Explorer of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,038 reviews

Lacking compared to previous cruises

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Explorer of the Seas
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ilovegoldens
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2015
Cabin: Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

We are experienced cruisers, both on RCI and other companies. We have always been pleased with our RCI cruises but this one was not so satisfactory. Embarkation at Port Canaveral was efficient and we were onboard pretty quickly. The ship is looking pretty scruffy in places, especially the corridoors and balconies. Explorer is due for a refurb in March and is in dire need. Food in the Windjammer was repetitive and quite boring, so we mostly ate in Columbus dining room - which was good. However what was really noticeable on this cruise was the staff attitude. Normally RCI staff can't do enough to help and although our cabin steward was very good, in the bars we often gave up waiting to be served and they were not even that busy. We noticed that the crew seemed almost surly and unhappy, previously everyone we passed in the hallways greeeted us but this time we had to make the first move and were only grudgingly acknowledged. We were on the Premium drinks package, which on our cruise in September '14 included gratiuity. This time although they had lowered the daily charge VERY SLIGHTLY, this did not include gratuities AND they had reduced the value of drinks included in the package. Something to watch out for. Also something which was extremely annoying was the fact that although we had paid our gratuities upfront ( a requirement for My Time dining), one of our waiters in the dining room made VERY obvious attempts to extract an additional tip from us and it became very tiresome and annoying. The ice show was very good, but the other shows were abyssmal. Typical cruise ship fare - cheesy production shows, lacklustre headline acts and an Elton John tribute singer, who thought he was a comedian - but was seriously not!

The ports were very interesting and there were some excellent excursions on offer, so no complaints there. However, the cruise market is exceptionally competitive and this did not meet our expectations. In fact we have booked our next cruise on Princess.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

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