twangster

Another hidden discovery is that Wow! bands can be used to access your cabin.

Unfortunately when used in this fashion anyone on the ship can use your Wow! band to access your cabin.

Okay, that's a lame joke but I was enjoying drinks at the Schooner Bar up to this point...

Cabin Tour!

As we waited for cabins to become available at 1:30pm I was waiting in the elevator lobby near my cabin.  As the hall door was opened by crew moving luggage, James my new cabin attendant spotted me.  He was servicing the block of cabins right beside my last cabin so he recognized me.  He waved me through telling me my cabin was ready.  Nice touch.

Junior Suite 9600 Starboard.

This JS is the reverse layout from my last JS.

Pretty much identical with the same "efficient" bathroom and shower.

Walk in closet.

I waited until we had left the port to take balcony pictures.  This cabin is the most forward JS on deck 9 so the balcony doesn't have a divider on the forward side.  You do lose a small corner and the elevator lobby can see this balcony but the forward view is better.

The better sea views can also be enjoyed when sitting on the sofa inside the cabin.

The pool deck above narrows so the overhang is slightly smaller.  The view aft.

The view down.

Something I forgot to mention in my last Empress thread are the USB outlets.  They are found on the bottom of the lights on each side of the bed.  It's a great hidden feature.

It's really nice having USB outlets on both sides of the bed.

Guilford the Inventory Manager came through for me.  On my last cruise he promised there would be Guinness and it was there waiting for me.

Some of the other beers available.

Some of the wines available.

Empress has a Coffee Shop near the entrance within Boleros.

Welcome aboard cake.

Up on deck 11 I noted they were working on the satellite antennas.

The nature of the internet interruptions I experienced on the last cruise had the feeling of maybe an amplifier or LNB overheating and failing before coming back into service.  I'm hoping this new component might help.

Who knew two full grown men could fit into the dome?  They were contractors on the ship for the day.

In this Miami heat it's got to be hot in there.

Day 1 Embarkation

A first glimpse of Empress at Terminal G from my Uber.

Terminal G

The entrance to the building normally has some signage but in this early hour you had to know where to go.

Terminal G check in area.

Suites and Pinnacles have a small waiting lounge.

Boarding started at 10:45am.  

Woohoo!  I am officially on a cruise!

Quick update.  

Uber to port had me there just before 10am.  I took the opportunity to take some pictures of terminal G, I’ll post those soon.  

Boarding started at 10:45am.  First on board.  I ran into the Pinnacle doing a B4B who was with me on my B2B.  Julie our Hotel Director saw me and came over to chat greeting me by name.  There will be 12 pinnacles on this sailing.  It’s also the last cruise of her current contract.  Jorge the Guest Services Manager saw me and welcomed me back.  

Right now I’m sitting at the Schooner Bar where Wayan and Roland recognized me and welcomed me back.   

Just like that I feel like I’m home.   

10 minutes ago, YOLO said:

@twangster  I am sorry if this has already been covered many times over, but searching this RCB has not helped me.  Did you get double C&A point for your Empress Junior Suite (either J3 or J4 cats)?  I am looking at next year's June 22 sailing.  Thanks!

Actually I received triple points because I was solo in a Junior Suite.  When not occupied by a solo guest a Junior Suite would give you double points.  

3 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

I'm so jeoulous of you...but in a good way of course.  That's so awesome you'll be on her again!...but with a different itinerary!

Have an amazing cruise!

P.S. - What site do you use for hurricane watches?  We'll be on Navigator in 2 weeks and crossing my fingers and toes that weather is calm and no disruptions.

 

Thanks!

I have an app called "Hurricane" that I use but it draws many of it's graphics from the National Hurricane Center offered ny NOAA.  nhc.noaa.gov

The Coco Beach Club and South Beach area is closed while they build out that area.  The Beach beds are to the left of the Coco Beach Club in that map.  Directly above the label for the "Swim Up Bar" in that map.

6 minutes ago, basil said:

I saw once on the website that they were going to have over the water cabanas. Has anyone else seen this or have any ideas if this is true or not?

Most definitely true.  Coming to the Coco Beach Club area in December 2019.

Since I nearly went overboard with pictures of Empress in my previous live blog I'm going to skip all the basics about Empress in my pictures this time around.  Take a look in my previous thread if you want to see the ship (link included in first post).

If you do reply to posts with pictures please take the time to remove the pictures in your reply to keep this thread a lot easier to read. 

August 10, 2019

You know what that means?

IT'S CRUISE DAY!

Like a kid on Christmas morning it's 6am, I'm awake and ready to go.  It looks like the C&A team has been busy putting presents in my account.  Overnight my points from last week have posted, including the solo-in-a-suite gift.

When cruising in hurricane season I always keep an eye on the tropics.  While only early August this is a great thing to see.  Tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 5 days.

Looking at the MarineTraffic.com app I've caught Empress gliding past Symphony as she arrives into the Port of Miami this morning.

I'm here.  The ship is here.  There are no tropical storms on the radar screen.  Phew!

Can you tell I'm bored with nothing to do?  Tick tock.  Tick tock.  Is it time yet?

