Review: 5 Nights on Empress of the Seas (with 50+ Pictures!)

[jules71]

Thanks for your review! The Nordic Empress was our very first cruise. Booked Cuba overnight for November and was a little dismayed by all the negative reviews. We had a similar experience with the Grandeur in that lots of negative reviews, but we ended up loving her and booked her a second time--the crew is fantastic and we didn't miss all the bells and whistles of the bigger ship. Glad to hear you had a great time on the Empress --look forward to hearing about your cruise to Cuba in July.

[erbunny]

Not much of a Bloody Mary guy, so not sure. Sorry.

Bloody Marys and Mimosas are served during brunch on sea days.

 

We found the $1 (!) mimosas in the casino bar to be fabulous.

 

I sailed Empress on April 30, and agree with everything OP has said. "Little ship, big heart" is very true.

[MrsB05]

Bloody Marys and Mimosas are served during brunch on sea days.

 

We found the $1 (!) mimosas in the casino bar to be fabulous.

 

I sailed Empress on April 30, and agree with everything OP has said. "Little ship, big heart" is very true.

You're not the first I've seen to say that the Casino Bar is great!

[catsmit]

UMDelt - Thoroughly enjoyed your review of the Empress OTS and your pictures are phenomenal! DH & I added the Empress as a B2B to another cruise with a different company upcoming in Jan/Feb 2018 since we love the smaller ships of RCI, we hadn't yet sailed on a Sovereign class ship and she was in port when we disembarked the other ship. But we didn't realize until today that we'd be on the Empress for the Super Bowl. So thank you very much for your pictures - couldn't help but notice that big beautiful movie screen on the pool deck where I'm certain we will be watching the SB on our sea day!

[2nsmom]

sounds like it was great! we are sailing on her in June 2018. Ironically, we sailed on her to Bermuda in 2000 and again in 2005, so we are excited to sail with her again.

[fhmoore]

Thank for the great review. We're going on the 5 night Cuba/KW?Nassau cruise from Miami in January. Cant wait!

[starrcards]

Is sushi ever available in the WJ on Empress?

[dinse4par2]

Is sushi ever available in the WJ on Empress?

 

 

 

We took a sushi making class. Can't remember if they had it in WJ. But overall food was very good on Empress.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[dinse4par2]

We took a sushi making class. Can't remember if they had it in WJ. But overall food was very good on Empress.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

Let me clarify. Sushi class was in the Viking crown lounge. It was great. We had 2 huge plates we took with us and shared with friends. Not sure if there was sushi in the WJ

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[RenieRaider]

Thank you for the great review and photos! We'll be on her in December.

[frugaltravel]

Great review!

 

Not sure if you are still monitoring this thread as the OP, and also not sure if you can answer this question since you had your own private balcony. I read that there are two public areas forward that have an unobstructed view (no glass, etc). Can you confirm this? I read that you need to go through a door toward that front that might say "emergency exit" or something. I will be on the Empress in 2-3 weeks and love having a forward unobstructed viewing area for photos.

 

Thanks!

[UMDelt]

Not sure if you are still monitoring this thread as the OP, and also not sure if you can answer this question since you had your own private balcony. I read that there are two public areas forward that have an unobstructed view (no glass, etc). Can you confirm this? I read that you need to go through a door toward that front that might say "emergency exit" or something. I will be on the Empress in 2-3 weeks and love having a forward unobstructed viewing area for photos.

 

Yep, I still get the notifications :)

 

You described the forward-facing public areas pretty well. They're on decks 7 and 8:

 

 

There are two ways to access these public spaces. First, by walking through the stateroom hallways on decks 7 and 8.

 

There are also stairs on the forward part of the Promenade/lifeboat deck that "zig-zag" up.

 

Hope this helps! Have fun and come back and tell us all about the trip!

[reallyhooked]

Awesome pictures & review. Thank you for sharing.

[frugaltravel]

Yep, I still get the notifications :)

There are two ways to access these public spaces. First, by walking through the stateroom hallways on decks 7 and 8.There are also stairs on the forward part of the Promenade/lifeboat deck that "zig-zag" up.

 

Hope this helps! Have fun and come back and tell us all about the trip!

 

Yes that helps tremendously! Thank you so much. I already know that much of my time at sea will be spent in one of those two places!

[OceansOfTravels]

I really enjoyed your review and your pictures. I went on the Empress somewhat last minute in August 2016 after finding a deal that I could not refuse. I found Empress to be a very enjoyable ship, and provided me exactly what I look for on vacation, at a quarter of the price. I would definitely cruise Empress again in the future, hopefully to Cuba. I realize I am a little late to the party with this review, so I hope your cruise to Cuba onboard Empress was a great experience!

[iuscottdd]

Thank you for the review! I will be sailing solo on the 8 night November 4th Empress sailing to Labadee, Nassau, Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

[AMGPilot]

Umdelt,

 

Thanks for the great review of the Empress of the Seas and your cruise.

 

My wife and I are going to Cuba on Empress of the Seas and we leave on Saturday. We are also in an Owner's Suite but on the Starboard side of the ship, Suite 7506.

 

I have been searching for an answer to my question about Concierge Service on this ship but have not been able to find the specific answer I was looking for.

 

Question: Since the Empress of the Seas does not have a Concierge Lounge, do you have access to free drinks when you are in an Owner's Suite? We usually always book one of the Suites on our Royal Caribbean cruises but all of the ships we have been on up to this point have had a Concierge Lounge. I was just wondering what they offer in lieu of not having a lounge for people who have booked a Suite?

 

Thanks!!

[Scotty G]

Once you make D and on Empress again, look out for the C&A party on the rear deck behind Boleros. Great view of Miami during sail-away.

When we attended that there were Suite Guests included!