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Empress of the Seas was NOT ready to sail

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magicsoccer

magicsoccer

Posted
Posted

I wonder if RCI is stopping new bookings on these sailings to keep numbers down. Our 6/16 cruise still had several cabins available at the beginning of this week. Hoping it is not to cancel like some of the prior sailings.

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Citymom92

Citymom92

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Posted

Has anyone heard how this second cruise went? I haven't heard too much but what I have heard is that a lot of the issues are there but not quite as widespread. 1hr+ waits for meals and windjammer a problem still.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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Mikew0805

Mikew0805

Posted
Posted (edited)

Glad to hear things got better for you now, and it was nice they offered the 20%.

 

 

 

 

I hear what you are saying, and am sorry for what you are experiencing. (And in retrospect, I am glad that I spent last week on the Enchantment and not on the Empress! :eek:)

 

But the interactive TV is NOT a "not ready" problem.

 

RC didn't start putting interactive TV functions on ships until the Radiance class.

 

Sovereign class, Vision class, and Empress of course, do not have them.

 

After just sailing the Enchantment in April, it is hard to understand why someone would want to be on that ship vs. any other ship. I am glad it was good for you, it was just really dirty and not a normal RCI experience for us.

Edited by Mikew0805
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njmomof2

njmomof2

Posted
Posted

Someone asked about the next cruise (sailing out today). I have clients who were supposed to be sailing on this cruise and we found out on Saturday that there were plumbing issues in a number of cabins and they were being bumped off the cruise.

 

Now, they come from NJ and were heading down by car to visit their parents in FL before boarding. Luckily no air to worry about. We managed to rebook them on another cruise leaving today (Monday) on another line since they were really looking forward to cruising (leaving their 2 little boys with mom/dad). They are being refunded 100% of their fare and offered a credit of the same amount on another cruise booking. Don't have the terms (how long the credit has before being used) but at least they have been made whole and they still have a cruise to take.

 

Given the reports from the first few sailings, it's becoming more clear that there were still issues going on, and they were not properly addressed before sailing. I think my clients will be understanding, given the fact that the ship went through an extensive dry dock and often things get missed, but if this was on an established ship, I'm not sure the reaction would be the same.

 

Too bad Royal has been too busy chasing the dollar to stop and evaluate things before taking money and offering sub par trips.

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CallieS

CallieS

Posted
Posted

We just got off today (June 2 sailing). My husband and I had a great time!!

 

As you can see from my signature, we gravitate toward the newer, bigger ships, but I wanted to try something different - old and small. LOL. And we adjusted our expectations accordingly.

 

The ship itself is wonderful. I love the size, it's so quick and easy to get anywhere. On Allure, good luck if you forgot something in your cabin and had to go back. All the windows and natural light were refreshing. The Deck 6 outside promenade was my absolute favorite spot on the ship. Except when people lit up cigarettes on the non-smoking side. :mad:

 

Food: some was good, some was bad. The NY strip and beef tenderloin in the MDR were some of the best steaks I've ever eaten in my life! Ice cream was plentiful. In the Windjammer they were serving ice cream out of Blue Bunny cartons. It was tasty.

 

The service in MDR was fine. It was 1.5 to 2 hours each night. For me, that's average for every cruise I've been on. My complaint with the MDR was how they handled the lines waiting to get in. Once for dinner there was a wait at 8:15pm. The check-in guy said to either come back in 10 minutes or he could put our name on a wait list. That was dumb to tell us to come back. The line could be twice as long. We got on the wait list and waited about 20 minutes. Then for breakfast, we wanted a table for 2 and were willing to wait. We saw lots of people being led in, assuming they were sharing tables. After about 20 minutes, our waiter from the night before saw us sitting there and asked if we were okay. We said we were waiting for a table for two. He said to follow him and led us to an empty table for two. And after looking around, we saw people that had walked past us earlier, already sitting at tables for two. I didn't think there were reservations for breakfast?

 

Cabin: we were in 8663. yes, it was warmer than we liked, but not hot. It was maybe 75 degrees and we'd like 72. No big deal. Our toilet leaked water every time it was flushed. We could hear the water dripping and after awhile, a puddle worked its way around to the floor drain. We told the steward and she gave some cryptic answer, "I see everything." Huh? Okay, but can you get someone to fix it? No one ever came that we were aware of.

 

Key West and Coco Cay were fantastic!! We did lots of walking in KW, and lots of swimming in CC. Weather was perfect!

