Interesting Cruise To Havana

Item: Empress of the Seas
Rating: 4.2
Author: MrJG

Empress of the Seas Cruise Review to Cuba

MrJG

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 27

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

Verified Review

4 Night Havana (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 07, 2017

Ship: Empress of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 4615

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Havana was amazing and well worth the other irritations involved. Royal Caribbean seems to be slipping and we received incorrect information from both corporate before the cruise and onboard staff during the sail. So double check your facts or miss out on package deals. Also, bar staff were not well informed and the bar manager was lacking basic customer service skills & very impressed with himself. He preferred to tell us what he had done for us rather than solve our problem. We did not enjoy the brunch buffets in the dining room as we would rather have ordered what we wanted & been served at our table. We did have a wonderful time and really enjoyed Cuba which was a step back in time.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Very smooth.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Chef's Table was not worth the money even though the food was outstanding. Had to beg for more wine since the initial pours were extremely skimpy, the location was hot, airless & noisy, the wait between courses was far too long, and the chef & server were very hard to understand. Have attended many Chef's Tables on other cruise lines that were less expensive and were 100% better. Don't waste your time or money.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Staff were excellent, overall with a few surly ones thrown in for good measure.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Old, small ship and the cabins reflect that.

Ship tip

Double check all information from corporate or ship staff because many don't know the correct answers; yet, provide the info anyway.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

5 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

HAVANA, CUBA

5 out of 5

Book the 7 hour tour; don't wander around alone or you won't see anything.

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

As usual, Tampa Customs was understaffed. Even though we were almost the last people off the ship, the line was outrageous. The ship staff practically threw us off the vessel while we understand their need, it was the manner they employed to do it.

1 Comment

GIL155 7 years ago

Glad Cuba seemed to make up for all the other shortfalls of your cruise. You had a lot of them, or so it seems.

Thumbs Up 0

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