Empress of the Seas Review

3.0 / 5.0
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Late night at Key West on the Empress

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Empress of the Seas
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Fast Alongside
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2017

We have reviewed this ship before so I will limit this to things unique to these two four night back to back cruises. Nassau and Key West were the two ports of call with one sea day in between. Unlike most cruises to Key West, these stayed in port until 8:00 pm. Because of the time of year, this meant that it was there after sunset and so it was possible to walk around town at night. This adds a whole different atmosphere to the town than in the daytime, and it was great fun. Part of the fun was the famous sunset celebration on Mallory Pier. This consists of jugglers, acrobats, craft carts and music. Because the ship docked right on Mallory Pier you could even watch from the promenade deck if you didn't feel like going ashore again in the evening. And you could watch the sun set from the other side of the ship! It is good to se this kind of creative scheduling, as I have often wondered why ships didn't stay late enough for this event, which is a famous feature of Key West.

Most things on the ship were the same as on the previous cruises. The staff remains a highlight of this ship. Diamond and above will find the receptions and special gatherings memorable, even though there is still no nightly reception.

The dining room food and service remains excellent, but unfortunately the Windjammer continues to be a big disappointment. Why it is not possible to have grapefruit halves at breakfast, even though they did on previous cruises on this ship, is a mystery. And why can't they have a selection of different cold cereals in individual boxes like on every other RCI ship? Especially when most of the choices in the rather tacky bulk dispensers are sugared kids brands.

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