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Empress of the Seas (RETIRED) 223 Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 97

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Empress of the Seas (RETIRED) 223

11 Night Exotic Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 09, 2007

Ship: Empress of the Seas (RETIRED) 223

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

This was our 7th RCI cruise (14th cruise overall), but the first on the Empress of the Seas. We prefer the smaller ships that are able to dock at the various ports and that allow you to meet other people and actually see them again (vs. getting lost in a large crowd). We did the 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise, and loved all the ports.

Ports of call

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
The beach at the Hyatt Hotel was fabulous, as was the hotel itself. Take the city bus for $2.30 round trip (vs. the $18.00 taxi). The bus leaves from the station on the main street right outside the cruise dock.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Red Sail Catamaran Cruise - we did a wonderful sunset cruise!

Bridgetown, Barbados

1 out of 5
Police were all over the place - don't mess with them! Would not go back here. Avoid the Monkey Bar beach!!! What a scam!
Thumbs Up

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5
Avoid Frigate's Bay beach - not very nice. Everyone who went to the beach at the Marriott raved.
Thumbs Up

St. John's, Antigua

3 out of 5
We just did a beach day here, but the ride to the beach gave us a brief view of island life.
Thumbs Up

Castries, St. Lucia

5 out of 5
We visited the volcano, which was quite interesting, and took a nice island tour. On most islands, we just took local taxi tours with 2-8 others, which was a great way to meet people on our ship and costs much less than cruiseline-arranged tours.
Thumbs Up

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5
From the beach, watch the 747's coming in at the airport. They come right over your head!
Thumbs Up

Margarita (Isla De Margarita), Venezuela

5 out of 5
Lovely beach right outside the ship - what a relaxing day. Shopping is also right at the port, and the people were lovely!
Thumbs Up

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5
Visit Punda - very colorful and interesting. The rest of our island tour was what I called "the real estate tour." All we saw was expensive homes.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Kontiki Beach

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5
Visit Punda - very colorful and interesting. The rest of our island tour was what I called "the real estate tour." All we saw was expensive homes.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Kontiki Beach

St. John's, Antigua

3 out of 5
We just did a beach day here, but the ride to the beach gave us a brief view of island life.
Thumbs Up

Castries, St. Lucia

5 out of 5
We visited the volcano, which was quite interesting, and took a nice island tour. On most islands, we just took local taxi tours with 2-8 others, which was a great way to meet people on our ship and costs much less than cruiseline-arranged tours.
Thumbs Up

Margarita (Isla De Margarita), Venezuela

5 out of 5
Lovely beach right outside the ship - what a relaxing day. Shopping is also right at the port, and the people were lovely!
Thumbs Up

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5
From the beach, watch the 747's coming in at the airport. They come right over your head!
Thumbs Up

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5
Avoid Frigate's Bay beach - not very nice. Everyone who went to the beach at the Marriott raved.
Thumbs Up

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
The beach at the Hyatt Hotel was fabulous, as was the hotel itself. Take the city bus for $2.30 round trip (vs. the $18.00 taxi). The bus leaves from the station on the main street right outside the cruise dock.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Red Sail Catamaran Cruise - we did a wonderful sunset cruise!

Bridgetown, Barbados

1 out of 5
Police were all over the place - don't mess with them! Would not go back here. Avoid the Monkey Bar beach!!! What a scam!
Thumbs Up

Pros: Size of ship and the ports visited

Cons: Some of the entertainment

Recommends Empress of the Seas (RETIRED) 223? Yes!

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