Empress of the Seas' First Overnight in Havana

Item: Empress of the Seas
Rating: 5
Author: norabona

Empress of the Seas Cruise Review to Cuba

norabona

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 125

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

Key West & Havana Overnight

Sail date: June 26, 2017

Ship: Empress of the Seas

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 7012

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

I loved a cruising to Cuba! It was so fun and such an amazing experience. Being part of Empress of the Seas' first overnight in Havana was so special. I really recommend for anyone who loves history and wants to experience a different culture. We did not get off the ship during the night but many people did (between 9pm-11pm) and they seemed to love it!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Main dining room food was great, but the food in the Windjammer Cafe was only okay. Victor and Natalia in the main dining room were amazing servers.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

There's not too many activities onboard. However, what they have available is amazing. Take advantage of all of the activities.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Go and see "Three" You won't regret it! All of the other shows were also amazing.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Carlos and his cruise director's staff was amazing! Isaac (a member of the cruise director's staff) was amazing. He is an amazing singer and entertainer! Go and participate in his events!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The ship is smaller and older. However, it was extremely clean and has tons of charm!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The cabin was small, but very clean. They work for 2, but probably would not work for 4 people.

Ship tip

Be prepared for not too many events at night. But, definitely go to the nightly events as they were amazing.

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Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

3 out of 5

Key West, Florida

3 out of 5

Key West is very walkable if you don't want to take an excursion or pay for a trolley tour. However, know you could easily walk up to 5 or 6 miles in a few hours.

Thumbs Up 9

14 Comments

cruisereckoning 3 years ago

Thanks for the review

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norabona 7 years ago

We didn't go to the beach but we heard the closest one is like 30-45 mins away

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beachblonde 7 years ago

We were interested in going to the beach, did you all go there or hear of anyone that sailed with you that?

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nancidaquino 7 years ago

yes and yes. If you are a US citizen, you can get the visa through the cruise line and they just bill you for it. If you are not and US citizen, there are different Visa rules depending on your citizenship. The info is on the cruise line's website

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mello819 7 years ago

do we need passport/visa for cuba

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sealover31 7 years ago

How exciting!!! Thank you!

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nancidaquino 7 years ago

You can come and go all night if you like on the overnight stop. We went out at night. I feel it was a very safe city.

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sealover31 7 years ago

Awesome!! thank you!

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norabona 7 years ago

I believe the doors are open all night

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sealover31 7 years ago

if it's an overnight cruise, do you have to be on the ship at a certain time or are the doors open all night ?

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norabona 7 years ago

I dealt with the same no response when I was planning my cruise so I promised myself I would help the community plan for Cuba. Enjoy your cruise, you'll enjoy it!ð¨ðº

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kloven 7 years ago

thank you so much for responding! lots of times I post questions to help us plan and learn but no one answers.

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norabona 7 years ago

The steps were not a problem for us. If you have difficulty walking, there is an elevator, but I've heard it is kind of slow so you just need to be patient with it. We took the Old Havana City Sightseeing Tour offered by RCCL on the first day and a private walking tour on the second day through FerTours 2 Havana (reserved in advance) they were both amazing, but having a private tour with just my family of 4 and the guide was a real advantage (RCCL's walking tour had a lot of people on it so it could be hard to hear and you probably couldn't stop at all of the little stores in Old Havana but I'm not sure)

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kloven 7 years ago

so looking forward to this. did you find the steps described by royal (43 to get to any of the excursions ) a problem? was there an elevator available? what excursions did you go on?

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Other reviews of this sailing

There is room for improvement

Havana & Key West Review

Great experience