Empress of the Seas Review

3.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

Unimpressed & Disappointed!!!

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Empress of the Seas
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AMP72
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Dec 2016
Traveled with children

Short review - You get what you pay for! We didnt pay the top RCI dollars for their mega ships so we cant complain too much about it. Its a very small ship and maybe the worst of the RCI family. If you don't like to walk too far and don't mind plumbing problems and noise issues, then it the one for you. Also, being a smaller ship the staff knew almost everyone in our table by their names and gave top quality service. That was the single most happy time of our cruise as we saw smiling faces greeting us at every meal. As for us this was our first and last cruise on this particular ship.

Long review - I totally agree with most reviewers about the size and quality of the ship - Small and Disappointing. Here are our good, bad & ugly remarks -

The Good: The wait staff, the servers, the greeters, the cleaners - All from various parts of the world made us feel welcomed and were always smiling in-spite of their hard day's work. The port of Miami check-in was a breeze and we were on the ship within 15 minutes of being dropped off by an Uber / Lyft ($35-$40 for 4 of us total from FLL, compared to $30 per person that the cruise ship wanted for airport transfer) at the gate. The entry and exit on port-calls was also very fast compared to other ships we have traveled in the past. The main show of the night was fantastic each night, specifically Elton John tribute on the 3rd night and the Showgirls at the last night. The Headliner show / comedian was OK. Not great but not bad either. The Cruise director and his staff were great and tried very hard to please. The overall food at main dining was not the best we have had, but not bad either. Windjammer food was sometimes better than the the main dining, so we skipped our My-Time dinner twice. The Brunch buffet was decent but overcrowded as the ship had only one place for it.

Cabin Review

Cabin Inside

Port Reviews

Miami

Embarkation and Disembarkation was very fast and orderly. Easy to find Uber / Lyft / Taxis back and forth to MIA/FLL airports.

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