We had 3 generations wanting to get away for Christmas and wanting to go to Cuba. The Empress is smaller as everyone knows, but I felt it was in pretty good shape for an older ship. Our stateroom was small (deck 3), but what I expected. I thought it was plenty ample for as much time as we were in there. Our steward was amazing.

The food in the main dining room was pretty good (but not as good as I had hoped) all nights except for the first night when they served "Christmas" dinner. My only complaint is, that even though we were second seating (8:30pm), I felt rushed. I had to ask for wine menu every night and our waiter was trying to take food orders before we ordered drinks. Wait staff was super friendly though! I also wished they had smaller tables so we didn't have to sit with others from ship. In the end, it worked out okay though and we made new friends. The Windjammer was a chaotic buffet every time we went. I dreaded it. The main dining room also had buffets for most lunches and breakfasts which was another disappointment.

Bartenders for the most part acted like we were bothering them--only exception was on pool deck where they were awesome. I think the drink packages have made the bartenders not care about service since we aren't tipping on the spot. Read more