Empress of the Seas: Embarkation

Its the day we embark the Empress of the Seas and I was awake early after an early night to bed. Since I had a late lunch/early dinner meal, I was hungry and went down to breakfast as soon as they opened.

Hotel and Embarkation

Today I had a ham and cheese omelette (cooked to order ) along with other things off the buffet.

I don’t know what this delicious cheese pastry is called, but oh my it’s good!

The buffet had found empanadas and chicken croquettes on the side by the fresh fruit and yogurt.

I left the hotel about 10:15 via Lyft and after finally finding terminal J, was quickly through the temperature check, security and check in (no lines anywhere). They were already boarding. After calling my sisters and realizing they weren’t close behind, I went and and boarded.

I took the photo below of my first drink onboard from the Schooner Bar at 11:03 am. I had purchased the beverage and zoom internet package a month before we sailed and wanted to take advantage of it right away.

Fastest embark ever!

Afternoon Onboard

About 11:30 I went up to the Windjammer to find a table for seven; thinking my family members were close behind. Sister M.’s group arrived about 12:30 or so and I was finally able to get some lunch.

It was never the madhouse I experienced on Liberty of the Seas but it did get crowded. I didn’t care for the celebration cake.

Sister T and her group arrived after 1 pm. There had been a problem with the gangway which stopped boarding for a while. After they finished their late lunch we were all able to go the cabins.

The muster drill was at 3:30 and even though we’re two cabins apart, I’m assigned to muster station 2 and the other two cabins are muster station 4. My meeting place was the Royal Theater and theirs was outside.

When we got back, my suitcase had arrived and I unpacked. I decided to take some photos from the ship before leaving. It was a gorgeous afternoon in Miami!

I could see the top of the Scarlet Lady, the new Virgin Voyages ship, at one of the other piers.

Afterwards I went to Boleros and had a couple of the daily punch cocktails.

The ship finally left about an hour or more late without any explanation. Late arriving guests maybe?

Empress of the Seas Inside Cabin

We all had inside cabins on the port side of deck four. I was in 4009 and my family was in 4025 and 4027.

It felt like the smallest inside cabin I’ve been in ever! I kept the beds in the twin setup which made it feel a bit roomer with the space between the beds.

The closets and vanity had plenty of storage for one but I know it would have been pretty crowded with two.

The bathroom had great space with shelves on the wall behind the toilet (you can see them reflected in the mirror).

The shower was small but thank goodness had a curtain which kept me from feeling claustrophobic.

When relaxing in the cabin, I pretty much watched TV or read on my bed. It was a nice space for just me!

Evening Onboard

We had reservations for dinner at 6 pm and met shortly before dinner there. We had a table for 8 overlooking the first floor of the dining room. Our server team was Lalit and Sarvesh.

We loved the table and had good service so requested the same table for the rest of the cruise as we left the dining room.

I started with cream of mushroom soup.

This was followed with the crab cake.

My entree, Prime Rib was a bit disappointing; thinner than I remember on previous RCCL sailings.

My dessert was a cheese plate.

I requested these every night before dinner moving forward.

After dinner I went to the welcome aboard show at 8:15; it was pretty good. Then went to Boleros for karaoke where my nephew was able to do 3 songs in the hour session. This was the only night he got that many turns as it got busier as the cruise went on.

There were some really good singers. We had to put the clocks ahead tonight (daylight savings time) which combined with a port wasn’t fun. I set my alarm for 6 am as we were meeting for breakfast at 7 am.

Here is the pressing offer in the cabin.