I am on board this ship attending a genealogy conference. Thank goodness I AM attending a conference because the overall options for things to do on this ship are terrible. Everything is aimed at young families - the ones where the parents traipse off and have a good time but leave their brats to run amok and annoy fellow guests. Then there is the food - the Windjammer is terrible, all food is well overcooked and what is not eaten is served up the next day in a variety of stir fry's and casserole-type dishes. The Sapphire Dining Room is just as bad. The only decent meals are to be had in the speciality restaurants which leads me to think they make the general food so bad you will naturally take up the specialities! It would also appear that the shore excursion staff are not kept informed about any changes to excursions until the very last minute and are not able to get the message out to its passengers. For one excursion I was booked on, I was complaining about the change of date at such late notice (the evening before) when several other passengers advised they had had 4 date changes to the same excursion. Was also booked on the Tour of the Ship only to be told while waiting for the tour to commence that it would not be happening because we were sailing through the Torres Straits and no one is allowed to enter the bridge or engine room on this day. HELLO why was the day available for the booking in the first place when the organisers would have known we would be travelling through those Straits on that day. Arrived in Darwin to be told our collected tour group (who had to meet at the fore theatre room on Deck 3 had to walk up to Deck 4, across to the aft elevators and go down to Deck 1. We get down there having had to wait many minutes for elevators (they only take so many people) to be told, no you are exiting from Deck 4. Up we go again to find we have to disembark down the steepest, wet, gangway I have every seen. Our group consisted of many elderly persons with mobility problems including a totally blind woman with a stick. Surely this is a health and safety risk just waiting for a passenger to have a fall and sue the pants off of Royal Caribbean. I have done several cruises with their sister company Celebrity and the difference between the two is staggering. Royal Caribbean - Explorer of the Seas - no longer supplies fresh water jugs to your cabin; no longer gives you that little chocolate on your bed making you feel special; instead of two cabin stewards there is only one very overworked steward; the conference room in the fore of the ship has only 1 toilet for up to a hundred people. Then there is the state of the elevators, one of which kept breaking down - to be honest it was the one you could rely on because it wasn't working with the others continually whizzing past your floor or staying on each deck for around 4 or 5 minutes minimum. Much quicker to take the stairs but not suitable for the elderly or those with mobility problems. I could go on but then I'd only be seen as a whinger - along with at least half of the passengers on this cruise. My advice - pay the extra and go with Celebrity or its ilk. Read Less

My only previous cruise experience was a 2 month voyage on Queen Victoria sailing from Sydney to Southampton. If I were to compare the experience with my voyage on Explorer of the seas I am highly impressed with my latest venture. I was pleased to find that the crew were so friendly and obliging. Our room attendant, Jasina, always had a smile for us and prepared our room spotlessly and at times that suited our comings and goings. We dined most evenings in the Sapphire Dining Room(level 3) and our group of 9 could not believe our luck to have our sensational waiters, Shival and Kisan. we all agreed that you could not wish to meet more friendly, courteous and professional gentlemen. After dinner we would enjoy listening to Liz on the piano, where we also met two more of your wonderful crew, Adriana and Rakanathwa. Congratulations to all and I look forward to maybe one day enjoying your company once more Read Less

We have sailed on a number of RC ships and were looking forward to this one. Just a short break to the Pacific Islands. Bars - definite lack of staff in this area (all bars) always had to wait for drinks, (never had this problem on other ships) first ship we have had to ask for a stirrer and slice of orange in a Campari and soda it’s a basic drink (staff just not trained)! Main dining room well don’t recommend that at all, in fact we spoke to someone about the lack of attention and the food just well............ Windjammer again disappointed the same dish was served for the first three days! Usually there are such great choices. Specialty dining - Giovanni’s was very nice attention to detail good. Izumi’s the best excellent food and service. Chops Grille sad, it was great on other ships but this visit definitely disappointed. Shows were pretty good, ice show excellent, general entertainment hmmmm... We felt there was a ‘lack of food venues’ for snacks and coffee etc., other RC ships definitely had more choice/venues. It even seemed to be a battle to get a cup of tea at times and sometimes just didn’t bother because the queue was just too long. Again just not enough staff!!!! On one occasion I was making a cup of tea and noticed pink lipstick on the mug while pouring hot water into it, staff standing next to me, I said “ooh this mug is dirty” he turned and walked away!! Not the reaction I expected. Overall the staff moral seemed low and staff numbers seemed low as in a great shortage of them. After listening to the Captain at a ‘function’ thinking there maybe lies the answer! Would not sail on Explorer of the Seas again and would not recommend it. Next cruise will make us Diamond and really thinking do we want to keep going ? Have had so many fantastic cruises just hoping they are not ‘losing the plot’. Read Less

