Empress of the Seas Review

3.0 / 5.0
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Best of Cuba cruise that wasn't the best

Review for Cuba Cruise on Empress of the Seas
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rhskls
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Nov 2018
Cabin: Junior Suite with Balcony

We chose this cruise because it was supposed to have two stopovers in Cuba. Unfortunately one of the ports was dropped a few weeks before embarkation. Key West was added in its place and while Key West is nice, it isn't Cuba and most of the passengers had been to Key West. We did go to Havana. We arrived around 3:00 p.m. and by the time we went through customs and exchanged our money, it was 4:30, about an hour before sundown. We had made plans with an independent tour, Old Car Tours, and we were glad we had. Even though it was dark, driving around in the convertible we were able to see things. We were in port until 5 a.m. but we do not stay up that late. We did go to the Cafe Parisien and it was an excellent show. Highly recommend both Old Car Tours and the Parisien. Buy tickets for the Parisien when you get there and it is about 40 CUC. Much cheaper than the ship excursion. Past reviewers had recommended to not do the meal, so we did not. Passengers who had gone on ship excursions were very unhappy. Demanded refunds. We also visited Labadee which was surprisingly nice, and Nassau. Overall we had a great cruise but mainly because we had booked independent excursions.

The ship itself is old and small which we knew going on so we were not expecting grandeur. The centrum was quite nice but small and not large enough for the activities they had there. The Windjammer was a nightmare because it was way too small for the number of passengers. We always tried to find an out of the way table that wasn't too crowded. We had no cable TV until about the fifth day. The crew was very nice and helpful. Even though a lot of the passengers were unhappy about the itinerary, we could not blame the crew.

Cabin Review

Junior Suite with Balcony

Cabin J3

Our cabin was a nice size. We booked the junior suite because the regular staterooms did not have a balcony. We were very pleased with the suite.

Port Reviews

Labadee

Rented a beach lounger and enjoyed the beach. Josh was our attendant and was very helpful.

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