Just Off Empress, Ask Away

[Clarea]

That would be the public relations spin that Royal is putting on it.:D. The real question is...Why does the Empress have all brand new kitchens?;):eek:

We cannot talk about that ... but I heard there were some interesting new Chef's Choice amenities.;)

[Ourusualbeach]

We cannot talk about that ... but I heard there were some interesting new Chef's Choice amenities.;)

 

Chocolate covered?:D:D:D

[Clarea]

Chocolate covered?:D:D:D

And crunchy.:D

[OceansOfTravels]

I can accept that you didn't intend to be rude however on an open Internet forum it is unrealistic to expect that no one other than the OP answers questions that are posed by others. There is a wealth of knowledge on these boards with Bob leading the way and a high percentage of questions are easily answered without actually having sailed on a particular ship.

 

Which I understand, and if you noticed many other recent Empress cruisers have chimed in. I do not expect it to be only myself answering the questions, and in terms of general Royal questions, there are people who are much better suited than I am to answer those questions and I do respect and appreciate people answering for me. However, on a thread about people who have cruised on Empress recently, all I am saying is that we can leave Empress-oriented questions to those who recently got off of the ship. Let's agree to disagree if we are still not on the same page :)

Edited August 7, 2016 by OceansOfTravels

[OceansOfTravels]

Are there any complementary saunas and/or Steam Rooms in the Spa area?

 

This was ironically the sole purpose that brought e, up to the spa on embarkation day, to ask this question. Glad to know I am not the only one who thoroughly appreciates the saunas and steam rooms onboard :)

 

No, there unfortunately are not any steam rooms or saunas onboard according to the lady I talked to in the spa... :(

[aubreyc1988]

Kind of rude, especially when you start a thread and don't return for almost 5 hours.:rolleyes:

 

i thought it came off as rude as well

[CRUISEBOY305]

It was my observation that it was pretty warm in the Windjammer also. That of course, probably has to do with the fact that right above it is the sun deck, and the hot rays just beat down right into there all day long. Hard for a/c to really do much in that situation. I thought our cabin was a little warm but not unbearable, I didn't see that it was excessively warm in the casino either.

 

They had fans in the casino to help moderate the temperature but I didn't feel overly warm in there. The warmest area to me was the windjammer but I don't think it was an AC issue but the exact same reason you mentioned.

[CRUISEBOY305]

We cannot talk about that ... but I heard there were some interesting new Chef's Choice amenities.;)

 

there were some chocolate treats, chocolate covered strawberries and some canopies in my Junior suite. :D

[shemp2000]

Here is my review

 

Embarkation: The line for Gold C and A only had one check-in station. We waited 1/2 hour total. Would've been about 10 if we would have gotten in the non C and A line. Also found out that Gand Cayman was canceled due to weather and replaced with Coco Cay and Bahamas.

 

Cabin: Clean Inside on deck 3. Air worked pretty good.

 

Dining. Ate at Chops the first night for a 20% discount. Very Nice. Main dining room staff was great. Windjammer was very repetitive, deserts very weak, late night serving was mostly hamburgers, hot dogs, and a pasta. Self-serve ice cream at the pool most of the time. Chocolate Chip Cookies were great but usually gone. Ordered from room serve a couple of times. Breads fantastic during entire cruise.

 

Entertainment: Does Royal Carribean use the same trivia on all of their ships? I think we had the same questions multiple times over the past years. RCCL needs to fix this for frequent cruisers. Come up with some new questions...... Kids and young teenagers took over ALL the adult participation events (i.e. adult karaoke). By the end of the cruise adults were not showing up. This needs to be corrected.........Comedian and singer were good. Quest was good.

 

Service: Great. Everyone was friendly and helpful.

 

Coco Cay: Fun day. Snorkel and Kayak. Price seemed reasonable.

 

Ship. Everything is updated. Carpets, chairs, etc. Very clean.

