After reading all the negative reviews on Empress of the Seas, my husband and I were ready to cancel our sailing. I’m so glad that we didn’t. We’ve sailed on many Royal Caribbean ships from the Majesty to the Allure and experienced the pleasures of ships of all sizes and offerings.

First the cons, areas of the ship were very warm especially the casino. The staff did try to resolve this by adding standing fans, but they just blew the air around and didn’t cool it. If you choose to go to Coco Cay and rent a cabana you won’t receive a bottle of champagne as you would on the other Royal Caribbean ships. They did replace the salmon skewers in the special area set up for cabana guests with lobster and shrimp, so that’s a plus. The rooms are very small and the dry dock didn’t really update them except for new carpeting. The furniture is quite old . If you decide to order from room service you’ll be charged an extra $4.95 for ordering pizza, chicken wings or a hamburger. We were on the Enchantment 2 weeks prior and there was no extra charge. We felt like we were being nickeled and dimed. Forget about the advertised “complimentary Mimosas and Bloody Marys every day for brunch.” There were none and no one on the staff of the Windjammer or Starlight dining room knew about them.

Now for some of the pros. Embarkation and debarkation were the easiest we’ve ever had, perhaps because of the small size of the ship and the smaller number of passengers. The staff from the waiters in the Windjammer to the Captain, couldn’t do enough to make your time with them a pleasure. The itinerary was fantastic. Staying overnight in Nassau gave us plenty of time to enjoy Paradise Island and the Atlantis. With departures at 2:00 or 5:00 as on the other ships, we really didn’t have the opportunity to explore the Atlantis at night. The overnight stay also helped with the crowds of people getting on and off the ship. We were able to walk off and walk back on without waiting. Nice, very nice. On the last night, there was a Seafood fest that was an unexpected surprise with lobsters, shrimp, scallops, mussels and every other kind of seafood imaginable. They also handed out complimentary glasses of wine with dinner that last night. I guess that Royal Caribbean wanted their guests to remember the Empress with the best of thoughts…..and that’s just what I’m doing.