Nordic Empress/Empress of the Seas

[the_journeyman]

Wow! Glad to bring back some fond memories! I cruised on her in June of 1998. It was a high school graduation present from my parents to my sister and I. We pulled into Port Canaveral and the size of the ship was incredible to me then. Walking into the Centrum upon entering and being purely amazed. I was totally hooked. I've been on Sovereign class ships, Voyager Class ships (another WOW ship for me) and this summer it'll be the Allure of the Seas which I'm sure will be impressive.

 

CruzinLady - I didn't get credit for my Nordic Empress cruise either. What did they require? I likely have nothing but a few pictures of the boat as I wasn't a photography nerd like I am now.

 

Thanks for the pics added, if anybody finds anything I'd love to see a great shot of the dining room from above or of the Stairs. I'll also comb through Pullmantur's site as well.

 

JM

[cruzinlady1947]

 

CruzinLady - I didn't get credit for my Nordic Empress cruise either. What did they require? I likely have nothing but a few pictures of the boat as I wasn't a photography nerd like I am now.

 

 

JM

Luckily I had the picture they took when I boarded the ship. Just copied it and faxed it to them. Do you still have your seapass card? I imagine that would work too. Even a receipt from something on board or your travel docs. I know it was a long time ago, but we usually save something from each cruise. I guess sometimes it pays to do that. Especially the seapass card. Good luck!

 

Gwen :)

[the_journeyman]

Thanks! I'll take a look around and see what I've got. I was 18 at the time, so there's not telling what I kept. Hopefully there's a picture of me somewhere on the boat that is 100% obvious it is the Nordic.

 

Am I the only one that felt the dining room design on the Sovereign class was a step backwards from the Nordic Empress?

 

JM

Edited May 10, 2013 by the_journeyman

[cruise wizard]

The Nordic Empress was our first cruise..........back in June 17, 1996........4 days Bahama's (Nassau & Freeport). When we first saw her going over the bridge to the port we said Oh my God - look how big it is.

 

I remember my my wife grabbing my arm as she noticed she was standing on a clear plexiglass tile on the floor that looked down to the sea..........eerie!!! Our dining room table was on the second tier and right in the center by the railing - what a stunning view to the ocean and beautiful sunsets. Our cabin was a junior suite (very tiny by today's standards) but the balcony made up for it.

 

We cruised on her again in June 2007 out of Norfolk to do a 7 night Bermuda itinerary. It was our 34 th wedding anniversary cruise and wanted to say good-bye to the beautiful lady. She was small enough to be docked right in Hamilton.........loved it.

 

Yes, the Empress has a special place in our hearts........our first that got us hooked on cruising...........you never forget the first!!!!

[palofmine]

You just made me feel so old... NORDIC EMPRESS was our honeymoon ship in 1999

 

 

Does anybody have some good pictures of the dining room and the Centrum from the Nordic Empress or Empress of the seas you would be willing to post or link to? This was my first cruise ship and got me hooked on cruising. I was amazed by the dining room and Centrum and wanted to show my wife why I still compare boats to the Nordic Empress.

 

JM

[the_journeyman]

You're not old, you're experienced!

 

Adventure of the Seas was our honeymoon boat!

 

JM

[HappyCruiser54]

I loved the Empress of the Seas. It took me twenty years to convince my husband to cruise and the Empress was our first cruise ship. All my husband kept saying when we were in front of the ship is : Oh my God, look how big she is! LOL- rather small now by cruise standards. But I would sail on her in a heartbeat. :)

[tx121]

Here is a youtube video you can show your wife of the Nordic Empress. goes throughout the ship enjoy!

 

[Showtune]

A great little ship, we sailed her from Philly to Bermuda in 2006. Man, was our interior room tiny! 106 sq feet I think. We have a picture somewhere of us each standing with our backs to the side walls and leaning in for a kiss in the middle.

[ebk2795]

Here is a link to my Snapfish album for my Empress cruise. There are quite a few pictures of the centrum.

