klc317

We've noticed the same on smaller ships like Empress, Majesty, etc. You seem to run into the same people all over and its a completely different experience than on the huge ships. Its fun to chat with other people when you see them more often. And inevitably you will run into to someone who lives nearby your hometown.....never fails!

I know. It was kinda weird when I opened the email, had their names, addresses, their booking number, I am an honest guy so I just deleted the info and the email and called RC. There wasn't any more personal info beyond that so I wasn't concerned. But months after the fact I'll take the points. Funny how it appears I went on a solo cruise. Oh well.

I agree with the opinions on Empress. We went several weeks ago, first time on that ship. It was great....not lines or crowds to wait on, just laid back and spectacular crew. I wouldn't bother with the Key. In Cozumel check out Chankanaab Park.....look up some info and videos of it. They have things like the swim with dolphins experience there but I found the swim with Manatees much less crowded, had more time with them, and it was fun! Just depends on what you are into.

I like Enchantment. Its a smaller ship but they're never small the first time you lay eyes on them when you get to the port! After 12 or so cruises over 13 years I'm still amazed at the sheer size of the ships when you arrive. Maybe watch a youtube video review/walkaround of the ship to get a little familiar but yes on port days there are things to do on the ship and plenty to eat. In fact its probably not a bad time to do things on the ship because most people get off and go exploring at the port. As far as the room temp I like it cold but my wife is always cold. You can adjust the thermostat to a level you all agree on. We fortunately have never had a hot cabin.

Our daughter is now 7. On a couple past cruises we have taken her on she wanted a sea pass, mainly just to be like us and wear it on a lanyard. Lol. Anyway, we went to guest services and they issued her an extra one. We keep track of the real one. They asked what we wanted it to do and we said just to work in the cabin door and not able to be used to purchase anything. Not that she would but just in case she were to drop it or lose it. You can set a certain limit also is what we were told but I'm not sure if its a daily limit or a total limit for the whole cruise.

Earlier this year about the same time we were getting ready to go on our Adventure of the Seas 7 night I got sent emails to check in and my luggage tags for a cruise on Symphony that we hadn't even booked. Turns out it was someone with my same name that they got confused. I called RC and I guess they got it straightened out and the correct person must have received their luggage tags, never heard anymore. Anyway, I logged in today to my account to look at an upcoming cruise and in the "past cruises" section is that cruise on Symphony that we didn't take and the points for it got added on to my C&A points. I guess I'll take the points....lol....gets me real close to Diamond level with the extra. Has anyone else had something like that occur?

Agreed. We will do this again when our daughter comes with us in April on our next cruise and will be on a pullman. When we first saw that room on Empress I thought to myself Im gonna wake up and have to pee or something and either stub my toe or run into the cabinets trying to get out of bed with them together....lol Was SO much more convenient this way.

Ive made that mistake before but it was the top of my feet that got roasted....guess I neglected to put sunscreen on them and we were on a boat/stingray excursion most of the day. That was a bad idea.....any socks, shoes, sandals or just the sheets were painful for a couple days. Caribbean sun is nothing to mess with especially for a fair skinned guy like me!

A few years back we had quite a few elevator rushers on our ship. We all know them....the ones who try to rush into the elevator before anyone can get out. We had a huge guy (largely built and very tall) we seemed to end up in the elevator with quite often and was seated with his family at our MDR table....he was hilarious to talk to and you'd always see him ducking when walking around because his head was not far from the ceilings in some areas. Anyway, he would stand in the elevator inches behind the door and when we reached a floor and the door opened people rushing in would be met with this towering nearly 7 feet tall/300 pound guy blocking the entire entrance. Some people bounced off him not looking or just stopped super fast and then looked up in shock.....I still get a laugh out of that. He kinda reminded me of Herman Munster without the bolts....lol

I will also give a thumbs up to the tag holders with the threaded steel cable. I have a habit of stuffing an extra luggage tag inside the suitcase just in case. Also the same with my boarding pass when we fly, print an extra copy to put in the suitcase.

