Empress 7/9/16

[aichambaye]

Pool from the bar!

 

C&A lounge. According to the bartender there is no diamond lounge on empress.

 

Spa...

 

 

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Sorry, that's the Vikkng Crown lounge. No idea why i said C&A. Must be the frozen mojito!

 

 

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[aichambaye]

 

Sailing away!

 

 

 

 

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[aichambaye]

Chops is 20% of the first night!

 

 

 

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[aichambaye]

I'm currently on the Empress and having a frozen mojito in the (very nice) Schooner bar.

 

So far nearly everything has been delightful. Good service, nice staff. Our obstructed view OV didn't get upgraded but the view isn't obstructed at all! Nice bonus. We are in 7512. I've been using tapatalk to post the photos, but I find it clunky. We have reservations at Chops tonight and at the spa for tomorrow.

[aichambaye]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[shemp2000]

I'm currently on the Empress and having a frozen mojito in the (very nice) Schooner bar.

 

So far nearly everything has been delightful. Good service, nice staff. Our obstructed view OV didn't get upgraded but the view isn't obstructed at all! Nice bonus. We are in 7512. I've been using tapatalk to post the photos, but I find it clunky. We have reservations at Chops tonight and at the spa for tomorrow.

 

What does Chops cost?

[aichambaye]

What does Chops cost?

 

 

 

$35, but they gave us 20% off just for tonight. Will review it in this thread tomorrow morning! Our seating is at 8.

 

 

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[DENNAS]

Chops is 20% of the first night!

 

 

 

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You are the best aichambaye!! Thank you! DH and I just reviewed the entire menu!!

[Racker'sCruz-Set2Sail]

$35, but they gave us 20% off just for tonight. Will review it in this thread tomorrow morning! Our seating is at 8.

 

 

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Thanks for the posts, and the pictures. Can't wait until our

chance to view and Sail on her.

 

RAC

[aichambaye]

You are the best aichambaye!! Thank you! DH and I just reviewed the entire menu!!

 

 

 

You're welcome! The bread is great and the shrimp cocktail was fantastic.

 

 

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[robinbtigger]

What a beautiful couple you make!

 

Thanks so much for your report! I think I might consider Chops for the first night too if they offer the same deal. Our daughter and her friend will be off meeting other teens and will probably have no interest in eating in the MDR with us.

[aichambaye]

What a beautiful couple you make!

 

 

 

Thanks so much for your report! I think I might consider Chops for the first night too if they offer the same deal. Our daughter and her friend will be off meeting other teens and will probably have no interest in eating in the MDR with us.

 

 

 

Thanks! :-)

 

 

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[JamesEM]

Following along.

[DENNAS]

You're welcome! The bread is great and the shrimp cocktail was fantastic.

 

 

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Can't wait to hear how the rest of your dinner was! 😉

[YlangYlangF9PB3E]

Thank you SO MUCH for the review and the pictures! We just booked the 8/6 cruise last night and I've been searching the Internet for interior pictures of the ship without much luck. I was especially happy to see your Schooner Lounge pic, as that's my favorite place to relax on most Royal ships! I will be tagging along with you all the way :)

[aichambaye]

Thank you SO MUCH for the review and the pictures! We just booked the 8/6 cruise last night and I've been searching the Internet for interior pictures of the ship without much luck. I was especially happy to see your Schooner Lounge pic, as that's my favorite place to relax on most Royal ships! I will be tagging along with you all the way :)

 

 

 

Here's the schooner right now! We are watching tennis and watching Cuba slide by to port.

 

 

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[aichambaye]

Can't wait to hear how the rest of your dinner was! [emoji6]

 

 

 

Chops was fantastic. We tried the mushroom soup, crab cake, and shrimp cocktail. The shrimp was great and the soup was amazing. I didn't like the crabcake but DH did. I am biased to Maryland style crabcake though and if you like that you will not like chops crabcake.

