Explorer of the Seas Review

Generally very good but...

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Explorer of the Seas
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AussieChook
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Nov 2015
Cabin: Panoramic Oceanview Stateroom

We boarded in Singapore fairly seamlessly and boarded the ship only to find that none of the cabins were available for several hours due to a norovirus outbreak necessitating the entire ship to be fumigated. And for the entire cruise the thorough cleaning regime continued. It was a relief to see RCI taking sanitation extremely seriously. We had cabin #1858, a panoramic window cabin on deck 12 and it was worth every cent! Lying in bed of a morning and looking out to sea with undisturbed views was wonderful and I'd recommend these cabins to everyone, much better than a balcony cabin IMHO! Our cabin steward Naheem kept our cabin immaculately clean and was delightful to talk to.

The entire ship seemed to be in very good condition and the only complaints I have are with the main dining room staff, who treated our group of 5 (including a nonagenarian) like second class passengers simply because we were My Time Diners, which meant we weren't going to build up a relationship with regular waiters = tips at the end of the cruise. The tables we were given were mostly in the galley areas of the dining room on deck 5 and I've never met this type of attitude before. The food was ok except the last night, which also had the worst service. The service and food in Chops Grille was exemplary and I could have eaten there each night! Definitely book a table for really excellent food at this restaurant. Windjammer so was also very good and we ate lunch there every day.

The other cock-up was when we got home. I had bought 4 bottles of duty free alcohol and this was on day 3. The shop staff member put my bottles on the floor along with hundreds of other bottles and we were given our box (sealed) on the last night. I didn't open it until we got home to Bridgetown, Western Australia, about 250kms south of Fremantle when I discovered to my annoyance that although two bottles were correct, two weren't and I'd been given Jim Beam Bourbon instead of French brandy. I have written to the cruise line outlining my complaints (last Friday 13th when we got home) and to date I haven't heard from them. There is no way they can recompense me on my next cruise because I can't bring into Australia more than 2L per person. So if anyone is driving to Bridgetown and wants to buy two cheap bottles of bourbon, I'm happy to sell them to you! But next cruise I will not only raise my complaint again with RCI but will also insist that my duty free bottles are boxed in front of me at the time of purchase and not left to be one of hundreds of orders to be filled on the last day amidst mayhem in the bottle shop.

Cabin Review

Panoramic Oceanview Stateroom

Cabin P2

See above in general comments. I loved it

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