 

Disembarkation: Off ship and to car in about 45 minutes. Moved well.

 

Had a great time. Would go again for the right price.

[LMaxwell]

Did they do the brunch daily or only certain days? Conflicting reports on this.

[Merion_Mom]

Here is my review

 

Embarkation: The line for Gold C and A only had one check-in station. We waited 1/2 hour total. Would've been about 10 if we would have gotten in the non C and A line. Also found out that Gand Cayman was canceled due to weather and replaced with Coco Cay and Bahamas.

 

Cabin: Clean Inside on deck 3. Air worked pretty good.

 

Dining. Ate at Chops the first night for a 20% discount. Very Nice. Main dining room staff was great. Windjammer was very repetitive, deserts very weak, late night serving was mostly hamburgers, hot dogs, and a pasta. Self-serve ice cream at the pool most of the time. Chocolate Chip Cookies were great but usually gone. Ordered from room serve a couple of times. Breads fantastic during entire cruise.

 

Entertainment: Does Royal Carribean use the same trivia on all of their ships? I think we had the same questions multiple times over the past years. RCCL needs to fix this for frequent cruisers. Come up with some new questions...... Kids and young teenagers took over ALL the adult participation events (i.e. adult karaoke). By the end of the cruise adults were not showing up. This needs to be corrected.........Comedian and singer were good. Quest was good.

 

Service: Great. Everyone was friendly and helpful.

 

Coco Cay: Fun day. Snorkel and Kayak. Price seemed reasonable.

 

Ship. Everything is updated. Carpets, chairs, etc. Very clean.

 

Disembarkation: Off ship and to car in about 45 minutes. Moved well.

 

Had a great time. Would go again for the right price.

 

Fabulous review. Just the way I like 'em.

 

BTW, I love your screen name and avatar. :)

[rt1092]

Glad you enjoyed it! I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and definitely plan on cruising more on Royal after it! Where are you going over Halloween?

 

On our Oct 29 sailing we will be going to Grand Cayman and Key West. We have been to the Caribbean so many times. It really doesn't matter. We cruise for the experience on the ship.

If they offer a late Nov sailing (Thanksgiving) We might change our B2B2B on the Navigator To a 5 nighter on the Empress and then go up the street to the Navigator for a B2B.

[matj2000]

Kind of rude, especially when you start a thread and don't return for almost 5 hours.:rolleyes:

 

i thought it came off as rude as well

 

The guy starts a thread and wants to answer peoples questions.

 

Let him answer his questions.

 

There is no tone & inflection on these forums.

 

He is not being rude and I don't see a problem.

 

People need to calm down and get off the ridiculous PC kick.

 

Stop "being offended" by everything and mind your own business.

 

..And not just on these boards, but life in general..........

 

 

 

[OceansOfTravels]

Here is my review

 

Embarkation: The line for Gold C and A only had one check-in station. We waited 1/2 hour total. Would've been about 10 if we would have gotten in the non C and A line. Also found out that Gand Cayman was canceled due to weather and replaced with Coco Cay and Bahamas.

 

Cabin: Clean Inside on deck 3. Air worked pretty good.

 

Dining. Ate at Chops the first night for a 20% discount. Very Nice. Main dining room staff was great. Windjammer was very repetitive, deserts very weak, late night serving was mostly hamburgers, hot dogs, and a pasta. Self-serve ice cream at the pool most of the time. Chocolate Chip Cookies were great but usually gone. Ordered from room serve a couple of times. Breads fantastic during entire cruise.

 

Entertainment: Does Royal Carribean use the same trivia on all of their ships? I think we had the same questions multiple times over the past years. RCCL needs to fix this for frequent cruisers. Come up with some new questions...... Kids and young teenagers took over ALL the adult participation events (i.e. adult karaoke). By the end of the cruise adults were not showing up. This needs to be corrected.........Comedian and singer were good. Quest was good.

