5 Night Key West & Havana Overnight (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 04, 2017
Ship:
Empress of the Seas
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 8516
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
This was a first time cruise solely taken so we could go to Cuba. I will say, we had a nice enough time that we are now talking about taking other cruises, something we really hadn't considered before. I think I would only want to go on a small ship like the Empress as it was very laid back and there were hardly any children, which was lovely.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Long lines but they move fast. Only hold up seemed to be when people didn't have their visa paperwork filled out ahead of time. However, as a first time cruiser, I don't understand why we were told we could embark at 11:00 but our room wasn't ready until 1:00, so we had to lug our carry-on luggage around the ship with us.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food was ok. I never went hungry, but I was never wowed. The buffet got very boring by the end of the week as it hardly seemed to change from day to day. Paid extra for a dinner at Chops Grille and it too was only OK (had to send my steak back as it was not done the way I requested) and the service there was painfully slow. I wouldn't recommend the expense, the food was no better than in the main dining room.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The pool is very small. I enjoyed in on the day we were in Key West as many people were still on shore. However, the one day we were exclusively at sea, it was obvious that the pool was far too small for the number of people. Also, if you finish a book or magazine while on the ship, think about dropping it off at the library on deck 9. That is a great little perk.
Entertainment
We did so much on our days in port that we were too tired to stay up for any of the shows!
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
With the exception of the slow service in the Chops Grille and one very unpleasant experience in the retail outlet on-board, the staff were very friendly and accommodating.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
This is a small ship so it was very easy to figure out where everything was and get around. There was constantly staff on the pool deck and the promenade deck picking up.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Again, this was our first cruise and we were prepared to feel crammed. What we didn't realize is that there is a ton of room under the beds for our luggage so once we unpacked, we could put those completely out of the way. We kept the beds in the Lucy and Ricky positions because we decided we got more room that way. The room was always very clean and we loved our room steward.
Ship tip
I wished I'd figured out there was breakfast in the main dining room before the last day on the ship. I thought it was just in the buffet and that breakfast was not very good.
I've always wanted to go to Key West. After spending about 4 hours there, I've changed my mind. I don't know what I expected, but it's just a place to drink and shop. Unless I was going on a deep sea fishing trip, I can't see any reason to go back. Also, DO NOT go on the ghost tour. It is lame and a complete waste of time. We've done many ghost tours in other parts of the country and this was the worst one ever.
The first day we did a 4 hour bus tour and hit all the big tourist attractions (the fort, the Christ statue, Colon Cemetery, and the flea market. This left us free the second day to have a private tour guide for the entire day and go anywhere we wanted. Best Day Ever! Frank took us to the cigar factory, the Bacardi building (at my request), Fusterlandia, Sloppy Joes for lunch, an amazing little coffee bar for the best coffee in the world, and to a baseball game!
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