 

Disembarkation: we did self-assist. Got in line around 7:00am and were in our car by 8am. The line was very long, but very orderly. No line cutting or angry passengers.

 

Besides the couple problems I mentioned, my husband and I had a blast! We'd sail on Empress again. And really, we've had some kind of problem on every cruise we've been on. It comes with the territory. As long as the positives out weigh the negatives, it's all good!

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loubetti

loubetti

Posted
Posted
We just got off today (June 2 sailing). My husband and I had a great time!!

 

As you can see from my signature, we gravitate toward the newer, bigger ships, but I wanted to try something different - old and small. LOL. And we adjusted our expectations accordingly.

 

The ship itself is wonderful. I love the size, it's so quick and easy to get anywhere. On Allure, good luck if you forgot something in your cabin and had to go back. All the windows and natural light were refreshing. The Deck 6 outside promenade was my absolute favorite spot on the ship. Except when people lit up cigarettes on the non-smoking side. :mad:

 

Food: some was good, some was bad. The NY strip and beef tenderloin in the MDR were some of the best steaks I've ever eaten in my life! Ice cream was plentiful. In the Windjammer they were serving ice cream out of Blue Bunny cartons.

 

The service in MDR was fine. It was 1.5 to 2 hours each night. For me, that's average for every cruise I've been on. My complaint with the MDR was how they handled the lines waiting to get in. Once for dinner there was a wait at 8:15

 

Welcome to the charm of "smaller" ships, which many enjoy. Easier to get around, and more connection with the sea.

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Had2cruz

Had2cruz

Posted
Posted
We just got off today (June 2 sailing). My husband and I had a great time!!

 

As you can see from my signature, we gravitate toward the newer, bigger ships, but I wanted to try something different - old and small. LOL. And we adjusted our expectations accordingly.

 

The ship itself is wonderful. I love the size, it's so quick and easy to get anywhere. On Allure, good luck if you forgot something in your cabin and had to go back. All the windows and natural light were refreshing. The Deck 6 outside promenade was my absolute favorite spot on the ship. Except when people lit up cigarettes on the non-smoking side. :mad:

 

Food: some was good, some was bad. The NY strip and beef tenderloin in the MDR were some of the best steaks I've ever eaten in my life! Ice cream was plentiful. In the Windjammer they were serving ice cream out of Blue Bunny cartons. It was tasty.

 

The service in MDR was fine. It was 1.5 to 2 hours each night. For me, that's average for every cruise I've been on. My complaint with the MDR was how they handled the lines waiting to get in. Once for dinner there was a wait at 8:15pm. The check-in guy said to either come back in 10 minutes or he could put our name on a wait list. That was dumb to tell us to come back. The line could be twice as long. We got on the wait list and waited about 20 minutes. Then for breakfast, we wanted a table for 2 and were willing to wait. We saw lots of people being led in, assuming they were sharing tables. After about 20 minutes, our waiter from the night before saw us sitting there and asked if we were okay. We said we were waiting for a table for two. He said to follow him and led us to an empty table for two. And after looking around, we saw people that had walked past us earlier, already sitting at tables for two. I didn't think there were reservations for breakfast?

 

Cabin: we were in 8663. yes, it was warmer than we liked, but not hot. It was maybe 75 degrees and we'd like 72. No big deal. Our toilet leaked water every time it was flushed. We could hear the water dripping and after awhile, a puddle worked its way around to the floor drain. We told the steward and she gave some cryptic answer, "I see everything." Huh? Okay, but can you get someone to fix it? No one ever came that we were aware of.

 

Key West and Coco Cay were fantastic!! We did lots of walking in KW, and lots of swimming in CC. Weather was perfect!

 

Disembarkation: we did self-assist. Got in line around 7:00am and were in our car by 8am. The line was very long, but very orderly. No line cutting or angry passengers.

 

Besides the couple problems I mentioned, my husband and I had a blast! We'd sail on Empress again. And really, we've had some kind of problem on every cruise we've been on. It comes with the territory. As long as the positives out weigh the negatives, it's all good!

 

Thank you for some good news!!! Would like to hear more!

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evelyn51

evelyn51

Posted
Posted
It's all well and good to say that as a "general thing", Lou, but she was SUPPOSED to sail at the end of March. They have had two extra months. SOME of these things should have been resolved a long time ago.

 

Agree. Sorry OP for the short comings of this cruise. I truly wish passengers would not make -$ of tips for the crew whom do the best in these circumstances.

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