I noticed on Empress last week you can get tea or lemonade in any of the food venues but if you didn't have a drink package they wanted to charge for pink lemonade. Not sure what makes that so special. if you have a drink package ask for the fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast. Its really good stuff! I usually went for the bloody mary though cause y'know....vacation.

We do enjoy larger cabins from time to time but generally just get interiors to save money and really aren't in the cabin much. We just got back from a 5 night on Empress and the cabin was smaller than some other interiors we have had. We asked the room guy/steward to split the beds and it created alot more useable space and an aisle to get out of bed without trying to squeeze by cabinets. He gave us a funny look and asked "are you two ok?" Lol! Yea, we are fine, happily married. Anybody else do this or are we strange? BTW, this is interior cabin 3109 on Empress of the Seas. We tried a guaranteed cabin (GTY) this time and it worked out just fine. We will do that again in the future.

We were just on Empress earlier this week. I am kinda techy and check out things like this....lol. The TV does have an HDMI port but I didn't try it.

Yea, I smoke....wife doesn't either. However like you said I did enjoy the smoke free interior areas like the casino on Empress with her because she's happier. I don't smoke in our home or in our cars so if I feel the need to smoke I just go outside, same on cruises....just my habit I guess

Found this interesting.....we were coming back into Miami Thursday on Empress and saw Vision of the Seas there. Just came in from transatlantic. That ship seems to be a world traveller, all over the place so I thought it was an unusual sight to be there....I know I've never seen it before.

We just got back from a 5 night on Empress. The casino on it is completely non smoking which was nice.

Our daughter is currently 7 and we have taken her on several cruises. We got her a passport just in case.

Have been on Adventure several times, yes it has stabilizers. Stabilizers don't do much when you are way out in open water and are sailing through swells head on. The ship will find its own rhythm of pitching and moving. Usually barely noticeable. I'm someone who rough seas and the ship moving doesn't bother at all. You will notice after gaining your sea legs especially on longer cruises that once you return to dry land you'll find yourself retaining them for a few days involuntarily.

Great picture!

While I admit I do have a bad habit of enjoying a cigar or cigarette occasionally while on vacation after a few drinks I do not enjoy large crowds of people smoking and the thick odor like in the casinos some evenings.....its sometimes pretty unbearable. I generally will go to outside deck where the lifeboats are outside in the breeze if I want to indulge. I don't smoke in my home or vehicles so I extend the same courtesy to other folks on the ship and try to not annoy others. We are trying out Empress for the first time in about a week and a half and was pleased to learn their casino is non smoking.

Was looking at ptztv key west webcam today. We have a cruise on Empress Oct 5th and was just wanting to check it out on the webcam. Noticed that all 3 ships, Celebrity Equinox, Majesty, and Empress are not there and are listed as cancelled. Wonder why that is? Weather doesn't look too bad, kinda windy.

Wondering who else is coming with us......we booked this 5 night as a quick getaway/budget minded trip for just the wife and I. Looking forward to checking out the new Coco Cay and haven't been on Empress OTS yet. We are excited to go!

Yes. Ours has said deck 3 for awhile. That’s where we ended up

This is the first time we have tried a guaranteed cabin instead of picking a particular room number. Just the wife and I going and we aren't picky about cabin types, almost always just get an interior. We are 15 days away and I checked and theres a room assignment/cabin number. Maybe that will help with those who ask how long before the cruise you find out although I'm sure it varies. We did not get any upgrades and I didn't expect to. We do have a Royal Up offer for a junior suite but just the upgrade minimum bid costs more than the entire cruise for both of us so no thanks!

We are going in about 18 days. Haven't been for a few years so it should be interesting to see although we aren't looking to spend a bunch of money extra for all the huge slides and stuff. Glad they kept the chill side. And the huge pool looks good to me.