Empress of the Seas

[Orange044]

Hi everyone...new to the forum here, but have been a cruiser in the past. A few Norwegian and a couple Royal Carribean. Anyway, my boyfriend and I are setting sail on the Nordic Empress on 8/15. I know all about the new updates to the ship etc. as I am a Crown and Anchor member and recieved all the updates from them directly. Just wondering if anyone has already been on the new ship and the Bermuda cruise? Looking for info on other excursion ideas and options other than what RCI is offering. Especially, jet ski or waverunner rentals. If you have info feel free to pass it along.... THANKS

 

:)

[Orange044]

No one has any news/reviews/info on this cruise? :(

[Robinob]

I was on NE last summer so I don't have info on the redone ship. We were very happy with the ship last year. We had a balcony stateroom which I hear that they are calling suites these days. EOS is small but we never felt crowded. Food was good as was the entertainment. Pool was small and there is only 1. The workout area was small but I hear that it is now doubled in size.

 

While in Bermuda we went helmut diving, to Horseshoe beach, to the Don'T Stop the Carnival Party and shopping in Hamilton and King's Wharf. We found King's Wharf a waste of time. We used all public transportation, except the busses.

 

Scooters were too dangerous so we didn't rent them. It is not the scooter it is the car and truck traffic that you need to watch. I know many people that were in accidents while on the scooter so we chose not to go that route.

 

There are really no bargains in Bermuda. If you have specific shopping, or any questions, questions feel free to email me at robinob55@msn.com.

 

We had a great time and would sail on EOS again.

[bermudashorts]

There have been several reviews posted in the past month.

Also check the Bermuda forum and RCCL website for a list of excursions.

We sail in Sept and I was checking them out the other day.

[happy_jan]

Hello Orange!

Glad to see another passenger on the ship. I posted ages ago and no one responded, so it is a relief to know others will be accompanying us. We are a family of 4. We totally love it! I have some good information about our plans if you want to hear it. We are doing helmet diving and Horseshoe bay. We plan to relax the rest of the trip.

[GirlHappy]

Orange044

 

I was on the Empress Of The Seas for 9 days. The ship was small but the service was great. I had an inside cabin on the 3rd deck. That part was small, but I did not care. You just sleep in the cabin(Right). Did not go on any excursions just went on the beaches. Beaches were clean. Horseshoe bay was the best. We also like St. Catherine.

 

 

GirlHappy

(Linda):)

[happy_jan]

GirlHappy, Glad to hear you had a terrific time. Thank you for posting! My trip will be for only 6 nites. I have some quick questions if you don't mind. Were you provided a hair dryer, shampoo & conditioner in your cabin? How many pools are on the ship? I read one, I read two. Were the pools salt water or chlorine? Was anyone allowed to have floats/noodles in the pool? How big was the pool(s). Did the ship offer an alcohol drink package (12 drinks for $)? When you went to Horseshoebay, did you pack a lunch or did you hear about anyone who did? Did you have any teens with you? What is the square root of 64? :)

[GirlHappy]

HAPPY Jan

 

 

Answers to your questions. Yes there was a hair dryer. But we burnt ours out the first night. Even the smoke alarm went off. There was one adult pool 5' 8" deep. and one kiddie wading pool and 3 whirl pools in between. The pools were salt water and the whirl pools were chlorine. Floats and swimmies were allowed. Noodles were also allowed. Did not use the drink package but i am sure there was one. When we got off the ship at the ports, they had a sign saying no food or beverages off the ship. The food at horseshoe bay wasn't overly priced. Cheeseburger, pizza, onion rings, bag of chips, and two waters came to about 15.50. They do not rent umbrellas at horseshoe bay when it is windy. The square root of 64 is 8. Any other questions please do not hesitate to ask.

