Empress of the Seas

[Vlad77]

waiting for the rest of your reviews, I will be on 3/28 cruise on empress

[Spanky My]

Hopefully upon your return you too will write a review. We are on the april 11th empress trip and would like the MOST current info. Have fun......

[AltaJoe]

Great job Denb.

[geoherb]

Nice review. We were on two Nordic Empress cruises--once in the Bahamas and once from San Juan. Both were only 4-nights, which isn't nearly long enough. It's nice to see that RCI has taken care of this ship.

 

On another note, we went to St. Kitts for the first time on a Celebrity cruise this past December. I liked the downtown area because it wasn't crowded with the same shops you see everywhere else: Diamonds International, Columbia Emeralds, Little Switzerland, etc. We were fortunate to see some of the Christmas sports--groups dressed in costume performing dances in the main square. Apparently it's a tradition of the Christmas season, although the woman at the heritage museum said the groups had started performing at other times for tourists.

[denb]

Sorry we haven't finished our review yet. We both work so we can afford to go on more cruises. Hopefully we'll finish it by this weekend. Margarita Island, Curacao, Aruba, Sea Day, and debarkation left.

[NHCruzer]

Thank you for taking the time to review your cruise. We are going on the same cruise and look forward to the next installments.

[SantanaTto]

What a fantastic job and the pictures are wonderful! LOVE THE BEAV !! He's the best!

 

I was on the Empress of the Seas last May and sailed to Bermuda. It was our first cruise and we absolutely loved the ship! Since we had nothing to compare it to, we thought it was huge! We had an inside room which was a little small but fine enough for the 2 of us.. We had such a good time that now all we want to do is cruise! We are going on Carmival Legend this May and I can't wait!!!

 

Susan

[cathynov14]

brenda if you are over 65 great ship if younger good luck

[Vlad77]

I don't know what some of you people talking about. This ship was not made to party day and night. It goes to the best southern route you'll find in any cruises not only rc. It's smaller size is an advantage that's why it's stops on many islands that bigger ships just can't go to. It goes to 9 island in 11 days which is a lot more then any other ships. you don't need empress to have things that aos has on board. because after spending most of the day on the island, you won't have time or energy to experience ice skating, and stuff like that. there is people that like big resorts, so the same people go to giant cruise ships. But my family going on this cruise on 3/28 to experience all those island the ship visits, we won't spend an hour on the ship after in arrives on the island with so many excursions and things to do there. all this stuff is not possible if you'll be taking air instead of ship.

[Linda/Ohio]

We were in room 8006 The Royal Suite in November. This was a great cabin--dining room table and chairs, curved couch, bar and bar stools, majorly large bathroom. It is at the very frontof the ship--we hit bad water and high winds one night---whoa...i met the doctor!!!

 

 

 

Linda

[PhyllisC]

Thanks for the great reviews and pictures! My husband and I are also going on the 3/28 Empress. We are so looking forward to being on the Empress even though we like the big ships. Actually, we've liked every class of RCI ship that we've been on; just get us on a ship!!

[LKitt82566]

Hope you can post this weekend!

Looking forward to your reviews.

[sunnydaze]

What a great trip report. We leave on this cruise in 3 weeks and are very

excited about all the ports. its our 8th cruise and we can't wait.

The pictures are great, esp your cabin. We have an outside cabin on a

lower level. Sunny (my darling wife) doesn't take motion that well.

So we always try to stay lower down. Once we had a wonderful anniversary

cruise and had a balcony. I had lots of great ideas about what we could

do on that balcony, but Sunny was seasick most of the time. Sorry

I'm getting a bit off topic. Anyway keep the reports coming, I can't

wait for the Margarita Island one. Thats a port I know nothing about

and there doesn't seem to be much written about. We too are confirmed

travel addicts, Kids are gone and all we do is travel and work and when

not working, research the next trip.

 

CIAO for now --- Sunnys DH

[SeaBaby]

There were advantages and a few disadvantages to this cruise. We loved the itinerary - wonderful islands we had not visited before, such as Grenada, St. Bart's and St. Kitts. The one we least anticipated was Margarita Island, and it ended up being one of our all-time favorites as far as a beach excursion goes. We took the catamaran to Coche Island - it was an outstanding day.

