Empress of the Sea review 1-30-06

[Retired not Expired]

You have been so good about answering questions. I hate to ask you more. When you have a free moment, could you tell me how convenient the ports were on this cruise? Did you have to tender very much? When you got to shore, was it walkable or did you have to take a taxi or some form of transportation to get into the towns if you didn't take an excursion?

 

It seems to me that most of the island excursions offer pretty much the same thing and we don't plan on booking an excursion at every port but we will want to get out and at least walk around a little bit.

 

Again, thank you for any info you can give.

 

Since the itinerary change last year, there is no tendering on this cruise. You dock at every port. Here’s a rundown.

 

St Maarten. You dock at the A C Wathey pier. Two options to go to town. Land taxi is $3 per person each way. Best option is to buy an all day pass on the water taxi for $5 per person as it will take you to the town pier and easy walking.

 

St Kitts. Dock in town with a 5 minute walk or a $2 per person taxi.

 

Antigua. Dock in town within walking distance.

 

St Lucia. Dock is a 15 minute walk, $1 PP water taxi, or $4 PP land taxi from town.

 

Barbados. About one mile from town, $2 PP shuttle ride, or $5 for four people taxi.

 

Margarita Island. Might want to have something set up here. It’s a 45 minute $50 RT taxi to town and many of the drivers do not speak English.

 

Curacao. This would be a 15-20 minute walk to get to the free water taxi across to the main part of town or a $8 taxi ride into town.

 

Aruba. Very walkable, about 100 yards.

[curlyd]

Stanley, Thank you for a great question. And Retured I really appreciate your detailed answer. I've printed it and put it in my folder. This will be of Great use to me.

 

Thanks again.

[Stanley]

Thank you so very much for the great information. It will surely help us. How do you remember all this stuff anyway?

 

By any chance do you know how much rum we can bring home with us? We've had a few people make requests for stuff we've never heard of.

 

Thanks again.

[Retired not Expired]

It's much easier to remember when you've got the dailies plus the port of call info with you to jog your memory.

 

Sorry, I didn't bring any booze back this time so didn't check the requirements. You should be able to get that from the State Department website. Remember once you are back in PR, you have cleared customs and can get anything you want to bring back.

[laceyjane]

Hi Retired,

Thank you for all your very helpful information. Was there a chocolate buffet? Were there very many midnight/late night buffets on this ship? Did they have a sushi bar? I guess you can tell we love to eat on our cruises!!

 

Thanks again for the info.

[Retired not Expired]

Hi Retired,

Thank you for all your very helpful information. Was there a chocolate buffet? Were there very many midnight/late night buffets on this ship? Did they have a sushi bar? I guess you can tell we love to eat on our cruises!!

 

Thanks again for the info.

 

The chocolate buffet was the second night from 11:30 pm to 12:30 am.

 

There were only two midnight buffets, day 8 Gala Buffet, and day 10 Caribbean Market Buffet.

 

Sorry, no sushi bar, not that I saw or heard of anyway.

 

They did put out snacks at midnight most nights in lounges around the ship.

[denred04]

Hi again,

 

I am feelling ALOT better about the Empress...I went to another cruise site and there were tons of pictures. It looks like a really nice ship. then I looked at some other ships, and the pool deck looked too big!! so I am a bit calmer now. I have seen somewhere-i think on RCI website- that the Empress has two pools, but everything else I look at says, and shows one. so which is it? also, do they have basketball? the ship details on line says yes, but I figured you would know for sure! I also saw someones pictures of shuffleboard. so at least the boys will have outside stuff to do. Also, how does the rock climbing work? do they have belayers(sp?) or do we have to do it ourselves? I actually know how!!! yay! and are there certain times? (when we were on carnival, the kids were so excited about the water slide--but it was only open twice a day, for about an hour each time!) thank you SOOOO much for all of the information you have provided...you are MUCH better than a travel agent;) Denise

[Retired not Expired]

There is only one pool.

Didn't go up but believe there is a basketball hoop up on the top deck.

Two shuffleboard courts on the Promenade Starboard side.

Rock climbing wall was open at various times from two to four hours at a time. They will have their people there to run it.

There were also ping pong and mini golf tournaments so they must have those things too but I didn't see them.

They also set aside some time for family pool games.

So yes, your boys will have some outside things to do. I wish I could tell you more but most of those things are behind me now. I held a chair down a lot.

