MADflyer Posted November 7, 2015 #301 Share Posted November 7, 2015 There are some indications that the final cruise for Empress with Pullmantur will end on the 13th of February, 2016 at Sao Paulo. This would follow her last currently booked 7 night sailing, prior to the originally planned series of 3 and 4 night sailings that appear to be being cancelled. If this date were to hold, Empress could possibly have completed dry dock by mid-March 2016 and could be sailing for RCI as early as April, 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulette3028 Posted November 7, 2015 #302 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Yes, and those "many people" probably live near you in Florida, a short drive to the ship, and can take 2 days off of work and just go. Living in Maryland, I cannot do that. Many cannot do that. Unless you live within close distance of the port, it becomes impossible to book last minute, unless you have some sort of free flight rewards program, which again, the practical cruiser does not have. Many people can't book last minute, regardless of what port a ship sails from. We don't even know what port it will homeport from. Even though I live in S. Florida, I can't book last minute -- I have a job just like others do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellagirl Posted November 7, 2015 #303 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Cuba would be great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwcruisers Posted November 7, 2015 #304 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I'll be one of those. Darth -- if you do, PLEASE come back and post one of your fabulous photo-reviews! It may be a while before we can manage to book the newly re-furbished Empress. So, I can't imagine any better "first glimpse" than through your camera lens! :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthGrady Posted November 7, 2015 #305 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Darth -- if you do, PLEASE come back and post one of your fabulous photo-reviews! It may be a while before we can manage to book the newly re-furbished Empress. So, I can't imagine any better "first glimpse" than through your camera lens! :cool: I definitely will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare John&LaLa Posted November 8, 2015 #306 Share Posted November 8, 2015 There are plenty of people who will book it even last minute at the right price. Duh, the idea is to offer it at a profitable price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulette3028 Posted November 8, 2015 #307 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Duh, the idea is to offer it at a profitable price I don't expect Royal to offer it at anything but a profit price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LMaxwell Posted November 9, 2015 #308 Share Posted November 9, 2015 "Maybe your next plan should be to tell me what the plan is!" Come on Royal; get some information out there if you want to generate bookings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelCMTX Posted November 9, 2015 #309 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Cuba would be great!! At the risk of fanning the flames here, this was mentioned as a possibility during the "Captain's Q & A" by the Captain on Navigator last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulette3028 Posted November 9, 2015 #310 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Cuba would be great!! At the risk of fanning the flames here, this was mentioned as a possibility during the "Captain's Q & A" by the Captain on Navigator last week. I believe that part of the reason Royal has not said where they plan to sail Empress could very well be that they want to go to ports in Cuba, but right now unless it is a 'humanitarian' cruise they have to wait for Congress to make changes to our relationship with Cuba if they want to sail from a US port, namely Miami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruzin-K Posted November 9, 2015 #311 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I'd love to sail on the Empress again. She was my first ever RCI ship :) It would be very interesting to visit Cuba. Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
330searay Posted November 13, 2015 #312 Share Posted November 13, 2015 If she happens to end up in the northeast I'm booked!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetocruiserccl Posted November 13, 2015 #313 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I have a hard time believing that the Empress would be returning to RCI, but I'd be all for it if it happened. I love both the small and mega ships, so I'd definitely be open to trying her out. The comments about Cuba make sense, but so does the possibility of her being sent to Azamara. We shall see! :cool: P.s. Just thinking out loud here, but I'd love to see them send her back to Philly to do Bermuda runs again! A 25-30 minute ride to the port would be awesome... The only thing about leaving from Philadelphia it takes so long to get to International Waters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseKeeper Posted November 13, 2015 #314 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Cuba would be great!! We heard that rumor while on board last week. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philly Steve Posted November 13, 2015 #315 Share Posted November 13, 2015 The only thing about leaving from Philadelphia it takes so long to get to International Waters. Still, I'm told, a shorter route than Baltimore. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillB48 Posted November 13, 2015 #316 Share Posted November 13, 2015 In round numbers, Philly is about a 100 miles and B'more is about double that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEIx15x8 Posted November 13, 2015 #317 Share Posted November 13, 2015 What if all this suspense is for nothing. Could Royal Caribbean's plan be to use her for Cuba so they want her ready the moment things open up and can be first in? In order to do that they have to ensure she isn't locked into other sailings too far out. Opening a ship up to booking just 6 months out also doesn't sound like a very profitable idea, especially for an older ship. Maybe the plan is to use her as a charter ship ensuring they get a set rate for each sailing by doing private cruises for conferences and other events. That way things can be more short term and then easily switch over to Cuba when ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetocruiserccl Posted November 14, 2015 #318 Share Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) BillB48 In round numbers, Philly is about a 100 miles and B'more is about double that. I haven't left from Baltimore. So it's 200 miles to International Waters Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk Edited November 14, 2015 by lovetocruiserccl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillB48 Posted November 14, 2015 #319 Share Posted November 14, 2015 BillB48In round numbers, Philly is about a 100 miles and B'more is about double that. I haven't left from Baltimore. So it's 200 miles to International Waters Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk Correct, 200 in nice round numbers. There is a shorter route to open waters from B'more, but I think the Empress is too tall for that option. The last time I sailed out of B'more, upon leaving the Patapsco and turning south towards the Bay Bridge the ship headed North and transited the C and D Canal reaching international waters from the Delaware Bay. Think that is about 140 miles. That was a real treat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
north29 Posted November 14, 2015 #320 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Cuba;) My thought also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted November 14, 2015 #321 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Correct, 200 in nice round numbers. There is a shorter route to open waters from B'more, but I think the Empress is too tall for that option. The last time I sailed out of B'more, upon leaving the Patapsco and turning south towards the Bay Bridge the ship headed North and transited the C and D Canal reaching international waters from the Delaware Bay. Think that is about 140 miles. That was a real treat! What ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles4515 Posted November 14, 2015 #322 Share Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) Correct, 200 in nice round numbers. There is a shorter route to open waters from B'more, but I think the Empress is too tall for that option. The last time I sailed out of B'more, upon leaving the Patapsco and turning south towards the Bay Bridge the ship headed North and transited the C and D Canal reaching international waters from the Delaware Bay. Think that is about 140 miles. That was a real treat! The canal is not deep enough for today's mega cruise ships. I doubt that Empress could use it either but what ship were you on? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Edited November 14, 2015 by Charles4515 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillB48 Posted November 14, 2015 #323 Share Posted November 14, 2015 The canal is not deep enough for today's mega cruise ships. I doubt that Empress could use it either but what ship were you on? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Actually the draft wouldn't be the limiting factor for the big ships, the C&D draft limit is 33' which is enough for most if not all of today's larger cruise ships. The problem is the other draft... air draft which is 132' on the C&D. The ship I was on was the Norwegian Crown (ex Crown Odyssey now sailing for Fred Olsen as the Balmoral). NCL had just returned her to the fleet. She had the ability to fold over the forward mast to clear the bridges on the Canal. I'm pretty sure the Empress is in the too tall category as well. Really a unique cruise, not only did we do the C&D but also transited the Cape Cod Canal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conwakr Posted November 14, 2015 #324 Share Posted November 14, 2015 (edited) Empress is still my all time favorite ship. We pulled in across the pier from her in Cartagena earlier this year and I took a gazillion pictures and remembered her fondly. I'd love it if she came back into the fleet on an interesting itinerary. Cuba would be a no-brainer. I sailed on Empress in 1997, such a beautiful, classy ship. Edited November 14, 2015 by conwakr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLASHINGLIGHTS83 Posted November 16, 2015 #325 Share Posted November 16, 2015 In round numbers, Philly is about a 100 miles and B'more is about double that. Do you know how far it is from the Port of Tampa to the Sunshine Skyway bridge? It takes about 2 hrs to get past it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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