alligeek

FAITHFUL is in one of the US east coast shipyards for drydock. POWERFUL will be out and if needed the EDWARD STOWE can be called out.

 

Yes--thank you for the update. For some reason, I thought the tugs were pretty cool.

 

I'm glad that the ship and passengers seem to be ok, but I also agree with the poster who said, "Poor reef." :( While I love cruising to Bermuda, I do worry about what's going on with the reefs and what the cruise industry has done (and will continue to do) to them.

IIRC they do take a pilot. The water around those reefs is REALLY shallow. Praying for everyone on board and the first responders.... hopefully this isn't more than minor damage.

The Port Bermuda webcam FB page just reported that the Dawn ran aground just after leaving Bermuda. Has anyone else heard this?

 

I'm hoping that everyone's ok and they can get things cleared up shortly!

There are two in the Promenade and four (two on each side) in the Windjammer. I loooovvvveeeddd having those machines on board.

 

 

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They do, but if you're picky about hair dryers (as I am), you might want to bring your own. If you're generally ok with the dryers found at hotels, you'll be ok with the one on the ship.

 

I bring my own because the 1500W dryer on board just doesn't do it for me... I need my 2000W dryer. My husband finds this amusing for some reason. :D

If you have your email set up on your phone or tablet, many bars and restaurants have Wifi.

 

 

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Sending positive thoughts to the people of Bermuda. Stay safe.

I tipped the bartenders that were outstanding. While gratuity is included in the packages, I like recognizing people with a little extra when they do good work. Most bartenders on Explorer did ask me to sign the slips after each drink, so I'm going to guess that they wanted a little more.

 

That said, I noticed that the bartenders that I tipped were just a little more attentive when I needed another round. :)

 

 

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Being the geek that I am, I like checking my marine traffic app to see where my favorite ships are. After seeing here that Explorer left Bermuda early yesterday to avoid the tropical storm, I saw that Explorer's destination is listed as San Juan, not Phillipsburg.

 

It makes sense that they'd try to avoid the storm. What would RCI typically do, then, spend an extra day in San Juan?

My FIL brings his own telescope on cruises and loves pointing things out to fellow cruisers. He gets pretty popular!

 

A real observatory with telescopes would be really cool. I'd be willing to bet that there are astronomy-themed cruises for people like my FIL, but it would still be nice for us novices to be able to stargaze. :)

I have you used them before? Were you able to actually submerge them? I know some of the cameras I have looked at that says water proof, the reviews are saying everything gets foggy when they are actually submerged!

 

We bought a Nikon AW120 for our cruise and it worked beautifully underwater. No fogging and the picture quality is good. I wouldn't say that it's as good as a DSLR, but good for a point and shoot camera. I LOVED not having to worry about getting it wet, and wore it in the water more than a few times.

I don't usually bore people with my vacation photos, but since you asked... :D

 

Royal Promenade:

 

The pool area, which got plenty of use:

 

The helipad:

 

Our aft room, complete with an up-close view of the super structure:

Small concern about propulsion since this is a longer sailing but fingers crossed all is well enough in that area.

 

On the 9/25 sailing (which I think is the same itinerary you have) we did leave Bermuda and Labadee an hour early, but kept at about 20-21 knots for most of the trip.

 

One thing that I did notice (and others did) is that there seemed to be a lot of vibration, especially in the aft. I'm not sure if this is normal for Explorer or due to the propulsion issues. We guessed that they might be running the functional engines a little harder than usual to maintain that speed.

The food in the MDR really was great. Our servers were outstanding and the chef randomly came by our table a few times--he seemed like a really nice guy. I didn't have a bad dish the entire 9 night cruise! One of our friends got a sub-par creme brûlée one night, but otherwise we all agreed that the MDR food was great. (The Windjammer was ok, but about what we expected for buffet food)

 

Now I understand why some of the Explorer fans are sad that this ship is going to Europe and Asia. I'd gladly sail on Explorer again, but doubt that a trek to Europe or Asia is in the cards...

I agree that it's a good option if you get tired of of eating in the Windjammer for lunch and don't want to eat in one of the specialty restaurants.

 

We had lunch at JR on the Explorer last week and the food was pretty good. The bacon cheese fries and crispy chicken salad were great, and you don't leave hungry. I think all of the food is included, but you'll pay extra for milkshakes.

 

The ambiance wasn't anything special, IMO. Yes, the servers did a half-hearted dance to "Staying Alive," but it seemed like they weren't very into it (maybe it's because the crowd wasn't really lively at the time). We did hear "Staying Alive" and "YMCA" at least two times in the 45-60 minutes we were there, so I guess it's hard for the staff to stay really enthusiastic.

We were also on this cruise and I couldn't agree more! Overall we had a fantastic cruise and wouldn't hesitate to sail on Explorer again. The reports that I'd read on here about the crew going above and beyond were spot-on. The majority of crew members that we encountered were outstanding.

We stayed in 7156 last year with our (then) 3 year old. We were worried about noise from the lounge, because DS is a light sleeper. It turned out that we didn't have anything to worry about. There was minimal noise and after 10 pm we didn't hear anything.

 

As for the privacy issue, yes, as dixieva said, if you're standing at the railing you could see the balcony below you (and the folks right above you can see the end of your balcony), but it was also a non-issue for us. We loved that cabin and would gladly stay in it again.

Fantastic review! You have a very good sense of humor. :) We'll definitely take your advice about parking at the port. Thanks for posting this!

Mascara is the one type of m/u that I won't buy in a department store--only because I wear contacts and adhere to the "3 month rule." I'm not brand loyal, but right now I'm liking Maybelline's Volume Express: The Falsies (the one in the hot pink tube).

 

Do you curl your lashes? When I put on mascara w/o curling my lashes, it looks OK, but if I curl first, it makes a HUGE difference. I'd try a good curler (Shu Uemura's always gets rave reviews) and see if that helps.

I've also been spoiled by aft balconies. We only take 1-2 vacations a year because of our hectic schedules, so we make the most out of them.

DH loves to tell people that he's an "Aft Man," which has earned him a few looks from eavesdroppers. :eek:

Hello everyone! We're leaving for our cruise next week and I'm trying to find sunglasses that will a) survive being thrown from a 6 foot drop and b) don't cost a lot, just in case they end up in the ocean. :)

 

My DH loves giving our 4 year old son piggyback rides, and DS loves taking DH's sunglasses off--which has resulted in more than a few replacement pairs. I'd prefer to spend somewhere between $20-50, knowing that they don't need to be heirloom quality.

 

Thanks so much.

Oh my goodness-those are gorgeous! Thank you for posting them, and you've certainly added to my "must go to Norway someday" fever! :)

It's hard work to test and check out such locations. It was another perfect weather day!!:

 

 

LOL! Sign me up for that gig!

 

We bit the bullet and bought a Nikon AW120 a few weeks ago. While I can't speak for the underwater action (our cruise is 2 weeks away), I will say that I'm impressed with the picture quality and performance so far. It blows the first-gen waterproof Olympus we had out of the water (pun sort of intended :) ).

It seems like you've already decided that you're not going to enjoy this cruise. Yes, there will be things that aren't perfect or "Disney." You, however, have the option of trying to make lemonade from lemons. Bermuda is certainly amazing and a trip on any Carnival/RCI/NCL to Bermuda would still be awesome.

 

 

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We really enjoyed the Swizzle Inn and its newer, smaller cousin The Swizzle. The rum swizzles are outstanding and both are easy to get to by bus.

 

(They mean it when they say "Swizzle Inn, Swagger Out" though! :) )

 

 

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