We choose to experience the bigger ship but it fell short on expectations. Symphony dining was one third full with two people at 8 seater tables. Background music was so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves with the Head Waiter saying it couldn’t be changed as it was arranged from Miami. Some diners were dressed in singlet shirts, caps and thongs and the Head Waiter said they would be offended if told to change. This complaint goes back some years. Windjammer buffet restaurant was noisy and food ‘just ok’. Promenade Coffee shop - too small for a 4,000 person ship particularly on sea days and coffee well and truly brewed most of the time. Balconies overlooking the Promenade had lights shining into their cabins and noisy. Very young children were running about the top deck and up and down in lifts at midnight. No parents were in sight. Tenders were efficient, evening shows were good quality. Shops had good quality merchandise. Read Less

Chose this deal when on Radiance last December as big irresitible hook of $350usd OBC offered. We were assigned Inside cabin deck 8 aft, a burst water pipe put paid to that, so after a haggle with Guest Services we ended up in a Junior Suite at rear of deck 6 for the remaining 5 nights, brilliant. Staff were great, dining room waiters Geraldine & Prudencio & Maitre D fussing to make sure all was good. Breakfast & occasional lunch in MDR Sapphires was excellent. Windjammer was crowded, better to avoid at peak hours. Captain Mal & officers mixed on several occasions with guests, very visible & omniprescent. Crown & Anchor evening was good, Captain & C & A lady doing the talking. WE took the 79USD package & used it at Izumis 3x, great tucker. Production shows were hot hot hot, loved every one. Fast Forward, Invitation to Dance & Las Vegas show. The supporting acts were very good over all, Monique Martinez & Coedian Paul Bracks excellent. The solo guitarman Jovencio was very good, Piano lady spoilt by too trebly amplification, C Wind band very good playing 70-80s music. Ports of call Lifou, Mystery Island & Isle of Pines were great, that torquoise colored water is unforgettable, Noumea however is forgettable. Enrichment was by someone from Minerals Council i think, too early for me. Embarkation was easy at 130pm, disembarking was a cattle call. Tenders to the islands was great, 4 tenders docking at the island piers making a quick journey. The trip was made so enjoyable by the Junior Suite, first upgrade ever after about 16 cruises. Next time on RCI we will be Diamond so that will mean no queing at all, look forward to it. Read Less

I chose those cruise because I have had a good experience with Royal Caribbean before and expected the same. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The best bar, Dizzys on deck 14 with the best view, was unavailable every single day, closed for Diamond only! This is clearly unfair. Even when it was open, there were long periods it was unattended. Staff apologised as they kicked people out at 4:30 but really, just not good enough. When it reopened at 8:30 the diamond folks remained so hard to find a seat, and the entertainment up there was atrocious! Awful DJ, pandering only to the elderly. The movies were screened twice a day on deck, but at weird times like at lunch or dinner when people would clearly be out dining. No BBQ or pizza or snack on deck, I assumed you simply weren’t allowed to eat there, it was certainly strongly discouraged! there was a blatant lack of seating or shade for people on the pool decks. If you wanted to spend time there, you had to plant early and one of you always be there! Little to no effort was made to provide us with decent music or entertainment on deck except at sail away, and that was brief and not very good, then it would abruptly end after about 45 minutes. Theme nights were a joke as they were carried out in the promenade so so one could move or see! Waste of time. Cocktails were mixes and watered, often warm. We often had to teach them cocktails and many refused. Cocktail list at the R Bar has literally five cocktails listed and that’s it! As Dizzys was never available the other bars were packed out every day so again a huge lack of seating was a big problem the entire cruise! The sapphire dining room was slow, we gave up as we were refused cocktails and our request for wine and beer took over 30 minutes. Bigger noisier tables got first service. I ordered an eggs Benedict well done with bacon, was told twice the reason my order was taking so long was because I wanted it well done. Came out after 35 minutes runny with grey undercooked bacon. Got up and left, waiter didn’t bother asking why, as it was obvious! The windjammer was very good though and the head cook fantastic. Great theme nights! There was never enough pizza in the promenade cafe however, not ever. They ran out all the time. As it’s the only place to get a snack you’d think they’d be better prepared. Chefs table was fabulous, as was specialty dining; Giovanni’s was outstanding. Explorer is continuing on to Southhampton and then not returning to Australia after refurb so it very much felt like little effort was made, by the cruise director or the staff. The ice show and theatre shows were good, and worth seeing, it was the huge lack of entertainment elsewhere that was a problem and so it got very monotonous doing the same things only, like trivia. Disappointing and boring cruise. Read Less

