Empress of the Seas 11/9 - 11/17/06

[texasgirl]

We returned late last night from the 8 day southern Caribbean on the EOS. It was a good cruise with more than the usual amount of bumps and scrapes. When we got to the terminal, RCL was having computer problems so we were "herded" into the terminal to wait in chairs they sat up. The later arrivals waited outside in the sun. Once they got going, check-in moved quickly. Cabins were ready and waiting for us. I don't know if that was due to the delay in getting us onboard or the fact that it was the first cruise out of drydock.

 

I do have to say RCL cabins are definitely smaller. We had a guarantee ocean view so we spent the week gazing at the ocean between two life boats on deck 7. That seemed to work fine. However, my sister booked an inside - also on 7. All I'll say is that we referred to it as the "sardine can" all week.

 

Seemed like part of the bedding was new - some not. They had white damask duvet covers, white sheets, dark emerald green shams and accents. I found the entire ship to be in excellent shape. I would have never guessed she's as old as she is! We brushed out teeth in the shower the first two days until they got the water pressure in our sink going. I heard horror stories of stopped up toilets, etc. off and on all week.

 

There were lots of errors in the daily Compass. Times and descriptions were incorrect several times. I also noticed Captain Frank giving misleading information on several announcements - particularly the evening of our St Lucia stop, he was welcoming us back to the ship and telling us we'd be in Aruba the next day. We had a sea day the next day. I also found out the photographers thought the first sea day was the last formal night but the Compass had us going formal the evening of St Lucia.

 

The food was fine. I'd think it would be quite a challenge for the chef to satisfy the all the diversified tastes of the different nationalities I saw in fellow passengers. We split our meals between the dining room and the Windjammer.

 

The gym definitely needs rethinking on this ship. Seems like it's kind of an afterthought. The workout floor (for classes) is way too small. The casino is small and, in my opinion, the slots are very, very tight. However that didn't keep me from making my daily contribution there!!

 

The port/shopping guide, Linda Stern, is wonderful. She's helpful and personable. RCL is lucky to have her. As a matter of fact, I found 99.9% of th staff to be very personable. Our cabin steward, Van, was excellent. He was low-key and quick to fill any requests.

 

I thought disembarkation was relatively painless. Our flight home was long but uneventlful - until we got back to DFW. The airlines has lost all four pieces of our luggage. Hopefully it'll show up today. We had a close connection so I'm not entirely surprised. In all our years of traveling, we've never had a problem before this so I'll just make lemonade out of this little ole lemon. People were being super rude to the poor clerks at the airport last night - kind of like it the airline specifically targeted their luggage to lose. One guy was all upset because his laptop was in a piece of his that was lost. Well, duh!

 

Please ask questions if you have any. I'll do a port review in a bit. Again - the ship looked great, staff was great but there were some minor hassles.

[cyscopup]

Sounds like you had a fairly good cruise. Hope you get your luggage soon. We are going to be onboard Empress on Dec. 1 for b2b2b and are definitely looking forward to it. The little lady wants to know if there is an omelette station in the Windjammer? My only question would be was there any mention as to what was done in drydock?

[DJan07]

Thanks for the great review. Can you tell about any improvements made during the drydock or was it just cosmetic? Thanks again.

 

Derek

[texasgirl]

Yes there was an omlette station but they also kept at least one kind of omlette made up and waiting for you on the buffet table. I ate the cheese omlette several mornings and enjoyed it. They always had some type of beakfast potatos, sausage, bacon, lox, etc. I know it's kinda strange but one of my fav foods in the Windjammer was their mashed potatoes. Really good.

 

I don't know what all was done during drydock but the refurbishments continued through most of the cruise. They were doing floor work (several large rolls of carpet on the forward deck). The rooms had a nice green suede feeling foot-wide accent piece that went all the way around that looked new to me. I assume it was because it matched the green pillows and other accents perfectly. Everything looked new and shiny to me. New beds quite comfy. Big fat pillows and lots of them.

 

Luggage has been found but the delivery service is running late. Grrr - if they would have just *****d me with that info I could have run to the airport, picked it up been unpacked and had the laundry done by now. Oh well

 

Another note - my sis and I found jewelry prices to be very, very good on St Kitts as well as Aruba. Seemed like Richie's and Kays were where we found real bargins. The colored diamonds (blue, yellow, pink and black) were very well priced.

[cyscopup]

Thanks for the fast answer!! I will have my work cut out for me keeping my wife out of all of the jewelry stores.

[wolfcathorse]

Did you happen to hear any rumor about when Capt Frank would be going on vacation and Capt Gunnar returning?

[texasgirl]

No I didn't. I think the crew will be glad when that happens. Several of them made not-so-complimentary remarks about Capt Frank.

[Cruisoholic]

Hi

 

Did they have penny slot machines on the Empress?

 

Thanks Sue

[on board]

We returned late last night from the 8 day southern Caribbean on the EOS. It was a good cruise with more than the usual amount of bumps and scrapes. When we got to the terminal, RCL was having computer problems so we were "herded" into the terminal to wait in chairs they sat up. The later arrivals waited outside in the sun. Once they got going, check-in moved quickly. Cabins were ready and waiting for us. I don't know if that was due to the delay in getting us onboard or the fact that it was the first cruise out of drydock.

 

I do have to say RCL cabins are definitely smaller. We had a guarantee ocean view so we spent the week gazing at the ocean between two life boats on deck 7. That seemed to work fine. However, my sister booked an inside - also on 7. All I'll say is that we referred to it as the "sardine can" all week.

 

 

Seemed like part of the bedding was new - some not. They had white damask duvet covers, white sheets, dark emerald green shams and accents. I found the entire ship to be in excellent shape. I would have never guessed she's as old as she is! We brushed out teeth in the shower the first two days until they got the water pressure in our sink going. I heard horror stories of stopped up toilets, etc. off and on all week.

 

There were lots of errors in the daily Compass. Times and descriptions were incorrect several times. I also noticed Captain Frank giving misleading information on several announcements - particularly the evening of our St Lucia stop, he was welcoming us back to the ship and telling us we'd be in Aruba the next day. We had a sea day the next day. I also found out the photographers thought the first sea day was the last formal night but the Compass had us going formal the evening of St Lucia.

 

The food was fine. I'd think it would be quite a challenge for the chef to satisfy the all the diversified tastes of the different nationalities I saw in fellow passengers. We split our meals between the dining room and the Windjammer.

 

The gym definitely needs rethinking on this ship. Seems like it's kind of an afterthought. The workout floor (for classes) is way too small. The casino is small and, in my opinion, the slots are very, very tight. However that didn't keep me from making my daily contribution there!!

 

The port/shopping guide, Linda Stern, is wonderful. She's helpful and personable. RCL is lucky to have her. As a matter of fact, I found 99.9% of th staff to be very personable. Our cabin steward, Van, was excellent. He was low-key and quick to fill any requests.

 

I thought disembarkation was relatively painless. Our flight home was long but uneventlful - until we got back to DFW. The airlines has lost all four pieces of our luggage. Hopefully it'll show up today. We had a close connection so I'm not entirely surprised. In all our years of traveling, we've never had a problem before this so I'll just make lemonade out of this little ole lemon. People were being super rude to the poor clerks at the airport last night - kind of like it the airline specifically targeted their luggage to lose. One guy was all upset because his laptop was in a piece of his that was lost. Well, duh!

 

Please ask questions if you have any. I'll do a port review in a bit. Again - the ship looked great, staff was great but there were some minor hassles.

 

Texasgirl, I have some questions could you please e-mail at rfrenchbaxter@msn.com and I will then reply?

thank you