Jump to content

Recent photos of empress of the seas in dry dock


Recommended Posts

I'm not sure how you would build this case?????

 

You trade in a crap car for a newer car. Person B buys your crap car because their car was crappier and trades that car in. On and on until someone's either got no car or their car just gets trashed.

 

Royal got rid of this ship because it wasn't up to their standards. They gave it to a lesser cruise line (albeit their own lesser line) and got it back after many years of MORE use.

 

Your logic doesn't float, eh?

 

Agree, mostly, with you.

 

The ship was transferred to Pullmantur because it did not offer the features that RCI wanted, and the Pullmantur clientele don't care for those things, and the Pullmantur business model can better afford the additional inspection and maintenance costs that older ships require. At that time, the ship was up to USPH standards, probably the most rigorous around.

 

Pullmantur maintained the ship to the sanitation standards that were applicable to their cruises (though a pest infestation would be problematic in any system). This could have allowed things like non-working equipment simply being wrapped up and marked "out of service", or holes and hatches cut into the walls and ceilings for repair access.

 

When the ship is returned to USPH "jurisdiction", their inspectors noted that the holes and hatches would need to be removed or properly sealed, and the non-working equipment has to be physically removed or made operational.

 

The problem, as I've stated before, comes with the technical team that inspected the ship prior to the plan to return Empress to the RCI fleet, and who should have noted the problem areas and planned for remediation. Even a pest infestation, if there was one, of the magnitude suggested by the time frame, should have been obvious to any superintendents or hotel executives sent to determine Empress' suitability for return to RCI.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree, mostly, with you.

 

The ship was transferred to Pullmantur because it did not offer the features that RCI wanted, and the Pullmantur clientele don't care for those things, and the Pullmantur business model can better afford the additional inspection and maintenance costs that older ships require. At that time, the ship was up to USPH standards, probably the most rigorous around.

 

Pullmantur maintained the ship to the sanitation standards that were applicable to their cruises (though a pest infestation would be problematic in any system). This could have allowed things like non-working equipment simply being wrapped up and marked "out of service", or holes and hatches cut into the walls and ceilings for repair access.

 

When the ship is returned to USPH "jurisdiction", their inspectors noted that the holes and hatches would need to be removed or properly sealed, and the non-working equipment has to be physically removed or made operational.

 

The problem, as I've stated before, comes with the technical team that inspected the ship prior to the plan to return Empress to the RCI fleet, and who should have noted the problem areas and planned for remediation. Even a pest infestation, if there was one, of the magnitude suggested by the time frame, should have been obvious to any superintendents or hotel executives sent to determine Empress' suitability for return to RCI.

 

I understand.

 

To the other poster's point, though, I'm not referring to USPH standards, I'm referring to the standards of THIS cruise line and the customers of THIS cruise line.

 

In 2010, I traded in my 2000 car and bought a 2010 car. I did this because the 2000 did not meet my standards. It was safe to drive and could pass any/all inspections to be road-worthy in the US, but it didn't meet mine. It was ugly and I wanted more.

 

The dude who bought my old car moved to Genericolia (a totally made-up place that has lax standards) where he drove it for another 200,000 miles over the last 6 years as a postal worker.

 

I buy it back from him in 2016 with 200k more miles, 6 years of eating lunch/dinner in it every day, and it being in a country with looser rules on what is road-worthy.

 

That poster said that because it was road-worthy in 2010, it met my standards in 2010, and in 2016 it should still meet my standards. That's not even vaguely reasonable. It was road-worthy, but it didn't meet my standards then and it went downhill from there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand.

 

To the other poster's point, though, I'm not referring to USPH standards, I'm referring to the standards of THIS cruise line and the customers of THIS cruise line.

 

In 2010, I traded in my 2000 car and bought a 2010 car. I did this because the 2000 did not meet my standards. It was safe to drive and could pass any/all inspections to be road-worthy in the US, but it didn't meet mine. It was ugly and I wanted more.

