The Holidays on the Explorer: My Diary

[silvercrikhix]

I am enjoying your Holiday Explorer Cruise Review. Thank you for the time and consideration you put into this endeavor! Looking forward to more, while I anticipate sailing her in April :D.

[maxs mom]

This was such a perfect and enjoyable beach day......warm.....no humidity. The food was outstanding. We had grilled shrimp, chicken, prime rib. It was delicious.

The new restrooms were quite nice.

The zip line looked like loads of fun. We decided we would definitely do that next time. Here is the practice run. They said if you didn't have a heart attack on this, then you could do the real one!

The Dragon Coaster also looked like a lot of fun. Our tablemates did that and they loved it.

Soon it was time to head back to the ship and say goodbye to our hosts.

[maxs mom]

Jane, I'm anxiously awaiting the rest of your report. Lovely so far. The photo pulling into Labadee is awesome, I have never seen a shot like that one before.

 

Hey Janet! Thanks! Nice of you to stop by!

[maxs mom]

Oh....I almost forgot. While we were lounging on Barefoot Beach, our tablemates, Joe and Tony strolled by. My boys!!!!! It was great seeing them out and about! They were just precious!

After we got back to the ship, we got our daily dose of soft ice cream, had showers, and took a nap. We went to the CL for drinks later......very quiet in there this year. Last year it was quite rowdy, but fun. Very subdued crowd this year.

After dinner we walked along the Promenade for a while and went to bed. We're very dull!

[maxs mom]

Thursday 12-23-10

Samana, Dominican Republic

Another beautiful day in the Caribbean! We were up early and had a quick breakfast in the WJ. With so many missing passengers, the WJ was bearable.

This is a tender port and it wasn't too bad to get to the pier. We met a group from our roll call there at 9:15. Nan had arranged this beach/snorkling trip that sounded prety neat so we signed on. Here we are ready to go!

This is the ship as seen from the dock.

Well.....we all go together and piled into two taxi vans. We took a 40 minute cab ride which took us to a beach.....whereupon we board these tiny boats for the rest of the trip out to Playa Rincon. Now I thought we would have a leisurely like catamaran type boat ride! Oh no......not to be. We whipped along like Cuban refugees in these little boats.....bouncing up and down, taking a beating, and getting drenched!! At one point I grabbed hold of the man sitting in front of me......I didn't really know him yet, but we got to be real good friends fast!

It was a 20 minute wild ride! At one point we had to stop and rearrange positions to distribute the weight a little better!

We finally got to the beach and all but kissed the ground. Then we realized that we were going to have to go back the same way we got there! :eek:

[maxs mom]

I was totally drenched after that boat ride!

Here is the other boat as they arrived at the beach.

We soon got over our travel shock and set up camp on the beach for the day. Hey.......this beach is beautiful.....no.....it's stunning! We got a couple of beers and were able to relax.

[maxs mom]

I'm not kidding.....what a beautiful beach.

[The Big Booper]

Kandi.......

[maxs mom]

So the group recovered form the boat ride and we started to enjoy ourselves.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

[maxs mom]

Kandi.......

 

LOL Dave!!!!! You know I never did hear from them!!

[FreshOffTheBoat]

I'm not kidding.....what a beautiful beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

wow those shots are amazing. How long did you have at this beach?

[The Big Booper]

The DR beach looks nice but I don't know if my back and legs could have taken the pounding of the speedboat ride.

 

We did use the day on the ship to play two rounds of mini golf, like the old farts we are, and to take a silver medal in the shuffleboard championship, like the old farts we are. And win two trivia contests, like the...............

[maxs mom]

The surf was a little rough today. A little???? I mean a lot rough! But we managed to enjoy a swim. The water was great.

Our friend, Wendy decided to join us out in the water, but as she was walking out to us, she was hit by a huge wave and was forced to do a split! She really took a tumble. (There's a video on Facebook......I must say ......I had to laugh!) But it wasn't funny at the time.

So we helped her out of the water. She was in terrible pain. Ended up having to go to the ship's doctor a couple of times and is still in a lot of pain today. But she was a trouper and didn't let it ruin her trip.

[maxs mom]

All things considered, it was a great beach day. There was a place there to get fresh grilled food. I had delicious chicken with rice and beans. No bathrooms to speak of though......we had to improvise!

Soon it was time to board those wonderful boats and head back to the ship. We wore life jackets this time!

We were very thankful to be back on land. ha!! Compare this picture to the one when we started out!

It was truly an experience! Thanks, Nan, for organizing this trip. It really was memorable!!

Edited January 8, 2011 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Gotta take a break right now. Back later!

[maxs mom]

wow those shots are amazing. How long did you have at this beach?

 

We were on the beach probably 3 and a half to 4 hours I think. It was a great day.

[ah4sail]

I'm loving your diary!!! We'll be on the Explorer in Feb -- our first RCL cruise, though we've been on numerous others. Looking at your pictures is making me count the days (41!!!)

 

Thanks so much for sharing!

 

Anne

[ncb106]

We were on the beach probably 3 and a half to 4 hours I think. It was a great day.

i was on the same cruise i had alot of fun sorry i didnt make to the meet mingle,me and my mother love the cruise,we are going on the allure in december b2b cant wait

[maxs mom]

i was on the same cruise i had alot of fun sorry i didnt make to the meet mingle,me and my mother love the cruise,we are going on the allure in december b2b cant wait

 

Oh....sorry that we didn't get to meet you. Go to the Meet and Mingles!! We have met life long friends through Cruise Critic! It's really a neat thing! Have fun on the Allure. I hear it's fantastic!

[houlacruiser]

I can't believe it's been a year already since I was reading your review last year! I always loooove your reviews, and they come at the perfect time, since we sail on the Explorer for the 12 night every February. :)

[GSuitesailing]

Your review is great. I am loving all of your photos! Good to hear so far you are having a great time. Looking forward to the rest of the trip.

[parrotplay]

Our balcony was also very nice. Just a tad larger than most JS balconies. We had a comfy lounger' date=' two chairs, and a small table.[/size']

 

 

 

 

Thank you for these photo's, I am grinning from ear to ear!!! I just booked this cabin this week, it will be the first time in a JS and a hump cabin! :D:D:D

[maxs mom]

LOL!! We definitely did not feel like cruise ship passengers today! Always love getting out and about where most people don't go!! We hardly ever do any ship's excursions. Love to go to the best beaches on every island and relax.

When we got back to the ship today.....we had big time nap time!!! We got to the CL and dinner, but felt like we had been run over by a truck!! We went to bed right after dinner!.

[maxs mom]

Friday.....12-24-10

St. Thomas

Up early again today.....had breakfast...then caught a taxi out to Sapphire Beach. Usually on St. Thomas we flip flop between Sapphire and Secret Harbour. We've been to Secret Harbour the last couple of times in St. T, so today we opted for Sapphire. We got chairs for $7 pp and went as far to the right as we could go and camped out under some trees. It was very private there. This was an absolutely beautiful day, No humidity....just wonderful. We said, "This is the life! It's Christmas Eve and look where we are!!" Just fabulous.

[maxs mom]

Here are a couple of friends that we met on the beach today.

Our tablemate, Fred.....lost his wife about 6 weeks ago. He and his daughter brought his wife's ashes to Sapphire Beach today. This was her favorite beach and she wanted her ashes scattered here. They went out to the point and did that around noon today. We caught up with them later. I'm sure it was an emotional day for them. They said it was really good closure.

This is the point at Sapphire Beach.

Fred and Tory: