Empress of the Seas (7/23-7/28) Review

[sonnylax]

Got back home yesterday from last week's Western Caribbean 5-day cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on Empress. All in all, it was a fun time. Fantastic weather w/ great ports of call. This was only my 2nd cruise ever and the previous cruise was over 4 years ago on Carnival. The "RCI experience" seemed about the same to me as Carnival. I think RCI had slightly less random kids running around the boat/pool deck at any given time and more families. Maybe that was due to the smaller size of the Empress ship, I dunno.

 

Random thoughts/reviews/suggestions from a second-time cruiser….

 

1. The RCI tips sheet, not to mention these message forums, was both excellent advice! Major kudos to all who put that Tips document together. I advise all newbie cruisers to read the whole thing, cover to cover, a month or so out from your sail date. Re-read as you are packing in the last few days prior to your departure.

 

2. The luggage handlers at the port left something to be desired. I get out of the cab and one guys starts to help us with our luggage in the trunk. I give him $5. He promptly turns around and walks away and a 2nd person "takes over" helping us. I felt obligated to tip the 2nd guy as well. Kinda of slimy if you ask me.

 

3. I walked on the boat (all the way through security & the X-ray machine) with a collapsible (50-can) soft-sided cooler with a case of beer and a case of soft drinks. Not to mention the two bottles of liquor in my carry-on bag. We were in our rooms in 30 minutes flat. Met our Filipino room porter who was fantastic all week long. Tipped him $10 and asked him to keep my beer/soft drink cooler full of ice all cruise long. (No problem mon.)

 

4. Drinking my own cheap beer during the sea days on the pool deck definitely brought my end of cruise SeaPass bill down several dollars. One case for two people on a 5-day cruise was the perfect amount. We ran out of beer at 5pm on the final day of the cruise. Here is another cheap cruise alcohol tip - Get one of the white RCI beer buckets from the pool deck or the pool deck bar. Fill it with your beer, and then bring it back up to the Pool Deck bar. Ask one of the bartenders to fill it with ice. Tip him a few bucks and you have your own bucket of beer on the hot pool deck which minimizes trips back to your room.

 

5. Key West was great - Old Town Trolley, Hemingway House, Walking around Old Town and Duval Street, Lunch at Sloppy Joe's, Drinks all over. First time back to Key West in almost 12 years. The little island has grown up since my last visit.

 

6. Love & Marriage and the Quest game shows were very, very fun. Not to be missed, if you haven't seen them in person before. Missed the two Vegas shows. The two other comedian/magician shows were average, in my opinion.

 

7. Casino was small-ish (3 BJ tables going during the evenings, one of which was single-deck BJ that paid 6:5). I lost my shirt at the blackjack tables. Had four different dealers and three of them were down right cold. I don't expect to win every time at the tables, but the dealers could use some help in the friendliness department. I did like the ability to get cash at the tables on your SeaPass card automatically.

 

8. Service in the main dining room was pretty good (not fantastic). Food was good (not great) there. Bar service in the main dining room was very uneven. One bar service girl appeared to be handling our entire side of the upper dining room. Sometimes we would get her to drop by our table before we ordered; some times she wouldn't appear until we were well into our main course. Steer away from the pasta dishes on the boat in the main dining room. One minor step above Chef Boyardee, if you ask me. The service from our primary and assistant waiter was good and attentive, but they seem to have a few too many tables/patrons to cover between the two of them.

 

9. Speedo sells a men's swimming (board) shorts with a waterproof sea wallet sewn into a Velcro pocket. Perfect for snorkeling/swimming days on shore for credit cards, cash, etc. I've seen them for sale at several department stores, sporting goods stores, and Kohl's for $20 - $25/each.

 

10. Grand Cayman was simply awesome! We would go back in a heartbeat. We did the Nativeways "Reef, Rays, and Rum" tour for $55/each. Exceptional value (especially when I heard what others paid for similar excursions) Very fun day on the island. But beware the tendering process. We almost missed our tour because it took 45 minutes to disembark the cruise boat. Wasn't happy that RCI gives priority to those who book shore excursions through them. (In my opinion, we are all paying to be on the same boat and we should all have access to leave the boat at the same time.) To make things worse, they weren't even check the numbered tender passes when you left. I can't recommend Nativeways & Stingray City enough.

 

11. Overall - Windjammer was pretty good, I thought. Service was excellent. Don't forget to bring a dollar or two to tip the busboys and girls up there. They worked very hard to keep the tables cleared up when the place was packed.

 

12. If I had to do it again, I probably would not have brought my own liquor on-board. The duty-free liquor on board is slightly cheaper, even when you factor in the $9.50 RCI corking fee. If you do choose to bring your own liquor or wine on-board, REI sells a great soft neoprene bottle carrier. It worked like a champ. Also - I didn't see anyone checking when you got back on the boat if you were carrying on your booze at the various ports. Maybe I missed something, but that could work if you are in a pinch.

 

Bottom line - The Empress was a great boat. Our inside cabin & shower was tiny, as expected. But it was a great cruise and a fine boat. I think we may try a larger cruise boat next time just to compare. But I would have not problem sailing Empress or RCI again.

 

Thanks to all who continue to make this web site a valuable resource.

[harrodsfan]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun!

What is the RCI tips list you mentioned??

[knothead]

Where can I find the tips sheet? I might have seen it before but I've slept since then! Glad you had a great experience on RCI! Looking forward to my Mariner Cruise in 61 days!

[SRQfireman]

I was with ya.....most dealers were friendly I met ....only 1-2 I met were "cold"....the chips were "cold" also....weren't issuing many :(

the seas were like glass all week with no rain...simply incredible...was concerned that small ship might be in issue if windy...luckily we didn't have to find out :)

[sonnylax]

Where can I find the tips sheet?

 

It is in this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=103710

 

We need to get the moderators to link that thread at the top of the RCI forum. :p