tybeelucy2

So it sounds like it's best to do a ship tour in Cienfuegos, or it could take hours to get off the ship? Is the tender ride 20 minutes one way, or round trip?

Also, do you recall if the drink cards were offered for sale? I believe it's 75.00 for ten drinks or something like that (alcohol drinks)

Thanks!! 

Thanks so much for this review!! We are on Empress next month, our first RC trip and first time to Cuba. This is sooooo helpful!! 

Just to confirm, there isn't a fridge in the room, correct? We are in an oceanview as well. 

Thanks! 

I second portofrome, definitely a bucket list cruise! Sounds amazing. 

On 8/24/2018 at 4:53 PM, Stevanb said:

 

Toured with him from 10.00 am till 10.00 pm

do you  mind sharing how much it costs for a 12 hour tour? We are currently booked with him for a 6 hour tour, but our ship doesn't leave port until 1 am so maybe we could extend that for some night life. 

thanks! 

I'm on the December sailing of Empress, and our Key West and Santiago stops were dropped and replaced with Havana and Grand Cayman. 

5 minutes ago, richardb said:

I like the Empress, but she's not like the bigger ships. We had been on Allure 2 weeks before and it was refreshing to walk from the dining room to the theater in just 2 minutes. That said, she's not a good ship for families with kids. Cabins are smaller than the newer ships but we had good seas, with very little movement.

 

If you hadn't been expecting to go to Cuba, then you need to know about the $75 Visa. They (this pertains to RCCL, don't know about the other lines) hand it to you when you check in, don't lose it!! They are numbered and while you can get a replacement, you will be charged another $75. It will be charged to your sea pass and we were told that if we didn't get off the ship, not to fill it out and we could get the $75 charge taken off upon returning the blank Visa to guest relations (again, this is RCCL).

 

Don't stress over the forms or the Visa. When we arrived in Havana, we were the only ship at that time and were off the ship, through immigration, and our money changed in less than 30 minutes. We were warned that a larger, MCS ship would arrive soon and that lines would then get long.

 

As others have said, do what you want; ship's cruise, private tour, or just on your own. But do enjoy the sites and the people.

Thanks! We were already scheduled for two stops in Cuba (Cienfuegos and Santiago), now we are scheduled for Havana and Cienfuegos, so we were aware of the visa.  It's our first RC cruise, I'm looking forward to not being on a giant ship! 

So can you book a Celebrity cruise on a Royal Caribbean cruise?

22 hours ago, MsSmith969 said:

Hi all.

 

Could you please let me know how to find shore excursions organize/ offer by cruise ship agency. I can not find the details price list and options for typical bus excursions. Can you help, please?

There should be a Cruise Planner (this is what it's called on Royal Caribbean) or something similar on the website where you booked your cruise and it should show all the available options. 

Thanks for sharing. Who did you use in Cienfuegos for a private guide and would you recommend them?

23 hours ago, richardb said:

We just returned last week on RCCL Empress. We did a private tour with Rommilio (works for Blexie), got off the ship and waited/walked around the plaza for an hour until time to meet him.

 

To give you a practical answer, those OFAC forms will never see the light of day. No way some government agency is going to devote a couple hundred clerks to review each and every one. To do an actual investigation of each would take decades. If they do, there will be hundreds, just from last week's Empress cruise, in trouble.

 

We got off in Cienfuegos and walked around on our own (not much to see), as did hundreds of others passengers. And that is just one ship out of ??? in just one week. It would amount to hundreds of thousands each year.

How was your trip on Empress? We are sailing on her next month. Our itinerary was just changed to include Havana and we are super excited for that. 

How was your cruise? We are heading out for this same one in December. What excursions did you do?

My Dec sailing on Empress was down to $44 per day, which is the lowest I've seen it since I booked two months ago and I check the website at least a few times a day. I went ahead and purchased it.

It's always been $47 to $50. But still hoping for a Black Friday sale!!

You should post this on the Cuba board.

The two I have booked that I had not bought a package for went up today as well :( Booo! $59 (supposedly 10%off) on Empress to Cuba $50. What I did notice if that the combo internet package made up for the difference? Liberty next month is on sale for $45 20%0ff, was $42 last week but we got it a while ago on a sale for $41 :)

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

My Empress sailing in December has ranged from $47 to $50 per day. Today it's $50, not showing as any % off from the prices onboard.

$50 a day for my Empress sailing. Lowest I've seen it is $47. Fingers crossed for a $42 day sale!!

I booked on deck 8 all the way forward since I didn't want to spend the money on a suite. These rooms face the very front deck of the ship so it gives the appearance of a balcony without spending the money. We'll see if my choice was wise in a week.

When I looked at these cabins, it shows they are obstructed by lifeboats. I booked at the very back of the ship (not aft, but on the side), so let me know what you think about your cabin. We don't sail until December.

Thanks for your replies!

New to RCI and I can't figure out the difference between a 1N, 2N and 3N cabin (all are ocean view). Price between them is minimal. These cabins are on decks 3 4 7 8 and 9

I'm currently booked in a 2N on Deck 3, towards the front of the ship.

I've ruled out deck 4, due to being under 5 which has the Royal Theatre, Schooner Bar, Chops, and MDR (so noise is a concern)

I've ruled out deck 7 due to being over 6 which has arcade, casino, Boleros, and the Royal Theatre

I've ruled out deck 9 due to being under 10 which has the WJ Cafe, pool, spa, Viking Crown lounge and the rock climbing wall.

So that leaves deck 3 (where i'm at now) and deck 8.

Deck 3 has cabins front mid and rear left (I'm pretty close to the front now), all 2N

Deck 8 has cabins all over as well, all 1N and 3N, including the very last cabins at the rear (not aft)

I'm sure I'm overthinking this by a million percent, but any helpful advice is greatly appreciated!!:D

Following b/c we are visiting those ports as well. Have you looked on the Cuba ports of call board?

I'm a picky eater, so that's good to know, thanks so much!

Thanks for sharing. We are on Empress in December, for the first time on RCI. We stop at the other two ports in Cuba, but not Havana (and Labadee and KeyWest). There aren't too many posts about her.

Question for the dining room, are there certain items that are available every night no matter what's on the menu? We usually cruise Celebrity, and they have a steak, chicken and salmon available every night in case you don't like what's on the rotating menu.

I just booked Empress for our first RC cruise also. I'm looking forward to it!

They charge for water in the dining room?!?!

If you are not a heavy drinker, check this thread. If you drink scotch , rum, gin, or vodka, this might work for you.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/show...o#post55709054

I hadn't seen that. Thanks for sharing.

Hello! We just booked our first cruise on RC in December. Looking at the deluxe drink packages, they are currently on sale for buy one, get one 50% off (or 25% off each). With gratuity, $887 for 8 day cruise.

Question is, does it get any cheaper than that? Should I go ahead and purchase it or hold off? If I do purchase it now and the price drops, can I cancel and buy it at the new lower price?

Thanks in advance