Barcelona

The ship had to bypass Jerusalem due to violence between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Jerusalem (Ashdod)

It was wonderful except Royal Caribbean chose to dock on Jordan's New Year's Day resulting in unbearable crowds. Be careful when booking a cruise with RCCL as they chose to be in port when it is less expensive for them at the expense of the passengers.

Aqaba (Petra)

Since RCCL chose to be in port on a Friday, the UAE's sabbath, most places were closed until mid afternoon. Therefore, we hired a driver and tour guide to drive us to the Emirates of Sarjah and Umm Al Quain (where the fort museum and archeological museums were closed!)  In the afternoon, we toured the Dubai Museum (quickly because it didn't open until 3 p.m. and we had to be back on board by 5 p.m.), various Souks. the Dhow Warfage (we were transported in an Abra to the other side as well), the Bastikya quarter, Al Shindagha, etc. There were many sites that we could not see like the Al-Dur, Al Sufouh and Jumeirah Archeological sites because they were closed!

We had just a short time at a Souk in Sarjah because many other options were closed due to the sabbath.

Dubai

Since Kuala Lumpur is an hour from the port, we decided to take Royal Caribbean's bus which transported us to and from Kuala Lumpur only. Rather than providing shuttles, RCCL charged us $75 each for this non-tour. Unfortunately, this choice left us at the mercy of Royal Caribbean's staff who took hours processing the hundreds of passengers taking excursions. As a result, we only had time to take the hop-on-hop off bus but NO time to actually get off at desired locations to see some sights.  Due to the delays, the ship actually stayed in port longer than expected but apparently didn't bother to tell  their tour drivers so we did not benefit from the extra time. As a result, the whole thing was a waste of our time and money.

(9) On the second leg of the cruise (Dubai to Singapore), we had to change cabins which was bad enough but the one we were moved to was smaller than the one we had on the first leg AND the deck was disgusting as mentioned above.As a result of RCL's inadequate medical equipment, I may have done more damage to my spine by walking around and going on excursions during the entire cruise.

Explorer of the Seas Review

Terrible Cruise

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Port Reviews

Barcelona

Aqaba (Petra)

Dubai

Find an Explorer of the Seas Cruise from $283