Empress B2B - 14 Nights on the Biggest Little Ship

[Clarea]

Curious if this PDF file comes up when not logged into VOOM:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

Curious if this PDF file comes up when not logged into VOOM:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

Nope.  

 

It seems only royalcaribbean.com domains works for free including Royal Up. Free sites are listed as:

 

 

[twangster]

Day 3 afternoon

 

I ventured around the ship and enjoyed a few cocktails here and there. 

 

Top Tier event at 5pm in Boleros.

 

 

The Captain announced there are over 11 million Crown and Anchor members worldwide and 540 were on this sailing.

 

 365 Gold,  84 Platinum,  25 Emerald,  43 Diamond,  17 Diamond Plus, 6 Pinnacles.  Top cruiser 3,488 points.

 

Arriving back to my cabin there was an envelope on my bed.

 

 

Windjammer for dinner tonight.

 

Empress features hand washing stations in the WJ like newer ships.

 

 

Gala Indian Night

 

 

A small gluten free section.

 

 

 

The WJ has been lightly occupied on the few times I've had dinner there.  I found some great new Indian items to try and they were tasty.

 

 

Dramatic sky tonight

 

 

In my cocktail induced state a number of different animals were conjured up in my mind looking at this cloud.  #FreeWillie

 

[twangster]

Night 3 Pool Party

 

I wanted to check out the pool party they referenced in the letter.

 

 

It was well attended with many people still in their formal wear since this was a formal night.

 

 

Entertainment staff led the dance moves.

 

 

 

I had noted the Windjammer offered "Late Night Snacks" 10:30pm to 12:30am and then a "Burger & Sandwich Bar" 12:30am to 1:30am.  There were a number of guests here at 11:45pm.

 

 

Unlike the late night offerings on Mariner and Navigator recently this was more complete with much more than just burgers and hot dogs.  It was pretty much a midnight buffet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't packed by any stretch but I was certainly not alone.

 

 

 

There were even some dessert items.

 

 

Wandering around the pool deck it was a beautiful night with a sky full of stars.

 

 

It's hard to see them in these photos but it was a great night for star gazing.

 

 

I wanted to include a picture of the kids splash zone and here at midnight it was void of kids so I took the opportunity to take a quick picture.  I try not to photograph other people's children so this will have to suffice with the water features turned off.

 

[Retired LEO]

4 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Chops was always empty early, but service was really slow

 

John, they set a record this morning. Got my breakfast in 5 minutes. 

[HBE4]

58 minutes ago, twangster said:

I had noted the Windjammer offered "Late Night Snacks" 10:30pm to 12:30am and then a "Burger & Sandwich Bar" 12:30am to 1:30am.  There were a number of guests here at 11:45pm.

 

59 minutes ago, twangster said:

Unlike the late night offerings on Mariner and Navigator recently this was more complete with much more than just burgers and hot dogs.  It was pretty much a midnight buffet.

 

They really need to start rolling out this feature to the rest of the fleet.

[HBE4]

 

BTW, loving the review. It makes this mega-ship cruiser (Freedom-class and above) considering sailing the Empress, if the price is right.

 

Just how early do you get up or late do you stay up to take pictures with almost nobody in them (pool parties being the exceptions, obvi) ??

[twangster]

Day 4 Costa Maya

 

I slept in a bit given the late night activities the night before.  Looking outside I saw we had arrived.

 

 

Today Empress was recording setting.  We are the biggest ship in port! We were also the only ship in port so is there that.

 

 

Unfortunately a whale tail arrived to break our record.

 

 

Fortunately the Fantasy didn't arrive until 1pm and with Empress being on the small side it was nice experiencing Costa Maya with so few guests present.

 

 

[twangster]

I've always enjoyed the Costa Maya port area and Mahahual is a short shuttle ride away.  This time I'm just sticking to the port area.  Maybe I'll run over to Mahahual next week when I'm back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice big pool that's free to use.

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

I don't recall seeing the Pink Flamingos before but I probably just missed them.

 

 

They are sort of a weird looking animal up close with some strange mannerisms but it was fun to watch them for a while.

 

 

 

They have a free tram running down the pier.  It's hot today and this was a welcome break from the sun on the way back to the ship.