 

The dude who bought my old car moved to Genericolia (a totally made-up place that has lax standards) where he drove it for another 200,000 miles over the last 6 years as a postal worker.

 

I buy it back from him in 2016 with 200k more miles, 6 years of eating lunch/dinner in it every day, and it being in a country with looser rules on what is road-worthy.

 

That poster said that because it was road-worthy in 2010, it met my standards in 2010, and in 2016 it should still meet my standards. That's not even vaguely reasonable. It was road-worthy, but it didn't meet my standards then and it went downhill from there.

 

I get your point, but I believe that the "our high standards" that RCI refers to are in fact the mandated USPH standards. I say this because I haven't heard about any major changes to the ship's amenities in the recent shipyard, so the only standards would be the ones dealing with the galleys, and the cruise lines (all of them) only meet USPH standards because they are forced to do so, not because of any customer or corporate expectations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not? It makes complete sense, they have no control over what corporate decides.

 

Of course they would have no control over what corporate decides, whether they are an actual employee or whether they are just a pot stirrer with a fake online account.

 

Common sense tells you that you can not go on a social media site, tell the world your employer is lying and then still expect to remain employed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course they would have no control over what corporate decides, whether they are an actual employee or whether they are just a pot stirrer with a fake online account.

 

Common sense tells you that you can not go on a social media site, tell the world your employer is lying and then still expect to remain employed.

 

Of course you are correct, but have you looked around you in 2016? Common Sense is sold out in a lot of places and they're not getting replenishment stock anytime soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't realize exactly how the line operated.

 

but now I have checked some pullmantur advertising and understand completely

 

"Cruise the world with Pullmantur, Royal Caribbeans Crap Cruise line for our Spanish speaking clientele. After all they don't care about good food or service.":eek: now I get it.....:rolleyes:

 

if this is the rationale, you guys with bookings on the majesty of the seas have really gotta be thinking HARD! after all, RC has announced they are sending it to P and back again, a couple times now recently

 

P currently says again now they are getting the ship but R is saying not so fast, I guess they are waiting till their standards decline to a point the "other" market will appreciate it? :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prices were also higher on this sailing than others which tells me bookings were strong. I agree it looks like a sell out and nothing to worry about.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Crazy, now It is showing available. f307ca1a9db2ac3f993cb6718e1775d8.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what you mean-the post on Instagram is real

The crew member who posted it has posted a few other pictures from his Instagram account, and he seems sincere and friendly. I don't know how RC could use his Instagram account as a conduit for misinformation. And after all the issues with the Empress I am getting excited about my first cruise, and I'm encouraged by this one photo which shows that the crew is getting ready to sail in a few weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I downloaded the Shipmate app for Royal Caribbean and found that there looks to be at least a few pics of the Empress post-renovation. Pretty exciting find for me, since I've been dying to show the family pictures of the boat we'll be on in a couple of months. Here's what to do if you want to check out the pictures yourself:

 

For Iphone users, go to the App store and search Ship Mate. Cruise Ship Mate for Carnival Cruising will be the first choice. (It's a little confusing that it says Carnival, but download it anyway and you can choose Royal Caribbean)

 

After you download the app, and choose RC, you can enter your upcoming cruise dates and ship. Then if you click on My Cruises-->Empress of the Seas--->you get to a screen that shows the number of days to your cruise at the top. But if you scroll down to Deck Maps and click, you can go to each deck. Clicking on Deck 3 for example just shows the deck map that is on the main RC website, no big news here. But if you continue to click on each Deck, there are rooms such as Main Dining Room on Deck 4, Chops Grill, Focus Photo gallery, Schooner Bar, Royal Theater etc. on Deck 5, and so on. If you click on these individual spaces on the app, it takes you to a photo with a little blurb about what the room activity is.