 

The ship was the friendliest we have been on - passengers and crew. However, we did find it small in that there were not many bar/lounge choices. We had cabin 9138 (Junior Suite) and there was no drawer space to speak of. I am usually meticulously tidy, but it was impossible in this room, and we ended up with piles of clothes on the floor. The shower was the old kind with a tiny curtain that sticks to your legs! The mattresses were new, thick and wonderful - much nicer than on any other cruise we've been on. Too bad the old sheets don't fit properly, and you end up wrestling with the bottom sheet after 5 minutes. Our dinner table was aft on the first level of the dining room. As we had the early seating, the ship usually departed as we started eating. The vibration of the table and cutlery was so violently strong that it was funny.

 

These are all minor things which in no way lessened our enjoyable cruise - as the positive friendliness of everyone on board outweighed the trivial negatives; but having been on 13 cruises, all on larger ships, I don't think we'd do this one again. Just our opinion.

 

SeaBaby

[denb]

Day 7 – Margarita Island

 

 

Arrival 7:00. If Aruba is the crown jewel of the Caribbean, Margarita Island is the toe ring. Sorry. our opinion only. Your mileage may vary, not for human consumpion, rinse and repeat. We’d been looking forward to this island as it fell on a day we were celebrating a special occasion. It was the birthday of the Mrs. and she could pick any excursion she wanted. She wanted to swim with the dolphins. Prior to the cruise, she’d done a little research and found a review from someone who had done it and was disappointed and even felt guilty because of the conditions the dolphins were kept under. Once onboard, we checked with the shore excursion desk and they were honest enough to say they’d had complaints about the facility and she would recommend doing it another time. The pier where we docked was in an undeveloped area. Except for the straw market and a beach within walking distance, there was nothing else for about a 45 minute cab ride. As we mentioned previously, we were cautioned that many of the cab drivers did not speak English. The straw market had probably between 50-75 booths of local wares. The nice thing about this straw market was everything was marked with the price in US dollars. If you just browsed, there was no pressure to buy. The prices were very reasonable and most items were handmade crafts. We bought a pottery vase for $15, a photograph frame for $5, and brass pyramids for $10. We probably would have bought more if we weren’t already worried about running out of room in our suitcases. There was also an outdoor bar where you could sit and look at the ocean. You could also see the beach and it was exclusively passengers. As we said, this was in the middle of nowhere. So this area seemed safe and the locals at the straw market were nice. Of the people we later talked to who had hired taxis or went on excursions, all seemed to say the same thing…They just couldn’t wait to get back to the ship. So we felt like we did the right thing to treat this like a ship day. I think by the time we got to this island, we were pretty spoiled. The islands we had been to were all so beautiful and as we sat on our deck with a view of the mountains of Margarita Island, it somehow felt desolate. It’s probably because there were no signs of anyone living there for as far as we could see. It was our least favorite island, but the good news is you can’t have a bad day when you’re on a cruise. We had a great day enjoying the ship and we both got massages in place of an excursion. We both had great massages. The Mrs. didn’t get a sales pitch at the end because her person had another appointment after her. Mine didn’t and she nearly undid all the relaxation I got from my massage by trying to sell me everything under the sun. Anyone want to guess what the drink of the day was on Isla Margarita? Yup, you’re right, and they were the best ones ever. Departure was at 4:30.

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAMmzFqyZuW7t4

[denb]

Day 8 – Curacao

 

 

