Empress of the Seas 2018 Review (Cuba & More)

[tweetylori]

I know you are thinking these people have been eating all day, and you are right!  So why stop now?  You can't, because Fernando is not about to let you.  So order something and hope you can do it.  Husband went with the Royal Cheesecake off the Classic Menu, while I decided to try the Flan de Caramelo.  I chose the Flan because it sounded light, and it was light, but I didn't care for it.  That particular texture is just not my thing. So there, calories saved!  Husband liked his cheesecake, and I can only assume Fernando thought he needed ice cream also because there is photo evidence of it.  And yes we told Fernando we had been on a Food Tour that day! 

 

 

[tweetylori]

The ONLY thing we could do at this point was walk around and take in the pretty night.   There was only this one part of the view that wasn't particularly scenic.

Edited November 13, 2018 by tweetylori

[tweetylori]

But the MSC ship that was docked next to us was very attractive.

 

 

[cpayne]

Keep the good words coming!

[tweetylori]

2 minutes ago, cpayne said:

Keep the good words coming!

Thank you, I'm working on it!

[tweetylori]

Slow night at the Windjammer!

 

 

[tweetylori]

Slow night at this bar also.

 

 

[tweetylori]

We love having a ship almost to ourselves!

 

 

[tweetylori]

[tweetylori]

[tweetylori]

[tweetylori]

I see Paul was performing as usual in the Schooner Bar

 

 

[tweetylori]

The Big Screen movie on this night, by the way, was "The Avengers: Infinity War".  And it was a slow night for Karaoke Superstar Round 1 in Boleros.  

[tweetylori]

This was the only night of the cruise where there was only one show in the Royal Theater.  So at 9:30 we headed to Deck 5 for "Your Royal Caribbean Singers", followed by the "Late Night Adult Comedy" of Kivi Rogers.  All were very entertaining.  All of the singers have really good voices, and Kivi was funny again.  We enjoyed our "free" entertainment.  And it was a good size audience.  

 

 

[tweetylori]

I would say we were party animals, staying up until all hours utilizing the deluxe drink package, and waiting up for the Havana night-life folks, but I would be lying.  We turned in.  We were very much looking forward to a nice relaxing Sunday at Sea. 

Loved what the Compass said:  "We will be sailing the pristine waters of the Caribbean, where ocean depths average 6,000 ft/1830 meters and the water temperature is a moderate 80 F/27 C.  A day at sea is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of all there is to do onboard..."

 

p.s. no new towel animal

[tweetylori]

Sunday, October 14...nice day at sea to look forward to, and a "helpful tip" in the Compass to ignore:  "Tonight's Dinner Dress Suggestion:  Dress to Impress". 

 

Just giving the rest of you a heads up, because like I said earlier, we had heard that this cruise was totally casual.  

 

So where in the world were we when we woke up?  Don't you love turning on the tv to find out?

 

 

 

 

[tweetylori]

Plus, if you want to see what is going on all day, or what the room service menu is, you can check that out also.

 

 

[tweetylori]

We decided to take our time getting going on this relaxing day at sea, so by the time we headed out to find food (yes, we managed to get hungry again...we are shameless!), our only option was the Starlight Dining Room for Brunch.  Breakfast had ended at 10:45 in the Windjammer, and wasn't starting up for lunch until 11:30. (It was around 11 at this point)  But having read about this amazing buffet brunch, we were looking forward to it.

 

So we headed down to Starlight, but managed to hit the wrong floor as they were only seating on one floor for it (the lower one). We were used to eating upstairs, so we were glad to get to try the other level of this dining room.

 

 There was a small line. We waited and waited while bunches of folks came out, but nobody was going in.  When we finally had the opportunity to be seated, we were led to a table with 6 other people.  I thought, cool!  We get to meet some new folks.  We had certainly met some nice fun people already on this friendly ship.  Unfortunately, it didn't take us long to realize these were not some of those nice friendly fun people.  These were folks who just wanted to complain about everything.  I mean, the salt shaker didn't have enough salt in it, the free bloody mary was awful...what only ONE free mimosa?!  Who would buy a deluxe drink package anyway?  That's stupid.  Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I said:  "uh, we did, and we love it.  as a matter of fact, I think I'll have another mimosa right now".

