Empress Review 2/10-2/17

[WiddyTwo]

Hey everyone! I'm mostly a lurker but I just got off of the Empress Yucatán Penninsula cruise 2/10-2/17. There doesn't seem to be as much info out about this ship, especially for a 7day trip (was this the first?), so I figured I would type up a review. This was my first trip on RCI but I have done three previous cruises on Carnival so that is all I have to compare to. I can't decide if I want to write this review based on day/activity/etc so hopefully this review is easy to follow.

 

My boyfriend and I flew from D.C. to FLL and took a quick-ish uber down to the Miami port. We were going through rush hour traffic so the trip took about an hour and cost around $45. We still arrived at the terminal before they were letting people in so we waited in a short line for about half an hour. They let us into the terminal around 10:30am. *Super* quick check-in and then they directed us to a specific row of seats. At 11am they started letting us onto the ship.

 

We wandered around the boat for a little while... okay, like 15 minutes because this boat is tiny!... then we got some food from the WJ. Lunch was just hamburgers and hot dogs but we actually ate ALL of our meals at the WJ. I thought the food was good. They had a theme every night. I remember there being American, English, Latin, Mongolian/Asian, and Mexican but I think I'm missing some. We enjoyed the food in the WJ and honestly, my boyfriend didn't want to put on pants to go into the MDR so we just skipped it.

 

We got into our rooms at 1pm. An interior on deck 9 aft. Holy crap it was small! I've done interior rooms on Carnival and you get a lot more space with them. The bed was literally touching the little desk under the tv and the bathrooms are much smaller. Luckily I'd looked at pics and videos before we left so I knew the room would be pretty small. The only really annoying thing about the rooms was the bathroom light took forever to turn on. I'd hit the light switch, go in and be back out before the light turned on. We just ended up leaving it on 24/7. Our room attendant was great but we are also super easy to please and didn't ask for anything extra. On our last sea day we came back to our room in between activities to get our stuff packed up before the attendant had gotten to clean our room. He was really apologetic but we told him to just skip us for the morning. We swung by around 6pm that night after trivia so I could change and he was in our room cleaning. We jokingly gave him a hard time about our room still not being done. We got into a short convo about how much time he gets off of work and when he gets to go home again. He also showed me how to make a towel koala. Really nice guy.

 

The entire staff was really nice and very energetic. Carlos the cruise director was funny. The activities on the boat seemed a little more low key than on Carnival but we had fun. We did lots of trivia and a couple scavenger hunts. We also came in first on the Quest game show! I was actually surprised because it was a little more "daring" on RCI than it was on Carnival. My boyfriend and I joined in with two older couples to form a team. He was the lucky one that ended up in boxers, my bra, heels, and some lovely make-up. Such great pictures! The entire cruise directors staff was great. Herrel was really funny and Isaac was just crazy. The other two staff members were a little more low key but were great.

 

There were three original production shows and the rest were comics. I didn't enjoy the concepts of the two original shows with the RCI singers and dancers. The shows were called Bailamos and Three. The people in the show were great but it literally seemed like whoever came up with the show concepts just picked a bunch of songs they wanted to perform and then gave the show a name to kind of tie it together. The shows were just very disjointed. The third original show was a big band night style show starring Rue, one of the singers. Not my style of music but Rue was fantastic. The other shows were comedians. The first was Al Something. Not very funny and relied mostly on his voices for his jokes. The second show was the guy that does the balloon animals and stuff. Unfortunately the theater was packed so we didn't get to go. The third act was Steve "Mudflap" McGrew. He was hysterical. The last act was El Gaucho. He was funny but a little gimmicky. Back to the Royal Theater topic: there are poles in the most inconvenient places ever so be careful where you sit.

 

I read a lot of reviews about the issues on the boat during its first couple sailings. I was excited to make it through the trip with no issues... and then we got stuck in an elevator with 10 other people. We were in the glass elevators in the Centrum. We pushed all of the call buttons with no response. We were waving to try and get peoples attention up on deck 6. It was pretty funny. The girl in front of the red phone finally realized it was behind her and she called 0. Ended up talking to someone that barely spoke English. It took about 15 minutes total but we finally got out. Luckily we were only about 2-3 inches from being completely on the 6th floor so the maintenance guy just muscled open the doors and we got out. We then went on our happy little way to bingo. I didn't hear of any other issues.

 

We didn't travel with any kids but we met a couple with two kids ages 7 and 3. They said their kids asked to go to the kids club every night. We saw very few kids/teens around the boat usually. We just thought there weren't that many on board but one night we passed the kids club as it was ending and quite a few kids and teens were coming out so I assume it was fun.

