Disappointed in Royal Caribbean

Item: Empress of the Seas
Rating: 3.4
Author: rachaels15

Empress of the Seas Cruise Review to Cuba

rachaels15

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 52

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

Verified Review

Key West & Havana Overnight

Sail date: July 10, 2017

Ship: Empress of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 7165

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Would go to Cuba again, just not on Royal Caribbean. I know there are other cruise companies that I am familiar with and they don't have most of my concerns with Royal Caribbean. Enjoy the old cars in Cuba and take the air conditioned bus tour but get other tours once you are off the ship. You can go to the Tropicana for much less than the ship charges and old cars are available for a fraction of what the ship charges.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Needed wheelchair and they only had 3 wheelchairs for all disabled passengers.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Did not have a hot meal in the dining room. All meals were just warm. Ship charged for room service. Purchases could not be returned for refund. Ship DID not all water or coke to brought on board.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Did not care for the type of music. Did enjoy LIVE band.

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Older and small ship consequently cabin was small.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Will never book inside cabin again. Can't tell day from night.

Ship tip

Small ship therefore easy to get around. Casino was non smoking which was great.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

4 out of 5

Very clean city.

Thumbs Up 1

Key West, Florida

4 out of 5

Beautiful but hot.

Thumbs Up 0

HAVANA, CUBA

5 out of 5

Excellent. People were very friendly. DON'T CONVERT CURRENCY TO CUC merchants were glad to take American dollars which avoids the conversion fee.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Very efficient.

4 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe 3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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sgreen08 7 years ago

Sometimes you need to just bite the bullet to do it right and make it smoother. $50 on your own with the hassle or $75 through the cruise. You're on vacation! I found Cozumel very reasonable! No excursion booked but took a $15 cab ride to Paradise beach. $3 per person to get an arm band to use the lounge chairs, pool, sandy beach ocean and server bar service (still reasonably priced) is definitely a good deal! Absolutely beautiful and service friendly! You just need to know where to go!

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emmabrunner 7 years ago

Even if you get your own visa (I did) you still pay the Cuban government

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amaffew 7 years ago

Havana was nice...the draw for us...but very poor. Food was great...servers were great but there was a constant smell of sewage at spots on the ship. Do not take anyone in a wheelchair. In key west they asked us to go to the front of the line and then parked my mom and us in hot sun for an hour while they got everyone else off...no one told us when booking to get visas on our own to save $75 fee...what a scam for rccl. Cozumel was way overpriced...I know you are supposed to haggle but when one photo is $265 for an 8x10...that is ridiculous...they kept saying they were charging more since they have to pay for a wall...I had all kinds of troubles with getting booked, excursions, and got no answers to several questions about excursions...my first and last time on rccl

Thumbs Up 0

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