Empress 8 Night Eastern Caribbean 🎵 ​​​​​​​Oops, I Booked it Again 🎵

[twangster]

Cruise Summary

 

What really made these three recent Empress cruises stand out as cruises I'll remember are not only the places we visited but the people I met.  I've met not only great crew and management employees but also many frequent cruisers with conversations I've enjoyed every night.  Almost every one of them has overlapping future cruises where we'll meet again.  You don't get to meet great people like this on big ships.

 

I've met some great bartenders but the ones on Empress really stand out.  I remember certain bartenders from this cruise or that cruise but on Empress I've added three stand out bartenders to my list.  I'm hoping I'll see them at some CocoCay bar when we share the pier with Empress on an upcoming cruise. 

 

Going to Jost Van Dyke has been on my mind for some time now and it was great to finally make it back plus see it return to 100% after the hurricanes.   

 

I'm still in love with Empress despite her small size.  It's probably her big heart that attracts me to her. 

 

While she is an old ship she was refreshed quite extensively when she came back for Cuba, granted cabins were not made any bigger.

 

Small ship cruising isn't for everyone.  That's okay, there will be more room for me on the small ships.  I still love big ships too and there is always room on big ships for everyone.  My favorite remains Voyager class but I'm glad Empress is there when I really want to experience the sea even more.

 

It's going to be interesting moving up to Majesty.  It's kind of funny when moving to Majesty is stepping up to a bigger ship!

 

I'm still trying to figure out if I can squeeze Empress onto my cruise dance card over the next few months.  I'll definitely go on Empress again.

 

All cruises will create memories you won't forget. Some of my best memories come from this, the smallest ship with the biggest heart.

 

I hope you enjoyed following along and I thank you for viewing.

 

PS - look for Cruise Compasses soon, once I get home from Majesty and can scan them in properly.

[beachnative]

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

...for this wonderful review.  You have produced a gem and I will be a "twangster" fan from now on.

 

Thank you for your helping us.  But more than anything, thank you for increasing our excitement about our future cruise on the Empress.  We will be sailing with two of our dear friends who have been on the Empress' Cuba route several times and love this small vessel.

 

We wish for you many more excellent cruises.

[wikoffclan]

On 8/11/2019 at 4:48 PM, twangster said:

 

 

 

 

 

It's really nice having USB outlets on both sides of the bed.

 

 

 

 

Darn!!! Wish I'd known this for my little USB fan on my Empress cruise in May! I'll be looking for them on Majesty in September... and when I can get back to my favorite - Empress -  as soon as I can.

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

What really made these three recent Empress cruises stand out as cruises I'll remember are not only the places we visited but the people I met.  I've met not only great crew and management employees but also many frequent cruisers with conversations I've enjoyed every night.  Almost every one of them has overlapping future cruises where we'll meet again.  You don't get to meet great people like this on big ships.

This is what I've tried to explain to people when I comment about how Oasis class isn't my first choice.  I'm a rather social person, and the design of the Oasis class just isn't all that conducive for socialization.

I have usually been "relatively solo" on my past cruises (when my son would go with me, he'd always be off doing his own thing as most teenagers would), and I enjoy meeting new people and chatting with them and saying "hi" from time to time as we see each other around during the course of the cruise.  But on an Oasis class ship, everything is so compartmentalized that you can meet someone when you board and then never see them again for the duration of the cruise.  

It's not just the size of Oasis class, but the layout -- the big opening down the centerline of the ship separates the pool deck into separate units, plus the CP and BW neighborhoods and the Royal Promenade create even more units.  Some people complain about Freedom class being "too big" but for me, it's just right -- large enough to have plenty of shade available in the Solarium (which Oasis class has almost none of), but compact enough that you're likely to run across new friends throughout the week.  

 

[Yorkvillain]

Amazing reviews Twangster. Thank you for doing these. 

 

I love all the ships as well.  I'm just as excited for my Empress cruise as I am for my cruise on the Oasis. 

[perfect match]

Thank you, Twangster, for another wonderful review!

[Sea Dog]

Thank you for taking the time to let us live vicariously through you!

[tcmagnum]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 7:00 AM, twangster said:

• Miami
• Perfect Day at CocoCay
• Sea Day
• San Juan
• Tortola
• St Thomas
• Sea Day
• Sea Day
• Miami

 

Following as we are interested in Tortola and St. Thomas...

[CDNCRUIZR]

Loved your pictures and review.

[twangster]

Here are the Cruise Compasses from this sailing in PDF format.

 

General Cruise Compass:

 

Empress 08-10-19 8 Nt Eastern .PDF

 

Adventure Ocean:

 

Empress AO 08-10-19 8 Nt Eastern .PDF

 

Teens:

 

Empress Teens 08-10-19 8 Nt Eastern .PDF

 

[rafinmd]

A couple of questions on the B2B.  Were all the menus on the 6-day repeated on the 8 day or were more than 8 total choices.  Also, how many Dress to Empress nights were there on the 8-day?

 

Roy

[twangster]

41 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

A couple of questions on the B2B.  Were all the menus on the 6-day repeated on the 8 day or were more than 8 total choices.  Also, how many Dress to Empress nights were there on the 8-day?

 

Roy

 

I didn't eat in the MDR so I can't help with menus.  There were two formal nights on both sailings.

[Clarea]

44 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

A couple of questions on the B2B.  Were all the menus on the 6-day repeated on the 8 day or were more than 8 total choices.  Also, how many Dress to Empress nights were there on the 8-day?

 

Roy

 

The 8-night would likely have the same 6 menus that were on the 6-night, with the addition of 2 different menus.

[soloadventurer]

On 8/14/2019 at 4:39 AM, twangster said:

Day 4 - San Juan

 

Quite windy as we approached Puerto Rico but Empress handled it really well.

 

 

The pilot boat was having a fun ride.

 

 

 

Finally San Juan was within sight.

 

 

El Morro was grand as ever.

 

 

 

Into our berth early as promised.

 

 

 

Brilliant pic of the Halmatic pilot boat - many a great night boarding ships in Belfast Lough on one of those

[soloadventurer]

Thank you for another brilliant report.

 

We were due to be on a B2B with her past 2wks but of course cancelled - reading this has added salt to the wounds ( if you know what i mean lol )

[mikes210]

I would really love to see the Tortola pics 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, mikes210 said:

I would really love to see the Tortola pics 

 

Apologize if they are out of order, just dumping them in to this post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Biker19]

[mugtech]

Looking forward to booking Empress ASAP, glad we were reminded of what a fine ship she is.

[Biker19]

29 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Looking forward to booking Empress ASAP, glad we were reminded of what a fine ship she is.

It's probably an expensive flight to Chennai:

Plan Your Vacation Holidays On A Luxurious Cruise | Cordelia Cruises

[mugtech]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

It's probably an expensive flight to Chennai:

Plan Your Vacation Holidays On A Luxurious Cruise | Cordelia Cruises

Does this mean I will get no crown and anchor points?