship that featured an atrium (Centrum). From the Centrum it was opened up through the middle of the ship with a glass sky light on the pool deck.

 

Open lounges lined this area on both sides of the ship with large windows giving a view of the ocean. The lounges were a lovely area to sit on each passenger cabin deck.

 

There were separate areas for the library, card (game) room, and other facilities.

 

When we cruised on her (off season), there was usually around a thousand passengers on the cruise. Total passenger capacity was not much larger.

 

In the mid aughts, Royal Caribbean started to "improve" the ship. More cabins were added (good bye open deck space at the aft of each passenger deck to sit and stare at the wake) and speciality restaurants added (good bye library, game room and the lovely lounge areas around the open Centrum ). Keep in mind that while the passenger load increased, the open public area space decreased. There was no way to expand the Windjammer, the main dining room, the theater, and the deck space around the single pool on board. The Centrum lounge area on each passenger decked now became the library, game room, computer center. etc.

 

After the ship was transferred to Pullmantur, more cabins were added. I see now that the passenger capacity is 2020 on a ship that was originally designed to hold around 1200 passengers.

 

One can only hope that the extensive dry dock will remove cabins and restore public space.

 

I was on Empress twice in 2017, didn't notice any additional rooms off the back. My wife and I stared at the wake all the time on deck 6 and relaxed a lot on the back right behind Club Boleros. Unless you are talking about some of the upper decks. The only specialty restaurant they added was Chops which was midship. I haven't been on Empress before they moved the library but they were definitely in the Centrum area. Max capacity is 1840 passengers that is if you filled every room up with every guest which never happens. Both cruises I have been on there couldn't have been much more than 1000 passengers onboard. I love this ship and it still never to this day feels crowded.

I can't speak based on experience, but if you read reviews, it appears to be the most disappointing RCL ship in operation.

 

I have been on this ship twice, and was scheduled to go again Feb 25th but was cancelled for dry dock. The reviews are mixed because if you are used to all the modern big mega ships its almost guaranteed you will be disappointed. However I happen to love this ship and its one of my favorite ships in the fleet. I am kind of an old school cruiser all I need is an oceanview, a drink and a place to relax to be happy. I don't need water slides, ice skating rinks, bumper cars and etc... to be happy. I love Empress because of its intimacy the crew is awesome, the ship is loaded with oceanviews because she was built back before every ship had a balcony so they made sure that guests had plenty of place to view the ocean. The ship has glass all over the place and there isn't a deck you can't see the ocean, unlike Anthem of the seas which was enclosed and pretended to be more of a shopping mall than a cruise ship.

 

If you hate crowds and don't need much to be entertained I would recommend this ship to you. It takes a certain type of cruiser to enjoy Empress. She is old, but she had a refurb in 2016 and the only thing I thought looked dated was the theater. Everything else especially club Boleros looked great. I sailed to Cuba on Empress last November and it was one of the best cruises I have ever been on.

 

I just say when booking Empress set your expectations right if you love the big ships you will probably hate Empress.

 

Past Cruises

 

-Carnival Ecstacy

 

-Sovereign of the Seas

 

-Enchantment of the Seas

 

-Majesty of the Seas

 

-Carnival Victory

 

-Explorer of the Seas

 

-Mariner of the Seas

 

-Empress of the Seas

 

-Empress of the Seas

 

-Anthem of the Seas

Just off the Anthem today and stumbled on this post, so here it goes:

 

Favorite: Liberty, Allure

 

Least Favorite: Anthem

 

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time, but could not help thinking something was “off”. Reading other posts I realize, yes!, believe it or not, ocean views were lacking. Felt like a floating mall. The North Star, iFly and Spectra’s Cabaret were awesome, as was the indoor pool for that first chilly day, but the rest, was meh. I really missed the good ‘ol 3 Level dining room. Avoid the esplanade when sales are going on - very narrow compared with other ships.

As we were packing last night our 13 year old said, if we cruise again then on the Allure if possible. Yup, I agree.