 

[Merion_Mom]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Chops was always empty early, but service was really slow

 

 

9 o'clock??  Oh hell, no!  😨

[Merion_Mom]

@twangster

 

I have never just stayed in the port area of Costa Maya.  I'll be there next week.  Are all of those things in your pictures without charge?  Not just the pool, but the loungers in the sand?  Any other info you can share about staying in the port?

[twangster]

1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

@twangster

 

I have never just stayed in the port area of Costa Maya.  I'll be there next week.  Are all of those things in your pictures without charge?  Not just the pool, but the loungers in the sand?  Any other info you can share about staying in the port?

 

Pool and loungers are free.  You have to pay for drinks and food.  Certain activities like the dolphin swim or the walk along the aerial walkways carry a charge (I think).  I'm sure the beach beds/cabanas have a charge but didn't inquire.

[twangster]

Note about Costa Maya and Cozumel time.

 

They are one hour behind ship time.  The ship stayed on eastern time and a note on the Cruise Compass for today warns guests to mind the time change.  My cell phone did switch to central time until I manually fixed it to eastern.  

 

Often Royal Captains will change ship time to match island time.  Not so on Empress.

[twangster]

I met a Pinnacle at the bar last night.  He is staying on for the next four cruises.

Super nice guy.

[Merion_Mom]

I wear a watch - if that puts me out of step with 2019, I don't care.  I don't have to worry about it "changing time on me".  😄 

[brillohead]

6 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I wear a watch - if that puts me out of step with 2019, I don't care.  I don't have to worry about it "changing time on me".  😄 

I just change my phone to "manual" during a cruise, and set it back to "automatic" when I get home.  

I've had my phone pick up what I think was GMT from the ship's towers before... just not worth messing with -- set it and forget it!

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, brillohead said:

I just change my phone to "manual" during a cruise, and set it back to "automatic" when I get home.   ...

 

Same here.

[HBE4]

11 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I wear a watch - if that puts me out of step with 2019, I don't care.  I don't have to worry about it "changing time on me".  😄 

 

Same here.  I never noticed how out of step with the times I was until recently when I began to notice many a millennial asking me for the time "because I have a watch and they don't have their phones/phone died/can't read the cracked screen".

 

Then again, we have to set our watches when we change time zones and ship time changes as well. 😉

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

9 o'clock??  Oh hell, no!  😨

 

We were there every day at 7:30 🤣

 

Brunch starts at 9:00 and goes to noon

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

@twangster

 

I have never just stayed in the port area of Costa Maya.  I'll be there next week.  Are all of those things in your pictures without charge?  Not just the pool, but the loungers in the sand?  Any other info you can share about staying in the port?

 

The loungers are free, but you are asked (repeatedly) to purchase food.  Two cokes, a cheese quesadilla, and a chicken quesadilla were $34.  She first asked for $49, but we questioned it.  The quesadillas were huge, we should have shared.  The overhead walkway is a $10 tour that includes birds.  The tequila tour is $10 also (I believe).  And a fish pedicure is $20.  

 

Maya Chan, where we had a reservation, was not open the day we were there because the Majesty had to switch ports; Costa Maya and Cozumel were reversed.  We decided to stay at the port, primarily because I had not done much Costa Maya research and wasn’t impressed with the little I did. We enjoyed the day, but will look for something else next time.  Hopefully, that will be Maya Chan.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Day 4 Costa Maya

 

Today Empress was recording setting.  We are the biggest ship in port! We were also the only ship in port so is there that.

 

We were the only ship in both Tortola and St Thomas.

 

If you look at the window above the last Lifeboat,  that's the forward window of our cabin

[John&LaLa]

59 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I wear a watch - if that puts me out of step with 2019, I don't care.  I don't have to worry about it "changing time on me".  😄 

 

One of my watches changes time, the other doesn't. 😉

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

Same here.  I never noticed how out of step with the times I was until recently when I began to notice many a millennial asking me for the time "because I have a watch and they don't have their phones/phone died/can't read the cracked screen".

 

Then again, we have to set our watches when we change time zones and ship time changes as well. 😉

 

I have to wind mine every day. 😱

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

Same here.  I never noticed how out of step with the times I was until recently when I began to notice many a millennial asking me for the time "because I have a watch and they don't have their phones/phone died/can't read the cracked screen". ...

 

Funny!