Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

sublarry

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    528

  • Joined

 Content Type 

Posts posted by sublarry

    First Timer short review

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    The MDR had a mix of clothing. I didn't see many full suits, but there were a few sports coats. I had dress pants and polo shirts most of the nights.

     

    The do have a white out party one night and there were a lot of white dresses in the dining room as well.

     

    We did my time dining and ended up going right at the 6:00. Our servers Juan (from Honduras) and Dedi (from Indonesia) were great in there.

     

    I assumed the ship had some smaller features than the others. They used what they called the "Centrum" for dances each night. On Carnival it is called the Atruim. I guess each ship names it something else. It is 5 stories and the do decade theme dances each night out there.

     

    Elvis Pinto will not be the cruise director when you are on. His last night cruise was the one after ours.

    First Timer short review

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Do you know if this was Elvis Pinto? I'm just curious as I met him on Jewel as an Activities Director and thought he would make a good CD, and I was happy to hear he was headed to Empress.

     

     

    It was Elvis, He and the team did a great job. They were not intrusive, but had just the right amount of planned events. They really used the "centrum" for night time events.

    First Timer short review

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I can't believe it has been 10 days since we got off of the Empress. Time has flown and not in a really good way.

     

    Any way, we loved our first cruise on RCL and the Empress. This will not be a full trip report, but be about the highlights and lowlights we found.

     

    We have cruised on Carnival and Norwegian before this ship. We like the midsize ships best it seems. Carnival Glory and Valor seem to be just right, while the Epic was just too big, and Empress may have been too small. Goldilocks would be proud of me there.

     

    We loved the vibe on the Empress. It was very relaxed. I liked that most of the deck activities did not happen at the main pool, but in a area between the pool and the pool bar. Also a plus was live music during the day on the pool deck. Carnival has mostly done away with this, and we could never get seats near the main pool on Epic so I don't really remember what they did.

     

    We were very stressed out on life when we were heading for this cruise so relaxing is what we needed.

     

    There was never an issue getting chairs by the pool even with chair hogging going on. We may have even been guilty of it once to go inside to eat, but did not take that long.

     

    Carnival has RCL beat on the fast food items like the burgers and dogs at the poolside venue. They actually grill the burgers and dogs, not oven back the burgers and boil the hot dogs. I don't recall seeing chicken tenders. Once inside Windjammers the buffet food was better quality than Carnival. They also seemed to have a better selection most of the time.

    The main dining room was better on RCL than Carnival. Norwegian was better than Carnival on that one too.

     

    Desserts were better on Norwegian as well. One fault was they turn the ice cream machines off a couple times a day much to my wifes sadness. They also have someone passing out the ice cream on RCL and I like that idea. '

     

    Also the handwashing sinks entering Windjammer was nice touch even though I still saw people leave the restroom before me without washing their hands in the restroom or before going thru the line. I am sure they would be the first to really gripe if they got sick.

     

    The statroom seemed smaller on the Empress than any other ship. I don't know if that is a RCL issue or just a old small ship issue. The air conditioner worked great most of the time. Definitely the smallest shower on any ship.

     

    Embarkation was simple and fast as well as debarkation. They do not make very many intercom announcements into the staterooms so we were past our debarkation zone before we left the room. No problems there either. Easiest customs ever at POM.

     

    Entertainment was not up to par with Carnival and far below Norwegian standards. They did one live show and it was ok. There was not a comedy bar, they just did different shows nightly in the main show room.

     

    The cruise director was good on the Empress. We have been lucky with three great cruise directors on each of our last three cruises. Norwegian did extra little touches getting on the ship after excursions and we loved that.

     

    I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the cruise and the differences between the lines that I can.

     

    We have another cruise on the Carnival Fantasy in 35 days so it will be a fresh comparison to the two lines when we get back.

     

    Larry

    Carnival check in time

    in Carnival Cruise Lines

    Posted

    I just finished my online checking for the Carnival Fantasy out of Mobile and noticed they have one section where you select your boarding time. The earliest I believe was 12:30-1:00. I have not seen this before. Our last CCL cruise was in September last year.

     

    Do they stick to this? I have always been told there was a time to show up, but typically we get there way before that and are on the ship around 11:00.

     

    Thanks for any updates.

     

    larry

    Post Hurricane Matthew travel reviews

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I'm on the 10/15 Empress flying into Ft Lauderdale

     

    Hope we get to go... We'll see...

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

     

    We are sailing on Empress Oct. 10. So far so good. Called hotel in Ft. lauderdlemtoday. Room is good to go. Southwest says they are good to go, now just hoping predicted 40% chance of rain in Key Wet and 60% in Cozumel cooperate a little bit.

     

    Staying at Hilton Marina on Sunday night

    Hurricane Matthew

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    We were on the Carnival Valor once when two tropical storms met together. I think it was Michael and Nicole. We missed our stop at Grand Cayman and had to go to the old side of Honduras which was not a good spot.

     

    The ship rocked hard enough we were woken by the drawers slapping in and out on the dresser, but if not for the noise we would have slept straight thru.

     

    We were not told to stay inside, but the rain kind of handled that for them. It was pretty neat to us watching the water splashing out of the pool. I just hated the sea day with nothing going on outside. Only so much bingo and art auction or casino before you get a little stir crazy.

     

    Be safe and enjoy the adventure.

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

    Shampoo on Empress of the Seas

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I have been reading on RCL homepage because my wife wondered about hairdryers. It stated that all staterooms have them on all ships so she is happy.

     

    While reading I saw something about all rooms come with soap, and some have 2 in 1 shampoo. We are on deck 4 in a inside stateroom. I am fine with just soap since my hair is giving up the fight to stay in, but DW is worried about it.

     

    Does anyone know if all rooms have both. We will need to buy small airline friendly bottles if not as we plan to do only carry on baggage for the flight.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Larry

     

     

    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

    First time on Royal.

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Hi all-

     

    This will be our first trip on a RCI ship. We just booked the Empress for the Oct 10 sailing. We have been to POM a few times with Carnival and once with Norwegian.

     

    Every line has their own quirks even every port.

     

    Question 1- What are some of the things you wished you had known about a Royal cruise before you went.

     

    Question 2- what are the don't miss things to do on Roya, Empress if you have been on it. I hear the quest game is fun.

     

    Question 3- If there is one thing to skip what would it be.

     

    Thanks in advance for all the great answers!

     

    Larry

×
×
  • Create New...