Explorer of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
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Explorer Review 7/5/12 and Princess Compare

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Explorer of the Seas
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Whitnee1
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2012
Cabin: Interior Stateroom

The purpose of this review is two fold. One to give a review of our trip on the Explorer of the Seas and two to do another comparison of Princess versus RC as we are seasoned Princess Cruisers and this is our second RC the first on the Enchantment. Our party was a party of 8 in four cabins celebrating my son's high school graduation.

Embarkation: We utilized a car service and were dropped curbside and quickly deposited our entire luggage with a handler. We then proceeded inside where we were immediately checked in and then moved to a waiting area for the shuttle to the ship. Since this was our first time in Bayonne we were unaware of the shuttle and while it added an extra step to the process it was fairly organized. We were on the ship by about 11:30 AM and proceeded right to the Windjammer for lunch. Given our early arrival the tables were not yet an issue but, as is usually the case, this was an issue during the week. Our rooms were available as advertised at 1:30 PM. Note there was a departure delay of almost 2 hours due to a shortage of baggage handlers on the dock explained as due to the Holiday week. It did not though impact our itinerary although some did not receive bags till later that night. Also we checked in four cases of bottled water, one per cabin, which were all reinforced with packing tape and had a luggage tag applied. Three arrived intact and one arrived minus 5 bottles so maybe the workers got thirsty.

Ship: This was our second RC ship and found the Explorer to be a very nice ship especially compared to the Enchantment. We had inside cabins deck 6 aft and did not experience any of the dreaded sewer smells and the AC worked great. The ship had many more amenities than the Enchantment and although 9+ years old is in very good shape. Despite the 800+ kids on the sailing deck chairs were never an issue and we attended almost every 9:00 PM show and seats could be had up till 8:50 PM. One major negative to the ship is the location and configuration of the walking/ jogging track right through a major deck chair area on deck 12. Whoever came up with that design should be shot.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

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