ALL NEW! Everything Explorer of the Seas! Come on in!!

[uk-ladies]

That's the address I put into my GPS 10 days back to get to her and it worked. Also if it is a good car service, they should know where thay are going, but it always helps to have the address.

 

Enjoy your cruise on this wonderful ship.

 

Fair winds and following seas to you,

 

Thanks MedicKen

[crisndeefromde]

Hi Cris

When we cruise next week on the Explorer we are going to book the 10 night Jan. 27th 2012 cruise come join us. Hope all is well with you and family.

Dick & Mari

 

Thank sounds terrific Dick!!! we would love to join you. We are doing the Allure inagural Dec 5th and Explorer Mar 11. We have one planned also for Dec 1, 2011 and may need to move that. Let me see if the itineraries are the same.

 

Everyone else from the gang going??

[uk-ladies]

Yet another question :rolleyes:...........

We changed our plans to include an overnight post cruise stay in NYC, as such we wont be using the transfer bus from ship to hotel and our making our own way from the ship to a different hotel. We booked through a TA and wanted to get a disembarking time to notify the car service we're using, they told us that they contacted RCCL and they said we could request this on the first day of boarding. This means we can't book the car service until we're at sea (we are in the UK) so my question is, does anyone else have experience of this and how easy will it be to get the time we want to disembark the ship?

[138east]

How much is the parking for the 5 night cruise? I know its $19 a day but do they make you pay for the day that you leave?

 

I was going to so a park sleep cruise package but I have will have a $75 my points gift card for a Marriott hotel so I am going to stay in Parsippany free and then park at the port.

 

If anyone is interested in the pricing I got for my date of June 17th, 2011

 

Hilton Garden on Staten Island was $178 for a package.

County Inn and Suites was $179 for a package.

Fairfield Inn at Newark Airport was $119 with only parking at hotel and no shuttle service.

 

These prices are only the start of any comparison you might want to make. The first thing you have to do is find out the hotel price including tax. Hilton Garden includes parking and port shuttle (no extra charge for 4 people), but no breakfast. The Country Inns offers sleep/park and sleep/cruise, but you have to call them to get a price for sleep/park/cruise. Breakfast is free, but the shuttle costs extra for more than 2 people. For other park/sleeps look at www.trinityreservations.com which publishes rates that include tax. Only one hotel is showing there now for next June, but I'm sure there will be more as the time gets closer. For a park/sleep you will pay about $110 to go round trip to the port by car service. You can reduce this by about $25 for 2 people if you take the $15 shuttle back to the airport and then the shuttle back to the hotel.

[138east]

We're planning on going on the Explorer for the 6/23 cruise. I wanted to book 3 cabins on deck 2 aft but I'm wondering if Studio B in the middle blocks you from walking down the hallway to the front of the ship's elevators. I don't want to have to go up two floors, walk the length of the ship and then go down two floors to access the theater. Plus having access to only one set of elevators could mean alot of stairs for my MIL (who I think is going to have alot of problems with all the walking on the ship). Thanks!

 

Are you looking at inside or oceanview rooms? Have you considered the Promenade rooms? The reality of the Explorer for someone with mobility issues is that you want to be close to the aft elevators, which service all the major food venues, guest services, Studio B, pool deck, and the sports deck. Disembarkation is usually via the aft as well. The only things by the forward elevators are the Spa and Fitness Center, the theater, and a couple of bars.

[crisndeefromde]

Gamblers: Are there 'Let it Ride' tables on the Explorer?

 

Oh yes.....I think I left some money there for you too....lol

[scotandtamcruzn4fun]

Good morning. Does anyone know if the chocalate breakfast is available on the Explorer?

[ElyseB]

My TA said not all deck 6 balconies have metal up to railing. We have cabin 6312 and she said that has plexi-glass.

Anyone know for sure?

[138east]

Deck 6 has a shorter plexiglass than decks 7, 8 and 9. If you stand by the railing you can see fine, but if you are seated the view is not as good. Having said that, we were in 6612 which is the same cabin on the other side of the ship at the beginning of the hump. The location is really good - very near the aft elevators which IMO is where you want to be on the Explorer.

[Madison81]

Hi: We're leaving on the Explorer 11/7 and have cabin 8618 (Hump). If anyone has been in there recently, please let us know if they have a flat screen or anything interesting we'd need to know.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Stay safe.

 

We stayed in this cabin last week and loved it so much we booked the same cabin for the same week next year :)

 

No flat screen TVs but I never noticed until I got back and saw so many people asking...and then looked at my pictures. Speaking of pictures I have some of the room, and other Explorer pics, on the photo review I did here - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1276949 I think the cabin pics are on pg 3.

 

We had a great Stateroom Attendant, Puja from Bali, but he is going home for 3 weeks the end of Oct. so I'm not sure if he will be back yet when you sail.