 

Now some of the photos seem dated, but as you click on and check out each deck, quite a few pictures seem to be with very new furniture, carpet, etc. and match the glimpses I've seen when crew members have posted incidental photos of their work on the ship.

 

Photos for Chops Grill, Schooner Bar, Boleros, Guest Services, Picture This studio, Card Room, Library, the Pool Bar, Adventure Ocean, The Spa all seem to be pictures of the new interior design scheme. Other images seem to NOT show updated or redecorated spaces, including: MDR, Viking Crown Lounge, Windjammer Cafe, Royal Theater don't seem to have the same brighter blue/white color scheme that I believe the ship has been updated to.

 

Also, the pictures of the Pool area and decks might not be updated-I can't see the movie screen which I know has been installed for example-BUT the pool does have the Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor logo in the bottom of the pool, so maybe the angle for the photo just doesn't have the movie screen visible in the shot.

 

So take a look and let me know if you think that it is truly updated photos of the empress. I had a thought that maybe these are just stock photos of certain lounges in other ships that they use the same exact decorating scheme for every ship, but then could tell that they appeared to be actually on the Empress because you can see the views/windows of the ship. It's at least worth a look! I think the updated spaces look amazing and can't wait to see them in person!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I downloaded the Shipmate app for Royal Caribbean and found that there looks to be at least a few pics of the Empress post-renovation. Pretty exciting find for me, since I've been dying to show the family pictures of the boat we'll be on in a couple of months. Here's what to do if you want to check out the pictures yourself:

 

For Iphone users, go to the App store and search Ship Mate. Cruise Ship Mate for Carnival Cruising will be the first choice. (It's a little confusing that it says Carnival, but download it anyway and you can choose Royal Caribbean)

 

After you download the app, and choose RC, you can enter your upcoming cruise dates and ship. Then if you click on My Cruises-->Empress of the Seas--->you get to a screen that shows the number of days to your cruise at the top. But if you scroll down to Deck Maps and click, you can go to each deck. Clicking on Deck 3 for example just shows the deck map that is on the main RC website, no big news here. But if you continue to click on each Deck, there are rooms such as Main Dining Room on Deck 4, Chops Grill, Focus Photo gallery, Schooner Bar, Royal Theater etc. on Deck 5, and so on. If you click on these individual spaces on the app, it takes you to a photo with a little blurb about what the room activity is.

 

Now some of the photos seem dated, but as you click on and check out each deck, quite a few pictures seem to be with very new furniture, carpet, etc. and match the glimpses I've seen when crew members have posted incidental photos of their work on the ship.

 

Photos for Chops Grill, Schooner Bar, Boleros, Guest Services, Picture This studio, Card Room, Library, the Pool Bar, Adventure Ocean, The Spa all seem to be pictures of the new interior design scheme. Other images seem to NOT show updated or redecorated spaces, including: MDR, Viking Crown Lounge, Windjammer Cafe, Royal Theater don't seem to have the same brighter blue/white color scheme that I believe the ship has been updated to.

 

Also, the pictures of the Pool area and decks might not be updated-I can't see the movie screen which I know has been installed for example-BUT the pool does have the Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor logo in the bottom of the pool, so maybe the angle for the photo just doesn't have the movie screen visible in the shot.

 

So take a look and let me know if you think that it is truly updated photos of the empress. I had a thought that maybe these are just stock photos of certain lounges in other ships that they use the same exact decorating scheme for every ship, but then could tell that they appeared to be actually on the Empress because you can see the views/windows of the ship. It's at least worth a look! I think the updated spaces look amazing and can't wait to see them in person!

That's pretty neat, thanks! [emoji1]

 

Sent from my Note using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah I was pretty impressed with the app overall. And then when I realized I could see recent photos of the interiors, I was really excited. I wondered about why the Windjammer and MDR seemed untouched, and I'm still kind of hoping that they waited on those until after the galleys were all replaced, but who knows. Maybe RC decided to only redecorate a few spots. I can't wait to see more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...