KLA

Similar to other posters here, I had no idea I'd get hooked on cruising... especially in my mid-20s. I went on my first cruise on Liberty of the Seas in January 2015, and I was obsessed from then on. I went with my now-fiance's family, and they had been on many cruises as a family in the past. I had absolutely no idea of what to expect going in to it, but I fell in love with the freedom of being able to do whatever I wanted, and be able to disconnect from everyday life for a while. It was the most truly relaxing vacation I had ever taken. I'm pretty type-A and feel the need to plan the details of EVERYTHING, but cruising helps to take away some of those stresses. I also love the idea of being able to see many different parts of the world on a single trip, and having your own 'space' to come back to after a long day of exploring. I've been on two additional cruises since my cruise on Liberty last year, and I have many more scheduled. Looking forward to many more adventures at sea!

If you're doing a 3 day cruise, is it safe to assume you'll be in Nassau and Coco Cay?

 

At least for Coco Cay, it's a private island and everything on the island will be handled with your Sea Pass. The only cash really needed there will be if you plan to make any purchases from one of the local vendors in the craft area. As for Nassau, as DocLC said, it really depends on what you want to do there. I typically bring cash ashore with me for any little purchases or souvaniers, but that's entirely up to you.

Called it!

First few May sailings are now showing totally 'sold out' - 5/5, 5/9, 5/14

I think this was part of his April Fool's joke.  I don't think the Empress is going to be homeported in Cuba.

 

I recall reading this as well - it was one of those where nobody really got the joke...

Coco Cay is considered basically an extension of the ship, so I'd imagine the 21 rule for the ship would still apply on the island.

I loved reading your review - I SO can't wait to visit Nachi Cocom in November! 

I'm hoping they still do the overnight cruises to Cozumel.  My wife has some work-related stuff that she can't get out of otherwise we'd be doing the one in late May.  I want to do that cruise so we can make the long trek to Chichen Itza and still be able to enjoy Cozumel in the evening and the next day.  If Empress goes Cuba-only I'll be quite sad.

 

I agree with this - I think an overnight in Cozumel would be amazing. 

 

I saw Chichen Itza many years ago while staying in Cancun - it's a gorgeous area. I hope you're able to make it over there!

I remember seeing Quest on the Compass when I was on in February! I just went to bed too early. 

Actually, it's 3 sailings.  April 16, 25 and 30...or was April 16 one of the original 6 ?  I can't remember.

 

I am skeptical that they are truly sold out.  I hope I'm wrong...but if they are cancelling 3 MORE cruises, they are going to have an absolute riot on their hands.  Luckily I'm not supposed to sail until May 23 but this is not a good trend.

 

UGH

 

I think April 16 was one of the original six - Definitely crossing my fingers that this doesn't turn in to another nightmare for a lot of people. 

4/25 and 4/30 sailings are now displaying as "Sold Out"

Just saw someone post this on CC and went to check it out myself... looks like the next two sailings after the first six are now "Sold Out"... :|

Seems relevant - just came across this on CC. 

 

Jewel docked next to Empress: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49629976&postcount=644

I have read of that happening as well.  Like I said I've never needed to do it, but I've read of it.  

 

Huh - this would explain the Sea Pass we found labeled "Extra Key" in our stateroom from a previous sailing that confused us. 

 

So, it's real and it does happen I guess! 

I only recently became a huge fan of using a TA. I had always liked the idea of booking myself because I felt like I had more control over things, but a really good TA is easy to work with and invaluable. Even if you book it yourself, it's an easy process to transfer over to a TA. I definitely recommend using a Travel Agent. 

She's on her way to Freeport. 

 

Thanks for all the updates! :D

There was actually an interesting discussion about this in last night's Periscope. 

 

1) Royal Caribbean announced tons of improvements coming to the ship, and then seems to be taking many of them back. This is making quite a bit of Royal's fan base confused by their decisions, and disappointment that something was announced and then changed their mind... especially the features that people may have booked the ship for such as specialty dining or water slides.  

 

2) Royal Caribbean could have announced none of the improvements coming and kept everyone in the dark.  This could have resulted in people being disinterested in the ship, or being disappointed when hoped for improvements weren't brought on, which isn't an ideal solution either. 

 

I think that no matter what, when Majesty is released it will be up to Royal Caribbean's standards. It'll be a great ship for what it's meant for - a quick weekend away at sea without the bells and whistles of the newer ships, but with a much needed update to bring it up to speed with other ships in the fleet (pool side screen, updated rooms and pool deck, Voom, etc). I'm booked on Majesty for two sailings over the next year (August 12 and February 3), and I am quite excited to see what the new improvements come out to be! I'm looking forward to trying out Voom on my next cruise, but will probably wait to purchase on board as per Matt's advice due to C&A Discounts. 

Majesty of the Seas - August 12, 2016. Bringing my friend on her first cruise!

The speculation right now (which as more or less been confirmed) is that once Cuba is available as an option for tourism, that Empress will be destined for those ports. Since she's a smaller ship, there's a better likelihood of availability to ports. 

Or perhaps they're going to add more to the ship now that Cuba is much stronger possibility than it was a few months ago.

 

I'm wondering about this as well - seems to be too much of a coincidence with all of the Cuba talk going on, and the fact that it's basically common knowledge at this point that Empress is destined for Cuba as soon as it's a possibility. 

Post just popped up on CruiseCritic that indicates that the first six sailings are cancelled. 

Hmm... it looks like only sailings happening over the next couple of months?

Considering these are both things I would have gotten anyway, I hope these show up on any of my future sailings... haha! 

Thanks for this info - I just booked Nachi Cocom for our upcoming cruise (in two and a half weeks!)  The fact that they limit the amount of people there is what appealed to me; there are four ships in port the day we'll be there so I'm hoping this will avoid the crowds.

We are now looking at booking Nachi Cocom for when we're there in November - we were originally planning on doing the Skyreef Shore Snorkel and Tequila Tasting through Royal Caribbean, but I know what we were both really looking for is a nice beach day with good food and drinks. Nachi seems like it fits that for us, on top of being relatively quiet since neither of us are big in to crowds. 

 

I think the only reason we've been hesitant is that neither of us have ever done a non-Royal Caribbean excursion, so there's that little 'back of mind' panic about "what if we miss the ship or it leaves without us or we can't find a cab back?!"

 

I think once we do it once we'll be less anxious about it the next time, but Cozumel seems like a good choice for our first time going off of Royal Caribbean's offerings since it's a safe little island.

I noticed that yesterday - they're just not adding the gratuity on to the listing. It gets added when you add it to your cart from what I've been able to tell.