Empress of the Seas is Back

[Suzcruz57]

Passport question. We sail in April and passports expire in May. Are we ok?

[Clarea]

Passport question. We sail in April and passports expire in May. Are we ok?

You are OK for cruising.

[Merion_Mom]

Pretty excited that I booked b2b when those C&A discounts were up. Yes indeed 1100 for 2 people in a JS for each of the two. 4 and then 5 nights starting April 7th. That price HAD to be a mistake I agree! It was a 900$ C&A discount. But I'm glad I jumped on it. 18 C&A points for each of us for 2 grand total. Yep, sounds great to me. Hope to see everyone there! Any info on the actual Junior suites would be amazing as it seems that there are about 25 different opinions and RCCL is no help at all on actual info. Are there tubs in the bathroom??

Also, dining and beverage booking is STILL not working. Anyone get any solid info about that?

 

That's in line with what I am paying, but since I will be solo, I will get TRIPLE points! hee hee hee

[Suzcruz57]

When is dry dock ?

[Clarea]

When is dry dock ?

I thought she was going into dry dock before she started cruise for Royal at the end of March.

[MADflyer]

When is dry dock ?

 

While I have not seen detailed information on the dry dock yet, Empress leaves the Pullmantur fleet on the 13th of February in Brazil.

Edited January 31, 2016 by MADflyer

[poncho1973]

It seems like a really short dry dock, too.

 

Maybe they'll do a second one later in the year? I read someone's post saying there was a 3-week schedule break in the fall?

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

Park the Empress next to Oasis and it will all become apparent.

 

Roughly:

700' long

100' wide

9 decks high

48k GT

 

vs.

 

1,200' long

200' wide

16 decks high

220k GT

 

 

Tiny.

 

I used to work for TWA. The same size difference was apparent when a DC-9 100 was parked under the wing of a 747-100 in the Super Hanger designed for wide body aircraft maintenance. Even the 747-100 began to look small when the -400s came out.

[dividedsky]

Has anyone heard anything about possibly when new dates are coming after June?

[coaster]

RCI Corporate...... You used your Cruise Critic account to get free publicity for new bookings on Empress. I don't blame you as many repeat passengers gather here along with new customers looking for information from those who are well experienced with your product. I booked based on your posting for a 5 night cruise April 11th as I love smaller ships and invited friends to join me in another cabin. Things are not going as expected to say the least. RCI is not allowing reservations on cancelled sailings to be honored on any other ships besides Majesty unless full price is paid or rebooking Empress on future dates. Why impose such strict restrictions?

Edited March 21, 2016 by coaster
Because I keep thinking

[Powersboyee2]

RCI Corporate...... You used your Cruise Critic account to get free publicity for new bookings on Empress. I don't blame you as many repeat passengers gather here as long as new customers looking for information from those who are well experienced with your product. I booked based on your posting for April 11th as I love smaller ships and invited friends to join me in another cabin. Things are not going as expected to say the least. RCI is not allowing reservations on cancelled sailings to be honored on any other ships besides Majesty unless full price is paid. Care to comment?

 

100% AGREED!!

 

How sad it is how this has been handled.....

Shame on RCCL.

 

ONLY 2 of my cruises cancelled with little to no compensation or care taken by RCCL.

 

PLEASE comment lol... not holding my breath

[coaster]

100% AGREED!!

 

How sad it is how this has been handled.....

Shame on RCCL.

 

ONLY 2 of my cruises cancelled with little to no compensation or care taken by RCCL.

 

PLEASE comment lol... not holding my breath

 

 

I'll wait as RCI uses this website to promote at no cost, but they need to come 'clean' and offer fair alternatives when their free advertising leads to unhappy outcomes.

Edited March 21, 2016 by coaster

[coaster]

Day 1 without a response from corporate.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Day 1 without a response from corporate.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I've never ever ever seen a response on CC from Royal.

 

They come on here to post about important news, but that is it.

