This was my first cruise. From the web, I thought there were multiple pools, fancy spa, and great workout facility. None of the above exist on this ship. The ship itself is dated and dirty. The elevators took forever, which ee had to wait for because our mother could not take the stairs. The toilets stopped working for a period of time. The nightly entertainment was good. The food was so-so. Weather was awesome! The service was also so so ... no one was overly friendly. The pool was always packed, as were the hot tubs. I was told to bring a fancy dress for night at sea dinner, and they made it Jeans night. No information was ever given about the theme nights until the night before. This was not a glamorous cruise.

Cococay was nice, but they shut down the food early, and also took the beverage stations down. Good thing we brought our own water.

We met some nice people that had cruised a lot, none of them were overly impressed with the Empress of the Seas!