Empress of the Seas 2018 Review (Cuba & More)

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Husband & I set sail on Empress of the Seas October 11, 2018 from Miami for a seven night adventure.  Itinerary included Key West, Havana, Cienfuegos & Grand Cayman.

This review will include lots of pics, with a heavy emphasis on food.  To me, food IS culture.  We did food tours in both Havana and Grand Cayman.  I will try to complete this as fast as possible.  Now that it looks like we can actually load pics directly from our computers, it should go much faster than my last review!  As a matter of fact, I don't know that I would even attempt it again without this wonderful new feature.  So, with that said,  here's to 7 nights on Empress!  First drinks on board in the Schooner...Papa Dobles for Husband, Lemon Drop for me.

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This was shortly after Hurricane Michael had blown through the Panhandle.  Fortunately Miami didn't experience much more than windy conditions.

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First look at our Ocean View cabin 8026.  Doesn't get much smaller than this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Teeny bathroom to match!

 

 

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First Compass waiting for us.  Note, I do still have them all, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!  

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First stop at the buffet for a few nibbles.  Favorite item the whole week on the buffet was the first day, but it doesn't look like I got a pic of it.  It was the shepherd's pie.  Really good!  They had a version later in the week that had mushrooms in it, which I'm not a fan of so I didn't get it again.  Otherwise, I never saw it other than this first afternoon.  Other items were decent, but nothing to jump up and down about.  

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Wandering led to the obligatory cigar-in-the-neck photo

 

 

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Then we had to show up here for Muster.   Eventually others showed up as well.

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Let's GO!

 

 

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Small coffee shop area in the Viking Crown Lounge.  We never got anything from here, because there was always quite the line when it was open.

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Looking forward to the casino opening!

 

 

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We chose My Time Dining, and never had a problem getting seated right away.  But we like to dine early so we can enjoy doing other nightly entertainment.  We were seated at a table for two near the kitchen on the upper deck (5).  If you have Traditional Dining, you go to Deck 4.  Service could not have been better for us every night at this table!  Loved the breads in the basket each night, although towards the end of the sailing, they were not as fresh.

 

 

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Night 1 menu

 

 

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Husband liked his Caesar salad, but liked the Antipasti Fernando surprised him with even more.  I thought the Crab Cake was good.

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For entrees Husband had the first of several steaks.  This being the New York Strip. He thought it was quite good.  I went with the Fish, Seafood & Mash.  It was good.  A bit of an unusual combination, but I get what they were trying to do.  My goal was to order things I would never make at home, and this certainly fit the bill as I never fry anything!

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Last but not least:  Warm Hazelnut Chocolate Cake and Key Lime Pie.  Not sure how we had room, but we did, and they were both good!

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After dinner we went to the 7:30 show in the Royal Theatre which is not a normal rowed seating theatre.  This one is more like a big lounge.  Sorry for the dark pic, but I wasn't going to do a flash and disturb folks.  Main act was a funny comedian...Kivi.

 

 

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That first night (and several other nights also) we loved Paul in the Schooner Bar.  He has a Neil Diamond type of voice and can sing and play most anything.  Great for sing-alongs, dancing and just listening.  

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Also walked around a bit (doesn't take long to cover the public areas on this small ship)

 

 

 

 

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We did buy the Deluxe Drink Package before sailing.  I waited until we were emailed a 30% offer and snatched it up.  That, along with the $100 on board credit we had scored at booking, made the package not a bad deal.  Husband is mostly a Bourbon guy, while I do enjoy my wines.  Even though we were told it would cover up to $12 drinks, it did cover the ones listed on drink menus at $13.  The only time we paid extra for a drink was on the last night when I decided to try a $14 glass of wine with dinner, so a dollar was charged to our Sea Pass.  Otherwise, we enjoyed a lot of San Pellagrinos and Club Sodas along with everything else.  Bar Service was always excellent.  Tonight I finished off the night with a Brandy Alexander in the Schooner Bar.  Bartender apologized for not having any nutmeg available and promised to have it for me the next night.  

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There is also photo evidence of a late night run to the Buffet.  I may not eat a lot at a time, but I can eat often. Husband however is lucky that I don't take pics of his buffet adventures.

 

 

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Also didn't have a bad start in the casino

 

 

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Our cabin was turned down and ready for us when we finally crashed for the night.  Emmanuel took very cook care of us, and was always cheerful and remembered our names.  We found the bedding and pillows to be quite comfortable.  Bed (beds...two singles pushed together) were on the hard-side. It didn't bother me as much as it did Husband.

 

 Before we knew it though, it was morning and we had sailed 170 nm.  Time for Key West!

 

 

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Not much to see from our window though.  We were already missing the balcony we had on our last cruise, but that was okay.  We knew this was a different experience, and we were in it for the much-anticipated Cuba!