empress of the seas RCI

[lirgo87]

im leaving saturday the 29th!! woohoo I ve sailed one of the MUCH larger ships two year s ago...will I be disapoointed at all? theres three of us in one outside room on level F oceanview? we re two petites(5 feet and thin) and a regular average sized ladies. also is there a way to get cabin upgrades for free? i ve heard of this fro friends in the past wher eyou call prior to leaving and they may have an upgrade? I called a week ago and some kids answered and said oh we dont do that for free...is he mistaken or is there some secret????let me in on it if you all know. ALSO we re goin gto key west and grand cayman. Im a dare devil turing 40 ON the cruise I loev number avoidance at all costs!!! haha so Im willing to try new things and le tthe other two dowhat they wish. WHat sNOT to be missed on these islands?thanks fo ryour help and hopeto have greta things to write about upon return!!!wish it was a wedding cruise but alas my prince of tides hasnt come IN yet:)

[RDeagazio]

Empress is a fine ship, especially since her recent renovation, however the cabins are VERY SMALL. Your cabins will only be 122 sq ft. compare to the 154 sq ft od the new ships. I hope you 3 are very good friends--LOL

 

There are less amenities on the Empress than the Voyager, Vision. Radiance class but all the cruise staples are there. The pool deck is very small.

 

Service is very good as was the food. Be sure to try Portofino it's worth every penny of the $20 pp surcharge.

 

Enjoy and happy bday!

[novicecruiser1]

Knowing that the Empress is a much smaller ship and that your cabin will be smaller, there should be no disappointments.....however, I've also cruised the bigger ships and don't plan to sail on the Empress again. I just like the bigger ships and the variety they offer....others may prefer the smaller, intimate Empress. Each to their own as I say!! Have a great cruise!!

[zinman]

We were on the Empress last week and had a great time also after having done the Voyager class ships in the past. It was also the smoothest sailing we've ever had. Our biggest complaint was the noisy cabins. The newer ships are so insulated you don't hear anything. We were in inside cabins, so that may be part of the difference but you could hear everything going on in the surrounding cabins - even the pop top of a soda can. But everything else was good, as we were prepared for the size of the cabins. Our room steward stored our luggage somewhere and that really helped. Have a wonderful cruise!

[jo1168]

Zinman...How does the Empress look these days? We are leaving in 7 days. I've been on the Empress three times but back when it was Nordic Empress. Since then I've cruised on some on the larger ships and hope that I will still appreciate what I remember as being a very charming ship.

[SUZCRUZ]

We too sailed on her when she was the Nordic Empress.

We sail tomorrow!!!!!

Will post when we get back.

[SRQfireman]

the chance of a free upgrade is slim/none....you book a Gty? if not, don't hold your breath....want to buy one at the pier??? that's a different story...you might be able

p.s...you may want to lube your space bar...it's sticking

[zinman]

The ship looked great. It's all been redone to resemble the other RCL ships, and everything seems new and clean. There is some work being done in some places like the cabin corridors, but other than that everything seemed ship-shape (pardon the pun). Let me know if anyone has any specific questions.

[jlifeisgoodfaye]

lirgo87....catagory F is about as good as you can get unless you want to buy a JS, which is the balcony cabins. And to be honest, they are not that much bigger than the F. I wouldn't do it unless you just want the balcony and they give it to you for a reasonable price. I actually doubt that they will have any available though.

 

Have a great time and enjoy the great crew on this ship. They love what they do and it shows. Be sure to let us know how you liked your cruise when you get back!

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Zinman....I hope you can help me. I am trying to confirm whether there are safes "in room" on an inside cabin. I understand from your post that you recently had an inside cabin. The noise concerns me a little, what deck and what area of the ship were you on?

 

Please confirm whether your inside room had a safe. Thanks!

[RDeagazio]

No safes in Inside or Oceanview cabins.. only in JS or higher

[zinman]

No safe. We were on Deck 4 in cabins 4227 and 4333 - they're in an inside corridor so we didn't have the major hallway traffic all the time. But the cabin noise was a problem. We noticed it mostly in the cabins to the right which is the side the bathrooms are on, so I don't know if that has something to do with the way the walls were built. People weren't being inconsiderate - just going about their business. But you could hear every little thing.

[Southern Bell]

What time will boarding begin for this Thursday's cruise?

[seastar2]

to bad about the lack of safes..a small convience for passangers..I have never sailed RCCl and I am already finding out something that I am disappointed aboput before I even board the ship....:(

 

Hope they jsut nver installed them but will in the future.

[nurseone]

have read on the boards that they are in the process of doing this - starting on the upper decks but can't confirm. We don't sail until 3/2006 so hope they have them by then. Hope to get that confirmed prior to cruise.

[kc320]

What time will boarding begin for this Thursday's cruise?

 

If the Empress is anything like the other RCL ships I have sailed you can generally board around 11:30 a.m. They close off the cabins till 1 p.m though so any carry on luggage you bring you have to keep with you.