Hoski Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 It seems most of the fleet has them but not the Empress. What's the chances that Empress will get them during her brief dry dock? The Cruise Junkie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cruise Junkie Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 There Is A 50% Chance It Will Get It mworkman and SpeedNoodles 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 My two cents worth... Without having any real knowledge. My understanding is that they have the freestyle machines on the ships that are primarily in the us so they can easily restock them. They also seem to keep them on Voyager size and above where there are typically more kids. There wasn't one on my vision cruise and I'm guessing they won't see the need to put it in empress where the average age is a bit older and people feel more comfortable just asking for a pop at a bar. Jane Hoski and The Cruise Junkie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 I doubt it...Empress has been back in the fleet now for years and was refurbished at that time.....and its only used for a US market..... My 2 cents is no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 25, 2019 Report Share Posted February 25, 2019 My understanding is that the current dry dock is mostly for maritime maintenance. They might replace some carpet and such but I'm not expecting notable changes such as Freestyle dispensers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyC Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 I don't recall Freestyle machines on Serenade or Brilliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 12 hours ago, KathyC said: I don't recall Freestyle machines on Serenade or Brilliance. Definitely not on Brilliance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoski Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 Well no need to buy soda or refreshment packages for the kids then. We aren't Coke drinkers but the kids like the vitamin water and cream soda in the machines. Otherwise they are happy with water and the Pepsi we carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenMcD Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 I am wondering the same thing. We just sailed Voyager and were very disappointed that it was such a hassle to acquire sparkling water. We drink the Dasani sparkling water all the time from the freestyle machines. You can top it off with a splash of any soda, and you have flavored water with very few calories. We are thinking of sailing on Empress, but would love to see freestyle. How is the wifi on Empress? It was HORRIBLE on Voyager. It's usually very good, but Voyager really had me questioning, and with Empress being such an old ship, I am wondering if anyone has used it. My husband and I both work from "home", so crusing is usually easy for work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 4 hours ago, MaureenMcD said: I am wondering the same thing. We just sailed Voyager and were very disappointed that it was such a hassle to acquire sparkling water. We drink the Dasani sparkling water all the time from the freestyle machines. You can top it off with a splash of any soda, and you have flavored water with very few calories. We are thinking of sailing on Empress, but would love to see freestyle. How is the wifi on Empress? It was HORRIBLE on Voyager. It's usually very good, but Voyager really had me questioning, and with Empress being such an old ship, I am wondering if anyone has used it. My husband and I both work from "home", so crusing is usually easy for work. Welcome to the message boards. I really doubt they will install Freestyle on Empress. It is what it is. Liberty will probably get them in her 2021 amp but that's a guess on my part. The Voom on Empress is consistent with other ships that are not O3b enabled. That's most Vision and all Voyager class. When Voyager herself is not in the Caribbean she uses different satellites so if you have experienced Voyager Voom outside of the Caribbean that can't be used at a point of reference. To be honest Voom on the newly amped Navigator and Mariner isn't great either. Voom wasn't upgraded during any ship amp. I personally have worked from Empress numerous times last year and had very few issues. Satellite internet will never be like internet at home and bad weather on the horizon or near the ship can slow down or stop ship internet. That's an inescapable fact of satellite internet. When trying to work from any ship, new or old, you take the chance that bad weather will slow down Voom just when your work activities need it most. While on Empress I experienced a bad Voom spell for several hours near an area where all ships switch to a different satellite for better coverage. A few weeks later while boarding Empress for a different cruise I saw a contractor working in one of the satellite domes. The internet was better on subsequent voyages so maybe they had a faulty component in the system. While we were in St Thomas where my cell phone works natively my phone calls kept dropping so I went back onto Empress Voom and used wifi calling that worked better than cellular so that says something about Empress Voom. With only 1,600 guests Empress does better than Voyager class for Voom in my experience. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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