Anyone been on both ncl sky & empress?

Hello. I have cruises to Cuba on both ships reserved & am having difficulty deciding between the two. I did Sky to Cuba last September & loved it, but Empress as more time in Cuba & is much less money. Can anyone who has been on both comment?

I've not done Cuba yet, but have been on both ships multiple times. What specifically are you apprehensive about with Empress? RCCL did a great job with the refurbishment other than some crazy omissions related to the A/C that I hope have been corrected by now. To compare I'd say it would depend on your wishes, Empress has the rock climbing wall but none of the other RCCL features you'd see on other ships, and the WJ buffet is tiny. The sky has not been well attended to maintenance-wise by NCL in my opinion, as there were so many worn areas of the ship I noticed last time, but is more modern and the room are much larger. Sky still lacks many of the modern ship amenities other NCL ships have though.

I wouldn’t go to Cuba on either ship period!

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I wouldn’t go to Cuba on either ship period!

 

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It would be nice if you would explain why.

Hello. I have cruises to Cuba on both ships reserved & am having difficulty deciding between the two. I did Sky to Cuba last September & loved it, but Empress as more time in Cuba & is much less money. Can anyone who has been on both comment?

We went to Cuba on Sky in August, and will be going on Empress Monday. I will post a review after the Empress trip, but also come back to this post and comment.

My review for Sky is at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2535059

We were surprisingly impressed by the Sky. We had never done NCL before, and had low expectations and were wrong.

I'm expecting the Empress to have a more friendly, laid back atmosphere like Monarch back in the old days.....when it was in LA doing 3-4 night trips. Monarch was one of our favorites - we did the Panama Canal trip when they relocated it from LA to PC several years ago.

Thanks for the responses. A friend had told me Empress rooms are small & ship is worn. I'm not into big ships so the size & age doesn't bother me just want everything to function properly. We're not buffet people so was wondering about lunch choices - especially on embarkation. Also, can you make reservations for the open seating dinner? I'm looking forward to your review of next week's cruise.

Why would anyone want to cruise to Cuba of all places!

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I did Sky to Cuba and really enjoyed it but the newer itineraries have terrible port times. The Empress sailing you pointed out had great port times and I would go for that regardless of ship. Stick w the longer port time at lower cost

Why would anyone want to cruise to Cuba of all places!

 

 

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I cruised to Cuba twice last year, once on the Sky. It's ok for people to go to ports even though you may question why.

We did the empress last July. They did a fantastic job of providing a special experience. I wrote a review if you search my posts.

I did Sky to Cuba and really enjoyed it but the newer itineraries have terrible port times. The Empress sailing you pointed out had great port times and I would go for that regardless of ship. Stick w the longer port time at lower cost

I was looking at the Sky April 23 or 30. Both stay in Cuba from 8am to 5pm next day, Just realized I need more airline miles for Empress dates.

Does RCI have onboard credit promos often? I missed the one that ended the 10th.

... Does RCI have onboard credit promos often? I missed the one that ended the 10th.

RC has continuous promos with and without OBC.

RC has continuous promos with and without OBC.

Thanks, I' new to RCI. I'm also from Central Illinois- Urbana.

Thanks, I' new to RCI. I'm also from Central Illinois- Urbana.

Someone was posting yesterday from your neck of the woods, Rantoul. I'm near Springfield.

Just back from the Empress. Did Sky in August.

Sky wins hands-down in pretty much every aspect. This was our 21st RCI cruise (so we're 'fairly loyal'), and probably our last on RCI. Cutbacks in quality and service are very obvious.

We stayed in an Owners Suite on NCL, and in the Royal Suite on RCI. The rooms were pretty equivalent, except the Sky had a whirlpool on balcony.

While NCL went out of their way at all times to make sure we were happy in their most expensive room - RCI didn't seem to care one way or another. Embarkation and Debarkation were confused, at best. Food quality went way downhill. Their crew seemed to try so hard, but were frustrated being given no resources to work with.

I will write a real review/report under the RCI area today.

Thanks Cruiser.

Thanks, I' new to RCI. I'm also from Central Illinois- Urbana.

I'm from Champaign, so howdy, neighbor! I have the Empress booked for an 8-night Best of Cuba cruise in March 2019. :cool: