A few signature Royal Caribbean brand elements were added, including the Viking Crown and Windjammer Cafe.

[citation needed] In 2000, Royal Caribbean announced that the Nordic Empress would be undertaking a series of cruises in South America.

[citation needed] In June 2001 the Nordic Empress suffered extensive engine room fire damage while sailing 140 miles north of Bermuda.

Subsequent investigation revealed the cause of the fire was failure of a loose bolt in a fuel line flange assembly that had been improperly repaired.

The space was evacuated before lowering watertight doors and releasing 885 kg of halon and restarting the overhead sprinkler system.

[8] On 21 December 2015, Royal Caribbean started offering 4- and 5-night Empress of the Seas cruises from Miami, originally scheduled to begin 30 March 2016, with the Bahama Islands, Key West, and Grand Cayman among ports to be visited.

[11][12] Crew members operating the radar system for the Empress of the Seas had noticed an anomaly that turned out to be the small fishing boat.

[14] On 15 March 2020 the ship docked in Miami for the final time under Royal Caribbean carrying fare paying passengers.

[3] In the novel World War Z, by Max Brooks, the Nordic Empress is found to be heavily infested by zombies and drifting near Dakar, Senegal by the Chinese Type 094 submarine Admiral Zheng He.