We traveled out of Bayonne on 2/6 on the Explorer, traveling with my parents and our 3yo daughter (if anyone from our sailing is reading this, perhaps you recall a chatty blonde...there were only about 5 kids her age on the whole ship). We (my husband, myself and daughter) are Diamond members.

The check in process was smooth and without any issues. Left my parents' house on Staten Island at 11:15...we were ON the ship just after noon! Talk about fast.

Upon walking on the ship, a staff member asked if we had MyTime. We did...he said go straight to the MDR and make our diner reservations. Huh??? After a ton of questions on cruise critic, and multiple convos with RCI CS phone people, we chose to switch from the main seating to MTD since 6pm was just too early for us on previous cruises (We like to eat at more like 6:30-6:45), and we should just go straight the MDR every night when we want to eat...that waits are rare, maybe 10 minutes. At the MDR we were told that reservations were booked solid ALL 11 nights, and that the only time we could make a reservation (which were told me had to at that point if we wanted to eat at all !?) was 5:45 or 7:45. WTF? We took a 7:30 reservation for the first night and put our names on the waiting list for a cancellation. Fortunately by the end of the evening, a 6:15 reservation for the whole cruise had opened up and we grabbed it. (more about our dining experiences to come) Read more