Empress OTS 9/26/16 Review - 5 day Key West & Cozumel

[lcookie]

Hello all. Decided on short notice to plan a cruise after finding out the little one was out of school this week. No she is not at all like dad, so this was a school planned break :-). Little background on us. Dad is the thrill seeker, mom is the play it safe one, and lil bits just wants to be like dad. May as well since she looks like a miniature female version of me. This is our 3rd planned cruise. We do have 2 more on deck and will soon be shopping for late 2017 cruises. Too new to have brand loyalty. I want to try em all!

 

Sitting here in Miami waiting on my time to board and thought it would be nice to start this one up. I hope this review is as good as others I have read. I put a link to my Thanksgiving 2015 cruise in my signature if you are interested. I have not decided if I am going to get the internet package or just disconnect for this one. If you have specific questions ask away. I will try to answer them for you once in board.

[lcookie]

Here is a pic of her from the Port of Miami webcam. I hope to get in the view during sailaway!

 

[jordanandcathy]

Awesome. We leave on this cruise on Saturday so I am anxious to read your review. :) We are taking our three children (3,4,&5)

[Moobaby214]

Anxious to follow along, we are doing this same cruise in October.

[lcookie]

We have taken many family vacations but all of them have involved driving to our destination. This trip we decided to step it up and fly down to the port. This was an adventure and a half. Left home 4 hours early but only had 2 hours to spare when we got to the airport. Typical Atlanta traffic. I pulled up Google maps just to see that 2 of the three primary routes from north to south were blood red. This left me and the rest of Atlanta one route to transit. Nuff said! Next while walking to the terminal mama breaks one of her shoes. After limping to the American Airline check in we are haulted again due to an overweight bag. It was only a few lbs but I was not paying that excessive fee. Exit stage left to reorganization the bags we spent hours getting just right. Roll past that just to get the full cavity search at the security checkpoint. All my carry on items were flagged. Add to that Mrs. Impatient steps on mama's foot and nudges teeny trying to rush thru the line. By the time we are all done there is 10 minutes left before boarding. Luckily we flew out of T-Gates so no need to worry. Problem is there no good food down there. We reluctantly paid for over priced Subway and headed to the plane. No real issues with the flight. Got to Miami, picked up bags, and headed to the hotel shuttle lane. Getting a shuttle felt more like flagging down a shady character for an elicit deal. They really need to have set pick up points versus that free for all.

[crusinot]

Following! Doing this cruise in October!

[BlueEyesMI]

Following! We're on board 10/15 :D:D:D

[lcookie]

Following! Doing this cruise in October!

 

Anxious to follow along, we are doing this same cruise in October.

 

Thanks for following. I decided to get the internet package so we are in business.

[lcookie]

Following! We're on board 10/15 :D:D:D

 

Strap in and hope you enjoy the ride.

 

 

Awesome. We leave on this cruise on Saturday so I am anxious to read your review. :) We are taking our three children (3,4,&5)

 

Almost a set of Irish twins two times. I envy you.

[easyboy]

Nice start. Will surely enjoy following your live update.

[lcookie]

Nice start. Will surely enjoy following your live update.

 

Here Ya Go!

[lcookie]

I can't upload pics properly over the ship wifi so those will have to come later.

 

When we hit Miami it was raining and getting dark. Arrived at the hotel and checked in pretty fast. We were staying at the Clarion Miami Airport. The hotel was clean but it has not aged gracefully. Overall I would give it a C minus. Nothing major to complain about just subpar for my liking. Only real problem was the ac made the room feel damp if you turned it all the way down. Ordered a pizza for dinner. They said 45 minutes but it took so long we nearly fell asleep waiting.

 

The next morning we got up and hit the continental breakfast. It was better than most we have eaten. Our friends who live in Miami were to pick us up at noon to hang out for the day. Around 11:30 they called with car troubles and could not make it.

 

Now at this point nothing has really gone our way to say the least. Strip searched, stepped on, rained on, forgot about, and abandoned.

 

Who cares we are on vacation. I did a little foot searching and found some food and drinks. Then we laid up to get rested for our CRUISE!

 

Next morning we get up and head to the contintntal breakfast. Soon as we get there (8:30) they close the doors because they ran out of rations. Luckily enough we were able to grab a meal. I just felt sorry for those folks who slept in. All this leads me to say I think I will try another next time.

[lcookie]

Ok that was the back drop. Shall we get to the reason you are here. At high noon we loaded up in the shuttle and headed to the port. Typical FL weather it started to down pour. Then it stopped as we rolled into the port. Rained just enough to prevent me from getting any photos or videos. Within 20 minutes of arrival we were on the boat. First impressions "This Thing is TINY" but it was dresses up well. I loved the way they use the mirrors and shiny stuff to make her look bigger than she is. Our room was ready when we boarded so we went there first. Our attendant had already pushed the beds to one side to give us some more room. The scale of the room matches the scale of the ship. You won't be doing any break dancing but you can move around in synchronized fashion.

 

Next we went up to the wind jammer for lunch. They had 3 lines. Two inside and one poolside. Seating came at a premium but we found a table after a short search. This is to be expected on the first day.

 

We are off to Key West now so I will follow up later.

 

TTFN!

[lcookie]

I'm Back!

 

The meal was typical buffet. Not great but definitely not bad. Muster drill was next. I've seen bigger vessels on Lake Lanier but at least it felt like there was enough boat space for everyone onboard. Later we had dinner in the MDR. The meal was great. Everyone at the table had a different item and no one complained.

