Our family traveled on the Empress of the Seas on June 30th. We had a party of 7; 4 kids and 3 adults divided in two cabins which we were lucky to get side by side on the 3rd deck. My husband and I have been in several Royal Caribbean ships but never one this small. We were really concerned with the earlier reviews we had read and honestly if we had the option to change ships, we would of. Thank God we had a great experience. Our trip was fantastic and our 2 year old daughter, our two nieces 10 and 15 and our 15 year old nephew had a great time.
The itinerary for this ship was a bit odd compare to all the other weekend cruises we had taken. It left Miami on Thursday and arrived at CocoCay Friday morning. We then arrived at Nassau on Saturday morning and the ship was docked in Nassau until Sunday at 3:30 pm. Since we have been to Nassau multiple times and always end up going to Atlantis we decided to rent a car in downtown and drive around the island. It was the best decision ever! The GM at Avis told us to drive over to Nirvana, Love Beach and we did. WOW! This must have been one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever been to. Crystal clear water, there's a bar and grill right on the beach and the food and drinks were stupendous.
Anyways, going back to the ship....
Cabins are outdated and the shower is super small. My husband is 6'1 and had a bit of a hard time moving around in the tight space. Never the less, our guy Manuel kept our cabin fresh and clean and was always attentive to us.