Empress B2B - 14 Nights on the Biggest Little Ship

[twangster]

When I boarded I was glad to see Louis Soomaroo back on board as Loyalty Ambassador.  Louis took very good care of me on my last Empress cruise and there's no doubt Louis was responsible for the Diamond Plus pin left in my cabin last night.

 

 

I actually made Diamond Plus 17 cruises ago but I had never received a pin.  It's not a thing for me, I don't tend to wear pins so I never pursued it.  Leave it to Louis to figure it out.  

A pod of dolphins provided some entertainment for us but it was hard to time the pictures right as dozens of them jumped around in front of the ship.

 

Pool deck on a sea day:

 

World's Sexiest Man contest.

 

As we reached the end of Cuba and entered the Caribbean Sea we picked up a gentle swell coming up from the South hitting us broadside.  There is a very gentle rocking of the ship occasionally.  Not bad, just a slight pitch now and then.   The bridge crew have kept us out of the rain as it passes us on both sides (or we just got lucky).

 

 

With that past us we were back into sunny skies.  Let the party continue...

[crilski]

I am doing a B4B on the Empress in November  (and I'm a Diamond soon to add a +) - so I am very interested in your review.  Thanks for taking the time.

Edited July 23, 2019 by crilski

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

All that open space on Empress is probably driving the corporate bean counters nuts!

 

Nope, they sell a kicked out of your room pkg. They were usually gone by 7am every day.

 

[twangster]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Nope, they sell a kicked out of your room pkg. They were usually gone by 7am every day.

 

 

That's Royal Up, Empress edition.

 

Either that or a family member snores, loudly.

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

That's Royal Up, Empress edition.

Right, upgrade to a really big OV from your tiny inside for nothing.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

 

That's Royal Up, Empress edition.

 

Either that or a family member snores, loudly.

 

Actually,  the internet is pretty good there.

 

That's the stairwell all the kids sit on

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Right, upgrade to a really big OV from your tiny inside for nothing.

 

8664 is a really big OV for $116 upgrade 

[Priszm]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

Day Three - Sea Day

Chops has a private dining area contained within it.  I suspect this is where the Chef's Table would be held. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can confirm this is where the Chef's table is held. I was on this ship in April (one of the last Cuba trips) and my parents gifted us the Chef's table. It was spectacular.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Priszm
Comment didn't show up.

[John&LaLa]

5 minutes ago, Priszm said:

I can confirm this is where the Chef's table is held. I was on this ship in April (one of the last Cuba trips) and my parents gifted us the Chef's table. It was spectacular.

 

FWIW, the acoustics in that room carry all the way into Chops. It almost seemed like the guests were miked. 

[JasonMason]

**Following**

 

Loving this! I'll be on Empress in September (spur of the moment decision for me as well - I'll also be taking a "working vacation") I've been kicking around the idea of doing a B2B, but at the very least I'll be on the 9/1 6-Night... Can't wait!

[John&LaLa]

How are you finding the internet onboard. It was awful last week. That's why I didnt do a ride along. To painful to load pics

[IslandTrails]

How was the food in the Windjammer compared to other ships?  I was on Adventure of the Seas this past December, the Windjammer was excellent.  If I went on Empress (perhaps solo) I might eat many of my meals there.

 

Growing up I fondly recall going on the Nordic Prince, Song of America and the Sun Viking.

 

I really enjoyed the simplicity of cruising, and Empress seems to recreate that vibe to some extent.  Voyager class would be largest I would prefer to go on.

 

 

[JessyCruises]

Thanks for the great review. I am doing a solo on August 4 and have never been on an RCL

ship smaller than Freedom class so I appreciate all of the photos so I know what to expect.  I am a bit concerned about the reports of crappy internet.  I will be doing a working holiday too so hopefully I get enough juice to connect to my VPN and can run the programs on my laptop.  Fingers crossed!

[Merion_Mom]

@twangster

 

It's a minor, trivial thing, but...……...I can't make out the sign in your photo about the Chops breakfast.

