Took Empress of the Seas to Coco Cay and Key West for a 4 night quick cruise. Empress is the smallest ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet. It was the first ship we had ever cruised on some 24 years ago, and we were doing a "retro" anniversary cruise to celebrate.

Empress, though small, was a lot of fun, and it was good to be able to go from one activity to the next without walking several city blocks. The recent re-do looks good - everything is in great shape, and it was fun to get some 90's flashbacks from some of the decor. Too bad I didn't remember to grow a mullet for the trip!

Whatever you do, do NOT book a cruise with Key West as an itinerary stop after the ship has left U.S. waters. You will have to get up extra early to have the boarded Customs officials give you the fish eye in Key West, and then you STILL have to go through customs when you reach your U.S. disembarkation destination. Read more