 

If you need wifi or to use the ship computers the internet cafe is just steps from the room. The elevators & stairs are right there also so it was easy to just pop in to the room to leave or grab something and then go wherever else we wanted to go. We only ever heard people noise one time and these folks could have been heard no matter where we were on deck 8, or 7 or 9.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sue

AKA Madison81

[Madison81]

My husband and I are booked for the same cruise and counting the days until the 23rd!

 

I've sailed ONCE before on Explorer and we boarded around 11:45 a.m. That was a cruise out of Miami back in '07. We plan on arriving about 11:30 and hope to again board around 11:45. I'd like to hear the opinion of others who have left from Bayonne, though.

 

We were just on the 9/11 Explorer 5 day to Bermuda. We drove down from MA and arrived at the terminal at 11:10, porters came immediately to take the luggage, my DH went to park the truck and was back in 5 minutes while I waited w/the carry-ons. About 30 people were waiting to be let into the terminal building. Once inside & checked in, with only 1 couple ahead of us in our line, we waited no more then 10 minutes to be called onto the shuttle. We were on the Explorer by about 11:45am.

 

Sue

AKA Madison81

[Beachgirl 2]

We were in cabin 9228 forward, and the plexiglass was only halfway and the metal the other half and this was on the 9th floor. Was it because it was so far forward on the ship? Want to book for next year, but want more of the glass. If you were sitting down, only could a little bit of the ocean. Did not ruin my trip at all! Loved the ship!

[Loralie]

I will be getting the soda card for my 2 teenagers. They want to know if they have orange soda on the ship and if shirley temples would be covered on the soda card. A Shirley temple is basically sprite colored red with a cherry. I think I read somewhere that the teen club has a "bar" so could they order something like a shirley temple and have it covered on the soda card?

 

Thanks,

 

Loralie

[PattyG12]

We got to the terminal at 11 and just a short wait until we were on board the Explorer having lunch at noon. Bayonne is a very nice terminal.

[scottishgirl87]

Hi there :)

 

Quick question for ya's.....we're going on the Explorer in March 2011 from Bayonne. Do RCI offer the airport luggage transfer from this port? We sailed from LA in 2008 and were able check in and have our luggage transferred to the airport by RCI.

 

Our flight is with Continental and doesn't leave Newark until 7.45pm at night so if we didn't have to lug our cases about all day we could do something a little more productive rather than sitting in the airport all day.

[138east]

There is no luggage valet. The major option with such a late flight is to go to the airport, rent a car (to store the luggage), and drive to Liberty State Park to take the boat to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. You can also drive back into Manhattan and pay to park the car and do what you like. Or you can get involved with a car service or public transportation to Manhattan, pay to store your luggage at Schwartz Travel, and take the bus or train back to the airport later. Lots of choices, but none of them ideal.

[scottishgirl87]

There is no luggage valet. The major option with such a late flight is to go to the airport, rent a car (to store the luggage), and drive to Liberty State Park to take the boat to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. You can also drive back into Manhattan and pay to park the car and do what you like. Or you can get involved with a car service or public transportation to Manhattan, pay to store your luggage at Schwartz Travel, and take the bus or train back to the airport later. Lots of choices, but none of them ideal.

 

Thanks for that :( Rather disappointed to say the least!

 

How come RCI offer this at some ports but not others?

[Ocean Boy]

We got to the terminal at 11 and just a short wait until we were on board the Explorer having lunch at noon. Bayonne is a very nice terminal.

 

I think this is the first time that I have ever read of the Bayonne terminal being described as nice.

[bangzoom6877]

Good morning. Does anyone know if the chocalate breakfast is available on the Explorer?

 

Ooh...I'm very intrigued by this. What is the chocolate breakfast?

[dajulieness]

I think this is the first time that I have ever read of the Bayonne terminal being described as nice.

 

It was nice that we got there around 11am and were sitting in the windjammer by 11:45 lol

 

The scenery in Bayonne NJ was not the highlight of the cruise.

[traveling1969]

Do the doors (partitions) between the balconies of the Grand Suites open up? I know that the aft partition of 1288 is a bulkhead and doesn't open but how about between 1284 and 1288 or between 1280 and 1284?

[Bound4Bermuda]

The RCI web site mentioned that there's some sort of science lab on Explorer. Do they have tours/activities in the lab? My 11-year-old is a science nut, and would looooove anything available to see or do there.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Does anyone know who will be Captain on the Dec 19th Holiday cruise?

[BND]

The RCI web site mentioned that there's some sort of science lab on Explorer. Do they have tours/activities in the lab? My 11-year-old is a science nut, and would looooove anything available to see or do there.

 

The lab was removed during the drydock earlier this year.

[Loralie]

Is there a teens club on the Explorer? If not...where do the teens meet up for their activities?

 

Thanks,

 

Loralie