Summary: Not having been on Royal Caribbean International (RCI) before, we were uncertain of what to expect given a number of negative reviews posted in the last six months. For us, this was a surprisingly enjoyable cruise with a higher energy vibe compared to other ships we have been on. While the pricing were extremely favorable, there were some cutbacks in product presentation that go along with discounted pricing. Despite an unfortunate incident later in the cruise, we did have a good time and like the current Governor of California, "we'll be back".

Background: Mary and I (Bob) are an early 60s couple, recently retired and living in Brooklyn, NY. This is our 31st cruise, mostly Holland America with a number of cruises with Celebrity, Princess and NCL. We have cruised in the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, transatlantic and Hawaii. While this was our first RCI and first Explorer cruise, our cruise credits with Celebrity qualified us for Diamond level perks.

The Itinerary: The Explorer has been doing alternating 9 day cruises to Bermuda and the Caribbean or the Bahamas with 5 day Bermuda cruises. This is a 9 day cruise leaving Bayonne Thursday with stops at Bermuda (Saturday 9AM to 5PM), St. Maarten (Monday 12 noon to 9PM), St Thomas (Tuesday 7AM to 5PM) and San Juan (Wednesday 7AM to 2PM). Sea days are Friday, Sunday, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday with the Explorer returning to Cape Liberty Cruise Port (aka Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal) on Saturday nominally at 7AM. Note the term nominally. Read more