 

Service: Great. Everyone was friendly and helpful.

 

Coco Cay: Fun day. Snorkel and Kayak. Price seemed reasonable.

 

Ship. Everything is updated. Carpets, chairs, etc. Very clean.

 

Disembarkation: Off ship and to car in about 45 minutes. Moved well.

 

Had a great time. Would go again for the right price.

 

I'm with you, especially on the trivia. It would be cool to have a Royal Caribbean trivia or something. But yes, I was surprised to walk into Adult Karaoke and see a bunch of kids singing. I did not love the comedian, but he wasn't bad.

 

I too would go again, I think we really lucked out with such nice weather in the Bahamas.

[OceansOfTravels]

Did they do the brunch daily or only certain days? Conflicting reports on this.

 

I only know of brunch on sea days, I went during our sole sea day and it was great. I believe it was just regular breakfast in the MDR on port days.

[OceansOfTravels]

On our Oct 29 sailing we will be going to Grand Cayman and Key West. We have been to the Caribbean so many times. It really doesn't matter. We cruise for the experience on the ship.

If they offer a late Nov sailing (Thanksgiving) We might change our B2B2B on the Navigator To a 5 nighter on the Empress and then go up the street to the Navigator for a B2B.

 

That sounds like a great time! Will Navigator be in Miami by then?

[OceansOfTravels]

The guy starts a thread and wants to answer peoples questions.

 

Let him answer his questions.

 

There is no tone & inflection on these forums.

 

He is not being rude and I don't see a problem.

 

People need to calm down and get off the ridiculous PC kick.

 

Stop "being offended" by everything and mind your own business.

 

..And not just on these boards, but life in general..........

 

 

 

 

;););)

[shemp2000]

I only know of brunch on sea days, I went during our sole sea day and it was great. I believe it was just regular breakfast in the MDR on port days.

 

Yes, only on the sea day

[rt1092]

That sounds like a great time! Will Navigator be in Miami by then?

 

Yes It returns on Nov 23 We are booked for that 4 nighter. But we are hoping the Empress will be doing a 5 nighter returning on Nov 27 so we can board the Navigator then.

We would get an extra night, and I'm sure save a lot of money.

I look for the Nov Empress schedule every day (many times a day)

Edited August 7, 2016 by rt1092

[dagunny]

Couple more tidbits of info...

 

We had an OS. There are only about 8 balconies on the ship, 3GS up front, 1RS, and 4 JS in the rear. Front balconies are awesome for a view especially entering the Miami harbor.

 

The casino is SMOKE-FREE (yeah - finally). There were fans all over and the heat from the machines made it warm but tolerable.

 

There is NO FORMAL night. Leave the ties and jackets at home.

 

Food is a lot better than most with different menus. One thing I liked was the Churrasco steak and they had it for breakfast in the main dining room on the last day as well. We ate breakfast in Chops and it was the usual good served food. The continental buffet there is much smaller than the larger ships with less items but was certainly adequate.

 

Boleros is awesome - very large and airy. Drinks are Latino twists and the Mojitos made differently than other ships. IMO a lot better. Music was Latin and the band was good. They start at 10pm until.....

 

For D,DP,P, and Suites, there is no happy hour with hors d'oeuvres - just your 3 drinks on the card at the 3 bars on board. They do 3 special events in Boleros or the outside area, a galley tour and lunch with filet mignons, and a nice lunch in the cabana area of CocoCay. We talked extensively with the Officers and they are trying to make things right. We noticed a lot of bad reviews but decided to give it a try. Those reviews were for the first couple cruises. They have made a lot of changes to the betterment.

 

We finally got into CocoCay after the last 4 times were cancelled due to weather. That was far better and cheaper than Grand Cayman. They have a floating bar at the far end of CocoCay that was a lot of fun. Saw a 3 foot lemon shark and stingray next to the bar.

