Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines
Regal Empress Cruise Review
Bahamas

Mike Sheldon
Age: Unknown
Occupation: Unknown
Number of Cruises: Unknown
Sailing Date:  2006

Booking & Boarding the Ship
I went on the Regal Empress with my girlfriend expecting the worst after reading such horrible reviews. I did it anyway since I don't mind roughing it every now and then and it was also very cheap. I got the cruise through a vacation club where I only had to pay $59 per person for taxes. I booked the tickets through Imperial Majesty's 800 number. I spoke to various people and they all gave me different information regarding room availability and where to get my tickets...pretty confusing. I actually had a problem making my reservation. I called two weeks prior to the weekend I wanted to go on the ship. They told me there were plenty of available cabins for that weekend so I booked it. A few days later, after penciling in this date and getting pretty excited for the cruise, I call them to find out where my tickets are and they tell me that there is no more space on the ship. They didn't understand the fact that I had already reserved a spot the prior week! A manager came on the phone, raising his voice at me. I told him that I had booked the ticket last week so how is it that all of a sudden there is no space on the ship for me? He said "last week was last week, and this week is this week. There is no room on the shop this week." I started to talk again and he promptly hung up on me. This was only the beginning.....I called back again, spoke to a different person and I was told that if I wanted to go that weekend, I would have to upgrade rooms for an extra $99. I did it regardless of how angry I was.

The boarding process starts at 1:00pm so I was at the cruise terminal at 12:50pm and I ended up on the ship at about 2:30pm! The people working behind the counters were all very friendly yet they were going slow motion....turtle speed.

The Ship
This ship is a dirty, old, raggedy, pity, disgusting, gross, road-side floating motel that is over 50 years old. It seems like whoever owns this company has no intentions in ever making this ship look good again (at least like a renovated, clean motel). They are obviously turning up profits every few days and dont really give a darn if people are sleeping in unsanitary conditions. They view this ship strictly as a business opportunity and have no consideration for people that are spending their money thinking they are going to take a great vacation. If they were upfront with people, I am sure they would be out of business in no time. Their website is very deceiving as well. They make you think you are going on some dream vacation with great entertainment, food and accommodations but you are NOT! This ship looks its age and smells like sewage.

The food in the main dining room for dinner is edible but the buffet during the day is pitiful. I cannot even begin to describe the poor quality and taste of the food.

The bathrooms are nasty, I would not even walk n there without wearing shoes. Every now and then, water would come up from the drain and flood our bathroom (I have no idea where that water came from?) The beds were hard, pillows were old and falling apart, the sheets had holes in them. They would announce messages through the loudspeaker ALL day long and all through the night! If you want to sleep in late on your so-called vacation, you cannot! They are announcing messages at 8:00am! They are not even important messages that pertain to you, 90% of them were messages asking certain passengers to come to the information desk. Not only that, but the messages were also repeated in Spanish as well.

The entertainment was beyond horrible, I actually feel bad for the entertainers  ..they must know their show stinks. They have about 5 arcade games on the ship, only 2 were working and those 2 were probably older than the ship. The "internet cafe" is a small dingy, old room with 3 old computers. The spa is pitiful.

The last day when it is time to disembark the ship, there is no order at all. It is total mayhem. You have to be out of your cabin by 8:00am, with your luggage and you don't even leave the ship until 9:45-10:00. I spoke to some first time cruisers as well as experienced cruisers and they all shared my opinions. Save your money and take a Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise (this is the real cruise experience). The best part of my trip was when I got in my car, drove home, and took a shower. If you do take this trip, make sure when you get back home after the cruise to check your bags for cockroaches before you unpack.

Here is an excerpt from their website: "Enjoy live entertainment, fine dining, spacious staterooms as well as unlimited activities. Its the perfect get-a-way". This statement is total *&^%$!, NOT TRUE! Not even a little bit true...

Pros
Crew was nice.
Main dining room food was edible.

Cons
Pretty much everything else including the whole experience, the ship, and everything in it. Also, whoever owns the ship (Imperial Majesty executives - SHAME ON YOU!

I would be embarrassed to tell anyone I owned or worked on a ship like this one.

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