Empress of The Seas

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, packercruising said:

If they get rid of Empress, wouldn't they replace it with a different ship? We are booked for Next Sept from Montreal.

Every ship has itineraries assigned to it.  They just can’t create a new ship.  Many itineraries will be lost, it’s just a matter of which ones. 

[Biker19]

48 minutes ago, packercruising said:

If they get rid of Empress, wouldn't they replace it with a different ship? We are booked for Next Sept from Montreal.

Don't think any other ship can sail to Montreal. 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, packercruising said:

If they get rid of Empress, wouldn't they replace it with a different ship? We are booked for Next Sept from Montreal.

 

Only smaller ships can reach Montreal.  Medium and large ships can only get to Quebec City.  I'm not sure if Vision class can get all the way up the river to Montreal.   

 

Sailing from Quebec City is wonderful.  It's a beautiful city.  However I'm not sure they would change the embarkation port like that.  Given that some of the Montreal based cruises include ports of call that medium sized ships can't make my gut tells me if they don't have Empress in the fleet they would simply cancel Montreal based cruises as well as the Empress cruises to Bermuda.  There would be so few Empress cruise itineraries that could be adapted to Vision class sized vessels I think they would scrap all of her cruises in that scenario but that's just my opinion.  

[WeMissSeaView]

I was on the Quebec City cruise last year and I am booked on the Montreal cruise next year.  Unfortunately, I also feel that I need a plan B for next year.

[packercruising]

We sailed from Quebec City last year also on AOS. Do any other ships sail from Montreal?

[Ourusualbeach]

33 minutes ago, packercruising said:

We sailed from Quebec City last year also on AOS. Do any other ships sail from Montreal?

None of Royals.

 

The largest ship I see sailing from Montreal is the Zaandamm at just over 61,000 tons which is smaller than any of Royals ships. 

[ipeeinthepool]

After collecting Amazon packages in Malta, it looks like the Empress is headed back to Greece.

 

[packercruising]

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

None of Royals.

 

The largest ship I see sailing from Montreal is the Zaandam at just over 61,000 tons which is smaller than any of Royals ships. 

Thanks. We sailed the Zaandam to Alaska a couple years ago. Still hoping for Empress. Haven't sailed her yet and looking forward to the double points. We already figure our March cruise on Vision will be cancelled or altered in some way.

[TMLAalum]

On 11/8/2020 at 11:32 AM, WeMissSeaView said:

I was on the Quebec City cruise last year and I am booked on the Montreal cruise next year.  Unfortunately, I also feel that I need a plan B for next year.

 

If RCCL substitutes a ship for our Canadian Adventure cruise on the Empress, but the embark/disembark port is Quebec I can live with that so long as the itinerary includes.......

NEWFOUNDLAND🦌🐋🇨🇦!

[WeMissSeaView]

This shows the size difference between the Empress and Majesty.

[twangster]

7 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

This shows the size difference between the Empress and Majesty.

 

Size... does matter. 

 

If I was given the choice on the same itinerary between them I'd pick Empress everytime without exception.  

 

PS - a picture we may never see again, even if they both sail with Royal for many years to come.   

[ipeeinthepool]

14 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

This shows the size difference between the Empress and Majesty.

 

I remember my first cruise on the Empress, at that time in the early '90s she was the Nordic Empress, and we were sitting in the Viking Crown Lounge before we left Miami.  There was another much smaller ship behind us from Dolphin cruise lines.  We towered over that Dolphin ship, it felt like we were the biggest ship on the water.

[livingonthebeach]

7 hours ago, twangster said:

PS - a picture we may never see again, even if they both sail with Royal for many years to come.   

 

Agree -- now that Key West has limited the number of passengers allowed to disembark and the capacity of ships allowed in, unless the lawsuits challenging the decisions are successful. 

[WeMissSeaView]

I took that picture on August 25, 2019 while docking in Key West on the Celebrity Equinox.  

[twangster]

3 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

I took that picture on August 25, 2019 while docking in Key West on the Celebrity Equinox.  

 

Just missed you.  I debarked Majesty on the 24th after visiting KW on the 23rd.  

[Hoopster95]

On 11/8/2020 at 5:52 AM, packercruising said:

If they get rid of Empress, wouldn't they replace it with a different ship? We are booked for Next Sept from Montreal.

 

On 11/8/2020 at 6:41 AM, Biker19 said:

Don't think any other ship can sail to Montreal. 

 

On 11/8/2020 at 7:51 AM, twangster said:

Only smaller ships can reach Montreal.  

 

On 11/8/2020 at 6:34 PM, packercruising said:

Do any other ships sail from Montreal?

 

The span height of the Jacques-Cartier bridge to get to Montreal is 150'. Quebec City is likely the farthest. I believe the largest/tallest cruise ship to fit under has been the Oceania Riviera (66,000 tons).

[Hoopster95]

On 11/9/2020 at 12:06 PM, TMLAalum said:

 

If RCCL substitutes a ship for our Canadian Adventure cruise on the Empress, but the embark/disembark port is Quebec I can live with that so long as the itinerary includes.......

NEWFOUNDLAND🦌🐋🇨🇦!

 

MSC Meraviglia sailed to Corner Brook last year. Anthem regularly sailed to most of the other Canadian ports. I only suspect Anthem (Q Class) fitting into Quebec if they would allow her. The cruise port and terminal itself is definitely big enough in my un-trained opinion.

[WeMissSeaView]

Looks like Empress has a new anchor location.

[wikoffclan]

11 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

Looks like Empress has a new anchor location.

Empress is now in Heraklion and Majesty is in Souda. Wonder if there's any significance to this change. The trip to Malta was a bit of a worry. But at least she's not headed further east.... so far

[twangster]

9 minutes ago, wikoffclan said:

Empress is now in Heraklion and Majesty is in Souda. Wonder if there's any significance to this change. The trip to Malta was a bit of a worry. But at least she's not headed further east.... so far

 

Local media previously reported the stop at Heraklion to be related to virus testing upon entering Greek waters.  Maybe a crew member tested positive.   It's bound to happen sooner or later.  Maybe it's nothing but a change of scenery.  

[wikoffclan]

34 minutes ago, twangster said:

  Maybe it's nothing but a change of scenery.  

so with the uncertainty of the survival of Empress, what do you think is the possibility of an extension of Lift and Shift? Debating on booking a b2b on Empress in April 2021. 4/17 already booked.

[wikoffclan]

Just now, wikoffclan said:

 

4/17 already booked.

Looking at booking the 4/25 with possibility of L & S

[twangster]

Just now, wikoffclan said:

so with the uncertainty of the survival of Empress, what do you think is the possibility of an extension of Lift and Shift? 

 

Find a sleeping groundhog.  Pull it from it's home.  Does it see its shadow?

 

If it's sees its shadow then L&S might be extended.

[wikoffclan]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

If it's sees its shadow then L&S might be extended.

LOL! Being Pennsylvania born and raised, I love your analogy.

 

I pulled the trigger and hope for the best. Just getting back to cruising - whenever and wherever - will be a plus.

[twangster]

Just now, wikoffclan said:

LOL! Being Pennsylvania born and raised, I love your analogy.

 

I pulled the trigger and hope for the best. Just getting back to cruising - whenever and wherever - will be a plus.

 

I noted your geographic past and was hoping you would appreciate the reference. 🙂

 

Enjoy your cruise whenever it might occur.

 

Cheers!