 

I did a detailed trip review but it hasn't cleared yet. One thing to note - out of 1800+ passengers, there were over 400 kids. It was the last cruise before school starts and they were noisy. I did take some pictures of the menus and passenger count (was posted in the galley) and they are attached to the review.

 

We would do it again in a heartbeat but are awaiting Cuba.

 

Don't let the earlier bad reviews deter you.

[mistymusic]

We are on the Empress Aug 20-24th...going to Grand Cayman and Key West. First experience on the Empress and looking forward to it. Can you tell me if there is a band that plays nightly? We are dancers and always love the bands in the Centrum (on all previous cruises) and hoping there will be a great band playing anything from 80's to current music. Our last cruise, a few months ago, was on the Enchantment and they had an awesome band (can't remember their name) so keeping our fingers crossed.

 

Thanks for all of your information!!!! ;)

[dagunny]

It's a Latin themed ship.

I keep the Compasses from each ship.

The bands were Caribbean Roots (pool deck and CocoCay)

Conjunto Bravo - some nights in Boleros 5:45-7:45, then either 10 or midnite until late.

Descarados Band - Boleros 10:30-11:30

DJ in the Viking Crown 11pm - late

Piano Bar with Billy Prado 9pm - late

 

What you are used to on other ships are not going to be there. The Latin bands play Merengue, Salsa, Cumbia and that type and the songs are long (6-10 minute salsas).

 

We did not hear one Cha-Cha. Maybe a couple Rumbas in the early evening. We are ballroom dancers and this is not the ship for that.

 

There are a lot of Latinos on the ship and they can definitely dance the Latin rhythms. Join in and have a blast.

[mistymusic]

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if this would be the case! No problem...this was a spur of the moment booking mainly because we LOVE Key West and neither of us have been to Grand Caymen. Next one is in November on the Freedom. Looking forward to that one!!!! :)

[rt1092]

Couple more tidbits of info...

 

We had an OS. There are only about 8 balconies on the ship, 3GS up front, 1RS, and 4 JS in the rear. Front balconies are awesome for a view especially entering the Miami harbor.

 

The casino is SMOKE-FREE (yeah - finally). There were fans all over and the heat from the machines made it warm but tolerable.

 

There is NO FORMAL night. Leave the ties and jackets at home.

 

Food is a lot better than most with different menus. One thing I liked was the Churrasco steak and they had it for breakfast in the main dining room on the last day as well. We ate breakfast in Chops and it was the usual good served food. The continental buffet there is much smaller than the larger ships with less items but was certainly adequate.

 

Boleros is awesome - very large and airy. Drinks are Latino twists and the Mojitos made differently than other ships. IMO a lot better. Music was Latin and the band was good. They start at 10pm until.....

 

For D,DP,P, and Suites, there is no happy hour with hors d'oeuvres - just your 3 drinks on the card at the 3 bars on board. They do 3 special events in Boleros or the outside area, a galley tour and lunch with filet mignons, and a nice lunch in the cabana area of CocoCay. We talked extensively with the Officers and they are trying to make things right. We noticed a lot of bad reviews but decided to give it a try. Those reviews were for the first couple cruises. They have made a lot of changes to the betterment.

 

We finally got into CocoCay after the last 4 times were cancelled due to weather. That was far better and cheaper than Grand Cayman. They have a floating bar at the far end of CocoCay that was a lot of fun. Saw a 3 foot lemon shark and stingray next to the bar.

 

I did a detailed trip review but it hasn't cleared yet. One thing to note - out of 1800+ passengers, there were over 400 kids. It was the last cruise before school starts and they were noisy. I did take some pictures of the menus and passenger count (was posted in the galley) and they are attached to the review.

 

We would do it again in a heartbeat but are awaiting Cuba.

 

Don't let the earlier bad reviews deter you.

 

 

There are 40+ balconies on deck 9

[dagunny]

Thanks Gayle.

 

We only looked at decks 7 and 8 for JS and GS. My bust. :(