Review: Empress of the Seas~Southern Caribbean~3-14-05

We just returned last night after cruising on the Empress of the Seas ~ 11 night Exotic Caribbean. Wow! What an itinerary. You could not be dissappointed with these beautiful islands. This cruise is very port intensive and can be very exhausting. You must pace yourself.

This was our fourth cruise on this ship so we were not surprised by anything (mainly the small cabins) We had an inside cabin on deck 8, probably one of the smallest on the ship. Most people had very cold cabins. Ours was very warm....not very good air circulation and that was the only thing that I could complain about. I must admit, I did get a little claustrophobic for the first time in 20 years of cruising. But I dealt with it. We were, however, very impressed with the refurbishment that was done last year. The ship looks great. If you are used to the Voyager and Radiance class ships, you might be disappointed, but there is something to be said about the smaller ship. We enjoyed it's intimacy.

Embarkation was a breeze. We flew into San Juan the day of the cruise using FF miles so we had no choice. But everything went well...took a cab from the airport...$18.50 plus tip...and were on board around 3:45. Debarkation went just as well. It was very organized....quick and painless. Taxis were right there ready to take us to the airport.

First of all, let me say what a fabulous Meet and Mingle group we had. We were small in number, but what a great bunch of folks! We had a good time chatting before hand and arranged to meet in the Schooner Bar at 10:00 PM on the night we sailed...just an informal gathering. Most everyone stopped by and many of us hit it off instantly. Our official Meet and Mingle party was not until the second day of the cruise...the day we were in St. Barts. It was at 5:00 and almost everyone was there. It was very nice. Lemonade, iced tea, and excellent hos d'ouvres were served. We all met and mingled and were joined by the Cruise Director, Chief Pursor, and the International Host. We bumped into each other on the ship and on the islands. Some of us got together for adventures and excursions. And several of us got together and actually won The Quest!!! That was awesome!

The crew on this ship were extremely friendly and helpful. I thought the food in the dining room was very good. Some new menu items were excellent. We found the Windjammer food and service to be MUCH improved over previous cruises on this ship. I was very pleased with my meals there. We ate breakfast and lunch there and had all our dinners in the main dining room. Once again our dinner companions were great! There was another couple our age (50's), a couple in their 60's who run marathons, and a couple in their 70's who were very active and just wonderful people. I'm sure we will keep in touch.

Next I will let you know what we did on each island.

We only did one Royal Caribbean excursion. The rest of the ports we went out on our own. We love the beach, so that's mainly what we did on each island....we found the best beach...thanks to these boards...packed a cooler...and hit the beach.

ST. MAARTEN...We did the Beach Rendezvous excursion offered by Royal Caribbean. We did this excursion once before and loved it, so we went back. A bus with a guide took us to Orient Beach (Waikiki Beach). We had a rum punch, found some comfy chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed the beautiful white sand and blue water. I went parasailing here for $50.00...what a beautiful and peaceful experience! After parasailing we had lunch....a choice of spare ribs, mahi mahi, or grilled chicken w/ salad and rice. Quite good...we had private shade covered tables. Very nice. We enjoyed the beach some more and then were dropped off in Phillipsburg for a bit of shopping. We took a water taxi back to the ship. This night was Formal night.

ST. BARTS...After tendering in (we are Diamond C & A memebers so we got priority tender tickets and could go whenever we wanted) we got a taxi for $4pp to Baie St. Jean. We found a lovely beach there with powdery white sand. It's a bit expensive there so we did not opt for the chair and umbrella here. We found a bit of shade and spread our towels out and got in the sun when we wanted. This is a great beach for walking. I believe some other CC pals went over to the Eden Rock hotel here and rented chairs and umbrella for $30. Others we talked to went to Shell Beach and they said that was nice as well. We easily got a taxi back to town when we were ready to go back to the ship. Shopping here...$$$$$$$$ If we return to this island I think we might rent a car and drive all over.

ST. KITTS...I think this was our favorite island...quite beautiful and clean. Taxis are easy to get. We took one to South Friar's Bay for $12 round trip. The taxi driver was an older gentleman and gave us a great tour as well. As you drive up to the beach there are little shacks all over. We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for $10. We "negotiated" for $1.00 beers!! You could get lunch there if you wanted. They even had grilled lobster. The taxi driver returned for us right on time and stopped on the way back for some photo ops...which were fabulous. There were market type stalls near the ship, but that's about it. I bought a hat there for $7 because my head was getting sunburned with only a visor.