I've done Alamo but next weekend I'm doing Hertz.  They take you to their downtown Miami "HLE" location as opposed to the airport.  I have a day in between a Miami based cruise and a Port Everglades cruise so I figured a rental car is better than Uber/Lyft.

My flight was supposed to be early but with storms in the South Florida area they had us slow down and we landed on time.  Woohoo, my suitcase was the very first bag on the carousel.  

With ample time to spare I took the Tri-Rail from FLL airport down to MIA airport.  I was just going to sit in my hotel room anyways so I figured I'd take the slower but cheaper way to my hotel.  From MIA I picked up the free hotel shuttle to my hotel.

My Tri-Rail timing was pretty good.  A short wait for the bus to the train station.  The train pulled up as I bought my ticket at the station.  

Total cost $3.75.  Uber/Lyft were both just under $50.  

Safely in my hotel near MIA airport I used my savings to pay for a hotel dinner and drinks which make on board ship prices seem like a bargain.

Pictures in this post 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14213-empress-b2b-14-nights-on-the-biggest-little-ship-july-2019/&do=findComment&comment=145159

The beds are currently at the end of the beach next to where Coco Beach Club will be.  

The Key will have a seating area set aside.  Individual seats are not assigned.  Your reservation gets you in the door, The Key gives you access to the seating area set aside for Key guests.  

2 minutes ago, hayley_bopp said:

Wow! Is this a pretty standard fee or does it vary from port to port?

Have another great cruise @twangster

It's the first time I've heard a pilot's fee being mentioned but consider this is one guest telling another guest what she heard.  

Pilots do all sorts of ships of various sizes.  Cargo, tankers, cruise ships, etc.  I imagine that fees vary by some factors like length, registered tonnage, draft, width and who knows what else.  Piloting a 100' cargo ship versus a 1,100 foot tanker ship has got to involve different fees but that is purely speculation on my part.  

2 minutes ago, Fairlynew said:

I wonder what would have happened to the people left behind on CoCo Cay if there had not been another ship in port?

I imagine that's harder to do unless you hide in the woods.  Any CocoCay staff who see a guest at or after all aboard time are going to rush you to the ship.  Bars are closed, water park is closed, restaurants are closed.  You would kind of stand out being the only guest sitting on a lounger by the pool.

2 minutes ago, FroggyFlo said:

Can you give a used towel and get a fresh one at the same time (ie from the same crew member/place), so that you stand in line once instead of twice? 

Exchanging towels is easy, just tell them you want new towels and show that you are dropping the old towels into the used towel bin.  SeaPass card typically not required.

At no port will you find Royal employes working at the port.  From security, to check in staff to porters they are all contractors at every port.  At least in North America.

I suppose if you don't tip you might find an unhappy porter.  I always tip a few bucks for my one bag.

From the drop off point luggage carts are right there so there isn't anywhere to haul your own bags to typically.

On the plane now, live from 37,000' and 586 mph.  

Landing around 6pm in Ft Lauderdale.  I have lots of time tonight so I might do the Tri-Rail thing again to get down to my Miami hotel.  

South Florida rush hour traffic in a $50 ride-share or $3.75 on Tri-Rail?  I think I'll save the $45 and use it to pay for drinks on CocoCay.

Here is a bit on my last Tri-Rail experience:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/11517-south-florida-tri-rail-ft-lauderdale-miami 

Plans for this Cruise

Only one excursion booked so far.  A day trip to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI from Tortola.

My last visit to Jost Van Dyke occurred when I lived on St Thomas.  It's one of the smaller islands of the Virgin Island chain but she has a beautiful beach and is home to the Soggy Dollar Bar right on the beach.  Boats anchor off the beach and visitors swim to land hence they have soggy dollars. 

The hurricanes that impacted San Juan and the US Virgin Islands did a number on Jost Van Dyke but I understand they've rebuilt.  Time to contribute to the local economy again.  

I brought my snorkel gear this time and hope to snorkel at CocoCay if the weather is good.  Then I'll jump in Oasis Lagoon to enjoy the fresh water and swim up pool bar.  No CocoCay excursions purchased (so far).  Lunch at the Snack Shack for another Shack Crispy Chicken Sandwich.   Yum.

With our late arrival in San Juan the plan is to wander around and take pictures during golden hour assuming there is no more civil unrest.

St Thomas will be a boring work day for me.  

While the items on the menus are common across the fleet, the order and combination they appear can change.  If the last cruise didn't eat a lot of chicken they might adjust the menus next cruise to offer chicken entrees more frequently. 

The food and beverage manager and head chef can also adjust menus depending on how much food budget has been consumed that week.  Each cruise has a specific budget.  If they have surplus budget they will offer more expensive items into the rotation.  They don't want to to fall too short of the budget or the budget will be reduced by corporate over time.  If they are constantly $10k under budget, the food budget will be reduced by $10k.  This is why the menus listed in the Royal app are often different than what actually appears in the MDR on any given night.  

Things you learn when you take the galley tours...

4 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Awww c'mon..you love dealing with travel insurance claims.

The mere potential thought that C&A points would be lost is nearly causing a boot loop.