[coaster]

It seems unusual to me that a large corporation would use a social media account to only post free promotional ads and not take the opportunity to respond to concerns from it's customer base.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited March 22, 2016 by coaster

[Sunkissed Mommy]

It seems unusual to me that a large corporation would use a social media account to only post free promotional ads in addition to the opportunity to respond to concerns from it's customer base.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Their CC account does not interact. Just announces.

 

Maybe try Twitter??

[Clarea]

It seems unusual to me that a large corporation would use a social media account to only post free promotional ads in addition to the opportunity to respond to concerns from it's customer base.

My guess is that they don't want a record of any communications. They used to have a chat feature on the website, and that went away when people started posting records of the chats.

[poncho1973]

~~~~Scene from the future~~~~

 

Day 6,321 without a response from the RC CC account.

 

Dear diary,

 

Today started just like any other day, but my coffee tastes a bit different. I noticed it was slightly less salty and bitter. I guess I'm finally all cried out. I've taken 8 cruises since March of 2016 and have actually forgotten my original post, but I have it written on my arm in sharpie to post on CC every day to log the days that I haven't had a reply. When will they answer? What will they say? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop? I hate that owl. He cheats.

 

Love,

Me

~~~~end scene~~~~

 

:D:D:D

 

All weird stuff aside, you'll be waiting a long time. You should probably consider another path.

[richstowe]

RCI Corporate...... You used your Cruise Critic account to get free publicity for new bookings on Empress. I don't blame you as many repeat passengers gather here along with new customers looking for information from those who are well experienced with your product. I booked based on your posting for a 5 night cruise April 11th as I love smaller ships and invited friends to join me in another cabin. Things are not going as expected to say the least. RCI is not allowing reservations on cancelled sailings to be honored on any other ships besides Majesty unless full price is paid or rebooking Empress on future dates. Why impose such strict restrictions?

Could have said it better . I guess RC will always hose its customers until people actually cancel future bookings .

 

My guess is that they don't want a record of any communications. They used to have a chat feature on the website, and that went away when people started posting records of the chats.

Boy are you cynical (and probably correct) . ;)

[Clarea]

...Boy are you cynical (and probably correct) . ;)

Guilty as charged, but in my defense, I've been dealing with this company for a good number of years, and you can see the patterns.

[coaster]

~~~~Scene from the future~~~~

 

 

 

Day 6,321 without a response from the RC CC account.

 

 

 

Dear diary,

 

 

 

Today started just like any other day, but my coffee tastes a bit different. I noticed it was slightly less salty and bitter. I guess I'm finally all cried out. I've taken 8 cruises since March of 2016 and have actually forgotten my original post, but I have it written on my arm in sharpie to post on CC every day to log the days that I haven't had a reply. When will they answer? What will they say? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop? I hate that owl. He cheats.

 

 

 

Love,

 

Me

 

~~~~end scene~~~~

 

 

 

:D:D:D

 

 

 

All weird stuff aside, you'll be waiting a long time. You should probably consider another path.

 

 

Day 2

 

Thanks for a good laugh and putting this in perspective as I have a warped sense of humor also. This will be my last post on this thread. RCI just wants to use this forum to promote themselves at no cost to them. Great savings for their advertising budget. No two-way communication possible. I get it....

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[coaster]

Weekends will never be the same with quick escapes from Miami where every night's a party and every day is packed with fun, sun & new ways to unwind. More info: http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1220/royal-caribbeans-empress-of-the-seas-heads-to-miami-for-short-caribbean-getaways-/

 

 

 

Thank you again to RCI corporate for announcing this new cruise option. It is a shame that only a limited number of Cruise Critic members will be able to endure repeated cancellations to experience Empress on her remaining two months of published sailings.

[poncho1973]

How dramatic.

[coaster]

How dramatic.

 

 

 

You must work for RCI corporate in Miami. Last minute cancellations of Empress are just something to be expected.

[torpeedo]

I don't care about any of it, I couldnt stomach cruising on a roach infested anything!! Ugh! I will never ever, no mater what, set foot on a ship like that , no mater how much is done or where it's going. I know cockroaches and they lay eggs everywhere. Disgusting to me. :). I would have to party with chlorox. If I had a cancelled cruise I would jump for joy now knowing what has been revealed in n dry dock.