Explorer of the Seas Review
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We have been on Carnival twice to the Caribbeans and two years ago on a Mediterranean cruise on Princess. We felt RC Explorer of the Seas was comparable to Ruby Princess. First of all, the service on this ship was exemplary. Everyone who worked there exceeded our expectations. We thought the entertainment on board this ship far exceeded the entertainment on Princess. The in-house entertainers and particularly the entertainment brought in off ship were wonderful. Hands down, better than Princess. There are lots of Brits on board from this port and they seemed to like their bar areas so I think some of the complaints of over-crowding are coming from the aspect. The bars were always full but didn't bother us because we rarely went in them. The cruise director, Seymour and assistant cruise guy Gordon were wonderful and talented men.
We wish they showed more movies at night with big screen. They didn't seem to use it to its advantage like Princess did. It was a nice touch to have the electric water boilers in each room for tea but I was disappointed that iced tea was hard to find. Yes, it was in the dining rooms but otherwise all they had was free water, free flavored water, lemonade, pink lemonade, etc at Promenade areas. Come on, Americans love their iced tea and for a diabetic unsweetened iced tea is much appreciated. We did not get wifi on this ship. It was unbelievably high. $40 for one device and half off for another PER DAY and that deal is only if you get it for all the days of your cruise. Princess had a better deal on that.
The food was very good at both Windjammer and the formal dining rooms. The fitness area was great with enough equipment to satisfy anyone. The hot tub and steam room and sauna were very nice touches. We wish they had more talks on the history of the ports visited. They had some but not enough. Shore excursions are extremely expensive. We went on three with them and were not really satisfied with them for the money spent. We did have luck, like we did several years, in finding groups through cruise critic to to our own private tours. Those always seem to work out better and usually less expensive than what the ship offers. The shore excursion staff was very nice and informative though.
Cabin Review
Oceanview Stateroom
Great room. One of the newly built rooms due to the revitalization. Clean, smelled new, no noise from above, below or anywhere when we were in the room. We were down the hall from a formal dining room but no noise issues until you went out in the hall and none late at night. No interior rooms across from this room. We were happy to have this lower deck room when we had one day of very high waves. Highly recommended.
Port Reviews
Gibraltar
We took a private excursion with 6 others through Inside Out Rock Tours and it was great. Great and interesting port with lots of history.
Barcelona
We took our own cab and drove to the sites to see them all. We drove and stopped at Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, Casa Battlo, etc. Then we took a free Runner Beans 4 hour walking tour of the old Gothic Quarter. We ended by walking down Les Rambles toward the port area. Wonderful port area. Our favorite.
Cannes
We took a private tour with 6 others to Nice and St. Paul De Vence. Both were great and worth the drive. Wish we had more time. We would have gone to Monte Carlo. Maybe next time.
Rome (Civitavecchia)
This was our second time in Rome and we saw all the touristy things so we took a foodie walking tour of three neighborhoods. We loved it and were able to see where the locals eat and shop and live.
Florence (Livorno)
A beautiful city. We took a private tour with 6 others and made a one hour stop at Pisa on the way to Florence. We wish we had several days in Florence. It is clean and gorgeous. Don't forget to buy a leather purse while you are there.
Malaga
We got off the ship and spent several hours in Malaga before we went back to the ship to join this excursion. This is a great port. We loved Malage and Mijas and the tour was very good.
Seville
We took a free Pancho walking tour of Cadiz. It has a lot of history and we really enjoyed it. Good port.