We have just returned from a 14 day South Pacific cruise on Explorer of the Seas. May I say I was very concerned going in since she was launched in 2000 and is 19 years old. For us humans 19 years is nothing but having thousands of people engage with her a lady can show age! The itinerary drew us to Explorer since we were all the way over on the other side of the world and came off Ovation of the seas in New Zealand ( more on that later) so why not extend the trip. We booked the Owners Suite and said let’s see what happens. Bottom line, WE LOVED HER! Yes there was a bit of wear but not what we expected. She looked like a beautiful girl for what I call “old school” nostalgic. The touches of cruise ships from the past were fantastic. The crew outstanding, there was not a time that the crew stepped up and made our experience outstanding. Being Diamond the Diamond lounge was the best lounge on and ship we have been on. Since there were 462 Diamond or Diamond Plus people the lounge poured out ito Dizzy’s which was fantastic, did not go over well with the other people because Dizzy’s was closed from 4:30-8:30 every night. Andy the ar tender than you for your service and Micheal your service was fantastic! The specialty restaurant staff was outstanding! Thank you to all! Chefs table outstanding! Our Jamaican chef you were the best and I still say you have a Chefs table highlighting your culture would be a win! I know Explorer goes int dry dock next year so she will only get better. Take this from one who travels a lot, if you are considering Explorer book her, she will not disappoint you! Read Less

All staff members were lovely the ports that we stopped at were amazing although we missed Noumea because of a tropical cyclone. The one thing i wasnt overly impressed about was the lack of entertainment, they only really had trivia, bingo, dance classes and the evening shows. Dont get me wrong the shows were awesome and the trivia was fun because we did it with friends and my partner did attend the dance classes but couldnt always participate because of the lack of space but other than that there wasnt much to do. Some days the first thing we went to on the compas was at 3 or 4pm so a little more entertainment catered to younger people would be appreciated, especially if there is bad weather like we had and they closed the outside decks so we couldnt use the rockclimbing wall, flowrider, pools or ice skating rink which sucked. Read Less

Excellent Cruise, Very nice ship with plenty to do on board. Tropical Cyclone Oma was in the vicinity so the order of ports was changed. Only one port missed in the end (Noumea) which was due to high winds at the port. Captain and staff did really well to accommodate the changes in itinerary and to keep the ship safe. Food on board was a very good standard, There was a special on the ultimate drinks package (Buy one/get on at half price which dropped the cost down to $US53 pp. With cocktails between 10 and 14 dollars and wine up to $13 by the glass, with coffees, juices, soft drink and bottled water included this proved to be good value. Canadian singer songwriter Jon MacAuley was a very popular entertainer in the pub on most nights. High level of interaction with the various groups on board. Wide selection of music and requests We thoroughly enjoyed this cruise and will start looking for our next one with RCL Read Less

We are Diamond+. 45 cruises in 3 years. Why do ships make rules, but don't enforce them, e.g. dining rooms - men wearing shorts t-shirts and thongs, not good enough! Junior cruisers without adult supervision up to 1am? Yikes, disaster. No ticketing for tenders and ice shows - you have to be kidding, a recipe for disaster. Children playing games on the dance floor, whilst people trying to dance. Dangerous! If a family is 'put off' for unsociable behaviour, RCI should announce it, no names etc, but let people know there are consequences for bad behaviour. Children seated at front of theatre and playing up, and going onto the stage during live performances.?? Dining room food, very good, service excellent. The staff onboard work very hard, extremely hard. Some customers should pull their head in. The Ice show is great, seen it many times. The theatre/production shows have been running for too long, they are ok for first timers, but new routines songs headliners should be brought on. I can even guess the comedians next jokes... Events e.g. trivia karaoke band art auctions game shows, should start and finish as per the daily compass, with a 15 minute break to allow people to move in/out comfortably. We want RCI to be successful, the above is intended to help them be better. Read Less