Empress Of The Seas Sailing from Cape Liberty, Summer of 2020

[allentownahoy]

23 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

With you, and the other one.  May 4 & May 11.  🙂

Nice. So I will see you in January and May. In May you can even meet my hubby.

[Merion_Mom]

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

why?

 

In my experience, it's not a very nice place.

 

There are many better options.

 

8 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

I hope so!  Montreal is so close to Ottawa, no flight...simply a short bus or train ride. 

I think Quebecers like the warmth like any other cold weather Canadian!  Florida is a popular winter home for Eastern Canadians.  I have too many cruises booked to go on Empress soon. I hope she stays in Montreal for a few years....I’ve left out of both Montreal and Quebec City on other cruise lines and it’s great. 

 

I do not think that you will have the luxury of time.  Grab the opportunity now; it will not last.

[Casino Comp Chick]

On 8/1/2019 at 4:52 PM, Scotty G said:

We did this run from Manhattan to Bermuda on Song of America and Nordic Empress several times and the cruises were fantastic since we would stay in Hamilton and St Georges! Only ships of this size can be accommodated there! Another feature was that you did not have to be on board when the ship moved from port to port in Bermuda. One could stay at the local night spots or the casino!

 

As of yet no casinos in Bermuda but it looks like they passed an ordinance to allow some in the future though there are articles from February regarding a funding issue so it may not happen after all.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Casino Comp Chick

[Charles4515]

3 hours ago, Casino Comp Chick said:

 

As of yet no casinos in Bermuda but it looks like they passed an ordinance to allow some in the future though there are articles from February regarding a funding issue so it may not happen after all.

 

Correct. There has never been any casinos in Bermuda. They do have a casino commission that has been working on casinos for years. They never get it done. I don’t think it is a funding issue. I believe one has been built at the Hamilton Princess.  It is finding someone to operate them who they can trust not to be corrupt. Maybe someday. I would not hold my breath. C,ruise lines can get a license to open the casino at 9:00 pm while in port till about 5:00 am. Most that have multiple sailings have done so. 

Edited August 4, 2019 by Charles4515

[mdwcruises]

On 8/3/2019 at 12:52 AM, Merion_Mom said:

 

I have no problem seeing the itinerary, with details.  Click on "Explore This Itineray"

 

Is there a way to see the itineraries with port hours simply listed without clicking through all that day 1 day 2 etc?  

Edited August 5, 2019 by mdwcruises

[Charles4515]

39 minutes ago, mdwcruises said:

Is there a way to see the itineraries with port hours simply listed without clicking through all that day 1 day 2 etc?  

 

Royal has decided to make it difficult to see the itinerary. They probably consider the new way to be an enhancement........ugh 

[marci22]

10 hours ago, mdwcruises said:

Is there a way to see the itineraries with port hours simply listed without clicking through all that day 1 day 2 etc?  

I had to go to an outside travel site to see the port times easily.

[eatplayvacay]

Other than avoiding the obstructed view rooms, does anyone have opinions on decks/areas that are good or not so good? 

[Merion_Mom]

25 minutes ago, eatplayvacay said:

Other than avoiding the obstructed view rooms, does anyone have opinions on decks/areas that are good or not so good? 

From one experience on the Enchantment, never book a cabin directly under Boleros. 😳

[mrp4352]

3 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

From one experience on the Enchantment, never book a cabin directly under Boleros. 😳

 

And I would echo with, never book a cabin directly over Boleros, either.  And after that experience, it goes hand in hand with my, never book an inside gty stateroom again, rule!  That said - the sound quality of the amplification system in Boleros is impressive! :-) 

[Merion_Mom]

13 minutes ago, mrp4352 said:

 

And I would echo with, never book a cabin directly over Boleros, either.  And after that experience, it goes hand in hand with my, never book an inside gty stateroom again, rule!  That said - the sound quality of the amplification system in Boleros is impressive! 🙂

 

 

Particularly the bass!  😮 

[Pumbaamd]

We booked the Montreal-Miami Snowbirds cruise on GR 3 days go. Prices today are much higher. Never been to several of these ports, should be fun!

Rick and Deirdra

[paulekrause]

I just booked the May 11. Our 13th trip to Bermuda and looking forward to not docking at the Dockyard. My only concern is parking at Cae Liberty. If Anthem or Oasis sails Thurs or Saturday as in past years. And Adventure sails whenever, and Summit sails on Sunday, will there be any parking spaces left in the lot on Monday for Empress cruisers? Maybe I’ll just take an Uber since I live 20 minutes from the port.

[starrcards]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 4:00 PM, Noreen411 said:

Hi

 

What do you think of the 7 night Canada/New England itinerary?  Most people are talking about the Bermuda ones.

 

We have been to Bermuda several times (usually on Anthem) so docked at the Dockyard.  It is definitely appealing to dock right in either Hamilton or St George, but we were thinking of trying the Canada/New England itinerary because it’s different than what we’ve done in the past.

 

Some of the ports are short stays and there is only 1 sea day at the end of the trip.

