Farewell to Empress of the Seas

[truthandkeidy]

This slideshow seemed appropriate to post near year's end. We were fortunate enough to sail on one of Empress of the Seas last sailings before she retired from the RCI fleet in March of 2008. Although a small ship, she was loved by many and is missed. But as the old saying goes..."Out with the Old and In with the New" and that's just what's in store for 2009 with the inauguration of Oasis of the Seas!

 

Happy New Year to all and may 2009 find you happy, healthy, and on at least one cruise! ;)

 

 

 

Trudy

[GatorTom]

Great Video!

We cruised on the then Nordic Empress in August 1991 and really thought it was a wonderful ship. We where on the Crown Princess this Spring and stopped at Grenada and there next to us is the Empress of the Seas. It's renamed and is operated by an English Co. but still looks good.

[lancelady]

We were fortunate to be on the Inaugural sailing of the Nordic Empress

in 1990. We had booked the cruise 3 mos. out from the Inaugural date

and due to delays our date became the Inaugural. She was a lovely ship

and had one other sailing on her before becoming Empress of the Seas.

[richsea]

Great video Trudy!

 

While we have never sailed Empress of the Seas, we were big fans of Celebrity's Zenith, & were aboard her final sailing under the Celebrity flag. Her final port was Bermuda, & she was given a very moving sendoff out of Hamilton on her last cruise. She is now also with Pullmantur & we miss her intimacy as I'm sure you do Empress', so I know how you feel. There is much to be said for the smaller, older ships which were thought of as large ships when they launched as recently as the early 90s

 

Thanks again for the video!

 

Happy sailing!

[kathywin53]

Great video.

We had the opportunity to sail the southern carib on her a couple of years ago. Had lots of interesting features..least of all the tiny showers with the clingy curtains. Little things like cabins that weren't exactly up to par but made comfortable by the ever accommodating staff We have fond memories of the cruise critic group on that voyage. I suppose people will remember sending DHs to the elevator waiting area (chairs provided) because the cabin was just too small for him and me dressing at the same time. We also saw her under the new company last spring and spent several minutes fondly gazing at the ship.

Again thanks for the memory share.

[jimswims]

Great video. It brought back some wonderful memories since I was on the Nordic Empress in November 1991 for the first week of my honeymoon. We got off and boarded the Sovereign of the Seas for week two!

 

We loved both ships.

[truthandkeidy]

I'm so glad the slideshow sparked a dear memory for all of you. Your comments made me smile and are very much appreciated.

May we all be blessed with the opportunity to make more cruise memories in 2009.

 

Trudy

[iheartbda]

Here's my contibution to the memory of the Empress.:)

Phila. to Bermuda Oct. 2007

 

 

 

[2Ports]

We, too, were on that sailing - I would have signed up for the same cruise on her again then and there if they didn't foolishly retire her. Loved the picture of the X boat - remember how it was windbound that day? Supposed to leave at 430p; didn't get out of there 'till after 10p. We waved bye bye as we pulled out. Captain said if it wasn't there WE would have been stuck.

[GatorTom]

Here's the Empress in Grenada next to the Crown Princess 3/08. She still has a modern look to her and hides her age well!

[CapnC]

We were on the 2/25/08 sailing of the Empress 11 days out of San Juan PR.

We loved the Empress !! Your video brings back many wonderful memories Thanks

[Ttown Cruzer]

We were on the Empress three times and loved it. Short walks to the buffets and bars and easy to find your way around. One cruise it broke down on its way back to New York and we had to limp back into port about 6 hours later and no one seemed to mind. We played dumb games in the theatre and won about 10 royal caribbean key chains. We really liked the exotic southern caribbean itinerary. Ralph

[truthandkeidy]

We, too, were on that sailing - I would have signed up for the same cruise on her again then and there if they didn't foolishly retire her. Loved the picture of the X boat - remember how it was windbound that day? Supposed to leave at 430p; didn't get out of there 'till after 10p. We waved bye bye as we pulled out. Captain said if it wasn't there WE would have been stuck.

 

Hi 2Ports...I DO remember X having a heck of a time leaving port. They got pretty banged up from what I saw. It was fun waving "bye" to them though, wasn't it? :D

 

Too bad our roll call never got to meet up. Maybe we'll get a chance to meet on another sailing.

 

Take care,

 

Trudy