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Royal Caribbean Nordic Empress Cruise Ship: review

Cruising on the Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress, now re-named Royal Caribbean Empress of the Seas in May of 2003 and 2006 to the Bermuda from NYC/NJ. This is an extremely popular cruise out of NYC and one that you will remember for a long time after your cruise vacation has come to an end.

Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress is a small ship, but it's perfect for this trip, because it fits very nicely in small ports and can make it's way inside the island in Bermuda.

Nordic Empress is a charming ship. It offers all the amenities of the bigger ships but with about 1,600 passangers and 700 crew on board, it feels nice and personal, by the end of the cruise, you'll feel like you know everyone. We stayed on Deck 9 in one of the Junior Suites with a balcony. It was fantastic! Staying in Hamilton and overlooking the city, having lunches on the balcony and viewing the city at night was breathtaking. I especially liked sleeping with an open door and hearing the sounds of the city. Hamilton offers horse carriage rides on main street, and since Nordic Empress of the Seas was docked right on the main street, it was great to hear horses passing by.

royal caribbean nordic empress Nordic empress of the seas cruise ship - royal caribbean

The main restaurant on the ship is great, make sure to make it there during breakfast, because the cafe on top deck is not as good and does not serve deluxe lunches. I especially enjoyed the bagel and fresh salmon (lax).

The shows on Nordic Empress were spectacular and worth going to the main show room every night. They consisted of two shows, one for the main public, and a more raunchy show late night - we saw a scavenger hunt for various items (lipstick, women's shoe, etc), a very funny comedian act, a funny game show, and so on. All shows were entertaining, a real blast to watch and participate.

Bermuda has 3 cruise ship ports:

King's Wharf - a port for big ships on the outskirts of Bermuda
St. George - a very charming port with rich history and great museums
Hamilton - Bermuda's main cruise ship port with magnificent views of the city and a gorgeous view of the bay

empress of the seas from royal carribean cruise ship
Royal Empress Cruise Ship

It's most advantageous to sail to St. George and Hamilton. King's Wharf, while it's a good port overall and a nice shopping mall with a hand-blown glass that is very interesting to see, it's far away from major cities and will require either a taxi to take into town, a bus, a moped or a waterway pass for the length of your stay. Either of your choices will take at least 1/2 hour to get to Hamilton and another 1/2 hour to St. Georges.

Overhead views of Bermuda, showing docked cruise ships and locations of the docks:

Hamilton, Bermuda: as you can see from this overhead shot of the dock, Empress of the Seas ship will dock starboard (right) side on the main street. If you book a right side cabin, you will overlook a city, if you book a left side cabin, you'll overlook a beautiful bay.

hamilton, bermuda cruise ship dock King's Wharf: here the ship will dock on it's starboard (right) side. Ships dock right on the outside of the big rectangular white pier, and you'll have quite a walk to get to the water taxis, over the bay. The shops are also about 1/2 mile away (this includes the glass blowing shop).

king's warf, bermuda cruise ship dock St. George, Bermuda: here, the cruise ship will dock on the left port side, so you'll overlook the beautiful city. If your cabin is on the right, you'll overlook the bay.

cruise ship docked in st george bermuda Overall, I enjoyed this cruise very much and can recommend it to everyone who'd like to see the beautiful bermuda. You can always email me for more info or specific details on this vacation.