Food service issues on the Empress

We are happy to be on the ship and enjoying ourselves, but...

Where is the food? There are big problems related to food service on this ship. We had early seating dinner, waited in a group of people that initially may have been a line, but quickly became unorganized groups approaching from the stairs, the elevator, and down the hall in front of deck 4 cabins. We were seated, and the wait began. Waited for bread (only offered once),waited for water (had to ask for refills), waited for menus, waited for appetizers, you get the picture. I ordered the mushroom risotto, which looked and smelled good, but was undercooked by at least half the time it should have been cooked; it was actually crunchy. I did not order anything else because I couldn't face another wait and, frankly, there was a very limited menu. We got out of there at 7:45, but others were there until after 8 p.m.

I did not read the food service times in the Cruise Compass, so it was my fault that I tried to find something to eat at 10:00 p.m. There is NOTHING to eat on the ship between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. except room service and they did not answer the phone. The Windjammer opened for snacks at 11:00 p.m., and somebody we met in line for brunch today said they were there at 11:00 and waited thirty minutes to get to the front of the line to find very little food to choose from.

We got in line this morning at 11:30 for brunch, behind about thirty people. Three groups of people leaving at 11:45 said they got there at 9:30 and just sat at tables waiting for food. The person at the front of the line left to check out the food at the Windjammer and said she saw rolls, sausage, and one kind of cheese on the "assorted cheeses" tray, so she came back to wait for brunch. People were leaving the dining room and going directly to GS to complain. A staff member (sorry, don't know his name) was stopped by people and questioned. All he could say was, "I am sorry, it will get better". Then he headed up the stairs, practically running.

Last night there was coffee but no cups at the drink station just outside the WJ. At 7:00 a.m. there were cups but no coffee. There is no ice at that station, so I headed into the WJ and found the nearest ice machine and drink machine empty. Frozen yogurt is served at limited times totalling about 8 hours a day, but both last night and this afternoon there was a crew member there trying to fix the machine because that doesn't work, either.

I feel really bad for the servers because they are on the receiving end of the complaints, but they are doing their best. The problems seem to be related to the amount of food and the time it takes to get it out of the galley. We are beginning to think this might be the first cruise we actually lose weight because of the difficulty of getting fed.

We are in Empress as well and having the same issues. We wait in line for over 30min to find no food in the containers. Main dining was also horribly slow. For children they only had pizza and wings. No hamburgers, hot dogs, or chicken tenders available. Actually no chicken tenders available at all on the ship. I asked for a piece of grilled chicken for my son and they can't do it. Room service didn't have any food available for free, only hamburgers for $5. This was at 9pm. They keep saying things weren't delivered to the ship. The staff is very nice but don't know what to do.

The ship is also very hot. The air conditioning in our room wasn't working well and after asking from 11am for someone to come fix it we finally got someone to our room at 1:30am that was after about 20 phone calls and also going to guest services.

At this time I would not recommend Empress of the seas.

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We are in Empress as well and having the same issues. We wait in line for over 30min to find no food in the containers. Main dining was also horribly slow. For children they only had pizza and wings. No hamburgers, hot dogs, or chicken tenders available. Actually no chicken tenders available at all on the ship. I asked for a piece of grilled chicken for my son and they can't do it. Room service didn't have any food available for free, only hamburgers for $5. This was at 9pm. They keep saying things weren't delivered to the ship. The staff is very nice but don't know what to do.

The ship is also very hot. The air conditioning in our room wasn't working well and after asking from 11am for someone to come fix it we finally got someone to our room at 1:30am that was after about 20 phone calls and also going to guest services.

At this time I would not recommend Empress of the seas.

 

 

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I did not realize they charged for room service, unless it was late at night

We are in Empress as well and having the same issues. We wait in line for over 30min to find no food in the containers. Main dining was also horribly slow. For children they only had pizza and wings. No hamburgers, hot dogs, or chicken tenders available. Actually no chicken tenders available at all on the ship. I asked for a piece of grilled chicken for my son and they can't do it. Room service didn't have any food available for free, only hamburgers for $5. This was at 9pm. They keep saying things weren't delivered to the ship. The staff is very nice but don't know what to do.

The ship is also very hot. The air conditioning in our room wasn't working well and after asking from 11am for someone to come fix it we finally got someone to our room at 1:30am that was after about 20 phone calls and also going to guest services.

At this time I would not recommend Empress of the seas.

 

 

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We have had other issues as well. We asked GS for a cooler for my SO's insulin as soon as we boarded, at about noon yesterday. Was told one would be sent up to the cabin. Asked the room steward, who said her English was not good but she would find out. Housekeeping supervisor came to our cabin later to find out what we wanted. As we left for dinner another steward saw us looking for our steward and asked if we needed anything, said she would call our steward. This morning my SO went to GS again and was told that GS will look into it. I don't think there will be anything provided for insulin storage.

This morning I was at the outside drink station and somebody asked the attendant where the free mimosas and Bloody Mary's were being served; he was told it was inside the WJ (not true). We think the free drinks in MDR at brunch are being offered to draw people to the MDR and away from the undersized WJ that can't handle the crowds.

I did not realize they charged for room service, unless it was late at night

The entire free room service menu consists of two soups, one salad, two sandwiches, fruit plate, cheese plate and cookies. Or you can pay $5 for pizza, burgers, or wings.

