RCCL Empress or Carnival Triumph

[TheTides]

I am also posting this on both boards to get a good opinion!

 

Hey guys!

 

This will be our 11th cruise, the past have been with NCL, Disney, Princess, and Celebrity. We are looking at 2 cruises, both 5 days, with the information below:

 

RCCL Empress: Miami - Cozumel-Cozumel-Miami

Carnival Triumph: Nola - Cozumel-Progresso- Nola

 

So obviously, the Triumph will be the larger ship, nearly double the size of the Empress, with more activities I'm sure of, as well as a new port in Progresso, and I would love to cruise out of Nola.

 

The perks of the Empress are I believe will be the size, with better service and food due to the size of the ship. I also love the idea of spending time 2 days in one port, and Cozumel there is a lot to do.

 

Would love to know your thoughts! I would eventually like to try both lines, and see what you think about both of these! Carnival is slightly cheaper, but pricing is not a problem.

 

Thanks guys!

[Mutumbojimbo]

I've taken the 5 day trip from New Orleans on the Elation (and we're going again this Fall on the Triumph). I have not sailed Royal, so I may not be the best for comparison but:

 

We loved going to the Mayan ruins from Progresso, but I'm not sure how accessible the port is, unless you book some sort of excursion. The ship docks at a pier a god distance from the city. If you're a "get off the ship and explore" cruiser (which we do a lot), Progresso might be a challenge.

 

I think that Carnival does a pretty good job with the food, plus the Triumph has Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana Cantina (which offers really nice breakfast items along with lunch). We have only cruised Carnival and NCL but felt that other than our trip to Le Bistro, the food on Carnival was much better than NCL.

 

If you like shows, I would think that the shows on RCL are probably better. I've only seen a couple of shows on Carnival that I really enjoyed.

 

Of course, either way you're on a cruise and I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[NCTribeFan]

I didn't even know Empress was back in Royal's fleet! She was my 2nd cruise (only one on RCI) and I loved it.

 

Now, this was 2003, and my first cruise was on Jubilee in 2001, which was a comparable size. We were on the 1st leg of a repositioning (Tampa-San Juan, then she was moving on to NY; think she used to do Bermuda sailings in the summer).

 

So my thoughts are probably way outdated! :p

 

Loved the ship. They had a salsa band which was excellent. Since there were many Latin Americans on the ship heading to PR, it was great sitting up on the pool deck at night listening to the band and watching all the salsa dancing.

 

Buffet food was very good but MDR wasn't as good as I had on later sailings on Carnival.

 

What I didn't like (and didn't have enough sense to do anything about), was how the male staff and crew kept hitting on my 16-year-old daughter, even right in front of me. I should've said something but was too much of a noob to realize that this was not appropriate behavior. Not sure what I thought. That cruise employees are just flirts? Anyway, it wasn't appropriate. I realize that now. DD was flattered by the attention, though, which is also mildly alarming! But she was a shy, introverted teen back then and there she was on a cruise ship in the Caribbean and foreign men were flirting with her.

 

Anyway, I'll have to think about sailing her again, just for nostalgia's sake. Wish I'd sailed Jubilee or one of the others in her class before they were all sold off. I like smaller ships.

[FLSteve11]

I am also posting this on both boards to get a good opinion!

 

Hey guys!

 

This will be our 11th cruise, the past have been with NCL, Disney, Princess, and Celebrity. We are looking at 2 cruises, both 5 days, with the information below:

 

RCCL Empress: Miami - Cozumel-Cozumel-Miami

Carnival Triumph: Nola - Cozumel-Progresso- Nola

 

So obviously, the Triumph will be the larger ship, nearly double the size of the Empress, with more activities I'm sure of, as well as a new port in Progresso, and I would love to cruise out of Nola.

 

The perks of the Empress are I believe will be the size, with better service and food due to the size of the ship. I also love the idea of spending time 2 days in one port, and Cozumel there is a lot to do.

 

Would love to know your thoughts! I would eventually like to try both lines, and see what you think about both of these! Carnival is slightly cheaper, but pricing is not a problem.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Empress was just brought back to the fleet, and really it seems clear it's geared to eventually do smaller runs and take in a spot like "Fathom" is and do Cuba runs.

 

It's a much older (yes, it's been updated a bit, but it's still an older ship) and smaller ship, and the cabins are going to be much smaller then you are used to. Think of it like the fantasy class, but even smaller with much tinier rooms.

 

So long as you're not expecting it to look like the RCCL commercials, it should be a relaxing ship to be on.

[NCTribeFan]

Ah, yes. The cabin.

 

My first sailing on Jubilee, we were in a 1A in the bow but what would be a porthole on most ships these days. It was just where the hull bends toward the prow. The cabin was huge! Of course, I didn't know any better and thought all cruiseship cabins would be similar. Unfortunately, there was lots and lots of movement up there and we were in some pretty rough seas, so I spent most of my first cruise rather green (and all the upper exterior decks were closed and everything was covered in salt spray).

 

And then on to the Empress with a standard inside cabin. Since I was with DD, the beds were separated and there was barely enough space to walk between the beds. The cabin was seriously TINY!

 

I wouldn't mind it as a solo, but it was truly a really small cabin. That, and the fact that RCI's prices for insides were consistently higher than Carnival is why I'm about to embark on my 25th Carnival and have only the one RCI cruise in my cruising history.

[meatloafsfan]

As much as I prefer smaller ships, I think the Empress of the Seas would feel too small after sailing more current ships (anything built in the past 10 years). I would go for the Triumph as it has the 2.0 upgrades and looks to be a medium sized ship. Plus - sailing out of NOLA - maybe spend a night or two enjoying that city.