Please tell me about the Empress of the Seas

[P&DinDE2]

Hello,

we are considering sailing the Empress of the Seas next July out of Philadelphia, to Bermuda 7 night.

If anyone has sailed on this ship can you tell me anything about it(good & bad!) Did it used to be the Nordic Empress?

Thanks for your help,:)

[andsail]

Hello. Me and my husband went on our first cruise on the empress on 5/23/05 out of Ft Lauderdale. I think it was ok for our first cruise but it is really small and there are not many things to do. We are 30 years old, I don't know if that matters but we did get a little restless at times. There are not many activities like shows and ice skating. We are very fortunate to enjoy eachothers company very much so we did not want to kill eachother out of bordem. The service on the ship is nice. Since it is very small, you get to know the faces of the crew well and vice versa. The food is ok. I mean it's not 4 stars but it was not bad. There was always a pretty good selection. The cabins are really small. Taking a shower became an adventure. forget about the idea of possibly taking a shower together. It's barely big enough for one person. Overall, for a first cruise it's not bad. We have already booked for 2006 on the explorer. We wanted to experience the mega ship feel. Feel free to ask any questions you may have regarding the empress aka nordic empress.

[Pumbaamd]

Yes, she used to be the Nordic Empress. We sailed on her twice, as you can see by our signature below. Coming from Seaford, where we visit often, you'll love the small, hometown feel of the Empress. You'll have a great time. Get out there!

[P&DinDE2]

We like the idea of the 7 day to Bermuda verses the 5 day on the Grandeur (which we just did) but kindos worried about going to a smaller ship, dont want to be dissapointed!

Thanks for all your help!

[maltesemom]

I was married on her in June of 2002 when she was the Nordic Empress, she is a small ship, very personal and we loved it and hope to sail it again for our 5th anniversary.

[SRQfireman]

just got off of there a couple of days ago.....as mentioned--->small ship/small cabins/small shower....staff was great...dining room food--->very good....windjammer food---->fair to good.food wasn't hot...would go on there again..entertainment was good...more questions?

[cawhite]

We're going on the Empress in 3 weeks... do they have midnight buffets / chocolate buffets? Are they every night?

[P&DinDE2]

Where is the port in Philadelphia? we would be comming from Delaware ( rt 95 i think).

So basicly its just a smaller version of a RCI ship? has a casino & nightly shows & entertainment?

[Retired not Expired]

We'll be sailing her 11 night cruise the end of January. Size wise, she is about 48,000 ton. The famous VOS is about 140,000 ton. So, yes, a little smaller version.

[Bean2]

We cruised on Empress from New Jersey to Bermuda in October 2004. It was our second cruise. The first was on Serenade on October 2003. I heard they are refurbishing Empress this year, although I thought she was fine the way she was! Although Empress was a smaller ship than Serenade, we did not feel bored at all. We spent most of our days in Bermuda on shore, and we felt there was enough to do in the evenings to keep us busy. . . the Dueling Pianos Act was funny, and we loved the Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director. They did the art auction, wine tasting, the Quest, the Newlywed Game, and Bingo, which I think are standard on RCCL. They also had a lot of pool-side activities. If you like the casino, you should be aware that the casino is closed while the ship is in port in Bermuda, which was kind of a bummer for my husband, but he made up for it on sea days! The food was not as good as on Serenade, but it was definitely fine. . . We ate at Portofino's one night. It was nice to have a private dinner for two, and the food was a little more original than in the dining room. Have a great time! Bermuda is (IMO) one of the most beautiful places in the world -- don't miss Horseshoe Bay beach!:)

[P&DinDE2]

Thanks everyone for helping me, but we sat down with the kids last night & since it will be their first cruise, we deceided to go with the Grandeur to Bermuda AGAIN !! We loved it the first 2 times we sailed her, so maybe third times the charm...lol. any way we love Bermuda & hope the kids will too & the bigger ship might be better for their first! If they werent going I would do the 7 night Empress in a heartbeat!

[P&DinDE2]

LOL There is a strange pattern taking place with my signature!

[logan1_2000]

She was the Nordic Empress in March 2001, 4 nights out of San Juan. We'd never cruised, were invited by some friends to book along w/ them, so we did it as an experiment. Room was a closet--and theirs was worse (friends' stateroom was 108 sq. ft.--not kidding), but for 4 days we could manage. Oceanview was obstructed. 1 of 2 pools was broken and unavailable all cruise long, so the remaining pool was way overcrowded. Food okay, not great, server was fun and good even though he had limited english ability. WE thought it had been an "okay" intorduction to cruising--until the next year when we did 4 nights in the DCL Wonder to Bahamas. That cruise blew the Empress experience away.

