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May 28 Empress first sailing back with RCI live review (many pictures!)

ADS94

By ADS94,
in Royal Caribbean International

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ADS94

ADS94

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My brother and I are onboard as well. I'm echoing a lot of your sentiments. This is his first RCI cruise and I've told him to be aware that it does not represent your standard RCI cruise.

 

The ship is beautiful and I love the lay out. I love Boleros, the Starlight dining room and the casino. They are all gorgeous and the new seating surfaces, tables, etc. all look great. It was really nice having silverware last night at dinner that may have never been used before -- no water spots or markings from going through the cleaning process.

 

We are jealous of your suite -- I won this booking fro Casino Royale while on the Grandeur in March so we just have an inside stateroom. It is a little claustrophobic -- I'm used to a balcony room.

 

The staff has been wonderful with the exception of our waiter last night. We are on my time but we had a 15-20 delay between every course. Everyone else has been wonderful -- the casino host and dealers, the Windjammer staff and our stateroom attendant.

 

The Windjammer layout is horrendous. It is the only part of the ship that reflects its age. Traffic is horrible and with a sold out booking like this It takes forever to maneuver through the lines. We will be doing breakfast in the dining room from now on, most likely.

 

Overall I love the ship and I am hoping to book a cruise to Cuba when they are announced. Some teething problems though, but that's to be expected.

 

Can we visit your suite? :P

Feel free to drop by! I'm spending time between the balcony and the cabin. Only thing I have left to do today is drop by the next cruise office and the love and marriage game show.

 

As for everyone else, I'll try and filter back some pictures soon. Haven't done much of anything today!

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

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Mrs. Winks

Mrs. Winks

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We have an OS for the June 6th sailing. Was hoping you could answer a few questions.

 

1) is there a concierge for suite guests?

2) is there a concierge lounge?

3) do suite guests have a special designated place for breakfast? I heard it was being done in Boleros.

4) Do they have Zumba classes?

 

Thank you so much for your postings! We are really getting super excited to sail her!

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unclerain

unclerain

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As for the medical emergency prior to sailing, a middle aged gentlemen was stretchered off the ship into the ambulance. From what I can see via the 6th deck, it looked like a possible heart attack since he had a bunch of sensors on his chest while being transported to the ambulance.

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ADS94

ADS94

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How is the food service in the MDR? There is another post on the board stating that service is slow and there is a lack of availability of food. Has this been your experience as well?

I haven't been in the MDR, only the windjammer

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

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ADS94

ADS94

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Phone problems and a lazy sea day make for a lack of updates! I'll have more today. In the meantime, heres the cruise compasses.

 

Day 2

 

94f2b13710ddfa12dbecf83b5a3a3d8b.jpg

 

70d0d9df27218eae8c56fae2a0fabc89.jpg

 

e091e612da8556cd2a5094d2b844e8c5.jpg

 

Day 3

 

472d6d0270fa0a5c38b3e40964b2b7bf.jpg

 

87375deb888ae8a97636e49dfdd705a2.jpg

 

d4be209d6d6704c1df3ff5d35f649948.jpg

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

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ADS94

ADS94

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Is there a dedicated lounge for drinks for D, D+, PC from 5-8:30 like on Majesty? or is it only the 3 free on your card at various bars?

 

Thanks! Enjoy!

There is no dedicated lounge. It seems like its just the 3 free drinks on your card. In Boleros, there is a place where you can sit and get free drinks and snacks but it seems to be only open to those in suites. That is what I was told from Daniela.

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

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jessicab0625

jessicab0625

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Can you let me know if the streaming is fast enough for FaceTime, GoogleVideo, and Netflix or other movie streaming? Trying to decide if we should pre-purchase to help give our anxious daughter some piece of mind. But if video chat was choppy, I'm sure it would make her worse and think something bad was happening! We're sailing June 6. Thank you for all of the info!!

