DavidinFLL

On 5/13/2020 at 7:11 PM, Pumbaamd said:

Thank you Empress crew, outstanding!!!

Sea you all in December.

Rick and Deirdra

Hi, Rick and Deirdra:  David here.  I stumbled upon this thread while searching for Empress threads and I saw your post mentioning December.  After checking your signature, it appears that you are sailing on the Empress on Dec. 6.  I will be aboard for that cruise, which is the second half of my first B2B as I am booked on the Nov. 28 Eastern Caribbean cruise.  I couldn't find a thread for the Empress for Dec. 6, so I started one.  So far, I am the only member.  My first time aboard the Empress, and I'm very much looking forward to sailing her.

The Freeport was the first cruise ship I sailed aboard, in 1972. She was a pretty ship, and was actually a ferry used to carry passengers and freight from Miami to the Bahamas.  Her bow opened by swinging upward, and the transom opened downward.  Semi trucks could actually be driven into and out of the ships hold.

I had a cabin by myself on a 4 night cruise in June of 1972 which occurred while Hurricane Agnes was devastating Eastern Pennsylvania, where I was from.  The cabin had two fold down berths, one above the other.  The head was so small, that you had to decide what you needed to do before entering it because there wasn't enough room to turn around in it!  But I loved the cruise!  I was 23 years old and traveling with my parents, my sister and my mother's sister and her friends.

I moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 2004 and have cruised many times out of both Port of Miami and Port Everglades, and I sailed past the Discovery Sun, which was originally the Freeport, as she was tied up in port.  My mail carrier at the time was born in Nassau and he had ferried aboard the Freeport many times while living in the Bahamas.  

She was a fine ship and one I will remember with fondness.  She was one of three ships that I have sailed aboard that have been sent to the breakers, along with the Imperial Majesty and the S.S. Norway.  These three ships hold a special place in my heart and many ships I have sailied aboard since will join them there eventually!

2 hours ago, EatonDoolittle said:

 

Reminder that there is an election coming up in the US in November, and if there is a regime change, I would expect Cuba cruises to start up in late 2021, or as soon as everything can get ramped up again. 

I went to Cuba on both the Majesty and the Empress (she was first) and given a choice, I'd choose Majesty. 

 

Hold the flames and opinions on Cuba,  just stating a fact.

 

 

I visited Havana in April of '19 aboard the NCL Sun; 2 nights in port.  I enjoyed it very much and really want to go back.  I understand the political side of it all; I won't get into it any further.  I have loved the Majesty for years and hope to develop a new love for the Empress. 

2 hours ago, travelinmoma said:

We did the Baths in Tortola.  Absolutely gorgeous! 

I've been thinking about doing the Baths.  I still have lots of time to decide.  When in a new port, I like to explore and maybe have lunch in a nice local restaurant.  I'm not into the shopping, as I can do all of that at home.

Thanks for your suggestion!

An update:  I have booked the Dec. 6 Western Caribbean cruise aboard the Empress.  This will be my first B2B and I'm really looking forward to it.  I've looked for a thread devoted to B2B cruises, but haven't found one.  These two cruises will cover the Eastern and Western Caribbean for a full 14 nights.  I've been to all the ports before except for Puerto Plata, DR and Tortola, BVI.

Any suggestions on excursions in these two parts?

9 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 When I was watching that video,  I wondered if those were tenders up on the top of the ship.  Definitely not the style of the current cruise ship, but really nice and self contained though. Great story. Thanks for sharing.  

 

I can understand the bleary-eyed-ness ( yeah, just made up that word ).   We don’t just vacation for the fun at the moment, but easily just as much for the memories.    We have one of those digital picture frames in our kitchen and I load on new pictures from each vacation as we go.  Pretty much every day I flip it on and it’s awesome to have it randomly scroll through past photos.  Love the memories 

 

Dan

Thanks, Dan.  I love to share stories about cruising and history of ships.  It was wise of NCL to use the tenders on Great Stirrup Cay:  They each can carry 450 passengers, thus getting more people more quickly onto the island to spend money!  I know what you mean about vacation pics.  I change my computer wallpaper after every cruise!  And every summer, I travel from FTL back to Pennsylvania where I'm from to visit family and friends.  I take Amtrak.  Kind of like "land sailing".

A couple photos of Manhattan taken on 9/05/01:

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

You might enjoy this video below, as it actually references your particular cruise during 9/11 with some interesting still photos.   The S.S. Norway/France looks like she was a real beauty.  Love the long lines.

