Empress of the Seas Review

3.0 / 5.0
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Rough way to Cuba.

Review for Cuba Cruise on Empress of the Seas
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a9lyons0
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Jun 2018
Cabin: Ocean View Stateroom

I decided to cruise solely for the destination of Cuba and chose Royal Caribbean over other cruise lines because I've had great experiences with them in the past as a client and as a travel agent. I know when cruising the shorter the cruise length the smaller and older the ship however I was expecting RCL to pick up their game a little. Two best friends in their late 20s had little to do on board. There was little entertainment and what was available was not good. We attended the comedy show (certainly not the best), saw the entertainers, and watched some game shows. The biggest saving grace was able to watch the World Cup while tanning. This is a great cruise if you want to catch up on sleep and get a lot of sun. The room was also nothing to be desired. The beds were falling apart and there was crud on the walls of the stateroom as well as the bathroom walls.

I cannot say enough positives about the service! The people on board were incredible and very sweet, courteous, and overall just happy! Everyone appeared to really love their jobs. I had 2 wonderful servers in the main dining hall (whoever waited on table 477!). The food was so bad that we only ate in the dining hall for 2 nights before ditching it for the buffet for the remainder of the cruise. The waiters were gracious and tried problem solving but could not make it taste any better. The steak was grey and did not taste like meat. The Caesar salad dressing was gritty, the soup was extremely watered down, etc. Previous RCL sailings had much better quailty. So not sure what happened here! It was not edible.

We did shore excursions in both the Bahamas and Cuba. Bahamas we did the Bahama Brews tour. SO MUCH FUN! Our tour guide was amazing, the beer was great, we got to eat while on the island :), and we met some other fun cruisers who have become friends! I was excited to get to Cuba, the main attraction! We booked late so many options were already full but we did the Best of Havana Express. Believe me, it is express. Our tour guide was NOT a morning person, so the first 2-3 hours were not the best. But after lunch at Hemingway's favorite restaurant, she really perked up and was phenomenal! We saw most sites from the bus and already passed them before we knew what they were so it was hard to get great pictures. We also went on a Sunday so some sites were closed or we did not have enough time to see them?? I did get some great Cuban products like cigars, coffee, and rum all for under $100!

Cabin Review

Ocean View Stateroom

Cabin 1N

As I stated previously, the Cabins were dirty with crud on the walls, dirty windows, and very small.

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