 

Until what time is this breakfast served?

[Clarea]

6 hours ago, Canadian Disney Mom said:

... I will be doing a working holiday too so hopefully I get enough juice to connect to my VPN and can run the programs on my laptop.  Fingers crossed!

 

Good luck with your VPN, I've not been able to get  my work VPN to connect from the ship.

[John&LaLa]

5 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

@twangster

 

It's a minor, trivial thing, but...……...I can't make out the sign in your photo about the Chops breakfast.

 

Until what time is this breakfast served?

 

Chops was always empty early, but service was really slow

 

[twangster]

9 hours ago, Canadian Disney Mom said:

Thanks for the great review. I am doing a solo on August 4 and have never been on an RCL

ship smaller than Freedom class so I appreciate all of the photos so I know what to expect.  I am a bit concerned about the reports of crappy internet.  I will be doing a working holiday too so hopefully I get enough juice to connect to my VPN and can run the programs on my laptop.  Fingers crossed!

 

I waited to buy Voom until Day 2 to save some $$$.  It was pretty slow when I bought it and I was worried.  However since it has been getting better and better.

 

Day 2 - 0.9Mbs down, 0.7 Mbps up

Day 3 - 2 Mps down, 2Mbps up

Day 4 - 3.2 Mbps down, 2.9Mbps up

 

Cisco Anyconnect VPN is working fine for me.  Day 3 was a sea day and I stayed connected on VPN all day without any drops.  I also had a number of phone calls using wifi calling that worked perfect, there were no "can you repeat that"  or "you're breaking up" moments.  I also tried WebEx audio for a couple of conference calls and it worked as well.  I've been able to broadcast on Periscope each time I tried which is very good for a a non-O3b ship.  

 

I did note there is an access point right outside my cabin in the hall so I have that going for me.

 

On another note, rccl.com domains are resolving and working normally.  This was discussed in another thread where some things like the GGG flyer, Royal Up and luggage tags for future cruises couldn't be reached because rccl.com domains were not resolving properly.  So far they all work fine.

 

Empress is using the newer Voom login screens like I first saw on Navigator when she came out of dry dock in March.  When creating an account on board you are prompted for a username and 4 digit PIN.  This includes the warning you have reached your device count limit if you forget to logout a previous device.  When that happens and you try to login on the next device you are given the option to switch devices.

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, twangster said:

 ... On another note, rccl.com domains are resolving and working normally.  This was discussed in another thread where some things like the GGG flyer, Royal Up and luggage tags for future cruises couldn't be reached because rccl.com domains were not resolving properly.  So far they all work fine. ....

 

Thank-you for the detailed report.

 

I just want to confirm that you tried the resolution of rccl.com names while not connected to your VPN.  If connected, your remote site may have been supplying the DNS resolution.

 

[John&LaLa]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

I waited to buy Voom until Day 2 to save some $$$.  It was pretty slow when I bought it and I was worried.  However since it has been getting better and better.

 

Day 2 - 0.9Mbs down, 0.7 Mbps up

Day 3 - 2 Mps down, 2Mbps up

Day 4 - 3.2 Mbps down, 2.9Mbps up

 

Cisco Anyconnect VPN is working fine for me.  Day 3 was a sea day and I stayed connected on VPN all day without any drops.  I also had a number of phone calls using wifi calling that worked perfect, there were no "can you repeat that"  or "you're breaking up" moments.  I also tried WebEx audio for a couple of conference calls and it worked as well.  I've been able to broadcast on Periscope each time I tried which is very good for a a non-O3b ship.  

 

I did note there is an access point right outside my cabin in the hall so I have that going for me.

 

On another note, rccl.com domains are resolving and working normally.  This was discussed in another thread where some things like the GGG flyer, Royal Up and luggage tags for future cruises couldn't be reached because rccl.com domains were not resolving properly.  So far they all work fine.

 

Empress is using the newer Voom login screens like I first saw on Navigator when she came out of dry dock in March.  When creating an account on board you are prompted for a username and 4 digit PIN.  This includes the warning you have reached your device count limit if you forget to logout a previous device.  When that happens and you try to login on the next device you are given the option to switch devices.

