My husband surprised me with a cruise for our 25th wedding anniversary, but the flowers and the champagne he ordered never arrived -- neither did the bucket of ice that I requested the first day and every day after! We chose the Empress of the Seas leaving out of Miami and headed to Grand Cayman and Key West. The staff was great and tried very hard, but food quality and some other hiccups will make it hard to repeat with Royal Caribbean.
We knew that the Empress was an older, smaller ship and liked that we met lots of people and saw them throughout the trip. Our cabin was on Deck 8 and had a window. It was clean, and the bed was comfortable. The room was warm when we first arrived and maintenance came to check it out, but said there was nothing wrong with the A/C. Most nights we didn't sleep with any covers because it never cooled off to a comfortable temperature even though the thermostat was set to the lowest setting. Thankfully it did get cooler than our first day.
The casual dining in the Windjammer Cafe was disgusting -- I'm being polite! The same food choices were placed out for lunch and late snacks day after day. Hamburgers and hot dogs were the main offerings meal after meal and made elementary school options look gourmet. The desserts didn't look tempting at all -- good if you're on a diet! There were only a few fruit offerings. We gave up on fighting the crowds for yucky food and opted for the breakfast (on port days) and brunch (on sailing days) offered in the main dining room. The brunch was fantastic and what you expect to find on a cruise. Lots of options and tasty food. The evening meals were good, and our wait staff was excellent.
The cabin was clean, but the air conditioning was lacking.