 

Yeah, my screen name refers to the fact that I'm a Research Scientist who loves to have fun.  I also love researching all things vacation related, whether it's cruising, Disney World, National Parks...

 

Happy future sailing, whenever that comes back.

 

Kindly, Dan

 

Thanks, Dan, for the video.  I believe that I had seen it before.  Periodically, I get nostalgic and surf the 'net looking for mention of the Norway.

In the video, one of the tenders from the Norway is pictured.  There were two of these tenders, Little Norway I and Little Norway II.  These tenders rode on the bow of the Norway and were specifically built for that purpose.  

In Nov., 2018, I cruised to the Bahamas aboard the NCL Sky.  When we anchored off Great Stirrup Cay, I wanted to go ashore, but later in the morning.  As I watched the tendering process from the deck of the Sky, I did a double take when I saw a tender coming out from the Cay.  When I realized that this tender was the Little Norway I, I actually got bleary-eyed.  I hadn't known that NCL had stationed the Norway's tenders on Great Stirrup Cay when the Norway was sent to the breakers.  I don't know if anybody has ever gotten nostalgic over tenders before, but I had ridden on this very tender to this island 23 years earlier on a Norway cruise out of Miami, and again in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland on the Norway's last crossing cruise!

I realize my post is rather off-topic for this thread, but I guess I can't help myself when there is talk of the S.S. Norway, which of course I introduced into this thread!  Oh well, please forgive me!

22 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

What a crazy time.  Were you able to enjoy that cruise with all that had just occurred?

 

Re. S.S. Norway... 

Depends on how you define "largest".  The Voyager of the Seas was out at that time and was only 17 feet shorter, but held almost 50% more passengers.  Also, S.S. Norway was ~66,000 tons, while the Voyager was ~130,000 at the time

Yes, I did enjoy the cruise.  But the events of 9/11 were constantly on my mind.  I sailed with the Steamship Historical Society and they were a great group to sail with.

As far as the Norway was concerned, I should have said the "longest" cruise ship, which she was for over 40 years.  I determine the size of a ship by her physical measurements and not by the number of passengers she carries, which of course the Voyager was much larger in both respects.  After all, the larger the ship coupled with fewer passengers translates to more room per person.  The Norway, originally the S.S. France, was, I believe, the last ship of state.  She was built to carry passengers across the ocean, but was a bit late into the game...being a victim of the jet age.  She was a classic ocean liner, even with the added decks on top, and she looked the part.  The newer ships are more floating condos than liners.  When the Norway was sent to the breakers, I joined thousands of sailors who shed tears.

I've sailed ships both large and quite small and love them all.  Being out on the ocean is beautiful, exhilarating and soothing.  My hope is that I will be able to sail on the Empress of the Seas in Nov. 2020.  She is a pretty ship and seems to be loved by her crew and passengers alike.

Cruise Critic is a great place to "meet" other cruisers and discuss sailing topics.

So..."The Fun Researcher"....does that mean that you are a researcher who is a lot of fun, or a researcher who researches fun things?  Or both?

On 9/11, I was on board the S.S. Norway, about a day and a half out of Greenock, Scotland.  This was the Norway's last crossing:  A 16 nighter sailing from Miami to Southampton.  We had been docked in NY on 9/5.  It's hard to describe what we felt like when we got the news of the towers being attacked:  There we were, on the (then) largest cruise ship in the world, in the middle of a big ocean, not knowing what was going on.  When we reached Scotland, then Ireland, France and finally England, upon disembarking the ship the port crews grabbed us and hugged us and many tears were shed.  Our cruise ended on 9/17.  I didn't sail again till '03, so I really can't address the question of changes in cruising after 9/11.

On 4/12/2020 at 9:04 AM, LXA350 said:

I think that COIVD-19 is a great opportunity to get rid of Empress and Majesty and send both ships to the ship graveyard or to Thompson Cruises for which these ships would almost considered as new 😉

I am booked on the Empress for the 8 night Eastern Caribbean on Nov. 28, 2020.  This will be my first time aboard her.  I have sailed 5 times on the Majesty and have always loved her.  I sail solo many times, so I don't need a large cabin.  On the NCL Getaway, I have stayed in a Studio cabin which is really small, but perfectly adequate, so I expect the inside cabin on the Empress will be adequate as well.  Both these ships serve a purpose for RCI and probably will be around at least for a few more years.  I was lucky enough to visit Havana aboard the NCL Sun in April, '19.  The Sun is 150 feet longer than the Empress, so I know that larger ships can dock there.  She is also wider across the beam.  I'm looking forward to sailing the Empress, as I have seen her up close from the outside and think she is a pretty ship.  Eventually, both these ships will have to be retired.  I hope that a new or newer small ship or ships will replace them.

