Empress - Philly to Bermuda in October

[soozaay]

We're considering going to Bermuda aboard the Empress this October. Has anyone been on the Empress recently? How "dated" is she? How "obstructed" are the outside staterooms? How about cruising to Bermuda? Has anyone cruised out of Philadelphia? How's the port in Philly? I looked in the "review" area but there aren't any recent reviews. Thank you for putting up with all of my questions! Any help would be great (including any links you may have)!!!

[royal4life]

Not sure about Empress I haven't been on her. I know she has gone through dry dock though. As far as philly port it was great. We live in South Jersey, Turnersville. The port was like 25 min from us right over the Walt Whitman. We left home at 10:30, pulled up dropped bags, hopped on the shuttle and took like 15min to get sea pass and were drinking pina coladas by 11:30 a.m. So I would go early. We looked into that cruise but the rest of my family wanted to a 9 nighter. Have you checked the North Jersey port, Cape Liberty that goes to bermeda too on the explorer. Hope this helped. What part of Jersey are you in?

[mrg013]

Wow, it certainly is a small world! I live in Turnersville (Washington Twp.) as well. I'm also looking into doing our first cruise this summer and its so difficult to decide on which to take. The cruises from Florida are significantly cheaper for us, however, the cruises from Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Bayonne are sooo much more convienient. It's so hard to decide whether the price difference is worth the inconvenience of going to Florida, plus there are so many extra costs (airfare, transportation to port, pre-cruise hotel, etc.).

[royal4life]

It is a small world, we are doing the explorer for the 9 nighter out of North Jersey in June. We have also cruised out of Balt, and philly last year. So nice not to fly!!! I hate the stress of it and waiting in the air port, transfers and all of that. By the way we are right off Johnson Road and the Pike. :D

[soozaay]

thanks for the info! we live in toms river. we considered trying one of the cruises out of nyc or bayonne, but to be quite frank....i like the people from south jersey/philly area much better than other parts of the state ;) . it's great to know that going out of philly is as easy as it sounds!

[JrMafia90]

I live in twp too! But I never cruised out of philly.

[royal4life]

I would take every cruise out of philly if they had more ships going out. We did Enchantment last year to New England and it was awesome!

[foto]

We're considering going to Bermuda aboard the Empress this October. Has anyone been on the Empress recently? How "dated" is she? How "obstructed" are the outside staterooms? How about cruising to Bermuda? Has anyone cruised out of Philadelphia? How's the port in Philly? I looked in the "review" area but there aren't any recent reviews. Thank you for putting up with all of my questions! Any help would be great (including any links you may have)!!!

:) We JUST got off Empress and it was great Southern Caribbean Cruise Feb 27-March 10th - the ship was beautifull - food great - BEST views are on deck 8 and 9 lower outside can be blocked. Our waiter (Gomes) was talking about the Phili tour to Bermuda - he said it wa part of a repositioning cruise - he was looking forward to it - the only thing I can tell you is the because it's a smaller ship you do feel the rough seas - we had 10 foot waves the last night from Aruba back to San Juan and we bounced around - A-LOT! but if you take ginger vitamins (from a health food store) it did help! I never felt sick once!

If it's a deal I would do it - it's a nice ""Cozy" ship enjoy. PS I will be writing a full review of our cruise I hope by the weekend with photos - so keep your eyes posted for that! thanks

[jgsi]

My husband and I traveled on her ,when she was still the Nordic Empress, to Bermuda twice. These two trips left from NYC. When the Empress was moved to Philadelphia, immediately after 911, It was actually closer for us to get there. We are in South Jersey. The Empress is by far one of our favorite ships. Don't let size fool you, there was always some thing to do and the food was wonderful. This ship has that intimate feel to it that you just don't find on the bigger ships. Her decor was simple and elegant. The food was delicious, and yes, for those of you who like to climb that rock wall, it is there. The only downside to this ship is the cabin size--very small. What they consider a junior suite on Empress is really a D1 on any other ship. But if you must have a balcony, then you would have to book a junior suite or higher. There is not a lot of these available, so book it early. The inside rooms are about 157 square feet and a regular inside cabin about 177 square feet. We found the ship very elegant, the staff went out of their way on many occasions to ensure our needs. We are in our mid forties and have met people from every end of the age spectrum.

 

We have done the Bermuda run eight times in the past seven years. Not always on Empress, but we keep coming back!

[soozaay]

Thank you so much for the great reviews of the Empress! We've been wanting to go to Bermuda for a long time, and with the Empress sailing out of Philly, I think this October may be the time! We'll leave our Southern Caribbean cruise for next year.

 

Foto~ We'll keep an eye out for your review!

 

Thanks again!

[dolfinmusic]

We are sailing on the Empress mainly because she is sailing out of Philly! ;)

I can't wait! Plus I have read very good things about the Empress otherwise I would NOT have booked it. The Empress will start sailing out of Philly at the end of April.

[kd6183]

Wow, the world is getting smaller by the minute LOL we live in Washington Township as well. We sailed on NCL out of Philly last year and loved it. Bermuda is amazing so beautiful. We were booked this fall to sail to Aruba out of Peurto Rico but changed back to Philly to go to Bermuda again. One we loved Bermuda and two we travel and fly alot and it was great to take a trip we didn't have to fly for. I thought the port was very well organized to be honest with you. It was actually the quickest we ever got our luggage after coming off a cruise. We are thinking of making it a yearly fall thing to sail out of Philly to Bermuda since it is so convienent. I hope one of the Cruise lines continue to sail locally.