A Very Nice Cruise
Empress of the Seas (RETIRED) 223 Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern
11 Night Exotic Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 05, 2007
Ship: Empress of the Seas (RETIRED) 223
Cabin type: Oceanview
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
My husband and I took this cruise just to get away and relax and this cruise lived up to our expectations. We are in our mid-50's and have been on various cruise lines and have done approximately 15 cruises. We really enjoyed being back with Royal Caribbean and they really didn't disapoint us. We knew from the start that the Empress of the Seas was an older ship and that it had been re-habbed in the 90's. I prefer the larger ships with all of the glitz, which this ship does not but my husband likes the smaller ones. I have to say the smaller ships are more personable and the staff was excellent. They would even call your stateroom every few days to make sure that everything was to your liking. The things I liked best about this cruise: It's ports of call, it's entertainment, which was fantastic and it's great service, entertainment director did a great job, in fact all of the staff did a wonderful job. Bar staff make great drinks, never had a bad cocktail and prices where not different than in the states. The things I disliked: Definately the staterooms, just way to small with very limited space for your belongings, pool was also very small but fortunately never too crowded so it was enjoyable. Limited stores so on sea days not much to do in that way. Food was Ok , great presentation but taste was just not there and most beef dishes where a bit tough. My husband and I would have liked to have done a few more excursions but so many of them left too early for us and they where only 2 to 3 hr excursions but no later ones where offered. We look at it this way, we are up very early every day and when we take off on vacation we would like to sleep in a bit or linger over breakfast for a change. I understand that this ship has been sold and will start sailing in Europe. I believe it's last departure out of Puerto Rico is towards the end of Feburary. To summerize our cruise, despite some of it's draw backs it was a great value for this itinerary and if my few critisims don't matter to you I would definately recommend it but you better hurry!Ports of call
Margarita (Isla De Margarita), Venezuela
Margarita (Isla De Margarita), Venezuela
Pros: Ports of Call, Staff and Service
Cons: Staterooms Too Small