Detailed review of Empress of the Seas inaugural Cuba cruise

[Coveguy4]

Wonderful review with excellent pictures, I really enjoyed it.

 

We have cabin 7508 on hold for the Nov 20 sailing. I see you had cabin 7008 across the way. You mentioned a viewing deck where people could see in your window. I like the easy access to the outside, but would you book this cabin again and do you have any pictures of the cabin and viewing deck?

 

Thank you so much.

I also have cabin 7508 booked on the 29th, interested in answer too

[patrickmoran]

How much was the all day Havana tour and how did you pay? Thanks

[junior8]

ukbballfan...Thank you for the wonderful tour of Cuba you took us on! Nice photos and narrative! Maybe one day I will go

[ohbuckeye]

Thank you for this lovely review! I'm sure it took a lot of time to compose but it is much appreciated!

[Bigguyoly]

Great review and amazing pictures, thank you so much!!

[alexkrn46]

great informative review, thanks.

[takenabreak]

Great review and wonderful pictures! What type of camera did you use?

 

 

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[joand452]

Thank you for the review of your day in Havana and photos. It did not disappoint!!

 

 

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[Ocean Dancer]

We are booked for Thanksgiving, You convinced me!!!:cool:

[Johndoe813]

I would love to go back to Cuba i lived there for 3 years (Well on the Guantanamo side) but loved every minute of it. I keep telling my wife that i want to go and she tells me we need to wait lol. I may get back to the island one day. As for the Cuban cigars i have had better here in the U.S. i think they are just a novelty since i don't think you can get them in the states yet. Awesome review i love the pictures.

[ArkieCruisin]

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. Really enjoyed seeing your pictures from Cuba. I hope to do a cruise that stops there someday.

[ukbballfan]

We did not take any cabin pics...they all tend to look alike after a few cruises. If you pull up a picture of the ship look at the front and you will see 2 very wide cutouts in the steel hull...those are decks 6 & 7...what I call the viewing areas. The windows you see are for the cabins. We were in 7002 and I would book it again without hesitation. The ease of getting out to take pics or just to get a breath of fresh air was worth worrying about someone looking in.

 

The all day tour with I Love Cuba was 200 CUC's for the 2 of us. We tipped the driver and guide generously as we felt they were well above the average . They might accept US dollars but you would have to ask Yosul.

 

My cameras were a Canon T3i dslr that I have had for a few years and love. I also carry a Nikon S9900 on my belt because it has a 40X optical zoom.

 

 

 

 

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[3dogmom]

Do you remember where you had lunch? I'm also taking a private tour and have heard mixed reviews of restaurants.

[poncho1973]

Great review... however that's a brutal $50 lunch.

[teachatthebeach]

We are on the July 1st sailing. I just booked a tour with Yosel!

 

 

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[cruisesss]

Loved your review! We're going the Empress of the Sea in August and plan on getting a JS on Deck 9. This will be our first time with a balcony room. Do you have any advise on which side of the ship may be better for enjoying our balcony?

[Ocean Dancer]

We booked on May 1 sailing on Nov 20 and already got a price drop and OBC from Royal saving us $300.

 

Check your prices.

 

Anyone have info on cabin #7508 last one forward??

[Snit13]

From what I have read on reviews posted to date either side should be fine. We booked cabin 9100 port side as we wanted to be near elevator/stairs. Don't like walking down long halls to get to cabin.

 

Have seen photos on someone's review which shows nice views from port or star

 

Enjoy your cruise and please report back as we don't cruise until October.

[mooline]

Thank you so much for this wonderful series of reviews! Your pics are phenomenal, thank you so much for sharing those. Looking forward to our 6/26 cruise, and it will be our first time on Royal.

[ukbballfan]

Loved your review! We're going the Empress of the Sea in August and plan on getting a JS on Deck 9. This will be our first time with a balcony room. Do you have any advise on which side of the ship may be better for enjoying our balcony?

 

 

For our 2 stops it didn't matter. In Costa Maya the back of the ship faced the port but there's not much to see there anyways. In Havana you are pulled in between two warehouses with the city straight ahead...best views are at sail in...although from the top deck you can probably see over the warehouses.

[cruisegirl1]

Enjoyed the comprehensive review. We sailed on the April 30 sailing. We took the 8 hour ship tour and were not disappointed. We found that RCCL did a great job is getting every ready and informed of what to expect. We normally book private tours but did not for Havana After being there and seeing your review, private tours are not an issue.

 

Like you, we had a great time. However - your photographs are far superior to mine!

 

M

[Guest maddycat]

Thanks, I really enjoyed your excellent review.

[bluecookies]

 

We had booked I Love Cuba Tours from their number 1 status on Trip Advisor. Yosul, the owner had already been booked but he has guides that work for him and we were paired with Patricia for our full day tour. I had emailed him a few times leading up to the cruise and he was efficient in returning my emails. Patricia spoke perfect English and we later learned that she actually teaches English in the schools there. We dodged the group of people asking us about taking tours...well all but one who captured my wife's attention. She politely told him that we already had plans and he said ok, but where are you from? When she said the US his eyes lit up and he took her hand and said "Thank You for coming"! He was so sincere and it left a great first impression on Deb.

 

We walked into the square to the fountain and there was our guide with a sign with my name on it. With her was the owner Yosul and his 2 other guides. He introduced himself and we had an enjoyable back and forth...mostly about baseball...the universal language. We then headed off with Patricia on about a 2 hour walking tour starting with the old town. We first walked along the waterfront...

 

 

We were in Cuba this past Friday and also had Patricia from I Love Cuba tours. She did a very good job. Many of us just got back a few days ago. If you run across the RCLcuba social media group, there are lots of us who sailed and lots who have upcoming sailings! Loved Cuba!

[WichitaCruiser]

Thanks so much for a comprehensive and very helpful review! We’ll be on the Aug 21 Empress sailing.

[NYGirl1002]

Thank you so much for the comprehensive review. Your pictures are great. I'll be on the Empress to Havana on Aug 26 with a stop in Key West. I'm really looking forward to it, especially after reading your review.