 

Noreen

We booked the July 6 New England and Canada cruise. Times in Newport and Boston are short but I think we have realistic expectations for exploring both. We plan on using the public trolley in Newport to visit Marble House and the Breakers, hopefully walking some of the cliff walk in between. In Boston my son wants to visit The Granery burial grounds (Paul Reveres  grave) and the Central burial grounds. Both are near the Common and easily reachable by the T.  Bar Harbor is a full day (8 am to 7 pm) and gives plenty of time for Acadia and downtown. Still working on Saint John and Halifax, the other 2 "shortish" days.  And you are correct, the last day (Sunday) is the one and only sea day. We are looking forward to the cruise.

[jbethel11]

15 hours ago, paulekrause said:

I just booked the May 11. Our 13th trip to Bermuda and looking forward to not docking at the Dockyard. My only concern is parking at Cae Liberty. If Anthem or Oasis sails Thurs or Saturday as in past years. And Adventure sails whenever, and Summit sails on Sunday, will there be any parking spaces left in the lot on Monday for Empress cruisers? Maybe I’ll just take an Uber since I live 20 minutes from the port.

Yeah, I question the same thing. Celebrity Summit will depart on the 9th, Oasis on the 10th, then Empress on the 11th. That's onwards of 10,000+ passengers, so if 1/3 of them drive in, you are looking at around 3,500 cars! I know the covered parking lot fills up quick, so you might be parking in the uncovered lot. What worries me about Cape Liberty is if they are really ready to handle that much traffic (both marine and automobile) with that many people!

[starrcards]

An off topic question. As I said in a previous post, we are sailing on the Empress July 6, 2020. As of now, there are no drink packages or shore excursions on my cruise planner (of course the Key is available).  Those of you cruising next spring and summer, do these items show on your cruise planner yet?

[Clarea]

The various items show up in the Cruise Planner at seemingly random times, so there's no way to know when your's will show up.  Keep checking.

[Noreen411]

10 hours ago, starrcards said:

We booked the July 6 New England and Canada cruise. Times in Newport and Boston are short but I think we have realistic expectations for exploring both. We plan on using the public trolley in Newport to visit Marble House and the Breakers, hopefully walking some of the cliff walk in between. In Boston my son wants to visit The Granery burial grounds (Paul Reveres  grave) and the Central burial grounds. Both are near the Common and easily reachable by the T.  Bar Harbor is a full day (8 am to 7 pm) and gives plenty of time for Acadia and downtown. Still working on Saint John and Halifax, the other 2 "shortish" days.  And you are correct, the last day (Sunday) is the one and only sea day. We are looking forward to the cruise.

Thank you for the information.

 

We haven’t started planning what to do in the ports yet, other than my husband saying he wants to have a lobster roll (or a few a different ports).

 

Noreen

[Merion_Mom]

On 8/21/2019 at 9:22 PM, paulekrause said:

I just booked the May 11. Our 13th trip to Bermuda and looking forward to not docking at the Dockyard. My only concern is parking at Cae Liberty. If Anthem or Oasis sails Thurs or Saturday as in past years. And Adventure sails whenever, and Summit sails on Sunday, will there be any parking spaces left in the lot on Monday for Empress cruisers? Maybe I’ll just take an Uber since I live 20 minutes from the port.

 

But the Empress passengers from the previous cruise will be departing from their parking spots, leaving them available for you.

 

But if *I* lived 20 minutes from the port, *I* would definitely use Uber instead of parking.

[jmb4534]

On 8/5/2019 at 9:26 AM, eatplayvacay said:

Other than avoiding the obstructed view rooms, does anyone have opinions on decks/areas that are good or not so good? 

We sailed the Empress to Cuba twice recently. Just aft of the elevators on Decks 7, 8 & 9 (7164, 7664, 8164, 8664, 9164 & 9664) there are larger cabins that say 'obstructed', but they are not. Our TA advised us not to book them because of the obstructed view on our first trip. While on the cruise I did a little investigating and the view wasn't any more obstructed than our cabin which was the first one behind it. One the second cruise, I tried to get it, but since it will accommodate 4, and the ship was full, we could not get it. 

Edited August 23, 2019 by jmb4534

[Bob the fish49]

Booked the June 1st New England and Canada cruise excited to be on a smaller ship.

[Tagsalong]

On 8/9/2019 at 1:57 PM, Pumbaamd said:

We booked the Montreal-Miami Snowbirds cruise on GR 3 days go. Prices today are much higher. Never been to several of these ports, should be fun!

Rick and Deirdra

Price today is $49 pppn which isn't too shabby.

 

We are doing the Adventure repositioning this Autumn and will consider the Empress snowbird migration in 2020.

 

We are also doing Empress on June 01 and B2B June 12.  I'll bet half the ship's pax will be doing the turn-a-round going back to Bayonne.

 

Have done New England three times (counting this upcoming one), all during leaf peeping season.  It will be a different experience, to some degree, to be there in the summer and are glad for the opportunity.  As long as they are serving lobsters/lobster rolls in the town and city restaurants that we visit, any season is fine with us.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Tagsalong

[Pumbaamd]

Ice Man,

Hope to sea you all on board!

R&D

[highway6161]

Booked May 4! Excited to have Hamilton and St. George's right outside the window! (Well, outside someone's window!)

Can we conclude that between April 30 in Miami and May 4 in Bayonne, the ship will have a mini-refurb/cleaning/maintenance, or is there another sailing/repositioning that I'm missing?