 

The only other thing I can think of to include is that this boat seemed to have a lot more movement than other boats I've been on. Probably due to its size. I've been off the boat for 24 hours and I still feel like I'm rocking while I'm laying on the couch. Overall we enjoyed this cruise. It was much more low key than a Carnival cruise, mostly due to the older crowd I think. Feel free to ask questions. I'll respond if I know the answer :)

[Biker19]

Thanks for the feedback. I assume you realize that the other ships in the fleet have bigger inside cabins - if one were to judge RCI by the Empress cabins, it would be a tough sell.

[davekathy]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise.

[Captain Funtime]

Haven't been on Empress since 2005 (Hurricane Katrina). Sailed Allure in April '16. Sailing Empress for a "throw back" in 63 days [emoji41] In a JS aka small cabin w/ balcony. [emoji572]

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Alter Ego]

Thanks for the review - she's up next for me. I never paid much attention to the previous reviews, but, now that I'm going on her, can't find all the ones I missed!!

 

The tiny size is perfect for mom, but the rocking...not so much.

 

 

I just thought of a question - overall, did you happen to see overcrowding in the elevators? I'm hoping, due to the size, it's not a problem (I actualy don't recall ever having an issue on other ships, but will be taking them all the time this cruise vs occasional stairs.)

[WiddyTwo]

Thanks for the review - she's up next for me. I never paid much attention to the previous reviews, but, now that I'm going on her, can't find all the ones I missed!!

 

The tiny size is perfect for mom, but the rocking...not so much.

 

 

I just thought of a question - overall, did you happen to see overcrowding in the elevators? I'm hoping, due to the size, it's not a problem (I actualy don't recall ever having an issue on other ships, but will be taking them all the time this cruise vs occasional stairs.)

 

 

I get motion sickness pretty easily and I was fine just taking one Bonine pill a day. The only crowded elevators I saw were when people were coming back onto the ship from port or when leaving the Royal Theater after a show. Other than that they weren't crowded at all.

[RaiderDuck]

Thank you for the review. My GF and I are going to Cuba on board the Empress in two months, and we can't wait! :D

[EatonDoolittle]

Thank you for the review. My GF and I are going to Cuba on board the Empress in two months, and we can't wait! :D

 

 

Please report back after your trip.

I am going in June, and will be interested to see if they change anything for the Cuba itineraries.

 

Since the prices are more than double, and I'm guessing the demographic will be different from the standard Bahama Booze Cruise, one would think they might enhance a few things, but only time will tell.

[Roofire]

Thank you. Empress doesn't seem to get much interest here. Your review is great as we're keeping an eye on her Cuba itinerary later in the year.

[Alter Ego]

I get motion sickness pretty easily and I was fine just taking one Bonine pill a day. The only crowded elevators I saw were when people were coming back onto the ship from port or when leaving the Royal Theater after a show. Other than that they weren't crowded at all.

 

 

Thanks for the reply - appreciate it! That's what I was hoping the case would be.

[George C]

Thanks for review, we prefer larger and newer ships but would like to see Cuba sooner or later

[pmck]

Thanks for your review.. My husband and I have gone on Princess (5 times) and we booked a 5 day cruise out of Miami (3/27-4/1) because of the price mostly. (2 college loans will do that..lol). I keep hearing about how small the ship is and run down and old...so I was happy to read your account of things. I know the ship is about 1/2 the size of most of the ones that we have sailed on, but we are fine with that. Honestly, looking for some R & R with my husband! Sailing to Cozumel and Cocoa Cay on this trip. Been to Cozumel before and remember liking it. We well probably just hang on at the beach and have some drinks and chill for the day. I'm hoping Cocoa Cay has banana boats. Thanks for taking the time to write your review.. It was interesting and very comprehensive!!

[patsina55]

Thanks for your review. My husband and I are booked on the October 16 cruise to Havana and Key West. We generally eat all our meals in the Windjammer (or other lines' equivalent) because we hate getting dressed up when we're on vacation. Do you recall, or does anyone else know, what the Windjammer's opening and closing times are? Thanks again!

[Biker19]

Empress doesn't seem to get much interest here.

 

 

Interest is proportional to size and inversely proportional to age.;)

[Snit13]

Thanks for your review. My husband and I are booked on the October 16 cruise to Havana and Key West. We generally eat all our meals in the Windjammer (or other lines' equivalent) because we hate getting dressed up when we're on vacation. Do you recall, or does anyone else know, what the Windjammer's opening and closing times are? Thanks again!

 

 

We are booked on October 16 cruise to Havana/Key West also. Hope to see you onboard. Read the extensive information on Royal's web site if you have not done so already. Quite different from all of the previous cruises we have been on. I seem to recall reading it is "very casual." Do not plan to pack any "smart casual" clothes. Having lived in Miami for 26 years, I imagine it is very casual on Empress to Cuba. They have few places which have A/C in Cuba which is a reason I choose October.

 

Grace and Rudy

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review.