First Timer short review

[sublarry]

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

[BillOh]

The cruise director was good on the Empress. We have been lucky with three great cruise directors on each of our last three cruises.

Larry

 

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.

[CapeCoralCruiser]

We are sailing on the Empress in a few weeks...I understand there are no formal nights in the MDR and dress code is rather relaxed. What would the "typical" attire be in the MDR?

 

Regarding entertainment and stateroom size, don't base your opinion of RC on Empress. Try a Voyager class ship and you'll get a better idea of an average RC ship - smaller than Freedom & Oasis class but a Promenade and a lot to do.

[sublarry]

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.

[sublarry]

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.

[CapeCoralCruiser]

Thanks, Larry, for the info. Trying to pack light for this one & that helped.

 

On RCI the smaller classes, Radiance, Vision and the Majesty & Empress have the Centrum. The larger classes have the wide open, long Promenades. I remember being impressed on my first experience. Haven't been on a Quantum, but the layout looks different, kind of a blend.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[DISFANS3]

Nice review...

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for the review, Larry. Glad to hear you had a good time. :)

[Biker19]

Haven't been on a Quantum, but the layout looks different, kind of a blend.

 

Not really, just a more restricted/enclosed promenade a la Freedom.

[sublarry]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. We do the Carnival Fantasy in 30 days. I may add comments here with how that one goes.

 

 

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