[Giventofly]

Review

 

http://www.realtyone.com/daniel.smith/empress.asp

[Michuck]

We were recently on the Empress, and loved it. We were on her when she was the Nordic Empress too. She's small, easy to navigate. The cabins are small, but that doesn't matter to us. We're only in there to sleep and change. A few square feet here and there isn't a big deal to us. We thought the crew was great, there were always plenty of lounge chairs available. She does show her age in some places but not enough to keep you from enjoying the ship. The food was excellent, as was the crew. Would definitely sail on her again....

 

Michele

[Tammyj]

Just came back Thursday from a cruise on Empress and loved it. It was my first cruise, so them telling me it was the smallest of their fleet meant nothing to me. :) There were shows everynight, actvities throughout the day and food all day and into the midnight hour. I enjoyed it and would sail on this ship again. Was upgraded to an oceanview room for free when booking and enjoyed the view. We were at sea 2 of the 5 day cruise and found lots of things to do. There is only one pool on this ship which stayed packed, but otherwise, everything was excellent.

[cyscopup]

We cruised the Empress last December on the 11 day to the Southern Carib, and it was fantastic. The rooms are small if you spend a lot of time in them, we did not spend much time in ours so it seemed large. Also to anyone going on her in the future be sure to go to Bolero's and if you do tell JR and Darwin that Randy and Lori send our best and we will see them soon.

[lilape]

We just returned from the EOS in July. The only main problem was our room on the 9th deck 9660's, was under the Viking Bar and dance. You could not sleep from10 TO 2AM. The cruise was very nice and our first. I over packed big time. The staff was super:D .

[cavou]

The Philadelphia cruise terminal is right off of I-95. Its really easy to find, here:

From south of Philadelphia:

* North on I-95

* Take Exit 17 (Broad Street)

* Make a left at first light at bottom of ramp (Zinkoff Blvd)

* Make another left on to Broad Street and stay to the right

* Enter Main Gate at Philadelphia Naval Business Center (PNBC)

* Continue on Broad Street

* The Cruise Terminal (Building #3) is the last building on the right

[powelweb]

We sailed on the Nordic Empress back in Jan 98- my 2nd cruise and DH's 1st- thank god he liked it! That was a 3 night Bahamas cruise from San Juan.

 

Since then, we've done Celebrity's Horizon, Explorer twice, then Jewel last year, and we'll be on Enchantment 8/30 5 night out of Boston.

 

DH still fondly remembers his first Waiter, Wanich, who brought him 2 entrees when he couldn't make a decision. I don't recall being at a loss for something to do.

[pattijo]

We are sailing on the Empress next month on the short five day to Key West and Cozumel. Does anyone know which night is formal on this itinery?

[sha88]

We just returned from sailing on the Grandeur last week and I am now researching our next cruise. I, too, am looking at the Empress out of Philadelphia, but I read in someone else's post that there are no shows on this ship. I have to say, that is one of many things we really enjoyed on the Grandeur. So, do they have nightly shows or not on the Empress? Any info on this and other general comments would be welcome. Thanks.

[Lonecedar704]

we sailed it when it was Nordic Empress, to Bermuda. LOVED it. Small but clean and nice. Our teens liked it better than the VOS because the teens all found each other and formed a nice group whereas the VOS was so huge, there were several 'cliques' of kids.

On the Empress you REALLY feel some movement during rough seas. Our VOS waiter said he used to be on the Nordic Empress and commented without any prompting about how much rocking and rolling that ship can do. But it didn't bother us. It did bother some of the people on our trip.

I would go on it again.

[jlifeisgoodfaye]

I've never been on a cruise that DIDN'T have shows. The Empress has a great Cruise Entertainment staff, very talented every time I've sailed her. They don't have the big productions shows every night, but there are plenty of different variety of shows to keep you busy watching.

[sha88]

I've never been on a cruise that DIDN'T have shows. The Empress has a great Cruise Entertainment staff, very talented every time I've sailed her. They don't have the big productions shows every night, but there are plenty of different variety of shows to keep you busy watching.

 

Thanks for the info!