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Imperial Majesty Cruise Line

MS Regal Empress

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: C. Nixon.
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: June 14, 2006
Itinerary: Bahamas

For my first cruise, I was disappointed. I guess you get what you pay for. All in all, it was an okay trip. Our next cruise will be on one of the bigger cruise lines. On the flight back, a lady I sat next to said the Freedom of the Seas cruise was fabulous. She went on the ship's second voyage and said there was just so much to do.

Our trip started off at the welcome meeting in the Grand Ballroom. They collected all the children and took them to the Children's room so the adults could pay attention to the meeting. That would have been okay, except we had to hurry afterward to collect our children and they didn't tell us were this room was located. All passengers were required to take part in the mandatory lifeboat drill. Again, that part okay except we still hadn't found the room yet and the alarm bells sounded. We and other parents finally found the kid's room and had to get quickly back to our state rooms, put on life vests, and hurry back up to your assigned lifeboat on deck. Luckily, they had crew members to show us where to go from that point. The drill seemed to take forever and it took away from us leaving the port. Since I've never been on a cruise, I wanted to enjoy that moment, but wasn't able to.

The pool was very small. Only our kids enjoyed that part. The decks were nice and kept clean. We had a good time in the casino. I wish they had more events for younger kids. We did get to "get rid of them" for a couple of hours to enjoy some alone time with each other. My daughter liked it, but my son was bored. The both enjoyed the second night because they had a pizza party.

I was under the impression that all drinks except alcohol was included. NOT. Pop and bottled water was an extra expense. The breakfast and lunch buffets were okay. Nothing to write home about. Dinner, however, was excellent and the wait staff was very friendly. They put on a real good show on the second dinner. I read on their web site that proper attire was required for dinner. So I packed nice dresses and suits for us. But there were people there with shorts and tank tops.

I felt a little scammed with money on this cruise. They weren't clear on some of the events they had, like BINGO. We spend $20 for six cards to play three sets...or so we thought. Once we had our cards and the game was about to begin, she explain we would only play two games and then return our cards for a DISCOUNT on the third set of cards. I'm not complaining about the price, only that they weren't clear in the first place. Live and learn!!!

Our room was small, but I expected that. I've always heard they are small and this wasn't a big ship to begin with. The kids enjoyed sleeping on the bunk beds. The decor was old and outdated. There was also a musty smell. I did like our cabin steward who helped us feel comfortable and joked with the kids. He even made two cute "bunnies" out of our towels and sunglasses. Our kids loved it.

Didn't catch the shows. We spent most time on deck relaxing or in the casino for a couple hours. We passed by the Grand Ballroom during one show. We stopped for a moment to listen. It was okay.

Don't waste money on the tour excursions to the Bahamas they insist are selling out. Just go to one of the resorts. We went to Cable Beach Resort, which was excellent. Our mistake was taking the glass-bottom boat tour. It wasted our whole morning and we didn't get to enjoy the resort as long as we hoped.

We actually hooked up with one of my husband's friends who happened to go on the same trip and neither of them knew it. Small world.