Empress 1/12-1/16 Review

[urc12]

We cruised on the Empress from 1/12 to 1/16 on the 4 nighter to Nassau and Key West. The itinerary was modified to overnight in Nassau. We had an ok trip but nothing great. We did our research and knew that the ship was small and older. Food was OK. The lamb shank on the first night was very good. Selections were limited. A couple of salmon dishes each night a couple of chicken dishes, a veggie dish and a borderline quality meet dish. Stay away from the Short Ribs on day 2. Service was hit or miss. We had My Time and we had the same wait staff every night. There was little to no wait at 7:30 and they always got us out in time for the 9:00 show.

 

Chops had great steaks but the sides and the sauces were cold and came out well after the steaks. Our waiter may have been new and he seemed on the verge of a panic attack through our the meal. When we tried to share our concern, he just kind of looked at us wide eyed and bolted off mid sentence. Never really saw a manager. The dinning room was very casual. I saw lots of shorts and tee shirts at dinner. No big deal for me.

 

The small pool and the hot tubs were jammed with younger kids. This was the first cruise that I didn't get in to either the hot tub or pool.

 

No art auction, one Bingo, and your regular array of poolside games. Three comedy shows and two production shows. I thought they were very good. The steel drum band by the pool was excellent and the sun beds and hammocks on the Sun Deck were a very nice touch.

 

We had the Royal Replenishment packages and it was disappointing. All the bottle water was served warm. Several complaints brought no change. We were told that Pellegrino was not included in the plan. The F&D director said he would check, took our room number and never got back to us.

 

The little coffee bar in Boleros was exceptional. And Bolero's is a very cool space but slightly underutilized. The casino was small and pretty hot. Not much energy but you could find a seat at the 6.00 and 10.00 blackjack tables most of the time.

 

We had an outside room 4650 and it was a little bigger that I expected. Fine for two but four would be impossible. Small but workable bathroom and a firm bed. The room steward was almost invisible but he kept the room neat and the ice bucket full.

 

We weren't expecting a trip of a life time but we were expecting a little more of that old time small ship experience. It just wasn't there. Four days was enough.

[Biker19]

Sounds about right for Empress.

[tamilyn]

How about the appearance of the ship? Did most things seem to be updated or did it look like an older ship? Also, how about the nightlife? Was there music in any of the venues, etc.? Thanks for your review.

[urc12]

The appearance of the ship was very nice. The public spaces looked clean and fresh. No excess wear in the public places. The stateroom was a little worn and the toilet was missing a bolt and that left a rather nasty looking hole.

 

We saw live music in the Centrum, on the pool deck and in the theater. There may have been more. Almost all of the recorded music was Latin. They are getting ready for the Cuba run I guess.

 

I didn't visit the Viking Lounge at night but they did have a pretty good piano player at the Schooner bar from 9 to 11 every night. It was sing a long stuff. It was fun once you had a few drinks in you. They had movies at night by the pool. We saw Jason Bourne.

[tamilyn]

Thank you so much! We are going on one of the Cuba trips in May and will have some in our group who have never cruised - just hoping they are not disappointed since we have built it up so much to them!

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

[coaster]

Surprising that the Casino is still hot as it was that way back in July on Empress for our cruise and has been a common complaint since her redeployment in May of last year.

 

 

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[Biker19]

Surprising that the Casino is still hot as it was that way back in July on Empress for our cruise and has been a common complaint since her redeployment in May of last year.

 

It seems to me the space was not meant to have that much heat generating equipment in it and RCI is not willing to invest in a permanent solution so you'll likely to keep seeing the portable cooling fans around that area.

[troykahack]

It seems to me the space was not meant to have that much heat generating equipment in it and RCI is not willing to invest in a permanent solution so you'll likely to keep seeing the portable cooling fans around that area.

 

When Empress was built, slot machines were still mostly mechanical until the mid 90's. I suspect they gave off much less heat.

 

Empress was launched in 1989.

[2hearted]

We cruised on the Empress from 1/12 to 1/16 on the 4 nighter to Nassau and Key West. The itinerary was modified to overnight in Nassau. We had an ok trip but nothing great. We did our research and knew that the ship was small and older. Food was OK. The lamb shank on the first night was very good. Selections were limited. A couple of salmon dishes each night a couple of chicken dishes, a veggie dish and a borderline quality meet dish. Stay away from the Short Ribs on day 2. Service was hit or miss. We had My Time and we had the same wait staff every night. There was little to no wait at 7:30 and they always got us out in time for the 9:00 show.

 

 

 

Chops had great steaks but the sides and the sauces were cold and came out well after the steaks. Our waiter may have been new and he seemed on the verge of a panic attack through our the meal. When we tried to share our concern, he just kind of looked at us wide eyed and bolted off mid sentence. Never really saw a manager. The dinning room was very casual. I saw lots of shorts and tee shirts at dinner. No big deal for me.

 

 

 

The small pool and the hot tubs were jammed with younger kids. This was the first cruise that I didn't get in to either the hot tub or pool.

 

 

 

No art auction, one Bingo, and your regular array of poolside games. Three comedy shows and two production shows. I thought they were very good. The steel drum band by the pool was excellent and the sun beds and hammocks on the Sun Deck were a very nice touch.

 

 

 

We had the Royal Replenishment packages and it was disappointing. All the bottle water was served warm. Several complaints brought no change. We were told that Pellegrino was not included in the plan. The F&D director said he would check, took our room number and never got back to us.

 

 

 

The little coffee bar in Boleros was exceptional. And Bolero's is a very cool space but slightly underutilized. The casino was small and pretty hot. Not much energy but you could find a seat at the 6.00 and 10.00 blackjack tables most of the time.

 

 

 

We had an outside room 4650 and it was a little bigger that I expected. Fine for two but four would be impossible. Small but workable bathroom and a firm bed. The room steward was almost invisible but he kept the room neat and the ice bucket full.

 

 

 

We weren't expecting a trip of a life time but we were expecting a little more of that old time small ship experience. It just wasn't there. Four days was enough.

 

 

I just got off the Empress and I couldn't agree more about your review. You were dead on about the food, the lamb and salmon were good, but most everything else was bad to very bad, especially the Windjammer and all the desserts. I did have a great time and met some great people, however the Empress is not for me and I could not imagine paying the high prices to go to Cuba for just one day on that ship. I plan on giving a full review soon.

 

 

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[johnjen]

Nice review, OP. You told it like it was.

 

We were on Empress a while ago, a short cruise to Bermuda out of Norfolk. Loved the small ship feel back then but sounds like things have changed a lot.

 

Our last cruise was on Anthem. We felt as if we were on a cruise where the staff's main focus seemed to be on sales in the shops area with all of those nutty sales of trinkets, cheap watches. It got to the point where we'd avoid the promenade as much as possible, but sadly it sounds like they're going that way as well on Empress.

[urc12]

I just got off the Empress and I couldn't agree more about your review. You were dead on about the food, the lamb and salmon were good, but most everything else was bad to very bad, especially the Windjammer and all the desserts. I did have a great time and met some great people, however the Empress is not for me and I could not imagine paying the high prices to go to Cuba for just one day on that ship. I plan on giving a full review soon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Thank you 2 Hearted. I'm glad you reminded me. The desserts were awful. Everything was jello based. Ordered an almond tart and got a piece of sponge cake. Rice pudding was like Elmer's Glue. Weird stuff!

[CruisingGiants]

Thanks for the review -- wish it had been better, as we are sailing in a few weeks. Odd question -- do you happen to know if there was ice cream available for most of the day like other ships? :)

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.