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Empress Of The Seas 11 Night Cruise Review

Alexis

By Alexis,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Alexis

Alexis

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We were made aware of the change in itinerary before we sailed. The information was on the RCCL website with the removal of Grenada from the list of ports and the map that shows the ports. They also listed the dates it was not stopping.

All of the people I spoke with on the ship, and that was a lot of them, knew in advance that we would not be stopping at Grenada and seemed very concerned for the people of that island. They felt as I did, that the people had more things to do on their island than entertain us. Anyone who can grumble about missing that port should stop and think what the people of Grenada are living through.

They had to rebuild their homes, towns and the dock, are just a few of the things that need repair.

RCCL is supposed to return to the island of Grenada very soon.

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EscapeFromConnecticut

EscapeFromConnecticut

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I spoke to the loyalty manager who also was the future cruise person. It was very apparent to me that she was more concerned with future cruise sales than the crown and anchor members.

Interesting. We had that same reaction on Grandeur's 12/4 sailing .... at the first of the two C&A "loyalty" gatherings, the captain showed up but quickly handed the mic to the "loyalty ambassador." What followed was a 5- to 10-minute sales pitch. Definitely not what I'd intended to spend my time on.

A few years ago, we learned to stop showing up at the captain's 'welcome aboard' receptions - with most of the passengers at dinner or at the reception, the pool, hot tubs and Solarium were blissfully empty and peaceful. Much better to spend the time there.

So perhaps we'll begin doing the same during the "loyalty" gatherings if they're going to amount to merely a captive-audience sales talk. These sessions were a nice gesture when they meant something, but if they simply devolve into another marketing scam I'll be quite OK without them.

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Alexis

Alexis

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Yes, it is over so fast. 474 days of dreaming and planning comes and goes. We did have the Brilliance last November in 2003 to break up the time.

It was a wonderful cruise and we really enjoyed all the different islands we saw. The ship and the service were wonderful. As I posted, we froze in our cabin, but had the balcony to go out on to warm up.

We are probably not going to cruise again until 2006. It could be the Panama Canal, or Hawaii. We have done Hawaii twice already, never the Panama one. I am going to start researching both of them.

We are taking 13 family members to Disney in Florida next June. I want to see the grandchildren having fun together. And, of course the Grandparents too. That has put a large crimp in the budget. :eek: I am now known as "Alexis the church mouse." :D That is why 2006 seems to be our next cruise.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Years.

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NitaBcruising

NitaBcruising

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Am booked on the January 17 sailing - and very exicted about it! No one has made mention yet about Grenada. I know it was heavily damaged by the hurricane, yet it is still listed on the itinerary as a port call. What kind of shape is it in now, and how will shore trips be affected?

JamesFic, we have a roll call for the 1/17 sailing! There are enough for a meet and mingle. Join us, if you're interested!

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suzzzze

suzzzze

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Thanks for the great review of the Empress. We're on the Jan 31 sailing and can't believe I can say I'm cruising next month. I was just curious if one of the formal nights was considered the Captain's Dinner? I haven't cruised for awhile so not even sure if they still have them.

 

Thanks in advance

Sue

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TWELVEOHONE

TWELVEOHONE

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Interesting. We had that same reaction on Grandeur's 12/4 sailing .... at the first of the two C&A "loyalty" gatherings, the captain showed up but quickly handed the mic to the "loyalty ambassador." What followed was a 5- to 10-minute sales pitch. Definitely not what I'd intended to spend my time on.[/color [/b][/i]

 

At this C&A "loyalty" party the captain did not even show up. The "loyalty" ambassador gave a 2-minute "thanks for booking RCI and I am avaialble for future booking. My hours are listed.......

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GiniB

GiniB

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I hope you didn't take offense to my post. I didn't mean to sound selfish about wanting to go to Grenada. I would love to go, but I know the folks there were just devastated by these storms. I wasn't complaining about that at all. I had not personally seen anything about it on the RCCI website (although obviously it's there somewhere because you saw it). I was complaining (if that's even the right word) about RCCI's lack of information dispersement.

 

Just show my size 7 1/2 foot in my mouth again!

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PH8

PH8

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Sounds like you had a great time Alexis.................I remember when this itinerary first came out and you booked it..........we're going on the 3 niter in Feb....................

 

to Twelve:

wrong answer" their will be a safe in my cabin by the next morning or you hear from (dropped a name).
guess your name dropping worked............I could never do that even though i,too know someone VERY important at RCCL...................seems too pompous.
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Alexis

Alexis

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Oh my, that was the last thing I was thinking. NO, NO, I did not mean that for a comment to you. There were some gripes on the boards previous that were about missing Grenada.

I was actually commenting about another post where it said so many of the people on board did not know. It had nothing to do with yours.

I was just trying to say that the passengers had many ways of finding out the island was cancelled before sailing. Nothing more, and nothing less. And, everyone I spoke with knew about missing Grenada before they boarded.

And please take your foot out of your mouth.

It was my mistake for not addressing the post correctly.

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Alexis

Alexis

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No, no pay TV. Actually our set had the same movie on 5 channels at once and not one of them was in English. This happened with several movies my husband tried to watch. He gave up.

I got into watching two different movies on the TV that I wanted to see. They were in English. They would get part way throught the movie and just cut it off. Then the movie would start a few minutes later and it was from the beginning again. Then it would happen again, and again. This happened so many times, I gave up.

They would post on the TV that the movies would be on channel 21. We had no channel 21?

We finally gave up trying to watch anything. :mad:

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llarsen Great Review Rare

llarsen

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Hello,

 

We are on the Jan 3 sailing and our cruise docs show Grenada is listed as a stop. Does this mean we will actually stop in Grenada? We would like to book a private excursion, but have not done so because we heard on the boards that we would not be stopping in Grenada. What do you think?

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Cruzin-K

Cruzin-K

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The Royal Caribbean web site is still showing Grenada as a stop for your cruise. About a month before the 12/6 sailing, they took Grenada off of the itinerary on the web site, so as long as it's still there, I wouldn't count it out. I certainly wouldn't book anything nonrefundable, however.

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sgttami

sgttami

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Alexis...You will have a wonderful time doing the Disney trip..it is nice to see the kids all having a good time...we booked Alaska this summer so it's also a year wait for us until another cruise...Leaving for Florida next week but when we get back on 1/8....another trip is still a long time away!!!

 

Parrothead...if you don't speak fluent Spanish, all I can say is start practicing now since the 3 day from San Juan is 99 percent Spanish. Compasses and announcements were ALL Spanish until we requested an English one (Compass) from our cabin steward. I was told by ship staff that the 3 and 4 day are almost all PR residents.... and they weren't happy...rude people, no tips etc....don't get me wrong...we still had fun. Just be prepared......

 

Everyone have a happy holiday!!!!!!!!!

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PH8

PH8

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SGT:

 

¡No worry.I inmóvil tendrán diversión!:)

 

BTW--I sorta figured out that the majority would be locals anyway.........not too many other people would fly down for a weekend besides us..:rolleyes:

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