 

So, I don't know if it was just the unpleasant company or if it really was the food also, but we couldn't enjoy this meal.  Food was so-so, and fairly cold by the time we got it back to the table.  There was a nice variety of breakfast and lunch items.  Do make sure you put cold and room temperature foods on your plate first, so you have a better chance of a warm meal.  I wish I could say I loved this brunch, but we both couldn't wait to get out of there.  I did manage to get one quick pic of my plate.  This was the only time I saw a benedict on this trip.  The top item is a pizziola chicken.  (I think that's what they called it).

[cpayne]

11 minutes ago, tweetylori said:

We decided to take our time getting going on this relaxing day at sea, so by the time we headed out to find food (yes, we managed to get hungry again...we are shameless!), our only option was the Starlight Dining Room for Brunch.  Breakfast had ended at 10:45 in the Windjammer, and wasn't starting up for lunch until 11:30. (It was around 11 at this point)  But having read about this amazing buffet brunch, we were looking forward to it.

 

So we headed down to Starlight, but managed to hit the wrong floor as they were only seating on one floor for it (the lower one). We were used to eating upstairs, so we were glad to get to try the other level of this dining room.

 

 There was a small line. We waited and waited while bunches of folks came out, but nobody was going in.  When we finally had the opportunity to be seated, we were led to a table with 6 other people.  I thought, cool!  We get to meet some new folks.  We had certainly met some nice fun people already on this friendly ship.  Unfortunately, it didn't take us long to realize these were not some of those nice friendly fun people.  These were folks who just wanted to complain about everything.  I mean, the salt shaker didn't have enough salt in it, the free bloody mary was awful...what only ONE free mimosa?!  Who would buy a deluxe drink package anyway?  That's stupid.  Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I said:  "uh, we did, and we love it.  as a matter of fact, I think I'll have another mimosa right now".

 

So, I don't know if it was just the unpleasant company or if it really was the food also, but we couldn't enjoy this meal.  Food was so-so, and fairly cold by the time we got it back to the table.  There was a nice variety of breakfast and lunch items.  Do make sure you put cold and room temperature foods on your plate first, so you have a better chance of a warm meal.  I wish I could say I loved this brunch, but we both couldn't wait to get out of there.  I did manage to get one quick pic of my plate.  This was the only time I saw a benedict on this trip.  The top item is a pizziola chicken.  (I think that's what they called it).

 

They were offering free bloody Mary's and mimosa's in the dining room for brunch OR did I misread your post? 

[tweetylori]

When we were on our Transatlantic cruise on Celebrity, we had 7 sea days in a row and there were so many interesting things happening that I had to choose between favorite sounding ones.  We found it easier to just relax on Empress because there are a limited number of planned activities.  If I remember correctly, we actually took a nap this day.  What a luxury to have time for a nap!  Now it was 2 for $20 Cuban T-Shirt day.  If you wait until the swarms go down, you can still have perfectly good pickings.   

 

If you are a pool person, I will say that that area stayed packed.  So we did miss the World Sexiest Man Competition.  But we did not miss The Love & Marriage Game Show.  Always a fun time!  Here we were getting ready for it.

[tweetylori]

3 minutes ago, cpayne said:

 

They were offering free bloody Mary's and mimosa's in the dining room for brunch OR did I misread your post? 

 

They did offer one per person.

[tweetylori]

Today's view from our cabin

[tweetylori]

Before we knew it (and since we hadn't had much for brunch), it was time for dinner.  I don't know why it took me two shots instead of one for the menu this night, but perhaps we can blame it on the deluxe drink package.

 

 

[tweetylori]

I love Asian food, so I couldn't wait to try the Asian Style Pork Tacos.  Husband must have had another Cheese Platter and Caesar Salad because I don't have pics of them.  I do remember that Fernando decided we had to try the Salmon Tartare.  Neither of us is big on raw fish, but we did try it.  Note the Pork "tacos" were actually bao.  These were very very rich.  A bit much for an appetizer.

 

 

[tweetylori]

I know you are expecting a steak pic for Husband, but surprisingly he decided to go with the Chicken Cordon Bleu, while I went with the Garlic Tiger Shrimp.  I definitely won the best entree for the night category.  I'm not sure why they chose to do the chicken this way, but to me, Chicken Cordon Bleu should be done with a wine/cream sauce, served with rice or potatoes.  Fries and peas are a bit strange with it, but hey, I didn't order it.  That being said, Husband wasn't jumping up and down about this one.

 

I, on the other hand, ordered very wisely.  That Tiger Shrimp was very yummy!  I was glad it was a small portion after the giant Asian app.