Just got back from the Explorer 9 night cruise. We had a great time however there are some serious problems with this particular ship that really need addressed. Sadly with this particular cruise ship being almost sold out continuously I doubt anyone will do anything. Why should they when people seem to continuously make excuses for the management of this ship. This cruise left on August 2nd with over 3600 people (600 plus were kids...ugh). Sounds bad until I heard from the cruise director that the next cruise had over 1000 kids. Good luck with that. The teenagers are like packs of wild animals. They are in certain places doing nothing but causing trouble which is what teenagers these days do when left alone.Despite the faults of management we did not let the issues raised below take away from our vacation. We just noted them and moved on.

Captain = C Nice guy, good looking, visible, approachable and funny but he is not on top of things. This ship supposedly has 100 people dedicated to maintenance. I'm sorry but I don't think using duct tape to hold up lights and placed over elevator buttons which are missing plus the tape appeared in our state room at various places is acceptable. Nor do I think windows that have blown gaskets that cause the window to be completely clouded should be left in that state. The stains on our sofa in our room on deck 7 (balcony) were so bad nobody would sit on it. If I stayed at a hotel and saw such things I wouldn't be very happy and I don't think it should be acceptable for a ship. I don't want to hear "but she is 10 years old". Last time I checked RCCL doesn't lower the prices based on the age of the ship so why do so many people find this acceptable based on the ships age? Ultimately the captain is responsible. If these kinds of things are acceptable to him what else are they not keeping up on? In my experience it's not one or the other it's all things that are dealt with the same way whether its maintenance or safety or food. RCCL is just trying to save money by not fixing these things or the captain doesn't care. This ship isn't supposed to be dry docked for 2 more years. Are they going to wait that long?

Ports = A The only thing that should be addressed somehow is the amount of time spent in Puerto Rico. Lot's to see for history buffs but not enough time to do much. Bermuda is great. One piece of advice..take a cab to any beach you want to go to. Any other way takes too long. A cab ride to Elbow or Horseshoe beach is about $30 and takes about 20 to 30 mins. The ferry at the terminal where the ship docks only goes every 30 minutes so if you miss one it takes too much of the limited time you have on the island. We usually go to elbow beach to avoid the crowds at horseshoe. Rental for lounge chairs and umbrellas are available for $10 for each item. There is a beach restaurant with a shower, bathrooms and a bar nearby. Great beach. Don't wear anything shiny into the water or risk the fish going after it. Nothing dangerous but unnerving for some. St. Marrten was very nice. Got off the ship and instead of taking a cab to orient beach which is very nice and interesting since it's clothing optional we opted for going to great bay beach which is in front of the town where the shopping is. We rented four lounge chairs and two umbrellas for $15. Yes $15 total. Get a massage from the women on the beach instead of the ship. You can get a full massage for $50 right on the beach. Just as good as the ship and over $100 less. Labadee was nice but be careful. If you decide to go to the market to do some shopping and help out the starving Haitian's be ready to be mobbed. They are very aggressive. My advice is push back hard and you will be fine. I don't know why RCCL allows them to be so aggressive. We didn't really want anything but when you have these poor people begging for money to eat we just bought stuff so they could have the money. We rented a cabana which was worth it but skip the "upgraded buffet" as we waited at least 40 minutes for food and the "upgraded" food which was shrimp and steak was all gone. Ridiculous set up by RCCL. No management to be seen anywhere to fix the bottleneck which was only two cooks, two grills and they only cooked two diff things at a time. Poorly executed. For those of you not in a suite or renting a cabana the regular buffet was fine. No lines. Read more