Explorer of the Seas Review
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I recently went on the 12 day explorer of the seas trip out of Bayonne NJ on Jan 24th 2010. Just for some background on my travel mates and myself there were 5 of us total, 3 males between 27 and 30 and a couple in the mid 40's, I am the 27 year old male in the group. The boat arrived slightly late on the 24th but we had no problems getting on. The car line was non existent when we arrived at the pier around 2pm. Drove right up, dropped off the luggage with a porter and off we went. We stood on a semi long line to get through the metal detectors but that was mainly due to people having to walk through them 2-3 times each. You would think people would be smart enough to remove all the metal objects from their pockets prior to reaching the front of the line but unfortunately this isn't the case. I am platinum and the priority check in was a breeze. Walk up hand over docs, credit card, and passport and away you go. Take a picture for your seapass and you're done. Walked directly onto the next bus and away we went to the ship. Overall it was a very good experience.
We headed straight to the sports bar because the jets were set to kick off at 3. The satellite dropped in and out throughout the game so we missed a good portion of it. The weather in NJ that day was very overcast. The service at the tables in the bar was lacking, they rarely came around and asked if you needed another drink and it took them a long time to get back with the drinks. I found it easier to walk to the bar.
Muster was at 5 (I think) and honestly it takes 10 times longer then it should. Walk to the muster, stand in line, wait for the announcements in 12 different languages and then they teach you how to put on a life vest. Honestly if you can't get the life vest on without instructions I really don't want you in my life boat. Anyway, once that was over it was back to the room. Most of our bags already arrived and we unpacked and settled in. We (the 3 guys) were in an E1 balcony, the couple was down the hall in an inside room. First time in a balcony and I loved it. Nice to have our own space to enjoy the outdoors. We had a corner aft so the balcony was huge.