 

 

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Completely agree! Same thing I didn't hate the cruise but I won't book another Quantum class. I have noticed the reviews on the Oasis class are mostly positive and that class is bigger. So maybe I will give that class a chance. The Oasis class seems like a giant Voyager class ship to me similar design. I believe the Quantum Class is actually a Celebrity design that Royal Caribbean used. If you look at the Celebrity Equinox it is a similar design. The lack of Oceanviews I didn't like. I go on cruises in the middle of winter to escape cabin fever....

 

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Our problem with that ship was there are way too many cabins for the amount of entertainment venue space. You spend more time waiting in line to do anything then you spend doing them. If you don't go at least an hour early or more, plan on sitting at the back.

That was my issue also most of the posts on Oasis class are the opposite of Anthem. It's not necessarily ship size its the ratio. They stuffed too many cabins and people on Anthem.

 

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Way too crowded, even at the pier. It took our cab at least 30 minutes to find a place to drop us off; he was continually deverted to a different area. We often had to wait for multiple elevators because they were all full. (Mobility issue prevented me from walking several floors)

 

I've heard RCI advertise Oasis as a "ship where you won't feel like you're on a ship". When I cruise, I want to feel like I'm on a cruise. You can walk around several decks and never see water. We always pre-request a table by the window in the MDR. We were given a table by the window but they're frosted so you can't see out.

 

There were many positives (I did love the diving show) but the ship is too big to go to the more remote locations.

That was my main issue with Anthem it almost seemed like RCL forgot why we cruise? I want to feel like I am on a ship also. I understand RCL is competing with land resorts and Disney and going after that market is fine I just hope they don't forget their base. The new ships they have already planned past 2020 aren't really any smaller. It would be nice if they built some smaller ships along with the bigger ones like they did with the Radiance class when they were building the big Voyager class back in the early 2000s.

 

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Favorites : Empress and Rhapsody. (Older and smaller ships rule to me!)

 

Least favorite: Mariner, Freedom and Navigator.

 

 

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Empress is my favorite in the fleet going on Empress for the 3rd time next February. I love how simple and intimate the ship is. And the whole ship is full of glass there isn't a single spot on that ship where you don't see the ocean except an inside cabin of course but one step outside your cabin and you get that ocean view...

 

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Going on Enchantment this fall for the first time. It doesn't show up on anyone's favorite or least favorite, I'll just go have a good time.

Enchantment is nice was on her way back in 97 before they stretched the ship. She was nice then! Tell you the truth I almost listed Enchantment instead of Mariner. I saw her pull next to us in Nassau last March while I was on Empress looked pretty cool with the suspension bridges.

 

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Two of the key reasons that you didn't like the Anthem were the same as why we didn't care (much) for the Oasis class. Lack of a connection to the ocean, lack of views. People, people everywhere, even late hours when things are typically quieting down. ...in addition, the workout facilities were by far the poorest of any ship we've sailed.

 

The staterooms were nice though, and the main promenade and central park were beautiful. We also liked the extra "club" venues for dancing/drinking at night.

 

Love the Freedom class. For us, it hits the sweet spot of big, but not too big and crowded. Still plenty to do. Love the promenade. Great views of the ocean.

 

Dan

Thanks Dan! I figured Freedom Class would be fine on size it looks like all it is a is slightly larger Voyager class. Good to know cause I was thinking about booking Liberty of the Seas soon.

 

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My Favorites:

Empress of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

 

Least Favorite:

Anthem of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas (Before she retired)

 

 

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Just to clarify, "Least Favorite" doesn't necessarily mean you hated the cruise, just wasn't your favorite compared to the other Royal Ships. I always say the worst cruise is no cruise at all. Unless the ship sinks any cruise is still better than staying at home... ;)

Just to clarify, "Least Favorite" doesn't necessarily mean you hated the cruise, just wasn't your favorite compared to the other Royal Ships. I always say the worst cruise is no cruise at all. Unless the ship sinks any cruise is still better than staying at home... ;)

Favorite: My favorite ship is a blast from the past — the Nordic Prince and this is followed by the Jewel and Anthem

 

Least: Explorer

 

 

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Wow Nordic Prince! That had to been cool... Wasn't that when Royal only had roughly 3 ships in the whole fleet?

