I had read almost every review I could before we left and I was a little uncertain as to what I would experience. The reviews on the Explorer were all over the map; many raved about the experience and some completely panned the ship, most notably the food. For what they are worth here are my observations.
We chose to get the transfers from the airport and it was really worth the cost. When our luggage went into the belly of the bus we never saw it again until it appeared outside our cabin around 5:30 PM.
Embarkation. We arrived at the ship around 3:30 p.m. and we just breezed through the process. There were very few passengers in the queue, most having boarded hours earlier. RCI processed us very quickly and within 20 minutes from getting off the bus we were on board.