Regal Empress questions?

[jennrose_03@yahoo.com]

Hey everyone! I will probably be bombarding this board until I leave for my trip...so sorry if I annoy anyone! :p Anyways...what can I expect from this ship? I have seen pictures of it, and I know that its older, and the pool in TINY...but what about the rooms? Are there showers in them? Are the beds decent? Im super picky about what I shower and sleep in!!! Is the food decent, the assistance good? Any in put would be great! Thanks!:D

[cable]

Im super picky about what I shower and sleep in!!!
Oh boy, this is the wrong ship for you. All cabins have private facilities but for the most part, the showers are extremely tiny. The beds are quite soft and lumpy. If someone told me that the matresses were from the ship's 1981 conversion into Caribe 1, I would seriously not be surprised. The cabins are sort of shabby in general, but you will hardly be there.

The food and service in the dining room is probably the high point of the trip. While not great, the meals are pretty good and the ambiance of this historic room is very pleasant. Actually, service throughout the ship is outstanding, better than mass market lines in my opinion. Food at the buffet is mediocre and even that might be too generous.

The pool is tiny but there are additional loungers available up on the top deck for sun. Hope this helps.

[mbisson]

I agree with cable-but I do so conditionally.

Yep, tiny shower-I'm not gonna discuss the beds as what one person likes another may dislike (ours wasn't lumpy). Like Cable, I enjoyed the main dining room. :D But again, what one person likes another may not. I did not like the buffet at all! BTW-we found the drink prices to be lower and the drinks better than the other cruises we've been on. And we also enjoyed the Casino and thought the entertainment was better than I expected (it's not vegas quality, but it was OK)

Now the conditional part. If you haven't cruised before, I really think you'll enjoy it. If you have cruised before and board expecting the same experience as the mainstream lines (RCCL, Carnival, HAL, NCL etc) you'll probably be disappointed. If you're an experienced cruiser, don't expect the cruise to be the same as the other lines, and got a good price, you'll probably be happy.

Hey, worst case for us would've been if we didn't enjoy the cruise-even then we would have considered it a fun way to get to Nassau for a day! :D

Btw-we did enjoy the cruise. We've cruised about 17 times now but didn't board with the same expectations as the other cruises. I hope to try IMCL again when they have the 'new' ship

[Traveller20074]

Well, did you like the cruise? :D