Favorites:

Freedom

Jewel

Voyager

 

Least Favorite:

Majesty

Anthem

 

Looks like you agree on Anthem, what didn't you like about her? Also how was Freedom? I would probably book a Freedom class, but probably no bigger than that....

Favorite - Brilliance and Explorer

 

Least favorite - Oasis

 

Curious what didn't you like about Oasis? I wasn't a fan of Anthem cause I thought it was too crowded was Oasis also too crowded? I know its huge and bigger than Anthem, but figured maybe they spread everyone out enough on this ship...

Oh for a more detailed review here is a link to the review I gave after getting off the ship:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=609333

My wife and I have only done Carnival, we will be doing our first Royal cruise on the Anthem next year. You both are on opposite sides, could you tell me why you made this choice on the Anthem?

 

I am sure I will get criticized because there are some people who really love Anthem and that is fine to each their own. I didn't like how overcrowded Anthem was. I don't necessarily oppose bigger ships having been on Explorer and Mariner which are still pretty big ships even with today's mega ships. Explorer and Mariner never felt crowded or claustrophobic, Anthem did. I also wasn't a fan of the ship's layout it was almost like they forgot about the Ocean when they designed her and though she is built for colder climates, she was still too enclosed for me with lack of oceanviews.

 

Most ships have a bunch of observation decks, not Anthem. Anthem mainly had the crowded pool deck to view the ocean, a small deck off the Windjammer (Which was also crowded), and barely an outer promenade that had dead ends where most ships it wraps around the whole ship.

 

Even after booking activities months before the cruise we still waited in line for everything! It felt more like an amusement park/shopping mall at sea instead of a cruise ship which call me old school, but that is not why I cruise. I cruise to sit back relax and enjoy the ocean air. Everything was mainly inside, the Esplanade looked a lot like a shopping mall to me and was crowded most of the time.

 

That being said do I regret booking Anthem? Absolutely not, the worst cruise is no cruise at all! However would I ever book a Quantum class ship again? Absolutely not, I like the other Royal Caribbean ships better and I will probably not book anything larger than a Freedom Class in the future. (Though I suspect the Oasis Class might spread the crowd out enough)

 

Now that I got the negatives out of the way, here are the highlights of Anthem that were positive, like I said it wasn't like I had a terrible time I was still on a Cruise Vacation instead of sitting at home in the cold! She is just my least favorite ship in the fleet that is all....

 

Positive Stuff:

Great Cabin, probably the biggest nicest cabin I have ever had on a cruise ship so if a cabin is important to you then you will like Anthem. (I don't care much about cabins cause I just mainly sleep there)

270 Lounge and Cafe 270 was cool, this was one spot you could get away from the crowd.

Overall the ship is beautiful full of nice decor and elegant artwork.

Solarium was very nice.

Shows and Entertainment very high quality. (Cabaret and We Will Rock You show was great, The Gift was ok but still worth seeing, comedians and music was good also)

Food was excellent once you got into the dining room.

Waiter, Assistant Waiter, and Cabin Attendant were great.

 

Negative Stuff:

Ship design doesn't really let you appreciate the Sea.

Too many people, even though she is a large ship they stuffed way too many people on this class and didn't spread them out enough.

Crew seemed stressed and service level was inferior to other Royal Caribbean ships probably because they had to handle way too many passengers.... (With exception to the waiter, asst waiter and cabin attendant)

Even after making reservations in advance waited in line for everything forget about doing anything in the Seaplex it was jammed all the time, pools were also too crowded.

For a new ship believe it or not lots of stuff was broken like the xBoxes my niece and nephew wanted to play, drink machines and etc...

My Time Dining is a big Cluster F. Anthem for some reason, where it hasn't been on other RCL cruises I have been on.

