Explorer of the Seas Review

So Much To Do We Booked the Same Ship Again

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Explorer of the Seas
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klemeci
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2009
Cabin: Junior Suite
Traveled with children

Embarkation:  Leaving from Bayonne, NJ for the first time was interesting.  We drove to the the port, and the port crew was very quick to get us parked and our luggage out of the car.  The car driver was then directed to parking and any other passengers waited under a large white tent for that driver.  Parking at Bayonne is very expensive - $177 prepaid for 9 days parking.   If you live close enough to have someone drive you it may be worthwhile.   Inside the registration area, the regular lines were pretty long.  We were booked in a Junior Suite and were able to go through a shorter line queue.   Definitely fill out the guest information online before you arrive - it's much smoother.   Also have the credit card you intend to have the ship charges billed to handy.  

Room:  We were in a JS stateroom category, a mini-suite.  Biggest difference was a bigger bathroom with a full bathtub, a wider room (about 5 feet wider than a oceanview balcony room) and a larger balcony.   The twin beds were together and made a nice size bed.  My husband is 6' 3" and the bed was shorter than him but he said it was fine.   The mattress was very firm.  The sheets were smooth and the duvet kept us warm.  The shower had great water flow and ours had a shower wand as well.  The bathtub was very deep, about 18-20 inches, and filled pretty quickly.   I brought some bath salts to soak in knowing we had a tub.   The closet was huge in this room and there were more cabinets and drawers than we could possibly fill.  The room safe worked easily.   We did not use the mini-bar but it was there and stocked. 

Food:  Dinners were excellent.  We ate in the main dining room each night.  There were always great choices and the food came with very good presentation and at adequate temperatures.  The worst dinner was actually the one we were looking forward to the most - the lobster tail dinner.  My family all got the lobster tail and it wasn't firm but rather mushy.   The taste was okay but the texture was too odd for our liking.   Lunches at the main dining room were slightly above average.  Lunches at the Windjammer Cafe, a buffet style dining, were average.  We're not very picky so it was great for us.  The food presentation was exquisite, with ice carvings and fruit carvings galore.  The burgers on the ship were really tasty for some reason - so they were a staple for our lunches.  I wished there were more beverage choices while dining - you will get charged for sodas or juices (except breakfast for juices).   Room services choices were few and the food average.  Cafe Promenade sandwiches were average.   We did not eat at Portofino's or Johnny Rockets. 

Cabin Review

Junior Suite

Cabin JS

Junior Suite on deck 9 center of ship starboard side.  The closet was HUGE, loads of shelves and hanging space.  Large private balcony, larger bathroom with deep bathtub and shower with great water pressure.   Never ran out of hot water.  Bed mattress was firm but okay, sofabed mattress was hard and best suited for kids.  This room had more cabinets and drawers than we could think of filling, so plenty of storage.  What a difference from the D1 type room.  

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