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I am planning to write a review of the cruise but I wanted to share some thoughts and pictures already.
The ship is clearly wel-cared for, very clean, painted and maintained. It was only the lifts that looked a bit batteredThe ships age can really only be seen in the design : fewer balconies, smaller atrium, and a very good connection to the sea.
There is a very nice wraparound promenadedeck
I went with Pullmantur before, in 2004, with the SS Oceanic, before Pullmantur was taken over by RCI. There have some been changes : both the ship and the experience have been much more hispanised. Whereas on SS Oceanic there were, 3 years after her arrival at PT, the deckplans and other signs were English with Spanish attached, here it was much more only spanish. The crew was also much more fluent in English than now (perhaps Premier old hands...) still even the Cruise Director's English was not very good. In 2004 we had even Dutch menus, they were now only ib Spanish/English, not even French. The entertainment was also much much more spanish than in 2004, where there were dance and song shows only, whereas there were now also sketches in Spanish and Portuguese. Still it is a very interesting experience.The salon Broadway
We found the food in the Buffet Panorama on deck 10
better than in the Restaurante Miramar on Decks 4 and 5
We didn't eat in the extra tariff restaurante "Wu", which was "asian fusion", but a very handsome room, the most handsome onboard I think.
The most used lounges, where the Salon rendez-vous, where the 'amigos Pullmantur-reunion" wasand the very popular Bar Embardadero on Deck 5The all-inclusive thing is very pleasant. the alcoholic drinks, the free cocktails, were perhaps not as "spirited" as otherwise, the almost continous flow of the premium brand Lavazza expresso was delicious.
As for the ports, I will discuss them elsewhere, if you still want it.
There are more photos here"Empress" photos october 2011
quote:Originally posted by Johan:I am back from my cruise on Pullmantur's "Empress", formerly RCI's 'Empress of the Seas". There are more photos here"Empress" photos october 2011
THANKS for sharing your pictures! I always thought she had a very attractive main dining room. A good looking little ship.
Did you find the pool area crowded? The reason I ask is because it has always been a compliant about this ship. When she was being designed by Admiral Cruises, they purposely made the pool area rather small because they figured it wouldn't get excessive use. The reason is because the ship was designed exclusively for the three and four day Bahamas run out of South Florida, and Admiral figured most people would spend the majority of their time in port and not by the pool.
Ernie
J
[ 10-20-2011: Message edited by: Johan ]
It is really amazing to think that RCCL/Admiral went to the trouble to build such a ship for the short-cruise market. Just building a brand new ship for this market is something no one had done before or, with the singular exception of Disney, has since, let alone a ship that was on the cutting edge of pretty much everything. Other than that SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS was still larger, this was probably the most "advanced" cruise ship in the world in 1990. I think the fact that she was never the biggest really overshadows that but, bearing in mind certain design decisions that were made based on her very specific intended market (e.g. huge casino and nightclub, smallish pool deck), she was a tremendously impressive ship that really represented the state of the art at the time. I think the fact that her interiors still look good is a testament to the fundamental quality of the design.
thank you for all good information.
We just wait for your writing about the ports visited.You said "As for the ports, I will discuss them elsewhere, if you still want it." Just want to tell you we are interested.Especcially about Malaga and Tangier. Like can we do this by walking from the ship ?
Hendrikus.
Claudio, beer was free, as were the cocktails and those wonderful little Lavazza espressos ;-)
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