 

That was just my opinion you very may well love Anthem it really comes down to the type of cruiser you are. I will say though since you have traveled on Carnival in the past Anthem is very different from the rest of the RCL ships, so don't judge the whole line on this one ship. I to have sailed with Carnival and I like both lines, majority have been RCL just because of the loyalty points, and I always thought their ships were slightly more elegant than Carnival, but both lines are pretty comparable to each other..

 

Best advice I can give is book everything you want to do on the website well in advance, you will still wait for stuff but won't wait nearly as long as the people who book on the ship. Also if you are going to dine in the main dining rooms just pick an early or late seating instead of the My Time Dining option, it may not be as flexible but you will get into the dining room faster. If you can afford a Balcony Cabin, spring for the balcony as I said the ship itself lacks a lot of views best just to get that view from your cabin and to get away from the crowds.

 

Good luck enjoy your cruise!

 

Past Cruises:

 

Carnival Ecstacy

Sovereign of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas

Majesty of the Seas

Carnival Victory

Explorer of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Empress of the Seas

Empress of the Seas

Anthem of the seas

 

Future Cruise Booked:

Empress of the Seas again! Love Key West this ship goes there a lot....

Favourite

Independence of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas (Pre latest dry dock)

 

 

Least Favourite

Explorer of the seas (post latest dry dock)

 

Curious what went wrong after drydock? I went on Explorer in 2006 so my experience was probably pre drydock as well...

 

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In the late 1980’s there was no ship in same class as Soverign of the seas, it was ship that made me a huge fan of rccl.

Ironically I wasn't a fan of Sovereign when I was on her but I think when I went on that cruise she was due for a drydock. I went on Majesty years later and loved it and it is basically the same ship. Think it was just the timing of when I went she looked tired. [emoji6]

 

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Hi everyone! I wanted to share the vlog of my first Royal Caribbean cruise, on the Explorer of the Seas. This video follows embarkation day in Seattle and day 2 up until the ice skating show which is what blew me away more than anything else!

I will post part 2 here once finished. :)

Explorer to this day is one of my favorites along with Empress went on Explorer back in 06 great ship and crew.

 

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My Favorites:

Empress of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

 

Least Favorite:

Anthem of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas (Before she retired)

 

 

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Ive seen a post online that the Icon Class will be 200,000 tons. lets have some fun and predict what we may see on the Icon Class ships. What do you think Icon Class will have onboard?

Too many people with no views of the ocean like the Quantum Class..... [emoji52]

 

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I’m just going to list things that we haven’t seen RC do yet that come to mind:

 

Lazer Tag room, motion simulator, Norwegian is adding a go kart track...

They are putting Lazer tag on Mariner of the Seas this year and some kind of trampoline virtual reality thing... Might see. them do that on icon.

 

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I was on the Empress in June. Not a bad ship at all. I just prefer the Majesty.

 

Ha I am the exact opposite! :) I think Majesty is also a mighty fine ship, but like Empress just a little more than Majesty. Though I would swap the pool decks, Majesty definitely has a nicer pool deck than Empress...

 

I would say Empress, Majesty and Explorer are my favorites so far... We will see if Anthem of Seas changes that...

 

Future Cruises:

Empress Nov to Cuba

Anthem Feb

 

Past Cruises:

Empress of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Carnival Victory

Majesty of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas

Soveirgn of the Seas

Carnival Ecstacy

That was probably a good deal. The Cuban sailings were typically about double the non-Cuban sailings, those prices will likely come down as interest wanes and the reality of Empress limitations set in. There's only so many folks that are clamoring to go to Cuba at above "normal" prices. Those prices would probably be lowered even more by using a bigger ship. Also, with such a volatile situation (Cubans could pull permission at any time) I just don't see RCI taking any more risks (like using a bigger ship).

