I feel compelled to write a review for this cruise because of how happy I am that I took the cruise. I will be concise and attempt to only give info that I would be looking for as a reader of this review.

First of all, I am so glad I did not heed the poor reviews on this site (and others) and skip this cruise. Most poor reviews in my opinion are written by folks with some axe to grind and usually their negative reviews are the result of some lofty expectations not being met.

The The Regal Empress is old, I’m not going to gloss over that fact. But she provides more than enough entertainment for a 2 day cruise, which is all it ever does. I liken it to a compact version of a main-line super ship. The ship has clean cabins, a great main dining room, a buffet area, at least 5 bar/lounges, evening shows, bingo, etc. Every main room I encountered was clean, spacious (considering the ships small size), and enjoyable. There is one pool, and it is small. Just big enough to dip into to cool off in the afternoon. There are 2 hot-tubs encircling the pool, and much like other reviews, I found the tubs to be full of toddlers and kids all the time. No adults were ever in the tub when I was there.

The Food:
The dining room quality rivals that of any other cruise line. Waitstaff was attentive, funny, and always gracious and polite. Menu fare was not exotic, but I still found each item to be cooked well and served attractively. Expect a seafood, beef, chicken and vegetarian (pasta) offering each night. Appetizers and soups were excellent. I don’t particularly like dessert, but my girlfriend gave the thumbs up on them too.

The buffet was standard fare as well, but well cooked. The buffet line is served by waitstaff behind the line, which was nice.
All drinks (except water, coffee, tea and iced tea) are extra-charge, but not outrageous. This is similar to major cruise lines.

The Staff:
Everyone we encountered on board was polite and helpful. The bar and cocktail staff are extremely pleasant and we enjoyed some laughs with them at the pool bar in the afternoon. Our cabin steward was invisible, yet our bed was turned down each night and ice was always in our bucket when we returned.

The Cabin:
The cabins are VERY small. There’s no hiding that fact. Our Carnival cabin (Imagination) was at least 2x as large as the Regal Empress cabin. The bathroom is also very small comparatively, and taking a shower is not enjoyable. The only reason I am not more unhappy with the cabin size is because we spent minimal time in it and therefore it didn’t really matter. The TV gets CNN, ESPN, NBC, CBS, TNT, a foreign language channel and a ship cam. On the ship cam channel, you can see a real-time view from the ships bridge. It came in helpful when you wake up in the morning in an inside cabin and wonder what the weather is like 5 decks up outside!

Summary and Suggestions:
Do not go on this cruise if you are expecting a once-in-a-lifetime dream cruise. You should know that $179 will not get you that. It will however get you a pleasant and enjoyable cruise to Nassau and back, with some great food and fun along the way. Take this cruise, enjoy it for what it is, and come back relaxed, tan, and write a review of how much fun you had.