 

Are you referring to the aft elevator lobby on deck 9? Or does the mentioned access point improve signal in your cabin?

 

One thing I noticed about Empress VOOM is we were on 8 days, and I had to get my login reset midway through day 7.

 

#PCproblems

Edited July 24, 2019 by John&LaLa

[twangster]

11 hours ago, IslandTrails said:

How was the food in the Windjammer compared to other ships?  I was on Adventure of the Seas this past December, the Windjammer was excellent.  If I went on Empress (perhaps solo) I might eat many of my meals there.

 

Growing up I fondly recall going on the Nordic Prince, Song of America and the Sun Viking.

 

I really enjoyed the simplicity of cruising, and Empress seems to recreate that vibe to some extent.  Voyager class would be largest I would prefer to go on.

 

 

 

Empress has a smaller WJ compared to some other ships.  Beyond Chops on day one it has been my dinner spot twice so far.  I'm not a foodie and often eat dinner in the WJ on most ships.  When I'm solo I don't feel like the whole full service MDR experience.  

 

So far I'm happy with WJ dinner.  Last night I tried some new things that were Indian based and they were very tasty.  Being a smaller WJ there isn't the same broad variety like on bigger ships but I've always found something.

 

5 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

I just want to confirm that you tried the resolution of rccl.com names while not connected to your VPN.  If connected, your remote site may have been supplying the DNS resolution.

 

Correct, I specifically tried them without VPN and double checked again right now.  I tried retrieving luggage tags (cul.edocs.rccl.com) and GGG  (www.creative.rccl.com) - both work fine whereas they consistently did not work on previous cruises.

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, twangster said:

 

 ...

Correct, I specifically tried them without VPN and double checked again right now.  I tried retrieving luggage tags (cul.edocs.rccl.com) and GGG  (www.creative.rccl.com) - both work fine whereas they consistently did not work on previous cruises.

 

Thanks, this is encouraging.  Maybe RC is reading some posts here and fixing things.

[JessyCruises]

32 minutes ago, twangster said:

Cisco Anyconnect VPN is working fine for me.  Day 3 was a sea day and I stayed connected on VPN all day without any drops.  I also had a number of phone calls using wifi calling that worked perfect, there were no "can you repeat that"  or "you're breaking up" moments.  I also tried WebEx audio for a couple of conference calls and it worked as well. 

 

Thanks, this is reassuring as Cisco anyconnect and WebEx audio are exactly what I will be using. 

[twangster]

16 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Thanks, this is encouraging.  Maybe RC is reading some posts here and fixing things.

 

DNS server is definitely Voom based,  learned through DHCP

 

> www.creative.rccl.com

Server: 172.27.4.14

Address: 172.27.4.14#53

 

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: www.creative.rccl.com

Address: 12.45.86.125

 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, twangster said:

DNS server is definitely Voom based,  learned through DHCP

So, do sites connect/resolve properly WITHOUT being connected via VOOM (ship WiFi connection only)?

Edited July 24, 2019 by Biker19

[twangster]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

So, do sites resolve properly WITHOUT being connected via VOOM (ship WiFi connection only)?

 

Yes, all domains resolve normally when logged out of Voom including 3rd party sites unrelated to Royal.

 

Step 1 logout

 

Step 2 resolve some domains

 

 

> cul.edocs.rccl.com

Server: 172.27.4.14

Address: 172.27.4.14#53

 

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: cul.edocs.rccl.com

Address: 152.186.39.96

> aaa.com

Server: 172.27.4.14

Address: 172.27.4.14#53

 

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: aaa.com

Address: 63.240.178.216

Name: aaa.com

Address: 209.82.215.216

> 

 

Noted that royalcaribbean.com is very slow to load when logged out of Voom, but it does eventually load.

 

Step 3 login to Voom

 

 

 

 

Noted that royalcaribbean.com loads much faster.

 

Sitting in Costa Maya at the moment.