ST. LUCIA....Here we decided to go to an all inclusive place that I learned about on these boards. We took a taxi for $6pp to the Rendezvous Beach Resort. It was very close to the ship...about 5 minutes. The taxi driver came back to get us at a specified time. This resort costs $38pp for a half day pass. This includes towels, chairs, umbrellas, all drinks, a very nice buffet lunch, a pool with a swim up bar, and a very nice beach. This is a nice place....very quiet...most people there seemed to be from the UK on vacation. I spoke to a few of them. They were there for two weeks. This is a couples only resort. I would go there again. We had already been to St. Lucia and toured so this was a good alternative for us. We stayed for 4 or 5 hours and came back to the ship very relaxed and happy. This was 70's night and a good time was had in the Viking Crown.

More later....

BARBADOS...Another great day! We were supposed to sail on the Jolly Roger, but it was cancelled due to lack of participation. I was not disappointed because we had a fabulous day on our own. We rented a taxi along with two of our tablemates and spent the day at Crane Beach. Now this beach is a 45 minute taxi ride and it cost $15pp. This was worth it because Crane Beach is absolutely stunning. This was our favorite beach day by far! It is not crowded at all...beautiful white sand. We paid $15 for two chairs and an umbrella. The Crane Hotel sits on top of a cliff overlooking the beach. Quite beautiful. We walked up there and they took us on a tour of the property. Wow! What a fabulous place....$$$$$$ $500 per night...7 night minimum. Most suites have their own pool. We had a drink on the veranda overlooking the beach...great view...96 steps up from the beach to the hotel. Not a hard climb, though. The cab driver met us right on time. We were hungry so he took us to the Bayshore Restaurant near the ship so we could get a Flying Fish sandwich. This restaurant overlooked The Boatyard Beach (yuk!) We were glad that we did not go there for the day. Very loud, very crowded! Our Flying fish sandwiches were wonderful with a couple of beers. We bought the taxi driver lunch, too. He was cute. It was soooooo worth it to take that rather long taxi ride to Crane Beach. Outstanding Day.

I've got some things to do. I'll finish later.

Love the reviews. I especially appreciated hearing which nights are formal.

Thanks

Sheesh!! I actually had to cook dinner tonight!!!

OK..on to GRENADA...This morning we took the water taxi over to Grande Anse Beach for $2pp. We had to walk a ways to get to the water taxi, then we had to wait a while until it was full, then we went to another ship and picked up more people. We were finally dropped off right on the beach. If I had it to do over again, I think I would take the land taxi. The beach was nice, but full of vendors and they were relentless...did a lot of trash talking...I did not like it. A land taxi driver came over to us (6 of us from CC were together) and asked if we wanted a taxi back to the ship. We negotiated with him to take us on a tour of the island. He agreed for $10pp. We had a very nice tour mostly looking at hurricane destruction, but if you look past all that, Grenada is a lovely island. He took us to a spice place on top of a mountain..beautiful view...we were treated to a spice demonstration and bought a few spices. Next we saw a beautiful waterfall and then on to the highest point of the island. It was very cool up there. We finished our tour at a rum place where we sampled some spice rum and rum punch.(Both available for purchase) The taxi driver took us back to the ship.

MARGARITA ISLAND...Here we bought the RCI transfer to Playa El Agua. This was a long bus ride but it was air conditioned. This week was Semana Santa and all of Latin America is on holiday. Everyone from Venezuela had come to Margarita Island to go to the beach. We ended up at a pretty nice restaurant on the beach and our chairs and umbrellas were included. The beach was beautiful but it was very crowded and, again, the vendors were relentless. It was VERY hot here. We stopped at a small shopping area on the way back to the ship. There is a very nice beach at the end of the pier near the ship. There were no vendors here and people that went there said it was very nice. Since I've seen the island now, I believe I would opt for the beach near the dock next time. The vendors at Playa El Agua were unbelieveable.

CURACAO....We were to dock in Curacao at 11:00, but the winds and the sea did not cooperate and the ship could not dock. That was disappointing but we have been to Curacao before and we were exhausted from the previous ports, so we were kind of glad to get a day at sea. We needed the rest. We were treated to a free hour of Bloody Mary's and Screwdrivers. After that, it was nap time!!!!! The captain tried to go on to Aruba a day early but the winds were 50 mph there as well and docking was impossible. He tried twice. The ship was rocking and rolling by this time and some people were getting queasy. My husband used the patch and miraculously, I was not bothered. This continued through the night. The captain tried to dock in Aruba the next day, but it was also a no go, so another day at sea. More Bloody Mary's and Screwdivers were offered. Again, we were disapointed, but got more needed rest. The captain found another port for us for the next day: Casa De Campo in the Dominican Republic...not too exciting, but at least it was another port.

CASA DE CAMPO.....Actually this place was not too bad. We hooked up with 6 others and went to a great beach.... Bayhibe Beach. The cab cost $10pp and he waited there for us for 4 hours. This was a great beach. It was a little crowded but there were NO vendors! Many locals were there but they were fine. There was security complete with guns. We lived in Mexico City for two years so that didn't bother me. There were great waves here and swimming was fun. It was a great end to our week. Our table mates went to a shopping area that they liked. The shuttles there were free. This was our last day so we had to get back to the ship and pack up. We were invited to a C&A cocktail party this afternoon at 5:15 so it was pretty tight to get packed.