Dinner menu was also very limited, no "always available" items.

And the free sandwich options weren't even available :(

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Sound like they haven't finished the galley renovations that prevented the early sailings. I think they felt the pressure to get her out to sea.

And the free sandwich options weren't even available :(

 

 

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At least they answered the phone when you called - I just sat there, hungry, listening to the phone ring and ring:D

 

The entire free room service menu consists of two soups, one salad, two sandwiches, fruit plate, cheese plate and cookies. Or you can pay $5 for pizza, burgers, or wings.....

Sorry to hear this is spreading beyond Quantum class, but I guess it is to be expected.

There are "free" room service items, but all cruise lines are now charging an "uncharge" for the popular items.... Talk about nickel and diming!

Pretty sad if they didn't get their food shipment....

Yikes this is really disappointing for me to hear. I've sold my whole family on our first cruise vacation mainly on the food available nearly 24/7 (three teen athletes, always starving-and I cook all the time!) and to learn that the food service is not adequate, and no food available 9-11p PLUS the upcharges for room service, is pretty outrageous. Is there a chance that they just need to get their act together? Or should I expect similar slim pickings? Ugh.

Wow, this is disconcerting. My wife and I wanted to try a small ship, hopefully they can get this under control soon.

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A small 27 year old ship with limited space for goods and passengers. At least it has a fresh coat of paint :p

Party ship needs food available late night. I think they will get that sorted out.

MDR service being spotty and not all food available, I think they will get that sorted out too.

Small WJ; can't fix that. Maybe they should have added a pool side grill for burgers, dogs, chicken sandwiches, etc.

Price creep RS menu is a big thumbs down.

Did any marketers bother to go on competing ships to benchmark them?

I'd say it is 50:50 right now; 50% teething issues and 50% poor planning. Both can be mostly resolved in short order if management wants to.

After dinner update:

Bartender in Boleros had no idea what Diamond drink happy hour was. Coworker tried to explain, and finally said, "Zero!"

I hope that the changes in food since December are strictly on this ship and not fleet wide. The crab cake appetizer used to be small but made of real crab. Tonight's version was covered in breadcrumbs and fried. No real crab, just that whitefish/surimi substitute. I was excited to see lobster mac 'n cheese, but it was unseasoned, gummy pasta with two chunks of the same whitefish/surimi instead of lobster. Key lime pie is now a small thin square with a dollop of some meringue type substance and was dense and tasted like it had flour in it. Cheesecake was also flat and square. Short ribs were tough.

The good news: a refrigerator (for insulin storage) was delivered during the evening, just thirty hours after our first request. It was accompanied by three chocolate strawberries.

Tonight's show was one of the best we have ever seen, the Las Vegas Tenors.

Can those that are onboard take a picture of the Room Service menu?

I'm curious to see what has changed..

My wife and I are also on the May 28th sailing and noticed the dinner service was really slow.

I am sailing with low or no expectations, luckily our room was fine 7664 but our table mates told us of their rooms having no A/C.

We noticed the A/C was not sufficient in some of the public areas such as the casino, the stairwell on the back of the ship, and one of the elevators did not work.

We were late leaving Miami on Saturday due to the excessive time in trying to load all the food into the ship.

My other comment was that my Ultimate Package on Empress only allowed me to purchase a glass of wine up to $12 but I swear it was up to $14 when I was on Anthem last December..Does anyone know if this is true with their UP package on Empress?

Hoping tomorrow's tendering exercise to Grand Cayman goes fairly well

I have never cruised. June 11th is our first time and I am already over it.

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BTW, does anyone know why we have to pay an extra $29.95, an extra $16.95 for filet mignon and $34.95 for Surf and Turf at Starlight? I had lobster tails as part of the dinner on Anthem last December.

Sorry, $29.95 was for a lobster...

BTW, does anyone know why we have to pay an extra $29.95, an extra $16.95 for filet mignon and $34.95 for Surf and Turf at Starlight? I had lobster tails as part of the dinner on Anthem last December.

Because people will pay it.

I see. [emoji54]

We are in Empress as well and having the same issues. We wait in line for over 30min to find no food in the containers. Main dining was also horribly slow. For children they only had pizza and wings. No hamburgers, hot dogs, or chicken tenders available. Actually no chicken tenders available at all on the ship. I asked for a piece of grilled chicken for my son and they can't do it. Room service didn't have any food available for free, only hamburgers for $5. This was at 9pm. They keep saying things weren't delivered to the ship. The staff is very nice but don't know what to do.

The ship is also very hot. The air conditioning in our room wasn't working well and after asking from 11am for someone to come fix it we finally got someone to our room at 1:30am that was after about 20 phone calls and also going to guest services.

At this time I would not recommend Empress of the seas.

 

 

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You actually had someone come to your room to fix AC? I've tried twice now. What's the secret?

We considered going to Chops tonight, but were afraid it may be plagued by the same issues. If some foods are unavailable or the galley is unequipped to handle the cooking, Chops may not be the normal experience either. At least the MDR food is free (or at least included).

Sorry to hear about the troubles, I wanted to add if you need a fridge for insulin, please don't wait until you are on the ship to ask for one. Fill out the special needs form here before you cruise.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/guestSpecialNeeds.do