Explorer of the Seas Review
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We traveled to Carteret, NJ and spent the night in a hotel the night prior to our cruise. We were only 30 minutes to the cruise port in Bayonne. This was our first time out of Bayonne so the drop off of luggage, then parking, then waiting to take a bus was different for us, but it all went smoothly. Since we all had different numbers for the bus we just all went together on the bus that most of us had the number for, since there were 16 of us.
Boarded the ship around 11:30am and went to Windjammer for lunch. Walked around the ship. Lots of photos and explored some of the ship. We were the only ones from our group with the inside cabin. The rooms is small, but we never spent much time in our room except to sleep and shower. Harry our room attendant was always on top of things. We had 3 - 6 tops tables together and enjoyed our dinners with our family & friends. We only missed one night in the MDR. Our server was Antonia and the other two tables had Rosa. They were both very attentive. We got a wine package also. The food was not as bad as all the reviews I have read. Everyone seemed to enjoy there dinners. The ship was beautiful, the staff more then attentive, and all 16 enjoyed their cruise.
We only saw the ice skating show, and it is definitely worth seeing. We got tickets the second day. We enjoyed the pool deck and the belly flop contest and sexist man contest. We also spent many nights in the Schooner Bar listening to Roxy and saw him preform his last show on board. He was excellent. We also spent time in the Chambers dancing the night away.
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
We were in cabin 9593 which was mid ship between both sets of elevators. My biggest dilemma was that I could never figure our where to go when getting off the elevators without looking at the signs on the wall. My sense of direction on the ship seemed to be off from other ships I was on. The cabin was adequate in space as far as drawers, closet had shelves and plenty of space on side of mirror for makeup, etc. Also space in bathroom on one side of mirror for belongings. We ended up putting our life vests on top of closet to utilize the floor space for all our shoes. The room is very small but no smaller than other cruise ships that we have been on. Our 4 pieces of luggage even fit under the beds. I would recommend this room only to those who don't spend much time in their rooms. We were there only to sleep and shower. The rest of the time we were on pool deck, bars, shopping, or eating.