I have just returned from a 14 day cruise on Explorer, whilst there was nothing particularly bad about the ship, there's was lots of room for improvements. Food - main dining room was OK but had some strange dish combinations and overall a little disappointing. Food - Windjammer - Breakfast - mass chaos as usual, dishes scattered all over the place, no thought to layout, quality OK. Dinner - same quality OK but layout chaotic, for example Roast Beef carvery, Mash potatoes next to it, but no veg , had to walk 20 yards to find veg, then back for gravy. Windjammer ran out of Lemon drink mix after 7 days & Apple Juice after 10 days.
Drinks - Bar prices have been increased significantly, cheapest bottle or Rose wine $36, glass of Heineken $8, Bottle of Bulmers Cider $8 ran out of some cocktail mixes during 2nd week. After the refit there are now 4 pay extra dining options, but these have been added at the expense of other facilities. We had 600 youngsters on our cruise but after the Adventure area closed nowhere for them to go, constant problems with noise & tom foolery until 1am. Cruise Director was new, his 1st cruise, what a let down, more charisma in a wet lettuce. Entertainment staff some good & some awful, couldn't be bothered half of time, late for events, constantly ill prepared. Entertainment - poor throughout, Never heard of any of the acts, Top act was an X factor finalist from 2006 ??
Customer Services - not enough on duty - long queues , Shore Excursions staff - very unhelpful - Photographers - struggling with new digital technology to view photo,s and lacking training. Shops - very expensive. This ship has recently been upgraded but maintenance was poor, dirty windows, broken down lifts & non-working toilets throughout cruise. On a positive note, stateroom attendant was superb, Dining room waiters were OK but could be better, Windjammer staff very helpful. Captain & Officers hardly visible except at organised events. Overhaul - could do better
Huge with 2 double beds & plenty of room.
Shuttle bus required from ship to city attraction, $5/person charge, buses will not take Wheelchairs or Scooters, 30 min walk into town, Taxi's not interested in Wheelchairs, local buses infrequent
Wheelchair users be prepared for an effort to get to the station, but it's worth it. catch train in to Nice (10 mins) Cost only a few Euro's. but beware Nice station is not the best for Wheelchair users (No lifts). While we were there the train to Monaco didn't arrive, some people left waiting for 2 hours on platform having bought tickets
Best port on our cruise, leisurely walk to town (10 mins), narrow streets for shopping, beach a further 10 mins, very wheelchair freindly