Explorer of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,038 reviews

Explorer of the Seas - Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Explorer of the Seas
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luczai
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Aug 2004
Traveled with children

This was our first cruise ever and we really enjoyed it. The only problem we had was the first night when the cruise line had "overbooked" our table in the dining room. Halfway through our meal (at the table to which we were officially assigned) a family of 13 showed up and told us this was "their" table. We showed the waiter and the maitre 'd that this was the table to which we had been assigned but he implied that we might have made a mistake. We had to get up and leave our meals and move to another table which we were assured would be a "better" table. It definitely was NOT. The service and location were not nearly as good as the one from which we were evicted. Our orders were not transferred so we had to place them again and wait while the rest of the folks at the new table ate their appetizers and salads. My husband left in disgust and ordered room service later. I stayed to see how it would go. It was very embarrassing. After dinner I complained to guest services and I eventually got in touch with the Food and Beverage Manager. If anything like this ever happens to you, insist on talking to him first. If we had it would have saved us a lot of hassle. He apologized profusely, took full responsibility for the error and invited us to dine at Portofino the next night as his guests. We even brought a bottle of wine for which they did not charge us a corkage fee. Over the next few days, he made a point of checking in with us to make sure we didn't have any more problems. We were placed at a table of six, the three of us with another family of three, and the new waiter was wonderful. To make a long story short: once we got in touch with the right person, they bent over backwards to make it up to us.

Before taking this cruise, we did worry about seasickness but we had no problem. My husband and I both used the patches prescribed by our doctors and my son used the wristbands. The ship is so big, you rarely know it's moving. Our cabin was on deck six and we had no distractions or trouble sleeping. We also found it to be a pretty good location for us. We went to the Champagne Bar a lot and it was just one deck don't so we just used the stairs. We ate in the Windjammer and on shore for breakfast and lunch or had room service. We went to Portofino twice which was wonderful. Overall the food and service was very good.

We only booked one excursion through the ship: The Everglades tour right after we exited the ship for the last time. It was very enjoyable, educational, and worked our great as they dropped us off at Ft. Lauderdale airport at the end.

Cabin Review

Cabin D7
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