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natureboyricflair

natureboyricflair

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On the boat now... finally able to post in GC.

 

Quick thoughts...

 

The ship looks great. The staff at the Boleros and casino are second to none.

 

That said, getting room service the first two days was impossible. We had to wait 35 minutes to get late night food at the Windjammer the first night.

 

And to top it all off, no A/C in our room through the cruise thus far. It has been miserable. I mean miserable.

 

Luckily we have the premium package so we can get trashed and not worry about it when we go to bed at night. But I've woken up both the last two nights because it has been so hot.

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NCEMT

NCEMT

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On the boat now... finally able to post in GC.

 

Quick thoughts...

 

The ship looks great. The staff at the Boleros and casino are second to none.

 

That said, getting room service the first two days was impossible. We had to wait 35 minutes to get late night food at the Windjammer the first night.

 

And to top it all off, no A/C in our room through the cruise thus far. It has been miserable. I mean miserable.

 

Luckily we have the premium package so we can get trashed and not worry about it when we go to bed at night. But I've woken up both the last two nights because it has been so hot.

 

No AC sorry :( hopefully they will get that fixed.

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genovesemylove

genovesemylove

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On the boat now... finally able to post in GC.

 

Quick thoughts...

 

The ship looks great. The staff at the Boleros and casino are second to none.

 

That said, getting room service the first two days was impossible. We had to wait 35 minutes to get late night food at the Windjammer the first night.

 

And to top it all off, no A/C in our room through the cruise thus far. It has been miserable. I mean miserable.

 

Luckily we have the premium package so we can get trashed and not worry about it when we go to bed at night. But I've woken up both the last two nights because it has been so hot.

 

No AC is unacceptable, I hope they are compensating you somehow. Do you at least get some kind of fan? Can they move you or is the ship sold out? What type of cabin are you in?

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atnolan94

atnolan94

Posted
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On the boat now... finally able to post in GC.

 

Quick thoughts...

 

The ship looks great. The staff at the Boleros and casino are second to none.

 

That said, getting room service the first two days was impossible. We had to wait 35 minutes to get late night food at the Windjammer the first night.

 

And to top it all off, no A/C in our room through the cruise thus far. It has been miserable. I mean miserable.

 

Luckily we have the premium package so we can get trashed and not worry about it when we go to bed at night. But I've woken up both the last two nights because it has been so hot.

 

Thanks for my daily dose of laughter:D:p

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ADS94

ADS94

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Hi ADS94, do they have the ship models for sale on board? Can you please take a couple of pics if they do? Did you get the message I sent you through the Tapatalk app? :D

I did, and I replied. Or so I thought ...

 

There are no ship models for sale "maybe next cruise" I was told. They just got approval from Royal HQ to sell them (which I thought quite odd, she's been back for all this time)

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

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Snit13

Snit13

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No AC is unacceptable, I hope they are compensating you somehow. Do you at least get some kind of fan? Can they move you or is the ship sold out? What type of cabin are you in?

 

Personal experience, cruisers in cabins without AC need to immediately make an appointment with the Director of Guest Services and the Hotel Director. We had plumbing issue on Jewel and received discount certificates for future cruises. The officers actually came to our cabin to check out the problem, along with the plumber. Instead of posting go to Guest Services and speak with the director.

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Royalty X

Royalty X

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I did, and I replied. Or so I thought ...

 

There are no ship models for sale "maybe next cruise" I was told. They just got approval from Royal HQ to sell them (which I thought quite odd, she's been back for all this time)

 

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Just got your message and replied (my Tapatalk is supposed to send me notifications but for some reason that function isn't working). :)
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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

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Thanks for all the photos! We were on the MSC Divina on May 28th and saw the Empress right next to us when we docked. She's indeed a beautiful ship, and one with a special place in our heart since she was our honeymoon cruise back in 2004.

 

Have they mentioned any itineraries beyond her summer sailings? So odd that there are only a handful of sailings in the system.

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