We are far from seasoned cruisers, but wanted to try a short trip out of FL this winter in an effort to know more and make the best decision about boat options when planning an Alaska trip in 2016. Our previous cruising involved a wonderful Viking River Cruise in 2012 and a West Indies barefoot cruise on the Polynesia in 1983. We think we were spoiled by both of those ships which had populations ...
First the downs.
My disabled husband and I took a 5 day Bahamas cruise on Explorer of the Seas for a little birthday/holiday getaway. It was an interesting adventure just to get started. We originally booked a cruise out of Tampa, but this cruise was cancelled by Royal Caribbean. I discovered this on my own while trying to access some info. I don't know when they were going to inform us. ...
Overall, it was a good cruise. Good value, good time. Great staff who worked very hard. My comments will include some suggestions and minor complaints. I would do it again, and probably will.
The ship is aging and will have a 40 day refit beginning in March 2015. She needs it.
Here are some things I wish I knew before booking. I hope it helps someone else.
Boarding started at noon. You should ...
Itinerary and departure time were changed and we received no notification from Royal Caribbean. If it had not been for the Cruise Critic forum we would have been totally in the dark. Thank you Cruise Critic!
Dining room head waiter (early sitting) approached us, party of 4 at an 8-top table, and asked us if we were together as he was trying to seat a party of 6. The table next to us also had a ...
This was my husbands 2nd cruise ( first on Carnival). He said he would never do it again and I begged him to try another one on RCI. He is now in love and decided we will do this every yr. The service was phenomenal!!! Main Dining Room ORLANDO (assistant server)!!!! Best ever! Christopher (server) awesome, and Anil(sp) (drink server) always friendly and knew exactly what we are drinking!! Joseph ...
We had never been on a cruise before and this was my last cruise. Long lines everywhere - 3 hours on the ship, lines for the elevator, lines for food, lines for guest services. Don't waste your time in line for the food because it was disgusting. I am not sure if some of the food was edible. Never having been on a cruise before we didn't know things like what deck to go for the safety briefing, ...
We booked this cruise several months ago because we got a very decent rate on a JS. We like to cruise in December to both celebrate my birthday and rest up for tax season (DH is a CPA). The Bahamas is not our favorite destination; we booked knowing we'd probably never get off the ship (we didn't).
Pre Cruise
Roughly a week before we sailed, someone on our Cruise Critic thread noticed the ...
We're Diamond members, so we've been on a few cruises and I think we know what to expect on board. One of the things we like about our Diamond status is being able to meet other cruisers in the Diamond lounge. This ship doesn't have a Diamond Lounge. On other ships they would take over one of the other lounges on the ship even though they didn't have a dedicated Diamond lounge. In the case of the ...
Second time on this ship, 9 years apart, this time with kids. A different experience. The Explorer is still one of favorite ships, although she is by no means the smallest, she still offers the best of both worlds- the feeling of being at sea with a range of activities available. Nice mix of passenger ages.
Embrakation was a nightmare- rumor that porters were on a slow down and certainly appeared ...
Usually it's my whole family going on the cruise but this time it was me, my 18 year old sister, and my grandmother. We had cruised like that one time before on the Explorer. I have been on 23 cruises and have been on the Explorer of the Seas 4 times. I have also been on Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian and Carnival. I have also been to the Panama Canal and all the way north to Greenland and ...
