My wife, 8-year-old daughter and I sailed on the Explorer of the Seas June 10, 2010 out of Bayonne/Cape Liberty. We were attracted to this ship because we could drive to the port from our Boston area home, and the 9-day itinerary was nearly the same price as the 7-day Bermuda-only itinerary offered on NCL out of Boston. We have traveled a few cruises before, twice on Disney and one other on RCCL.

Embarkation-It was fairly painless, and we were aboard by about 12:30 after a minor delay that wasn't explained. Bayonne cruise port is pretty spartan but was easy to navigate, parking was no problem.

Stateroom-We had a category D1 stateroom aft (facing rear) room 1390 on deck 10. The great thing about the aft cabins is that the balconies are huge, over 12 feet deep instead of the usual 3 or 4 feet. There were two chaise lounges and a table & chairs on the balcony. For some reason these cabins are shown as "obstructed view" on the RCCL website. The only obstruction is the superstructure of the ship in the rear, there's still a fine view off the stern. The cabin itself was a little longer than most D1's, so we had extra room for luggage, so this room is a great value. It's directly below the Windjammer Buffet but we heard no noise from above, and the balcony is partially covered so privacy wasn't an issue. The finishes were in good condition, although the balcony deck and rails could use a paint job. Read more