Explorer of the Seas, 9 night, Bermuda and Caribbean 6/24/10. This was our 5th time on Explorer and our 9th or 10th cruise in total and we're Diamond status with RCI. We're in our 40s, the kids are 17.5 and almost 22 yrs old. We had a balcony hump cabin and a PR cabin. We were welcomed back by familiar faces which makes stepping on Explorer, for us, like Going Home! We don't have a long schlep to get to Cape Liberty and we have a driver drive us and our 12+ pcs of luggage. It is a luxury vacation for us, but we have noticed some changes on board Explorer.

First, embarkation and debarkation were wonderful. Our limo driver queued around to the tent to drop our luggage with waiting porters. The line went quickly and within minutes we were pulling into a bay and our luggage was being tagged. No problem at Cape Liberty. Priority check in was the longer of the lines with many repeat cruisers. Still, it went smoothly and before we knew it we were climbing on board the bus to the ship. We immediately stopped at our cabin (this was around 12:30), found a steward and put our gown bag in the closet. Checked our table in the MDR and had it changed. Made our reservations at Portofino, saw Marcelo Arias who immediately remembered us from past cruises. Thank you again Marcelo for sending us cookies and chocolate strawberries, wonderful stuff. We stopped into Weekend Warrior because it was one bar we had never been to in the past. Christopher, the bar tender also remembered us immediately (we'd be hard to forget for Christopher, story need not be told). I put my carry on, on the bar and when we went to leave and I quickly grabbed it, I didn't know DH had put one of our cameras on the bar; the camera flew off the bar onto the floor, there went that camera pretty much as the display was shot. We had our under water camera with us and I had my newer but archaic 35MM. We brushed it off so it didn't ruin the beginning of our Cruise. We ran into folks from our Roll call there too! Muster Drill- no longer do they require you to carry your life vest.

We do expect to see a ship somewhat "loved", but there was definite wear and tear that should not exist with proper maintenance. If you're seasoned RCI cruisers, you could tell there was less staff cleaning the ship. The elevators always had grimy fingerprints on the doors which we thought was weird and could obviously lead to health risks. We were on Deck 8 hump cabin and the balcony was in horrible disrepair, peeling in dozens+ of spots and the paint would transfer to your clothing or skin (ewww). The railings are in desperate need of a drink of varnish, I can tell you they haven't been done or maintained in quite some time (years). The furniture in cabin, primarily the couch and chair fabric was imbedded with so much apparent to the eye dirt we covered them with towels just to sit down. Our stateroom attendant never removed them, so she must be aware this is a problem. The buttons on the television remote control and the safe are rubbed off. NOTE: If you are in your cabin and deadbolt the door, if someone [spouse, child] has a seapass to enter the cabin, the seapass card DOES unlock the dead bolted door. The public areas looked fine with the exception of some wear and tear that is expected with 3,500++ pax coming and going 365days a year. Many stools in the casino are blatantly fraying and need to be recovered, but most public areas are 'okay'. The exception is, the top of the smoke stack; and when you are sitting out on the pool deck and look up, the peeling paint is very noticeable. Okay, to a newbie cruiser they might never notice something like this, but to DH and myself, it was right in your face. Read more