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Empress B2B 14 nights On The Biggest Little Ship July 2019


twangster

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Day 4 Afternoon

Back on board it was time.  It was also Diamond Happy Hour so the regulars were checking in.

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Back on board was 5:30pm.  By 6pm the ship's whistle had been used several times and a party of 5 was requested to contact guest services several times.   There was pier runner potential but...

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I had a reservation in Chops so I didn't hang around to learn of their outcome.  I was seated in Chops just before we pulled away from the pier.

Caesar Salad:

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New Zealand Rack of Lamb.  Yum.

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New York Cheesecake

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I swung by my cabin to change but my cabin attendant was servicing it so I headed up to the WJ to see what tonight's offerings included.  English Night with many of the regular English theme night items as seen on other ships.

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Windjammer has it's own bar so while I waited...

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I thought I'd swing by the deck 6 aft public deck behind Boleros.  Half smoking, half not.

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Empress is definitely a ship where you can connect with the sea.

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Back to my cabin I thought Kenneth had forgotten to leave a Cruise Compass but then I discovered the towel animal had taken in.

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I don't always blog from day 4 on Empress after stopping in Costa Maya in July, but when I do...

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On 7/23/2019 at 2:33 PM, twangster said:

When I boarded I was glad to see Louis Soomaroo back on board as Loyalty Ambassador.  Louis took very good care of me on my last Empress cruise and there's little doubt that he was responsible for the Diamond Plus pin left in my cabin last night.

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@twangster How close are you at Pinnacle?

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Night 4 

I caught the end of some very good latin music in Boleros by the band Bamboleo.  This was followed by the adult only Majority Rules game show.  My first time taking one of these in and it was quite entertaining.  Emphasis on adult only.

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Boleros was hopping tonight.  One of the best bars on the ship.

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The interesting thing about this game show is that it will change every time based on what all the teams collectively come up with to determine the majority.  Meanwhile some of the answers are quite hilarious.  Emphasis on adult only.  Seriously team 2?  The washy-washy guy?  

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This was immediately followed by the 70’s party in the Viking Crown Lounge.

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While up here I checked out the late night Windjammer offerings and once again it was a lot more than just burgers and hot dogs.  Quite a nice spread.  

Kim Kinrade was playing late night in the Schooner Bar.  

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The first night I enjoyed Kim’s pub type cover music.  The second night it was kind of repetitive.  The third night was more than enough of the same.  Sorry Kim.  Time for bed.  

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15 hours ago, twangster said:

New Zealand Rack of Lamb.  Yum.

I take it this Chops experience was better than some of the previous ones?  Just curious as we've had lackluster experiences there and I know you haven't really raved about it either.

As always, thanks for the blog and wonderful pictures.  

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Day 5 Cozumel

Waking up I discovered we were at the international pier in Cozumel.  Shortly after we arrived two Carnival sister ships arrived.  Vista and Horizon are the two newest and largest ships in their fleet.  When combined they are slightly bigger than one Oasis class ship.    

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Whale tail spotted at the international pier!  Carnival normally uses the twin piers next to us but the Fantasy followed us up from Costa Maya yesterday and joined us as a pier mate today.

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Not long after the Caribbean Princess sailed in.  

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That should make for busy day in port.  Since I'll be here again next week I think I'll stay on the ship today.

Some pictures around the pool deck to fill in spots I missed.

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On day one there was a card in my cabin to select which Crown and Anchor tours I wanted to participate in.  I didn't submit it since I had done them last year and I knew I could do them next week if I really wanted to.  Louis took the opportunity to sign me up assuming I missed the deadline.  He really is a great Loyalty Ambassador.

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11 minutes ago, mbk999 said:

I take it this Chops experience was better than some of the previous ones?  Just curious as we've had lackluster experiences there and I know you haven't really raved about it either.

As always, thanks for the blog and wonderful pictures.  

Chops on Empress is the only one that I have consistently enjoyed great food and great service.  On some ships the food is good but the service is poor.  On other ships the service is good but the food is poor.  Empress has the only Chops were I've enjoyed both food and service. 

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1 minute ago, twangster said:

On some ships the food is good but the service is poor.  On other ships the service is good but the food is poor.

You're doing a little better than us, we've had so-so food and phenomenal service and poor food and awful service!   

Enjoy your trip!  Looks good so far.

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53 minutes ago, twangster said:

On this cruise I'm using two Sony cameras.  My Rx100VI and A7III.

How are you liking the RX100 VI? I had read about it not long ago, seems they traded some aperture and low-light performance for a much-improved zoom lens (basically triple what you got in the V). Photos still look really good, have you found the camera still really good overall (and worth the very high price)?

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3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

How are you liking the RX100 VI? I had read about it not long ago, seems they traded some aperture and low-light performance for a much-improved zoom lens (basically triple what you got in the V). Photos still look really good, have you found the camera still really good overall (and worth the very high price)?

