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Imperial Majesty Cruise Line

MS Regal Empress

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Donna Bucholtz
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: January 22, 2005
Itinerary: Bahamas

This was our first cruise, and we choose a short cruise just to see if it's something we would enjoy. We did! I had read some of the history of the ship and a few reviews, so was not sure what to expect, but we had a really good time and appreciated the history of the ship. The staff was wonderful, the shows at least enjoyable, and the Captain was a delight. Overall, I would recommend it as a first cruise experience.

All of the public areas were comfortable. We spent time on the promenade, in the whirlpool, walking under the stars on the sun deck, viewing the shows in the Grand Lounge and a little bit of time in the Mermaid Lounge and found all to be to our liking.

The food was wonderful, and available several times a day. We enjoyed the buffet at La Trattoria for breakfast the first morning, the Caribbean Dining Room for Dinners and Breakfast the 2nd day. There were also canape's and ice cream at various times as well as hors d' oerves at the Captains Gala. I was intent on having as much seafood as possible on this vacation and was pleased with the offering of Tilapia the first night and Salmon steak that melted in my mouth the second night. My husband enjoyed a fabulous Prime Rib on the second night. The strip steak the first night left a little to be desired though. The salads were excellent and diverse, and the soups interesting. The artichoke and hearts of palm salad was a unanimous favorite at my table, and my cream of asparagus soup was terrific. The production made during the serving of the baked Alaska on the second night was a sight to behold! Most enjoyable!

Our cabin was an inside double on the Upper Deck. The bed was comfortable and we decided not to concern ourselves with a porthole, as we did not spend much time in the cabin, and neither of us experienced any motion sickness during our trip. The Cruise Director was quite funny but accurate when he said the way to take a shower is to "soap down the shower curtain and walls, then get in and spin around." The walls were not fully sound-proofed as we could hear people talking in the hallway, but we were located in a quiet area of the ship, so that did not happen often and did not disturb our sleep.

We went to both variety shows and found them, if not top-rate, at least entertaining. The vocalists were superb - an amazing feat as they were Romanian and sang American songs.

We ate (of course!!!), went to the Variety shows, did a little Karaoke, and booked ourselves on the combo Glass Bottom boat and Blue Lagoon Island tour when we arrived at Nassau, Bahamas. Our time was well filled, with only a little time to enjoy the whirlpool, which we made sure we did before 5 pm, as the pool and whirlpool are drained at the time. I had only a little time to read the book I had brought along, and most of that was while waiting to disembark. It seemed like there was something for everyone.

We really enjoyed our dinner companions. All were pleasant and well mannered and we extended our stay in the dining room to enjoy their company. We are from different areas of the country so will probably not have the opportunity to invite them for dinner, but did enjoy there company. On the tour we met 2 older couples who were delightful, as well.