Hi  just a short review of my cruise on the Empress of the seas .<br /><br />I cruised solo for the frist time on the Empress of the seas 2/26/07<br />had a great table and had a great time.  It was an11 day S.Caribbean<br />cruise out of San Juan .First off i thought i would have to pick up<br />the ship in St Maarten the next day .almost being snowed in &#33;&#33; I Got<br />to the airport at 4am on the 26th and my flight was at 6:25 am .It<br />took an hour to deice the plane ,and we left at 7:30 an .I was on the<br />ship at 1 pm .The ports on the cruise were St Maarten, St Kitts,<br />Antigua ,st Lucia, Bardados ,Margarita island, Curacao,Aruba ,and 2<br />day at sea .Great ports .Have not done a S.Caribbean cruise in in some<br />time .So i was realy looking forward to this cruise .That and it being<br />an 11 day cruise .<br /><br />First a little history of me with this ship .We did the 10th sailing<br />on this ship when it was brand new back in 1990 .Then again in 1999 to<br />Bermuda from NYC .Both of the cruises were when she was the Nordic<br />Empress .The new places on the ship are the rock clinbing wall, the<br />Schooner bar, Boleros ,Potofino&#39;s ,witch you pay &#036;20 and is great .And<br />Ben &amp; Jerry&quot;s ice cream . The cabins on this ship are very small .I<br />could not take my family back on here in the same cabin again .I would<br />need 2 cabin  now &#33; This ship holds 2050 people on her when full ,and<br />on sea days up at the pool it gets very crowed when full .On my cruise<br />there was only 1500 or so on board . So it wasn&quot;t so bad at the<br />pool.Also i think this ship has the best wrap around promenade<br />deck ,it&quot;s wide .I did my 10 mile power walking there every morning at<br />6:30 am to 8:30 am .It was great watching the sun coming up ,it just<br />dosen&quot;t get any better  i lost 5 lbs&#39;s on this cruise&#33;&#33;<br /><br />Now the good news this ship and cruise was the first to get the new<br />menu&quot;s .That will be going feet wide soon .It was the best food i ever<br />had on RCCI .This being the 9 time with RCCI .and 3rd time on this<br />ship .Now i still would not call it the best cruise food i ever<br />had .But it was very good at lest better then the other RCCI cruises<br />we have been on .Also there were 2 top guy&quot;s from the head office on<br />board to check it out .The Carmen dinning room the food tested better<br />not as blend as before .In the Windjammer cafe it&#39;s so much better<br />then i ever remember before .Another great thing at the Windjammer is<br />there is food there all day long &#33; Unlike alot of other cruise<br />lines ,and you could get Ice tea and Lemon aid all day long HINT<br />Princess &#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;<br /><br />The show&#39;s were very good i went to most of them .Being an 11 day<br />cruise the night life after 11 pm is not like on a 7 day cruise .And<br />another funny thing .On a 7 day cruise most people go for the 2nd<br />seating dinning not on this cruise &#33;&#33; yes it was an olded crowed .But<br />not to old as i thought would be .One thing RCCI is offering now is<br />ghost booking.That&quot;s where you do an open booking for &#036;100 and they<br />fax it over to your TA  it&#39;s good for 3 years .And when you book your<br />next cruise with RCCI that&#39;s the only depoist need for the new<br />booking ,and you get a &#036;200 ship board credit . You can&#39;t go wrong&#33;<br /><br />Ports i only did 3 tours one in St lucia a train ride around the<br />island it was great .A tour of Margarita island was good .and a tour<br />of the rain forest in San Juan the last day it was a great way to<br />spend the day before my flight home &#33; Took my time and went to the<br />great beachs of the islands .Then went back to the ship to have some<br />lunch .then in the afternoon went  to town to shop and walk around<br />town .I had a great time no rush here &#33;<br /><br /><br />In clossing i had a great time on this cruise i love doing an 11 day<br />S.Caribbean cruise love the ports of call. The great people i met like<br />always The service in the cabin and dinning room was great The front<br />desk was very helpful .Would i do this cruise again in a hart beat &#33;&#33;<br />But  there was talk on baord that she may be going to Island cruises<br />or Pullmenta cruises .Not sure when .This was my 66th cruise and<br />another great one .We will be on the New Liberty of the seas  august<br />25th 07 of this year .Also doing an 2 day cruise to Nassau on the<br />Regal Empress with friends in august .And the Explorer of the seas<br />doing an 12 day S Caribbean cruise from NJ  Feb 24th 08 No flying this<br />time &#33;&#33;  Enjoy<br />Ken G...........&gt;