Empress of the Seas Cruise 5-10 Oct 2019

Getting checked in and onboard was very easy.

We ate at the Windjammer primarily. My husband is insulin-dependent diabetic, so there is very little in the main dining room he can actually eat. We have to follow the Keto diet, and the best way we can do so is at the Windjammer. It's also hard to convey to the wait-staff at the main dining room that No Sugar Added is not the same as Sugar Free. They also don't seem to understand that honey and fruits are loaded with sugar, which is harmful to diabetics. Telling them, "No Carbohydrates" and "No root vegetables" also seems to confuse them. At the same time, they do try to accommodate dietary restrictions as best as they can understand them. They have Gluten free items, which is good. They did seem to have an extremely small amount of no sugar added desserts, so if you wanted any, you had to get them with your meals and not wait. We had a brunch one morning/afternoon, which was pretty good. The coffee served at brunch was much better than the coffee served in the Windjammer. The Windjammer's coffee is weak, so if you want good, strong, coffee, you'll need to go to Boleros to the Coffee Shop there and spend some money. The food overall isn't bad, though having hamburgers soaked in water isn't my thing. When the bacon was cooked crispy, it was great. The ice-cream served in the dining room tends to melt rather quickly. The soft-serve ice-cream in the pool area is very good. On some ships, the soft-serve ice-cream is self-serve, but on the Empress, there is a waiter/waitress wearing plastic gloves to serve you the soft-serve. At the main dining room, there are Hand Sanitizers. At the Windjammer, there are sinks with soap and paper towels as well as Hand Sanitizers. The sinks reminded me of the washing stations downrange that we had to use before going into the Chow Hall tents. I like the push to get people to wash their hands before eating as I know there are those who use the bathroom and don't wash their hands.

There were a lot of scheduled activities as usual, but not many were of interest to me. This is not a real issue for me, as I can entertain myself. We do go to Veteran Get Togethers, but this ship didn't have any as other ships do. Even if the activities offered are of no interest to me, I know the staff tries to cater to a wide demographic, which is not easy.

The comedy juggler was great. The four guys who performed at the pool deck and in Boleros were very good, too. For the Karaoke, the woman who did Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" was very good. My husband seemed to think so, too, as he hooped for her, and nearly got sucker-punched by me for hurting my ears.

We don't have kids, unfortunately, and I doubt they'd let us in to play with the kids, either.

I'd say the service was great, but we've had other room stewards on other ships (including RCCL) set the standards higher than what we got on this ship.

We could see the staff worked hard to maintain the ship's cleanliness. Unfortunately, the ship is in need of repairs, upgrades, and rust removal in some places. The inside of the ship is gorgeous, despite the rust spots. Carpeting in some places needs to be replaced.

The cabin was very well maintained and clean. What were some issues for us were the bunk beds that we banged our heads into (forgetting they were there), and the shower was way too small. The bathroom showers in balcony staterooms, while small, are not as small as the staterooms without a balcony. This was our first non-balcony stateroom, and it will definitely be our last.

This was the easiest disembarkation we ever had. I couldn't believe how quickly we were able to get off the ship. We carried our own bags off.