 

My NY strip was the best steak I have had in a very long time. I am a huge steak snob: I typically will not eat steak out as I can make it better (not over cooked) at home. Too many so called steakhouses cook the steak way too long AND plate it on a hot sizzling platter, which is stupid because the steak continues to cook and the juices run out as soon as you cut it. Chops did plate the steak on a plate too hot to touch but immediately brought me a cold plate and I switched it before the steak over cooked itself on that plate. The waiter was surprised but accommodated my odd request, lol. Parts of it were medium well as a result but still edible, and the flavor was fantastic. DH had one of the dry aged steaks. Flavor was even better; however mine was more tender.

 

We also had mashed potato, asparagus and mushrooms. All very good. Did not manage dessert - too full.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[aichambaye]

Thanks for the posts' date=' and the pictures. Can't wait until our

 

chance to view and Sail on her.

 

 

 

RAC[/quote']

 

 

 

You're welcome. She is a nice little ship. We like her. I'm considering one of the huge ships for our "next cruise" booking.

 

 

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[VMIMarine]

Thanks for the comments & photos to date...We'll be on in 2 weeks....

 

I am interested to hear how things go in Key West, especially when y'all are cleared to get off the ship as we are on the same itinerary.

[YlangYlangF9PB3E]

Here's the schooner right now! We are watching tennis and watching Cuba slide by to port.

 

 

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Ahh. Looks positively lovely - thank you...we can't wait. Enjoy!

[suizas]

Enjoying your review!

[JamesEM]

The steak looked good, how large was it oz. wise?

[DENNAS]

Chops was fantastic. We tried the mushroom soup, crab cake, and shrimp cocktail. The shrimp was great and the soup was amazing. I didn't like the crabcake but DH did. I am biased to Maryland style crabcake though and if you like that you will not like chops crabcake.

 

My NY strip was the best steak I have had in a very long time. I am a huge steak snob: I typically will not eat steak out as I can make it better (not over cooked) at home. Too many so called steakhouses cook the steak way too long AND plate it on a hot sizzling platter, which is stupid because the steak continues to cook and the juices run out as soon as you cut it. Chops did plate the steak on a plate too hot to touch but immediately brought me a cold plate and I switched it before the steak over cooked itself on that plate. The waiter was surprised but accommodated my odd request, lol. Parts of it were medium well as a result but still edible, and the flavor was fantastic. DH had one of the dry aged steaks. Flavor was even better; however mine was more tender.

 

We also had mashed potato, asparagus and mushrooms. All very good. Did not manage dessert - too full.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks so much - again- aichambaye- looks wonderful! Was CHOPS crowded the first night?

[aichambaye]

Thanks so much - again- aichambaye- looks wonderful! Was CHOPS crowded the first night?

 

 

 

Not at 8pm... It was pretty empty, actually.

 

 

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[aichambaye]

Yesterday we were at sea all day. Brunch in the MDR was good. However, when we arrived around 9:45 they were very busy and out of eggs - as far as I could tell they were very slow at replenishing all the breakfast items. I had rice, steak, etc, so no big deal for me but I know others were very upset and put out.

 

We then went by the Shore Excursions desk and got all our tickets. Then we did a bit of hanging around in the Schooner Bar and the gemstone shopping advertising extravaganza came to us, and we just let it! It wasn't very interesting, frankly. We didn't win anything, either. Then we had massages which were very good. They didn't once try to upsell us on any other products. Apparently my shoulders and upper back are like a "bumpy road" though. I carry all my stress there, but I already knew that. They were delightful.

 

We then all but ran back to the Schooner to watch the rest of the Euro 2016 (Hooray for Portugal!). We went to shower off the massage oil and watched the show. DH liked it - a comedian very much in the style of Louis de Funes. We had dinner in the MDR for the first time. DH's steak was very good, surprisingly so, and the vegetarian pot pie I had was good but would have been better with less onion and celery and more pumpkin and potato. It was still tasty.

 

I did grab a couple of photos of the room when we wwe went back in the afternoon, and I'll post those in a few minutes from my phone.

 

 

 

 

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