 

Linda

[cram33]

One excursion the boat doesn't offer if Discover Scuba. It is scuba diving for uncertified people. Go to http://www.fantasea.bm/ and research. They teach you some basics familiarize you with equipment in the pool and safely take you scuba diving (no more than 30'). I did it last year and as a result I am now in the process of becoming and Advanced scuba diver. Of all places do it in Bermuda.

[llarsen]

We are booked for the Empress in January. Our itinerary is 11 days out of San Juan the Caribbean. This is our first time on RCCL, past have all been Norwegian and Princess. I didn't know the ship has been redone, when was this? Do you know if they have a safe and fridge in cabins?

Thanks

[happy_jan]

Good information that I can use. Much appreciated. Hopefully, they replaced the hairdryer quickly for you. I didn't realize I would have follow up questions until I hit the reply button. I hope you don't mind. LLarsen has a good question about safes? Does Empress have any in the rooms? Our last cruise had them in the room, but it was a newer RCCL ship. Also, are there shower doors or shower curtains? Do they have those public free soft ice cream stations like they do in the newer ships? I hear the ride is rough coming and going from New York. Is this true? If a ship leaves the port at 5:30p and is heading east at a rate of 12 miles per hour and another ship leaves Kings Wharf at the same time, heading west at a rate of 57 miles per hour, at what point will my dinner mates be requesting an alternate table, -assuming- constant rates of speed and the lack of a tail wind?

How was the wind on the pool deck when moving? Are there areas of the ship where I should be cautious? My last cruise, the crew got a gander of my undies during the excruciating 5 seconds it took me to run from the front of the ship to a non-windy area on the side. I was embarrassed, but I got a new husband out of it. Just kidding (about the new husband part). I wish I were kidding about the wind up my dress part.

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Many thanks! Jan

[GirlHappy]

They had safes in the suites. Shower curtains were used. No free Ice cream stations. The wind was fine at the pool deck area.:)

 

 

Linda

Girl Happy

[CarpeCerevisi]

I also had a safe in my cabin on deck 8 (outer) and also had a shower curtain. You'll find the the best way to wash yourself is to soap up the shower walls and then spin around! (LOL)

 

As far as the wind is concerned, if the ship sailing from King's Wharf is going 57 mph with no tail wind there would be an awful lot of wind! In actuality, the wind is generally not that bad on the pool deck, although it can get up a bit on the sun deck (one deck up). It all depends on which way the wind is blowing at what direction the ship is moving. Also, if you keep having your table mates solve math problems, you might see them talking to the maitre'd the first night.

 

BTW - you should be using knots for your unit of speed, so the ships are moving at 10 and 50 knots respectively. :)

[rre125]

Orange044:

 

Jet skis can be rented at King's Wharf (aka Royal Dockyard). The place is called Windjammer Sports, located near the Clock Tower. I believe the price for a single rider was $105 and for two riders it was $115. I might be off by a few dollars. You get a tour guide who takes you around the areas for about 1 hr 15 min. It was great and my son loved it. I felt that it was actually safer to jet ski rather than rent and drive a moped.

 

Snorkel park was a 10 minute walk from the ship - no wave action/snack bar/scenery to speak of, but a close convenient small beach.

 

Call the Bermuda Dept. of Tourism in NYC and ask them to send you a map of the Island. We found it to be very helpful.

 

I agreed with my fellow cruise critics - Horseshoe Bay Beach is awesome and not to be missed. Bus no. 7 from the Dockyard gets you there. Ask the driver where to get off.

 

As for the ship - I'm an early riser - and saw that the cleaning crew was on top of things. The amenities and services on board were good.

 

RRE

Empress of the Seas July 2004

[happy_jan]

Carpe, thanks for the info. I can assure you and any passenger on my ship that I will be nothing but pleasant and accommodating during the cruise. I will go into happy surrender mode as soon as I see the ship. I can't tell all of you how much I appreciated everyones two cents. What did people do about vacations before the internet (and this website)? I guess everyone just took a chance and missed alot of good opportunities. Alas, I have exhausted my questions. My best wishes to all. :)