 

From what I read it isn't necessarily that there isn't enough volume, it is because Cuba doesn't have the infrastructure to handle larger ships. I agree though RCL isn't going to experiment with a new market with a brand new big ship.... Cuba hasn't had cruise ships for decades so the ports aren't up to speed yet RCL isn't the only one sending smaller ships, the Adonia was one of the first to Cuba and it is smaller than Empress. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Empress is one of the larger ships going to Cuba even though she is the smallest in the RCL fleet. I have also read rumors on posts that RCL is considering the Majesty to start cruising to Cuba along with Empress, but that was prior to the announcement today. It would be nice to see Majesty join her and continue to sail. I have no problems with the bigger ships, but there is just something about the smaller ships I love. Maybe its because all I need is a beer and a good view of the ocean to be happy...

 

I went on a Key West, Nassau cruise in March on Empress and have Empress booked again for November this year for Cuba.

 

Past Cruises:

 

Empress of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Carnival Victory

Majesty of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas

Carnival Ecstasy

 

Future Cruises Booked:

Empress in Nov 2017

Anthem of the Seas in Feb 2018

I was on Empress of the Seas March 2017 for a Key West, Nassau Cruise and I liked Empress so much that I booked her again for Key West and Cuba in November this year. I was just wondering if the events, entertainment, shows, food and etc. would be different for the Cuba itinerary? Or would everything be exactly the same as the Bahamas Cruise?

 

I always wondered if the ships changed their menus, events and etc. for different itineraries, especially since this is basically the same cruise as the one I went on in March except instead of going to Nassau it goes to Havanna. I know it is always different from ship to ship but wasn't sure if it was different for the same ship going to a different destination.

 

When I went on her in March it almost seemed like the Ship and Crew were switching gears to go to Cuba. It didn't impact the cruise in any negative way, I just kinda got that vibe like they are getting ready to go to Cuba as the first cruise to Cuba was only a few weeks away.

 

If anyone can weigh in on this that would be awesome. :)

 

Past Cruises:

 

Empress of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Carnival Victory

Majesty of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas

Carnival Ecstacy

Many have posted the source from Reuters, good news the article says the following:

 

"The new policy will ban most U.S. business deals with the Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group (GAESA), a sprawling conglomerate involved in all sectors of the economy, but make exceptions related to air and sea travel, the officials said. This will essentially shield U.S. airlines and cruise lines now serving the island."

"As a result, the changes – though far-reaching – appear to be less sweeping than many pro-engagement advocates had feared."

 

After reading the article it looks like Empress is here to stay for Cuba at least for the next couple of years. They are going to continue to let Cruise lines go to Cuba and Flights. There will be no restrictions on Rum and Cigars either. There are some restrictions, but nothing I see (at least according to Reuters) that will stop Cruises from sailing to Cuba anytime soon. I did notice that RCL wasn't booking cruises to Havanna in 2018 until recently I visited their website and now see 2018 Havanna cruises, so they must know it will be okay for at least through 2017-2018. (I didn't check 2019)

 

I do believe RCL would have kept Empress working for a while even without Cuba to the Bahamas and Cozumel as they continue to mix Bahama and Cozumel Cruises in between Havanna Sailings. I was on Empress in March this year for Key West and Nassau and it seemed to be capturing the 4-day "cheap booze cruise spring breaker crowd pretty well". So I believe they would have kept her working even without Cuba for that market segment at least for a couple of years.

 

Though I am sure Cuba was a primary motivator to bring Empress back, it wasn't the only reason. Pullmantor isn't growing as fast as RCL had hoped and they didn't really have a place for Empress at Pullmantor anymore. Which was another reason they brought her back into the Royal fleet.

 

I have been watching the Cuba Policy closely as I booked Empress again for November 12th 2017 for Key West and Cuba!

 

Please no political statements or replies to this post, I don't care if you love or hate Trump or Former President Obama. I am simply stating what the current United States Policy is shaping up to be in regards to Cuba according to Reuters and how it impacts Cuban Cruise Itineraries.

 

I will post how the trip to Cuba went after we go. ;)

 

Past Cruises:

 

Empress of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas

Carnival Victory

Majesty of the Seas

Enchantment of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas

Carnival Ecstacy