Jump to content

Empress


cookie10*

Recommended Posts

Just did a 5 night Feb 3 - 8 on Empress. There is no CL or DL. There was a sail away party for Diamond and up on the patio behind Bolero's. The Viking Crown was open for D+ and P from 5 - 8:30 PM daily. Had the regular 3 drinks loaded to the sea pass card daily.

That is the MSC Seaside in the background, had just gotten off that one and crossed the street for this one.

Pic is sail away from Miami at Bolers's

 

IMG_5580.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/16/2018 at 5:09 AM, L454S said:

Just did a 5 night Feb 3 - 8 on Empress. There is no CL or DL. There was a sail away party for Diamond and up on the patio behind Bolero's. The Viking Crown was open for D+ and P from 5 - 8:30 PM daily. Had the regular 3 drinks loaded to the sea pass card daily.

That is the MSC Seaside in the background, had just gotten off that one and crossed the street for this one.

Pic is sail away from Miami at Bolers's

 

IMG_5580.jpg

How was Seaside?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seaside was very good. We were in a Yacht Club cabin and enjoyed the experience, was our first time trying the Yacht Club. The private dining room was great with many higher end offerings. The pool grill had prime rib, lamb chops, lobster, filet mignon, shrimp, etc, grilled for lunch. Free drinks, gelato, etc. ship wide.......Interior cabin was tight, but doable with storage. Great private lounge at the front with panoramic views.

We did "snoop" the buffets to compare the items available. We tried to compare the MDR menus with the YC, but we could not find where the dinner menus were posted like RCI does daily. The rest of the ship was very nice , but the UBER MODERN decor was not particularly my cup of tea. 

DSCN6824.JPG

DSCN6826.JPG

DSCN6861.JPG

IMG_0221.jpg

IMG_0234.jpg

DSCN6855.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, L454S said:

Seaside was very good. We were in a Yacht Club cabin and enjoyed the experience, was our first time trying the Yacht Club. The private dining room was great with many higher end offerings. The pool grill had prime rib, lamb chops, lobster, filet mignon, shrimp, etc, grilled for lunch. Free drinks, gelato, etc. ship wide.......Interior cabin was tight, but doable with storage. Great private lounge at the front with panoramic views.

We did "snoop" the buffets to compare the items available. We tried to compare the MDR menus with the YC, but we could not find where the dinner menus were posted like RCI does daily. The rest of the ship was very nice , but the UBER MODERN decor was not particularly my cup of tea. 

DSCN6824.JPG

DSCN6826.JPG

DSCN6861.JPG

IMG_0221.jpg

IMG_0234.jpg

DSCN6855.JPG

We were thinking about booking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, L454S said:

Seaside was very good. We were in a Yacht Club cabin and enjoyed the experience, was our first time trying the Yacht Club. The private dining room was great with many higher end offerings. The pool grill had prime rib, lamb chops, lobster, filet mignon, shrimp, etc, grilled for lunch. Free drinks, gelato, etc. ship wide.......Interior cabin was tight, but doable with storage. Great private lounge at the front with panoramic views.

We did "snoop" the buffets to compare the items available. We tried to compare the MDR menus with the YC, but we could not find where the dinner menus were posted like RCI does daily. The rest of the ship was very nice , but the UBER MODERN decor was not particularly my cup of tea. 

DSCN6824.JPG

DSCN6826.JPG

DSCN6861.JPG

IMG_0221.jpg

IMG_0234.jpg

DSCN6855.JPG

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@L454S, how did you find the other features and amenities of the ship, as far as entertainment, on-board activities, noise level at night, etc? Curious to hear your impressions after reading the lengthy review from JimZim with the multiple complaints about the entertainment (too much opera, poor comedy shows), crew being overworked and sometimes curt or surly, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going to be on MSC's Bellisima next year. I too would like to know how it differs from Royal. Most of the complaints I have seen are people who are used to the American style cruising so wonder if it's just not for them so they feel the need to complain or something else. I have heard many from either side and it's literally split down the middle. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, JLMoran said:

@L454S, how did you find the other features and amenities of the ship, as far as entertainment, on-board activities, noise level at night, etc? Curious to hear your impressions after reading the lengthy review from JimZim with the multiple complaints about the entertainment (too much opera, poor comedy shows), crew being overworked and sometimes curt or surly, etc.