On the morning that we were supposed to dock in Curacao, we were invited to a C&A breakfast for Platinum and Diamond members. It was very nice with mimosas, steak and eggs, or eggs benedict. Very enjoyable.

We sailed back to San Juan, docking early Friday morning and disembarkation went very smoothly. We said good-bye to all our new friends and made our way back home.

I would highly recommend this cruise....beautiful islands....fun ship....you can't go wrong.

I would be glad to answer any questions.

Sounds like you had a great time! We are looking forward to our april 11 th cruise on the empress. Sorry you did not get to stop at all the ports .. I have a few questions if you do not mind. Were there plenty of deck chairs availaible away from the pool to just sit and relax? Were there many kids on board? Did you happen to get a copy or picture of the menus ? Whats the secret to getting early tender tickets if you are not taking RCCL tours? Did you like the beach at margarita island? Thanks in advance for not only taking the time to right a great review, but for answering our questions....SpankyMY

SpankyMy...I thought I would be hearing from you! You have no worries about this cruise.

• You should be able to find deck chairs away from the pool. There are plenty up on deck 11..one flight up from the pool...or in the aft area of Deck 10. Deck 6 is a very wide walking deck with lots of private areas with chairs. They are out of the sun. We never had time to use the deck chairs because we were always out on an island somewhere. It never seemed too hard to find a chair, though.
  
• There were not many kids at all. I am a teacher so I notice those things. I was never aware of children except for the pirate night when they showed up in the dining room for a few minutes. The majority of our cruisers were middle aged and above, however there were quite a few young couples and singles as well. It was a great mixture of people.
  
• I'm sorry I don't have any menus, but if you've been on RCI before, the menus are basically the same with some new items thrown in. I'll just say this....At our table...there were clean plates every night! My husband doesn't eat desserts...he just wanted some fresh strawberries for his dessert and they brought those to him every night. Always go with the waiter's recommendations and you can't lose.
  
• You will only have one tender port and that is in St. Barts. They will schedule times for you to pick up tender tickets so watch your compass. If you want to get off early...be in line at the first time they open for tender tickets. It's easy.
  
• The beach on Margarita Island is very nice...Playa El Agua....The only thing I objected to there were the vendors. They never stopped coming at you. The same ones over and over again....and then later on a new shift came in. But the beach itself is very nice. I'm glad I saw the island and went out there.
  

You should be just about ready to pack. Can't wait to hear how you enjoyed this cruise.

Max'smom thank you for the review! What night did they have Lobster? I will not be happy if we miss ARUBA and Curacao on our 04/11 sailing. We were supposed to do these islands last year on AOS, but they changed the schedule last minute and we did not go. I hope the weather cooperates.

I am not to worried about the vendors at Margarita island. I just put a no moleste/no mas/ LEAVE ME ALONE sign by my chair and just point to it if they ATTEMPT to bother me. It usually works!!! Thanks for answering my questions. I was curious other than the wind ,how was the weather ? Did you get rained on very much? Did you go into the onboard store and can you still purchase adult beverages for in room use with the corkage fee? How was the entertainment onboard? Questions keep poping into my head. Thanks again for helping us yet to go cruisers live and learn how to make out trips successful just like it sounded yours was.....Spanky MY

mwsrccl....Lobster was served on the Aruba night and it was wonderful. They also served Prime Rib that night, too.

Spanky...Good idea about the sign! I'll have to remember that. We spoke to them in Spanish but it didn't do much good. The weather was fabulous....no rain at all...the first few islands were ideal...low humididty...but the farther south we went, it got very hot and humid. We did not buy any adult beverages to take to the cabin this time, but we have before and I believe you can still do that. The entertainment was excellent. We didn't make it to all the shows, but others that did said that the shows were wonderful.

These boards are extremely helpful and I, too, gained a lot of information for this trip and I found all of the advice to be right on! Now we are working on Alaska for June. Keep firing those questions....no problem.

mwsrccl....Lobster was served on the Aruba night and it was wonderful. They also served Prime Rib that night' date=' too.

 

[/quote']

 

Normally I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but isn't it just a wee bit suspicious that Lobster and Prime Rib night is the one where the ship is docked in a great port until 11:00pm? I have been thinking that DW and I might want to go to a land restaurant that evening.

:rolleyes:

Reading your reviews makes me even look more forward to our cruise with the Empress on Feb.27/06. Some of the past reviews have been lets just say:( Make you think if you picked the right Cruise and Ship. But having read your review:p has just made it tougher to wait. We are really looking forward to this Cruise now:D

Thanks:D

I have been reading and enjoying these reviews, am also on the April 11 sailing.

Spanky, I think you were asking about the beach right by the ship in Isla Marg..I have been to that island twice, and both times walked over to that beach. It is fine for the day, water shallow so you can walk out quite far, plus good for strolling, especially if the tide is out.

There are no vendors there, but I believe the chairs are a few dollars. There is a tiki bar if you want something cold, and there is usually music there.

Mostly people from the ship, but a few locals too. A nice relazing day, if you do not want to take a tour. I find the island beautiful over on the mountainous side. Looks very much like the mountains in Arizona, if you have ever been there. But surrounded by the sea, rather than the desert.

I have been reading and enjoying these reviews, am also on the April 11 sailing.

 

Spanky, I think you were asking about the beach right by the ship in Isla Marg..I have been to that island twice, and both times walked over to that beach. It is fine for the day, water shallow so you can walk out quite far, plus good for strolling, especially if the tide is out.

 

There are no vendors there, but I believe the chairs are a few dollars. There is a tiki bar if you want something cold, and there is usually music there.

 

Mostly people from the ship, but a few locals too. A nice relazing day, if you do not want to take a tour. I find the island beautiful over on the mountainous side. Looks very much like the mountains in Arizona, if you have ever been there. But surrounded by the sea, rather than the desert.

You need to join our M&M board! We have a great group of people and would welcome you...

Hello: We are also booked on the Feb.27/06 cruise. I see that you are from Alberta (WG's old stomping grounds). What air carrier are you using to San Juan. Right now I am holding Royal Caribbean air space but I am a bit worried about who they will use. You cannot beat the 449CAD per person out of Toronto that they are offering. I will keep looking for less, but it's not likely, and Air Canada does not fly on the right days.

We also are going to be booking on Feb. 27, 2006 Empress of the Seas.....We are having a post cruise picture party along with a pre cruise info party this Sat, April 2nd for a large group of friends. (We just got off the Dawn Princess on March 10th with a group of 21). So I will know more about how many of us will be joining you all......

JMA

Great your joining our cruise. Actually I was refering to playa el agua which is on the otherside of the island where max's mom went. Anyway looking forward to ALL of the islands on our itenarary. We have been to everyone previously EXCEPT margarita island and Curacaro. With all of those ports, we all may need a vacation when we return. But it will be Back to work for this one. Anyway thanks for the reply.....Spanky My

I enjoyed your review. We were on this sailing Jan. 31st but I still read the reviews as we're doing the same cruise again next year. My question is - how did you go about getting a half day pass to the Rendezvous Beach Resort? Did you have to contact the hotel directly or just go to the hotel and ask? Thanks.

Cathy

Spanky...you are right. This cruise can really be exhausting if you don't pace yourself. That's why, by the time we had a day at sea instead of Curacao...it was really kind of welcomed!

Cathy...I would do this cruise again, too. I did e-mail the resort....got the address on the St. Lucia board. They said to pre-pay for the half day passes, but I wasn't really sure that was what we wanted to do, so I didn't do that....we just showed up and it was fine. We had to wait at the guard house for a few minutes, bu they let us in...no problem. While we were waiting, some guys were trimming the palm trees there and they cut open a coconut and brought it over to me to drink. It was neat.

Have you folks on the Feb. 06 cruise started a Roll Call yet? If you haven't, you really should....you have a long time to get to know each other. That's great.

max'smom - Thanks for the info. I've read where other people did this but never knew how. Now I know. Thanks.

Cathy

Thanks for sharing your review! I have been drooling over this itinerary for some time... I love reading these reviews and hope that soon I can convince my DH that we NEED to go on this cruise! ;)

We will also be on the Empress - 02/27/06 - that makes 4 of us on this thread in less than a day - I have not seen a roll call posted as yet - I will get one started on the Roll Call Board in just a few minutes.

It's Great to read some reviews from others that will be on the cruise Feb.27/06:D

Travel12-We will be booking with Air Canada, they do have the Star Alliance they use to book other airlines through, but you need to talk with an Agent and that costs you an extra $25.00, We are also using points so I know we will be routed all over the Country, We intend on arriving 2-3days before the cruise and stay a week later.:D

Smooth Sailing - Thanks for thinking of doing the roll call that will be great and an easy way to find out who all the other Cruise Critics will be on the trip. Maybe we'll have enough to do a Meet and Mingle, We have signed up already:)

Just for fun I was looking up different S. Caribbean cruises on the internet cruise booking sites. This particular 11 night cruise caught my interest. I have only heard wonderful things about the "renamed Nordic Empress" :) and it would be so nice to finally go on a cruise and not say "been there, seen that!! :D

Will definitely keep this cruise in mind for the future. Sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing your experiences aboard and on land.

max'smom - Do you happen to remember who the Cruise Director was?