Cuba and Key West we're great!!

Item: Empress of the Seas
Rating: 4.5
Author: klafrance85120

Empress of the Seas Cruise Review to Cuba

klafrance85120

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 18

Overall rating:

4.5 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Key West & Havana (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 29, 2018

Ship: Empress of the Seas

Cabin number: 9677

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Overall, it was a great time! There were six of us traveling together and we had a fantastic time and all the ports! It It is a great first introduction to Cuba. I think next time I would probably fly over and stay in the city so we could see more!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

From the second day we were on board, I asked for information about friends of Bill, the alcoholics anonymous group. They kept sending me to the 8th floor to the computer which was non-functional. Finally on the third day, they sent an IT person to meet with me on the 8th floor. He agreed that the computer was not functioning. He also told me that the friends of Bill meetings were personal and not Cruise related, and therefore the only opportunity people had to join them was to come to this computer. I explained to him that my friend had been only clean for 18 months and needed a meeting. He said it was a voluntary personal meeting, not Cruise related, and therefore they had to come to the non-functional computer to organize it. I felt this was a blatant disregard of recovery and have never been on a ship that did not have AA meetings prior to this. This may just be Royal Caribbean but I was very disappointed in not only their response but the apathy that I experienced for this serious situation.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Make sure you read your cruise agenda everyday. There are so many things that so many people miss that it's a shame! They really had a great variety and when we went to the different functions, some of them were really not well attended. These hard working people do their best to entertain us and it would be great if more people showed up two more things, especially the games They really are a great time and many times you can win great prizes!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida Did not visit port

Thumbs Up 0

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

since we were only there for 8 hours, we rented a golf cart to get around very quickly on the island. It was probably the best thing we did! I live in Fort Lauderdale so I've been to Key West probably 50 times and this is the first time I rented a golf cart and will do it every time in the future!! It it gets you off Bourbon Street and allows you to see the rest of the island! It was phenomenal! And really not expensive.

Thumbs Up 3

HAVANA, CUBA

5 out of 5

we did the EZ Havana Excursion and it was great for my friends as some of them had problems with neuropathy from previous chemotherapy. I think the best tour we took was the horse and buggy tour because he brought us to places that the buses really didn't go and it was so personal being right there with him with just a couple other people! You can negotiate the price and I would say a horse and buggy for a couple hours around Havana will show you a lot of what you wouldn't see on a regular tour!

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

The staff on the cruise was so well organized . they had everyone where they need to be and the Customs was different from any Customs I've ever experienced before! While they were dogs everywhere for illicit materials, we were never even questioned about what we we're bringing in, it was really just a walk through with our passports so feel free to buy what you need to buy!

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Other reviews of this sailing

This was an good cruise if you have never been to Cuba.

Wonderful Havana Cruise