Empress of the Seas: May 11, 2017

As a ship buff, exploring the vessel itself is one of my favorite things to do on a cruise. It’s always sad when a ship gets transferred overseas or retired before I have a cruise on them. I got lucky when the former (Carnival) Celebration was brought back to Florida by a small cruise company in Palm Beach. I missed all of those old Holiday Class ships when they sailed for Carnival. Empress of the Seas was another of those lost opportunities. Or so it seemed.

Luckily Royal Caribbean decided to bring the old girl home again. She’s had some renovations and new galleys; she looks great! After the heartbreaking loss of the Legend of the Seas and the Splendour of the Seas, it’s encouraging that we’ve gotten a small ship back. There are many cruisers out there who are uninterested in the giant ship experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the intimacy of the Empress. Read more