Arrival – 11:00 Curacao is a tourist destination and a great one at that. It is very quaint, picturesque and provides lots of photo ops. The last time we were in Curacao, we went snorkeling and it was one of the best snorkeling tours we had been on. It went to a sunken tugboat. A short ways from the tugboat, the ocean floor dropped off. You could see the ocean floor about 30 feet below you and then all of a sudden a big black abyss. It was quite memorable. This time we wanted to explore the downtown. The downtown area has the famous pastel buildings and floating bridge. Behind those buildings are narrow streets with lots of shops, many with name brand items. Note: if you get a massage, be sure to drink plenty of water. The Mrs had a slight headache, probably from dehydration, so we went to a pharmacy to get Tylenol. It was $23……her headache wasn’t that bad. Walked down the street and they were selling luggage. We bought a carry on size with wheels for $20. We ran into our tablemates who were also buying luggage. They also bought garnet earrings at a very good price. We were walking down a narrow street when we spotted a two locals with a couple of iguanas. We thought that would be a great photo op for our mascot Beav. As we approached, the guy walked up and put one of the iguanas on top of the Mrs’ head. She was too stunned to even be scared. It was hysterical. Then they put the other on her shoulder. I snapped off a couple pics and they swithed the critter to me. They wanted $5. It was worth it. To get out of the heat for awhile, or so we say, we stopped into one of the local casinos. The Mrs started with $20 and came out $60 ahead. I dropped more than that playing roulette. On the way back to the ship, there was a stand selling prints on canvas of the pastel buildings and walking bridge. We bought a couple and he threw a little one in for free. It only cost $20. At another stand we bought crystal pyramids – 2 for $20. Of course, we bought Hard Rock t-shirts too (I think the next cruise we take, we’ll only need to pack the t-shirts we bought on this one). So for $20, you can either get luggage, artwork, crystal or Tylenol. Also, walking back to the ship was a guy who had snakes that people could put around their neck for photo ops. The Mrs saw that and went in the opposite direction. Back on board, they do sell packets of two Tylenol for fifty cents. We really liked Curacao. Departure 6:00pm. Entertainment that night was another comedy show.

 

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAMmzFqyZuW7vw

[sunnydaze]

" Your mileage may vary, not for human consumpion, rinse and repeat."

 

This is a new saying to us on the west coast of Canada. Can you just give us a hint.?????

 

Hey, we love seeing the beav in all your pictures. Especially the one of him sipping a Margarita . Sunny wonders why you chose the beaver as a mascot. LOL- say no more . Now Sunny is busy looking for a Shih Tzu teddy to take with us. Hate to hear what the kids are going to say when we show them our holiday pics. We have a one year old Shih Tzu named " Snuggy Bear " . This is gonna be fun. We already have Snuggy on the business web site - he is a greeter at the office- like at Wal-Mart (without the blue vest.)

 

Thanks for the advice on Margarita Island. Going to the beach sounds like a plan. Aruba is our favorite Island, can't wait to hit the beach there and rent a jeep and travel around.

 

You and the Mrs did a great job, cant wait for the final installment.

 

Sunnys DH

[mwsrccl]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this excellent review!!!

[laurasue]

Thanks for your excellent review! I had been eyeing this itinerary, and now I'm just plain obsessed!! :D It sounds like you had a wonderful cruise. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[LKitt82566]

Did they have karaoke on board the ship?

We have friends going with us that can really sing and would enjoy Karaoke.

Thanks for your help.

[libby10205]

There are actually a couple of good things to do on Margarita. We did an excusion (do NOT try it on your own!) to a botanical garden, then on to a boat ride through the lagoon. We are kind of rugged nature buffs, so we liked these a lot. There was also a shopping stop as well. There was another post somewhere from someone who didn't like anything about it at all. I don't see this in the excursion list

 

On Curacao we did the scuba pond with the stingrays. (This is not real scuba - you are in less than 12 feet of water in a large pond like a swimming pool with a guide/instructor at your elbow. Anybody can do it. No certification or experience necessary.) This is way way way better than the "stingray alleys" we have done. The most fun we have had on an excursion anywhere. After we got home, Libby signed up for scuba lessons.

[travel12]

I thought that your review was excellent. Too bad I now have to wait 11 more months. If anyone else has had different experiences on this ship I'd love to hear from you also. I didn't see much about the food. How were the dinners? What would a sample dinner consist of ? Do you remember the menu from one of your nights?

 

Brenda

[jlifeisgoodfaye]

Great reviews! I know it takes a lot of time to put these together. Thanks for your great input.

 

Vlad77, we have a posting on the roll call board. Come on over and join us!

 

We're not sailing until 8:00pm and planning to meet at the pool bar at 5:30 for our own little meet and mingle. I hope the muster is not around then!

[LilBeav]

Hey, we love seeing the beav in all your pictures. Especially the one of him sipping a Margarita . Sunny wonders why you chose the beaver as a mascot.

They didn't choose me..... I chose them!;)

[laurasue]

Ooooh, LilBeav, you're adorable! :D