Anyone Recommend Empress of the Seas?

[gamomluvs2cruise]

:confused: Any info on Empress of the Seas would be so helpful. We are thinking of taking a cruise in early May. 7 days may be too long to be away from our children, so this is the reason we are considering the 5-day on Empress. Thanks!

 

Carol:)

[dougp26364]

In the past I've thought I'd never want to sail on a ship that small. However, the new southern 11 night itensary looks great and the reviews and affordabiltiy of cruising the Empress has got my attention.

 

From the reviews I've read of sailings on the Empress, I wouldn't hesitate sailing her based from a quality standpoint.

 

If time is a consideration, you could also look at the Enchantment as she does 4 and 5 night cruises.

[Spanky My]

The 11 day itinerary and the good price have got us to sign up for the april 11th cruise. The ports of call looked great! We have been to many of them before and now we get to visit a couple new ones. I have not been on this ship yet,but I have sailed on smaller ships before and I like them if they are clean and updated and it sounds like this one was just refurbished. Looking forward to our trip. Hopefully the january and february cruisers on this ship will post reviews.

[maxs mom]

We have sailed on the Empress 3 times and will sail the 11 night itinerary on March 14th. Yes, she is a small ship (by Voyager standards) and the cabins are tiny, but we have had wonderful trips and experiences on every sailing. I understand the refurbishment was successful and I am anxious to see what was done. There is an intimacy on these smaller ships that you don't have on the mega ships. If I find an itinerary I like and it's on the Empress, I say, "Yay!"

[Cruzin-K]

I loved the Empress. Reviews can be found at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=111287 and http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=111239

Photos can be found at http://photos.yahoo.com/cruzinkaren

 

Of course, my itinerary was completely different than yours would be. I liked having a lot of days in port because I got a bit bored on the sea days. If I had to choose between the two different 5 day itineraries I found, I'd pick the one with the most ports.

[rburns44]

Cruzin-K, Thanks so much for the pics! I am going on the Empress with a group of people 6/6. It is just a 5 day but several of the people have never cruised before. I have several times but never on a ship this old or small. I know what to expect and am sure everyone will have a great time. Do you mind if I e-mail a couple of the ship pics to people to see?

 

Thanks!

 

Becky

[MEOWSMURPHY]

GAMom We sailed on this ship when it was the Nordic Empress.l Loved the smaller ship,,it was great then can't imagine how nice it is since it was refurbished..the food was excellent, the service first rate..the only drawback was the small showers...I am a "fluffy" person and found it irritating when the shower curtain would..how shall I say this...constantly stuck to my hindend :D Go enjoy the ship...we will again I'm sure...

[Spanky My]

Thanks for the links and the great pictures. I hope others provide there thoughts on this ship and the 11 day Itinerary as well. Thanks...Spanky My

[Twaincruisers]

I enjoy these discussions of "older, smaller ships". My wife and I came to Miami on vacation in 1990 and saw the Empress at the dock with many other ships. Empress was so big and impressive in design in contrast to most of the others, especially the Britanis which was probably in the 20, 000 + ton class. Since then we have cruised on several ships in the 21000 ton class and one that was 50 years old when we cruised. I still like the character and the lines of the old ships, but sure do enjoy the amenities of the new. Maybe I'll tell my wife when she gets back from the cold, snowy north (foolish girl!) that we should take that 11-night itinerary.I would suggest thinking of the Empress as a different experience instead of worrying about age and size.

[gamomluvs2cruise]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone. Cruisin-K..thanks for those links. They will help when making a decision.

 

The only cruise ships that I have sailed on have been Carnival Glory(2003), Disney Wonder(2004), and RCCL Mariner of the Seas(2004). As you can see, they all considered large ships. That is one of my concerns here. I have been on two of the largest ships out there, so will such a small ship disappoint me?

 

We are just thinking of taking it easy if we get to go, so I figured Empress would be suitable for that purpose. The rooms do seem to be a bit smaller, but there will only be the two of us.

 

Thanks again everyone! Any more advice is welcome!

 

Carol:)

[LuvMyVette]

Hi

DH/I were on the Nordic Empress in July 2003 (7-day Bermuda) before the ship was refurbished. We are used to the larger size ships and figure try the smaller ship to see how we would like it. In all honesty (and personal opinion) we like the larger ships more since there's more things to do and places to hang out at.

We missed the Champagne Bar (the one on the ship at that time was a room with a few bottles of wine/champagne displayed) and was also considered the cigar room! The Viking Crown had limited hours so if we wanted to have a drink before our late seating time we had to be at that bar by 7pm! Some bars were jammed and it was very difficult to find a place to sit.

The gym at that time was extremely small, very old equipment and always crowded.

We had an oceanview stateroom on Deck 3 and it was extremely small. Here's something funny.. I guess we had a honeymoon couple next to us cause we heard them all of the time if you catch my drift! Entertaining for us that's for sure! :D Too bad we never saw them....

For first time cruisers I think the ship would be good since it's a new way of vacationing for them and they wouldn't feel so over whelmed by one of the mega size ships. Nordic was very nice, the service was good, the food was good, ship was very pretty but just a little too small for us. I think it's also what people prefer and what they want to do as well on a vacation.

Enjoy your cruise and have a great time.

[Lenora1426]

Does this ship have a teen club? Thanks in advance.

[kreinestja]

They do not have a teen club. Although my sixteen year old, had a great time with the teen program and all its activities, he was disappointed that there was not a separate area for the teens.

They would usually meet in one of the lounges not being used at the time.

 

Jeri