Sometimes small is beautiful
Empress of the Seas offers intimate charm that bigger and more crowded ships cannot
Royal Caribbean (cruise.center/ royalcaribbean) is best known for its massive, technologically advanced ships. But instead of sailing on Royal Caribbean’s latest-and-greatest, I recently returned from a western Caribbean cruise on its smallest, oldest ship: the 1,600-passenger Empress of the Seas.
Empress of the Seas has an interesting history. It was originally ordered for Admiral Cruises, which was swallowed up by Royal Caribbean before the ship entered service in 1990 as Nordic Empress. After changing the name in 2002 to Empress of the Seas, Royal transferred the ship to Spanish operator Pullmantur
in 2008, only to bring the ship back in 2016 to operate cruises to Cuba.
When cruises to Cuba were scrapped, I figured the ship’s days with Royal were numbered. Happily, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all: Royal immediately drew up interesting itineraries to the Caribbean as well as Canada and New England for this little gem and sold them at affordable prices. That’s how I ended up on a weeklong cruise to Key West, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay private island: rock-bottom pricing too irresistible to pass up.
Let’s get the negative out of the way first: cabins are mostly insides and oceanviews, and they’re tiny. My Deck 7 oceanview was a snug 108 square feet (10 square metres), and most cabins on board are just 126 square feet (11.7 square metres). That means someone’s going to be crawling over someone else to use the bathroom at night unless you get the beds separated (a smart idea).
You also won’t find all the bells and whistles of the line’s newest ships. That means no waterslides, robotic bartenders, ice skating rinks, surfing simulators or ziplines.
What Empress does have is plenty of charm. It boasts a teaklined wraparound promenade deck that’s perfect for jogging or relaxing with a good book.
It’s a feature missing on Royal’s newest ship, one that I dislike cruising without.
I was also impressed at the two-storey show lounge located on Decks 5 and 6 forward that offers pretty good sightlines from most seats and above-average production shows. I’d nearly stopped seeing shows on most ships; Royal Caribbean has got me back into the habit again. It also doesn’t hurt that most shows were accompanied by a seven-member show band instead of pre-recorded music.
The Schooner Bar — a Royal Caribbean staple — offers the same fun mix of trivia and live music by day and night as the rest of the line’s fleet and is easily the social hub of Empress. All the way aft, Boleros offered up some fantastic Caribbean and Latin music and dancing each night. And you don’t have to be a gambler to appreciate the non-smoking casino — still a rarity on the high seas.
Other benefits of cruising on a small ship like Empress of the Seas only become apparent in the moment.
When a sudden downpour of heavy rain hit our stay at CocoCay, I walked back to the ship and got right on. Passengers aboard the 6,000-guest Harmony of the Seas docked next to us weren’t so lucky: they had to wait in massive queues along the pier, exposed to the monsoon.
In fact, from Key West to Cozumel and every port in between, I marvelled at how easy it was to get on and off Empress of the Seas. That ease extended on board, too: fewer guests means less waiting.
If you can handle the smaller cabins and the lack of hightech diversions, Empress of the Seas is a gem of a ship. The staff on board like to say it’s Royal Caribbean’s “small ship with big heart.” They’re absolutely right.
Happy cruising.
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