Here are some of the highlights (and some not so high) of our Explorer OTS Bermuda/Bahamas 4/15 - 4/22 cruise. Unless noted these are MY opinions. Others may vary. (We) consisted of my DW, DD and her family (SIL, grandson and granddaughter). 22nd cruise for DW and I, 1st for the daughter's family except it was the 2nd for the grandson. I will be doing some comparisons with our last cruise on Celebrity's Century (December, 2009) throughout this review. (These are both amongst the older ships of their respective fleets)

We drove down from Maine the day before the Cruise and stayed one night at the Best Western Newark Airport West. My daughter found this on the internet and booked it. Driving up to it my first thought was uh-oh. It is located in a commercial area of Newark and the neighborhood looked a little rough. The hotel was a gem. We had booked 2 rooms. Both were LARGE . . in fact the largest non-sutie rooms we have ever occupied. The hotel was clean, the rooms were well appointed and very comfortable. There is an on-site restaurant and bar. Continental breakfast was offered complimentary. The hotel offers a park, cruise option. We opted to park at the cruise terminal parking lot.

Embarkation: A Read more