Eileen

 

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=208795400/a=36424988_36424988/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

 

I hope this works

[the_journeyman]

Thanks for all the awesome feedback! This IMO was a great ship despite it being small. Despite sailing on two Sovereign class ships and an Voyager class ship (honeymoon) and an upcoming booking on the Allure, I wouldn't hesitate to take a cruise on the Empress once again. I had wow moments that I never got from the Sovereign ships and ones that rivaled my wow moments on a Voyager class.

 

I'm glad this thread brought around some fond memories of a great little ship!

 

JM

[EpcotBill]

Here are a few pictures I took in August 2006 when Empress of the Seas was docked in Philadelphia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EpcotBill]

Here are a few more;

 

 

 

 

 

 

[VillaHappy]

My first one as well. It only got better from there!

[TPCRUISER2]

Thanks for the pictures. Great memories. Spent many cruises on the empress! Miss those good old days!

[ERIE 13]

Man, you people are killing me, with the vido by tx121 and the pictures by epcotbill. Thanks for posting. Brings back great memories in a time that seemed to be a lot less hectic. Looks like its time to research another cruise.

[cruiselvr04]

One of our favorite cruises was on the the Empress! 11 nights from San Juan in a tiny inside cabin. My closet is bigger then that room was! Great memories.

[PH8]

My best all time favorite cruise was on the NE back in 2003.......she went from Tampa to New Orleans and we spent 3 nights there during Mardi Gras(while the ship was our floating hotel).....It was the ONLY way to do Mardi Gras,in my opinion......RCCL hasn't done anyone this way since.

[the_journeyman]

EpcotBill - Thanks for sharing those pictures! Those will be great to show my wife!

 

JM

[Philly Steve]

Loved most everything about Empress except for the tacked on rock climbing wall that obscured the aft view from the Viking Crown. Remember the jumbo chess game by the pool? :cool:

Edited May 13, 2013 by Philly Steve

[expat436]

First cruise on this ship, July 27 or 28th, 1992. Anyone else on this cruise ?

:)

[magenta321]

I was on her in 1988 when I was 10, so the grandeur was lost on me.

 

However, I still miss so much of the experience. I was a little tiny bit let down with my next cruise (about 20 yrs later).

 

What I missed:

 

Streamers during sail away

Chocolate on my pillows (was Andes Candies)

Midnight buffets

An outdoor area near the pool to get French Fries lol

 

It's not that I didn't have a great time or that those experiences were make it or break it, it was just that I remembered those details fondly and somehow missed them a bit.

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[jkloni]

With 36 cruises we've taken....the little Nordic Empress 1999 8 night cruise Repo NY to San Juan is one I remember and still talk about. We met life long friends on that ship that we still see today. We had an OV window cabin on deck 4.... Same deck as the dining room. So convenient! We actually loved the smallness of the ship. There were only a couple of places to find friends....which was great. We cruised her again in 2004...in the exact same cabin. We miss her.

 

Kathy

[Cruzin RN]

I was on her in 1988 when I was 10, so the grandeur was lost on me.

 

However, I still miss so much of the experience. I was a little tiny bit let down with my next cruise (about 20 yrs later).

 

What I missed:

 

Streamers during sail away

Chocolate on my pillows (was Andes Candies)

Midnight buffets

An outdoor area near the pool to get French Fries lol

 

It's not that I didn't have a great time or that those experiences were make it or break it, it was just that I remembered those details fondly and somehow missed them a bit.

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Remember the PREVIEW of the midnight buffet for pictures only...then we had to leave and return if you wanted to eat!!! seems like a long time ago!!

[silvermcs]

The Nordic Empress was our firs RCCL cruise and it was Christmas of 1994. We sailed with my parents and had really bad weather. It actually stopped us from cruising again until spring break of 2008. We loved the ship but did not catch the cruise bug on that trip. Working hard to get to Diamond + and only three cruises away!