I thought the shows were on a par with RCI, but shorter. The theater is small, so they do 3 30/40 min shows per evening to give more people a chance to see the performance. There were not any headliners that we saw. In the YC, there was no noise problems at all, can't speak for the rest of the ship. Lots of things to do, but at additional cost.

The crew was at times clueless when asked questions. I know at times it was a language problem, other times, they just had no idea what to say as they did not know the answer. Never had a surly response from anyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Did you do MCS's Status Match? Black Card?

Yes, we got the status match last January when we did the Divina. We got the Black Card.

Black Card does not get you very much. A bottle of wine, chocolate strawberries, and a large chocolate ship. We went to the Black Card Event in a lounge(rah-rah). A couple drinks and a pep talk from the captain. We got 2 free specialty dinners for 2 last year on Divina(wife and I are both Black Card), this time it was one free dinner for 2 PER CABIN. The specialty dining prices are pretty high.

DSCN6902.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

Going to be on MSC's Bellisima next year. I too would like to know how it differs from Royal. Most of the complaints I have seen are people who are used to the American style cruising so wonder if it's just not for them so they feel the need to complain or something else. I have heard many from either side and it's literally split down the middle. 

We found both Divina and Seaside to be more like RCI than different when sailing out of Miami. There are some differences, but it is comparable. Buffet was better on Divina, pretty weak at dinner time on Seaside.

When sailing out of European ports or elsewhere, there are some differences that you might want to read up on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/16/2018 at 5:09 AM, L454S said:

Just did a 5 night Feb 3 - 8 on Empress. There is no CL or DL. There was a sail away party for Diamond and up on the patio behind Bolero's. The Viking Crown was open for D+ and P from 5 - 8:30 PM daily. Had the regular 3 drinks loaded to the sea pass card daily.

That is the MSC Seaside in the background, had just gotten off that one and crossed the street for this one.

Pic is sail away from Miami at Bolers's

 

IMG_5580.jpg

I am very interested in the Empress, as my wife wants to visit Cuba. What was your favorite thing about the ship? If I were to be so bold, what was your least favorite? Love this picture. Where was this on the ship?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/16/2018 at 6:09 AM, L454S said:

Just did a 5 night Feb 3 - 8 on Empress. There is no CL or DL. There was a sail away party for Diamond and up on the patio behind Bolero's. The Viking Crown was open for D+ and P from 5 - 8:30 PM daily. Had the regular 3 drinks loaded to the sea pass card daily.

That is the MSC Seaside in the background, had just gotten off that one and crossed the street for this one.

Pic is sail away from Miami at Bolers's

 

IMG_5580.jpg

Planning to go on Empress in June.  Are they still offering complimentary mimosas or bloody mary's during brunch on sea days?  How was Voom on the ship?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, jurrjurr said:

Planning to go on Empress in June.  Are they still offering complimentary mimosas or bloody mary's during brunch on sea days?  How was Voom on the ship?  

Yes, there were comp Mimosa's at brunch on sea days. brunch was hit or miss though. MDR was really nice with great service.

Voom was pretty good once we got hooked up. The IT guy had to come up to deck 9 and reboot the router for me to initially get started and hooked up. We were in cabin 9600 by the library.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, UkuleleCruiser said:

I am very interested in the Empress, as my wife wants to visit Cuba. What was your favorite thing about the ship? If I were to be so bold, what was your least favorite? Love this picture. Where was this on the ship?

This was our first time on the Empress. We liked it, the cozy feeling of the smaller ship, the layout of the theater(night club like). The Loyalty Ambassador Justin(lady from Philippines), acted as the Concierge throughout the trip and did a great job. 

Least favorite was the layout of the Viking Crown lounge. Had a small gym overhead and open to the lounge. It was loud at times with treadmills and such. Strange layout.

The picture is on the aft deck/patio connected to Boleros Lounge. The Diamond and up sail away party was there.

This is a pic of the theater.

DSCN6961.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, L454S said:

This was our first time on the Empress. We liked it, the cozy feeling of the smaller ship, the layout of the theater(night club like). The Loyalty Ambassador Justin(lady from Philippines), acted as the Concierge throughout the trip and did a great job. 

Least favorite was the layout of the Viking Crown lounge. Had a small gym overhead and open to the lounge. It was loud at times with treadmills and such. Strange layout.

The picture is on the aft deck/patio connected to Boleros Lounge. The Diamond and up sail away party was there.

This is a pic of the theater.

DSCN6961.JPG

It looks gorgeous!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...