[philly50's]

It was so great to read all of the reviews/comments about this ship and the 11 day voyage. Last night my husband and I and some freinds booked this same trip for November. It is the first RCL cruise for all of us, we've been on Carnival, NCL and Celebrity and loved them all. Our decision to take this cruise was based solely on the itinerary and from what I've read it seems like we made a wise choice. We didn't know much about the ship itself but we've been on both the mega ships and a few smaller ones and have enjoyed both. I guess we just love cruising and are the type of people that set out to have a great cruise and usually get our wish. We are in our mid 50's so it seems like we'll fit in on on this Empress cruise. All of us are anxious to try RCL and I'll keep searching these boards to pick up hints from the seasoned RCL travelers.

[denred04]

Hi-- Our family is six, and the last cruise we sat just the six of us at a table....On the last morning it was nice to sit with other people. My question is, do they have tables of 10 on the Empress? I would think if we were at a table for 8, the other 2 might be intimidated by a large family.

thanks

[Retired not Expired]

Don't hold me to this, but I believe a few of the long tables may have been for ten, or at least could be set for ten with a table for two put with them. All the round tables were for eight, and there were a few tables for two and four.

[ChuckyMoe]

Not sure about the Empress as we aren't going on it until January 2007 but I can tell you that on the Brilliance in January, we were a group of 11 and our table accommdated everyone in our group. I believe that normally they are for 10 people but they made room for one more at our table.

[danfiveoh]

It was so great to read all of the reviews/comments about this ship and the 11 day voyage. Last night my husband and I and some freinds booked this same trip for November. It is the first RCL cruise for all of us' date=' we've been on Carnival, NCL and Celebrity and loved them all. Our decision to take this cruise was based solely on the itinerary and from what I've read it seems like we made a wise choice. We didn't know much about the ship itself but we've been on both the mega ships and a few smaller ones and have enjoyed both. I guess we just love cruising and are the type of people that set out to have a great cruise and usually get our wish. We are in our mid 50's so it seems like we'll fit in on on this Empress cruise. All of us are anxious to try RCL and I'll keep searching these boards to pick up hints from the seasoned RCL travelers.[/quote']

 

Hey, Philly 50's:

I think we were booked on the Legend with you last October. We took the $$ from that, thanks to Wilma :(, and booked the Empress. We were on her a couple of years ago to Bermuda. Great ship, and this southern itinerary is really nice! RCI is our favorite line, you'll enjoy it!

[Learning Conformity]

THANK YOU for your spectacular, well detailed review! I, along with 9 other friends, will be sailing on the Empress for the same 11 day itinerary in February 2007 (we're early bookers), and I have even more confidence than ever that I chose the right ship for us. We range from our late 20's - late 50's (mostly early 30's, single and married), and are looking for some relaxation - tons of fun, good new people to meet, great new ports, and a tropical vacation sans teens or college kids. While we are a bit of a wild bunch ourselves, we keep our lunacy in the bars, and don't act like raging hippos when it's feeding time at the Windjammer :) . This ship sounds just right. Plus, you just solved my big San Juan hotel dillema (we plan to arrive 3 days early, and most of the hotels in cool areas that I found were $200+ per night) Thanks again for all of your insight!

 

p.s.- how are the bars on this ship? and how late are they open?

[Retired not Expired]

 

p.s.- how are the bars on this ship? and how late are they open?

 

Although back in my younger days, Auggie Busch use to send me Christmas cards to thank me for keeping the third shift busy, I’m now too much of a morning person to do much with the bar scene. On or off the ships, I’m up around 4:30 to 5:00 so not much night life. I enjoy having the world to myself while watching the new day arrive.

 

But the few times I did hear a band, they were the type that would make for an enjoyable time. Here are the times for the bars and lounges but sometimes they did vary.

 

Pool Bar- Opened at 9:00 am and closed anywhere from 9:00 pm to 12:30 am. Music most afternoons and/or evenings.

 

Schooner Bar- Piano bar open from 9:00 am to 1:00 am most days.

 

Boleros- Open most nights at 5:00 pm and close between 10:30 to 12:30 with 12:30 most nights. This is where you would find most live bands.

 

Viking Crown Lounge- This one would open most nights around five or six and would be open pass the others to close the night. It would have a DJ starting around eleven at night.

[Learning Conformity]

Thanks again, Retired!

[philly50's]

Nice to hear from you. Yes we were booked on that Legend cruise and DH and I were one of the few passengers that made the trip and actually enjoyed it despite Wilma. Thinking back our last four cruises have involved some type of drama but all worked out well. This will be our first cruise since October 05 and are hoping for no hurricane interruptions. We are looking forward to it.