Still loving it and I just picked up an underwater housing for it as I try to step up my scuba diving pictures.

It's a smaller sensor compared to the full frame A7 and it doesn't have the low light performance of the A7 but it blows away the iPhone XR in low light.  The 200mm zoom range is awesome and the real reason I kept it.  I only brought my wide angle for my A7 so the RX is used for all shots that require zoom.  Most of all I like the portability since I can bring with me everywhere and I don't stand out.

Being a smaller sensor I have be heavy handed applying noise reduction in dark scenes like the 70s party but I can live with that.

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12 minutes ago, emsff02 said:

Read about this as well. Sony is actually marketing this to a degree as a vlogging camera, since you can plug in an external mic and they will be selling a version of the camera that includes a mounting grip.

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2 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Read about this as well. Sony is actually marketing this to a degree as a vlogging camera, since you can plug in an external mic and they will be selling a version of the camera that includes a mounting grip.

This does look like it would be great for vloggers. While I enjoy photography as a hobby I really don’t have an interest in blogging, so I will be sticking with my DSLR for now.

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When I talk about Empress not feeling small that comes from spaces like the forward elevator lobby that has spaces like this:

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One deck down.

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Even the computer area has awesome views of the sea.

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The Centrum is unique to the fleet.

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The generous spaces can be found around deck 5 and guest services.

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Of course no ship is complete without shops.

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Also not pictured is Port Merchants with tobacco and alcohol.

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A somewhat "hidden" feature are the forward public decks on 7 & 8.

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The bow is open with no helipad.  This area exists on all ships but for the most part we don't see it as it's covered with a helipad.  

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The stairs are open and free to use.  They lead to this open public deck 7 space.  Note the staircase on the far left.

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Deck 7 view forward.

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Going up one more level to deck 8 you can see the bridge on deck 9.

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This also provides a nice view forward.

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Some people never find these public decks and they do have OV cabins that are right there so if you book a forward facing OV cabin be aware this space in front of your window is open to the public. 

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Day 6 - Sea Day

Noted a Diamond only breakfast area in the MDR

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Voom results this morning.

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Voom history for this sailing.

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Our progress so far...

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I tried to use the new Royal app to look at a something in a future cruise. Empress isn't supported in the app but I wanted to look at a future cruise that is supported in the app.  I couldn't get past this screen while on Empress.  

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There is no moving this past this 'link a cruise' page unless you connect your phone to a VPN service, then the Royal app functions like it does when you are at home looking at future cruises.

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Flat seas this morning making for smooth sailing as we make our way back to Miami for turn around day.  

Chops breakfast available in the morning but only from 7am to 8am.

Consecutive cruiser letter was in my cabin last night.  Meeting point is deck 5 Schooner Bar at 9:30am.

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14 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Read about this as well. Sony is actually marketing this to a degree as a vlogging camera, since you can plug in an external mic and they will be selling a version of the camera that includes a mounting grip.

ooh that's super helpful! Since most of my vlogging is theme park based I got an external mic to prevent copyright claims...

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Day 6 Galley Tour

While waiting for other guests to arrive at the galley tour I asked Louis what the guest count was on this sailing.  Somewhere around 1,790 he thought.  With a capacity of 1,840 that's pretty good, 97% of capacity.  Doing the math, if 540 are C&A members that means 1,250 are first time on Royal.

I haven't been in the MDR yet on this voyage so I grabbed a picture.

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Our guide today is one of the Sous Chefs, Jeyanej

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Gotta love all the windows in the MDR

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Empress has a series of galleys on decks 2 through 5.  Deck 2 is a cold galley, deck 3 through 5 are hot galleys.

Here on deck 5 this little slice of heaven is the area within galley for Chops.

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Fish prep area

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Order up!   Omelettes ready to go to the table.

All eggs are fresh, no powdered scrambled eggs are used.

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Down a deck into the bakery.  If you weren't hungry you would be walking in here, it smells so good.

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Behind the scenes crew staircase, down to the deck 3 galley.

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Even the crew only areas haven't escaped Perfect Day marketing.

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Luggage carts used on embark/debark day stored away getting ready for tomorrow's onslaught.

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Down in deck 2 galley we found the chef responsible for those yummy sandwiches in the Windjammer.

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Seasoning and spice and everything nice.

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Cold stores.  These range from deep freeze to thawing rooms to get items ready to be cooked.  Meats in one, seafood in another, vegetables in another, and so on.

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Beverage stores.  Beer anyone?

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Vegetable prep area.

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Meat prep.

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Pies being prepped, lot's of them.

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Lobster night tonight so trays and trays of lobster are being readied.

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Our chef talks about the process of preparing the lobster for cooking later today.

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Water tight door down on deck 2.

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Note to self, don't tamper with the water tight door.

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Hmmm.  Maybe for guests who share the drink package?

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Space is at a premium.  More luggage carts stowed.

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