 

Next was some type of sing along in the Centrium. Being a small area it felt more intimate and the crowd really got into it. The activities director was very energetic which kept our interest up. Once that was over the kiddo and I went and sat on the outside deck to catch some air while mama went shopping. At 9 pm we went to the theater for a musical. The dancers were good but the singers were weak in our opinion.

 

After the show they had a 70's party in the Centrium followed by a Latin party in Boleros. We took part in the 70's party then turned it in for the night.

[lcookie]

1. Embarkation was a breeze. Never did we feel like they were herding cattle.

 

2. Muster was very organized.

 

3. Ship was clean and smelled pleasant.

 

4. AC in room was not icy cold but was good enough to keep us comfortable.

 

5. Casino was a "HOT" mess. Very warm and very few people playing anything. They had portable AC units on the floor but those only helped if you were directly in the flow path.

 

6. We liked the food.

 

7. Pillows sucked.

[jlfawley]

Interested to hear how it was for kids. Thinking of booking quick getaway within driving distance for us....we live about 90 minutes north of miami port.

 

It would be myself and 12 year old daughter. She doesnt care about water slides or rock climbing. But really enjoys trivia, shows and dance class type of activities. Do you think there is enough activities and entertainment available on this ship for tweens?

 

Trying to decide between empress 4 days or carnival fantasy 3 days. We have cruised 8 or 9 times on carnival and 2 times on Norwegian. This would be our first on royal.

 

Any advice or opinions on this ship for a tween?

[Megs867]

Following! We're on board 10/15 :D:D:D

 

 

Me too!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[lcookie]

Interested to hear how it was for kids. Thinking of booking quick getaway within driving distance for us....we live about 90 minutes north of miami port.

 

It would be myself and 12 year old daughter. She doesnt care about water slides or rock climbing. But really enjoys trivia, shows and dance class type of activities. Do you think there is enough activities and entertainment available on this ship for tweens?

 

Trying to decide between empress 4 days or carnival fantasy 3 days. We have cruised 8 or 9 times on carnival and 2 times on Norwegian. This would be our first on royal.

 

Any advice or opinions on this ship for a tween?

 

 

My lil one is 9 so she is fine in the kids club. From what I have seen your tween may be a bit board in there. They do have age groups but there are so few kids onboard all of them are in same group from what I can tell. I will get more info tonight. They do have trivia and dance classes.

 

To be honest this cruise is more about relaxation than anything else. No one is in a hurry and things are just really laid back. It could get dry if more than 7 days were to be had.

[lcookie]

Me too!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Welcome aboard.

[Megs867]

Welcome aboard.

 

 

Thanks! Counting down to my relaxing cruise. Never been on a small ship so if will be different but fun I am sure.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[jlfawley]

My lil one is 9 so she is fine in the kids club. From what I have seen your tween may be a bit board in there. They do have age groups but there are so few kids onboard all of them are in same group from what I can tell. I will get more info tonight. They do have trivia and dance classes.

 

To be honest this cruise is more about relaxation than anything else. No one is in a hurry and things are just really laid back. It could get dry if more than 7 days were to be had.

 

 

Thank you so much for the reply. I understand its a smaller ship without all the bells and whistles. I would be fine sitting by the pool reading a book and spending some time at shows and casino. Just concerned about her being bored. Really want her to have a good time too. I think at her age she would be in the teen club. But not sure how that would work with so few kids on board.

[lcookie]

Interested to hear how it was for kids. Thinking of booking quick getaway within driving distance for us....we live about 90 minutes north of miami port.

 

It would be myself and 12 year old daughter. She doesnt care about water slides or rock climbing. But really enjoys trivia, shows and dance class type of activities. Do you think there is enough activities and entertainment available on this ship for tweens?

 

Trying to decide between empress 4 days or carnival fantasy 3 days. We have cruised 8 or 9 times on carnival and 2 times on Norwegian. This would be our first on royal.

 

Any advice or opinions on this ship for a tween?

 

They do have a tween club. I will post pics when I can.

[FLSteve11]

Interested to hear how it was for kids. Thinking of booking quick getaway within driving distance for us....we live about 90 minutes north of miami port.

 

It would be myself and 12 year old daughter. She doesnt care about water slides or rock climbing. But really enjoys trivia, shows and dance class type of activities. Do you think there is enough activities and entertainment available on this ship for tweens?

 

Trying to decide between empress 4 days or carnival fantasy 3 days. We have cruised 8 or 9 times on carnival and 2 times on Norwegian. This would be our first on royal.

 

Any advice or opinions on this ship for a tween?

 

I did the 9/3 sailing by myself, but my DW and DD and I are going on the Empress on January 12th. My daughter is 12 as well, and while she likes the slides and such, she's always happy with the shows, dance classes, and hanging out onboard as well.

 

I thought there was a fair amount of trivia, with some involving younger people (Disney music trivia, for example). There were quite a few dance classes, especially for latin dancing. The one thing with the kids clubs is generally (didn't check on this ship) the 12yo get thrown in with the teens. My daughter was a bit uncomfortable with the club when it was basically a bunch of 16-17yo boys. But that's going to be the case on all ships for a few years for her.

 

There's not going to be as many as the bigger ships though. It's a small ship, so that limits some of the things onboard. There's a pool, and a rock-climbing wall, a few ping pong tables, things like that.

 

We're going to be doing the Fantasy 10/28th for the weekend cruise as well. :)

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing with us. Enjoy your cruise.