Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

On our days off the ship, we went to the Royal Caribbean owned island in Nassau, Coco Cay and had an amazing experience. There were water parks, wave pools, different beach areas, pool bars, and great service from the staff. This is a great site for families as there is plenty to do for people of all ages. On our other day off the ship, we took one of the Royal Caribbean excursions and enjoyed a nice boat tour around the island and an evening sunset cruise that had free rum punch and great tour guides!

On our day at sea, we also got massages and facials at the spa onboard. We received stellar service during our treatments and it was such a relaxing experience. On the cruise, photographers are all around and capture great moments of you and your family. So, in the end we were able to select our favorite photos and compile a photo book that was just sent to our house. The price was a good deal at about $150 to capture our experience in a high-quality book. My family and I overall had a great trip and will continue to cruise with Royal Caribbean in the future.

Now the second devastation in less then 2 months. We call the insurance and had detailed explanation of the process and submitted our paperwork. In less than 3 weeks we got back every dime we spent except the cost of insurance (which I totally understand). If I can offer anyone a piece if advice get the trip insurance for it because you never know. Thank you Royal Caribbean for making this transition a bit easier. We will definitely be back once she is well enough to travel!!!

The one big complaint is the drink packages that we had and the availability of the soda machines were not very convenient nor were the ice cream machines. There were the main dining hall and the atrium for the ship, but this was for Mariner of the Seas. The staff on the ship was nice but do be careful if you go to the salon because they will try to sell you all sorts of overpriced products which are unnecessary. I would also be wary of the gem shops if you go to Nassau Bahamas because their "bargain price " is no bargain!

The 2nd trip was to Mexico. We had a good time there too. Just wish the cruise lines were more honest with the "atmosphere" in Belize outside of the port. (Very sketchy) The water was beautiful and we had a great time. Very good memories. I would recommend Royal Caribbean for the older crowd because if there is an issue, they make no qualms about putting unruly passengers off the ship. Generally speaking, Carnival cruises cater to the younger crowds, which is why we didn't choose them.

Excellent dining experience in both the dining room and the Windjammer cafe! Huge selection of foods available...and quality of the food was very good to excellent. Desserts at the buffet were much better than I remember from my past experiences on NCL and Carnival. There were options for beverages at the Windjammer for those who chose not to purchase the pricey drink packages-lemonade, iced tea, fruit punch, water, and coffee. The coffee was much too strong for my taste, but it was decent. Staff on the ship couldn’t have been more helpful-from Deny (our room attendant), to our waiters in the dining room-Valento and Viny, and who can forget the hilarious activities staff who made playing trivia every day a hoot!

Our accommodation was an oceanview stateroom. Yes, the rooms are small, but how much time do you actually spend in your room!?! I don’t know about anyone else, but I go on cruises to spend time in the ports of call, on the sun decks, and at activities, not wasting away in my room!!! Past posts indicate the ship is in poor repair and musty/dirty. I can tell you that I found none of this on the Empress of the Seas. I am a neat freak so I would have definitely noticed these things! No areas of the ship were closed off due to maintenance when we sailed (as I had read in previous posts). The pool and hot tubs were well maintained and were never shut down.

Embarkation and debarkation when stopped at ports of call was quick and painless. I was a tad worried about getting sick on a cruise, given what is publicized in the media so often. The staff went above and beyond to encourage passengers to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before meals to help with the spread of germs. I can tell you as a nurse I sincerely appreciated this! Shout out to Neilbert for greeting us at the Windjammer Café multiple times a day and encouraging us to “washy washy”!!! I would definitely consider traveling on the Empress of the Seas in the future!

Our servers at dinner were fabulous but the quality of food and variety was sub par. I live in an area where the restaurants are some of the best in the world, so I tend to not go on vacation looking for a superb culinary experience. My parents are older, and I tend to indulge their wants, probably more than I should. They talked me into another cruise on RC and I’m already regretting it. When I booked the cruise, the representative told me that although they wouldn’t price match other cruise lines, they would lower our price if our cruise had a discount. Our cruise has been discounted twice and the last representative told me that they raise the prices to offer the discount, so the price I paid would be the same as the sale price!

I also got an email for a buy one get one free on drink packages. Again, although it is widely publicized that the deluxe package is $51.00 per person, they said that really they can charge on board as much as $69.00. So, the price buy one get one free, doesn’t change from what it was before the sale! Hmmm! False advertising and very shady! I can’t get out of this cruise now, since it’s already paid for. I will make the most of it, but this is the last time I will give that corrupt company a dime!

Also, I told them that I cant leave home without Steaming my clothes because I don’t wants to take home with my bugs or their eggs. They took our clothes to steam it. Once I received the clothes it was missing some item from our clothes. I took our Luggages and I put it in the trash because all the luggage was under the bed.... That was my first experience with Royal Caribbean #1 cruise in US. When I called the customer service, I was trying to fight with them to get my money back. They denied everything. I'm so sad because I had this bad experience with them.