Explorer of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Embarkation: We were traveling on a local radio station sponsored cruise so we had bus transportation to the terminal. We arrived early, about 11:00 AM. We breezed through check-in and then waited inside the terminal for about 1 hour 15 minutes before boarding. Royal Caribbean had cookies, lemonade and water available for the wait. Boarding was easy, by 12:35 PM we were enjoying our first cocktail near the pool-bar. If the weather is nice I would strongly advise getting there early to enjoy the weather from the ship.
Cabin: Outside stateroom, number 2602, very clean, very small (compared to Carnival Valor, my only other cruise) Bathroom was certainly adequate. Our room was available at 1:30 PM and our luggage arrived by 6:00 PM. Absolutely no complaints about the room. There was adequate space in the closets to put away all of our clothes.
Ship: What can I say! The Explorer of Seas is amazing! The Promenade is gorgeous, as well as almost every place on the ship. I would consider staying inside, looking over Promenade it's that cool, my wife disagrees so that will never happen. My only other cruise was on Carnival Valor and this ship is bigger and nicer than Valor, also much easier to navigate. The pools were nice and clean and there were PLENTY of kids, this was a summer cruise after all. The adult pool on Explorer was nice and quiet with very nice whirlpools/hottubs. My only complaint about the ship is that there are too many lounge chairs placed right up next to one another, like sardines. I think the rock wall, basketball courts, mini-golf, gym all take up so much room it leaves not enough room for lounge chairs. It's a trade off I guess. Our weather was beautiful so we were outside all the time. Service: The staff was helpful and courteous but it did not seem as if they went out of their way to please you. I'm not a nitpick but on Carnival it seemed as if the staff was extra helpful. Since I'm new to cruising I don't remember if the 15 percent tip was placed on all drink orders on Carnival. It was on Royal and in my opinion it is a mistake, when you are sitting at a bar ordering bottles or cans of beer I don't think it is necessary, the bartender has no reason for good service.