1 minute ago, Billy Baltic said:

I was referring to the requirement for a doctors letter for over 70’s. I’m open to correction but I don’t believe any other group requires this. 

I haven't heard anything about this.

4 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Hand sanitizers are not that great a help in preventing transmission of a virus present in respiratory droplets. Corona transmission is very different from Noro.

I understand the respiratory droplets, but the infected person had to have become that way by either inhaling the virus or touching a surface where the virus is sitting in wait and then transferring it to his own respiratory system.  I would think that any precaution is better than none.

I don't see how social distancing could possibly work on a cruise ship.  The only place where you are apart from other passengers is in your cabin.  In all other venues, you are close to others.  I would imagine that cruise ships will have many more hand sanitizing "squirters" once we start sailing again!

14 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Just to add the context here. This came from a general discussion about the need to sail at less than 100% capacity, to allow space for social distancing. This was speculating how they would decide who, of those currently booked, would be told their cruise is cancelled. I threw out the idea of over 70’s, since they have been already put into a different category by RC. 
 

I’m not advocating it, just thinking aloud. 
 

If they had to reduce numbers there’s several ways they could do it. We’ve all provided them lots of data about our spending patterns in previous cruises. If I was them I’d keep the ones who spend most, regardless of age. 

What's this about RC putting over 70's into a different category?

I'm new to this thread and stumbled across it while doing some research for an upcoming cruise on Empress of the Seas, Nov. 28, 2020.

I'm pretty sure that the person who mentioned seeing where someone had suggested dis-allowing passengers over 70 from cruising, was not really advocating that idea.  In researching the ages of cruise passengers, I found a graph showing that the largest percentage of cruisers are from 55-64, at 25.7%.   However, the groups from 65-74 and 75 and older was 28.59%!

Any way you look at it, age groups will never be eliminated.  I'm sure that the cruise lines will figure a way to work this out.

I cruise solo sometimes and other times with a group.  In my group of about a dozen, we range in age from mid 60's to 90!

Any brothers or sisters booked on this cruise?

On my past cruises, they boys and girls would meet at 11 PM in the Viking Lounge (the flying saucer).  Also, happy hour at the pool bar and the Schooner Lounge are popular places.  The last time I was aboard the Majesty, I took a younger good looking fellow with me and the gay boys just poured out of the bulkheads!  It's been 5 years since then, so I don't know how meetings are handled now.  There is a bulletin board, I think at the internet cafe, that listed events, including the Friends of Dorothy.  I don't know if that's still true.  Some cruise lines list the LGBTQXYZ meeting in the daily newspaper.  I have a rainbow lapel pin from a gay group cruise that I may wear on this cruise.  As I mentioned in the other thread, I will be meeting some friends in Key West who are sailing aboard the Equinox.  Usually, the "gaydar" kicks in on a cruise.

Hope to meet you!

Any Brothers of Sisters on this cruise?

Sailing solo on this cruise. Anybody else?

ditto

Double ditto!

My credit card has been compromised 3 times this year. I thought the hackers may have been getting access through Aliexpress.com, but maybe it is through PP. My partner, however has not had this issue, even though his card info is also recorded on the PP site. Maybe the info should be removed anyway. Its hard to pay by cheque when you can rack up frequent flier points, we use them to get to the ships for free!

Will keep an eye on it anyway.

My credit card was compromised this summer also. Perhaps you are correct in suspecting Aliexpress having been hacked as I had bought from their site this Spring. I guess that it is only a matter of time till your info is hacked when you buy online.

Vulcan1971, I was just at the Philadelphia airport last Saturday. I flew in from Rome. Just came back from a fantastic 10 night Mediterranean cruise on the NCL Jade. NCL is my favorite cruise line at the moment. I would have liked to have gotten out and seen the city, but my layover was only 90 minutes. I've never been there. I'd also like to visit Pittsburg.

Hey, Cabin: I lived in Philly for a time back in the 60's and nearby in the 70's. Interesting and historic city.

As for Pittsburgh, it's beautiful and one of the best views is from the Fort Pitt Bridge as you emerge from the tunnels coming from the South. And if you go there, and you like Italian food, be sure to visit Lidia's. Best pasta ever! Even better than the "Jerk" in Jamaica! ;-) ;-)

Fort Lauderdale here. Sailing on the Majesty Oct. 21, 2013, hopefully again in April, '14. Sometimes sail with Pied Piper.