Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

All Things Explorer of the Seas! -- Part 2

LauraS
 Share

Recommended Posts

celebrity

celebrity

Posted
Posted
Is comfort food available near the Lido deck pools that is included in your fare. I thinking of hamburgers, wings, fries, etc. Also is sushi available?

All of the above is available in the Windjammer which is the pool deck. I think Sushi is available in the evenings only at casual dining in the Windjammer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Virtopia

Virtopia

Posted
Posted

I'm booked on the Explorer for late January and I'm extremely excited!!

 

One question .. I'll be going as a solo traveler and my stops include Labadee, St Thomas, St Maaren and San Juan. Can anyone recommend any excursions that I wouldn't mind doing solo? I was thinking of walking around each city but I don't think that would be the best idea.

 

Plus, I also have 5 sea days and I'm wondering how many activities they have to fill up the days.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
138east

138east

Posted
Posted

Virtopia,

 

Labadee is a beach day - no need to spend money on anything if you don't want to. RCL has a captive audience here, so they offer a bunch of "extras" for this day. I did the Haitian cultural tour last Feb - we went by boat to a private beach, got a short tour, and just hung out for 3 hours away from the bustle of Labadee.

 

IMO no real need for a ship's excursion in any of these ports. For St. Thomas you can just hop one of the safari cabs along with everyone else to go to the beach - Magen's Bay, Coki, Sapphire Beach, etc. If you want a tour, check the STT board - there are several popular private tours like Sonny Liston and Air Force One. RCL is offering 6.5 hour trips to St. John for $40 - this is a good deal so you might want to look at one of those - it would be some "tour" plus free time (or all free time if you like).

 

For STM you can just take the water taxi across the harbor to Phillipsburg - this gives you shopping plus the downtown beach - the best of both worlds.

 

You won't have much time in San Juan. There is a free trolley around the old city, but it gets crowded. If you want to ride it, it's better to walk to one of the stops before the pier so you can get a seat. If you want to go to El Morro, this is a good way to get there.

 

All of these ports are comfortable as a solo if you stay in the tourist areas - Labadee is a private island, STT and San Juan are US possessions, and STM is Dutch - very orderly.

 

Don't know what your rollcall group has planned - please try to meet Red Devil (Dick & Mari) - they will know what's going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
johneeo

johneeo

Posted
Posted
I'm booked on the Explorer for late January and I'm extremely excited!!

 

One question .. I'll be going as a solo traveler and my stops include Labadee, St Thomas, St Maaren and San Juan. Can anyone recommend any excursions that I wouldn't mind doing solo? I was thinking of walking around each city but I don't think that would be the best idea.

 

Plus, I also have 5 sea days and I'm wondering how many activities they have to fill up the days.

 

Thanks!

 

Hard to recommend as we do not know what you like to do. However, if I were solo, I would want some active excursions.

 

So, here are my recommendations. St. Thomas, look at the Fury snorkeling excursion. It is a real sailboat, maybe a dozen people. Book direct, and it should cost about $50. The nice thing about this is it can be done in the morning or afternoon, which will give you about 3 hours to shop or go to the top of the mountain by the port. All of that is in walking distance, so you do not need to arrange any transportation.

 

St. Martin, look at the America's Cup Yacht Race. Again, it leaves from the port, no need for transportation. Great excursion, and you will get to work the sails and interact with the others. If you do not want to work, you can be the bartender or just sit back and take pictures.

 

Puerto Rico, Segway excursion was tremendous. About 6 to 8 people, really fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ETski

ETski

Posted
Posted
Virtopia,

 

Labadee is a beach day - no need to spend money on anything if you don't want to. RCL has a captive audience here, so they offer a bunch of "extras" for this day. I did the Haitian cultural tour last Feb - we went by boat to a private beach, got a short tour, and just hung out for 3 hours away from the bustle of Labadee.

 

IMO no real need for a ship's excursion in any of these ports. For St. Thomas you can just hop one of the safari cabs along with everyone else to go to the beach - Magen's Bay, Coki, Sapphire Beach, etc. If you want a tour, check the STT board - there are several popular private tours like Sonny Liston and Air Force One. RCL is offering 6.5 hour trips to St. John for $40 - this is a good deal so you might want to look at one of those - it would be some "tour" plus free time (or all free time if you like).

 

For STM you can just take the water taxi across the harbor to Phillipsburg - this gives you shopping plus the downtown beach - the best of both worlds.

 

You won't have much time in San Juan. There is a free trolley around the old city, but it gets crowded. If you want to ride it, it's better to walk to one of the stops before the pier so you can get a seat. If you want to go to El Morro, this is a good way to get there.

 

All of these ports are comfortable as a solo if you stay in the tourist areas - Labadee is a private island, STT and San Juan are US possessions, and STM is Dutch - very orderly.

 

Don't know what your rollcall group has planned - please try to meet Red Devil (Dick & Mari) - they will know what's going on.

 

 

 

Yes we agree with 138East everything she said is right on target. Also what she said about Red Devil(Dick and Mari)is also true. They are the nicest people you ever want to meet. We have cruised with Dick and Mari 2 times and this will be our 3 with them. I'm ETski (Lynn) and FishonEd is my husband. We are on your the roll call. Please ask as many questions on our roll call. We have a few more on the Jan27 roll call that have cruised together. Great bunch of people:) You should have not problems on this cruise, cruising solo, very friendly group. So far we have only got a slot pull started. I will post more about it on the roll call.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JayS

JayS

Posted
Posted
Virtopia,

 

 

 

IMO no real need for a ship's excursion in any of these ports. For St. Thomas you can just hop one of the safari cabs along with everyone else to go to the beach - Magen's Bay, Coki, Sapphire Beach, etc. If you want a tour, check the STT board - there are several popular private tours like Sonny Liston and Air Force One. RCL is offering 6.5 hour trips to St. John for $40 - this is a good deal so you might want to look at one of those - it would be some "tour" plus free time (or all free time if you like).

 

 

In 2009 the cabs were offering a $25 tour of the island with an hour or so in the downtown area for shopping and return to the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
megr1125

megr1125

Posted
Posted
Is Richard Spacey still scheduled to take over as CD of the Explorer? Has it happened yet?

 

(138East, I always want to wave back when I see your avatar. ;) )

 

not that i know of...i heard we are getting someone else...ALSO someone of whom i have never heard...

 

that said, as long as the CD isn't one of the 2 in the fleet that make me wanna puke, i don't care who it is!!!!:D:p

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DBR61

DBR61

Posted
Posted
Can any of you Explorer experts tell me if the pools on board are salt or fresh water?

 

TIA!

 

Definitely salt water. We just came back from a cruise on the Explorer. It shocked my husband when he went in for a dip. He wasn't expecting it. :)

 

Doreen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kassimer1

kassimer1

Posted
Posted
guess i better go back and read where this rumor started. just got off the oasis and he said he isn't leaving his home!

 

@ weeks ago we spoke with a rccl rep about our nov 20 cruise and she told us he was going to be the cruise director. So maybe it started with rccl???

Link to comment
Share on other sites
megr1125

megr1125

Posted
Posted
@ weeks ago we spoke with a rccl rep about our nov 20 cruise and she told us he was going to be the cruise director. So maybe it started with rccl???

 

well we all know how accurate info coming out of RCI can be....:rolleyes::D

 

we will just have to be surprised.....not that i care one way or another...(as long as it is NOT one of 2, i am fine...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crisndeefromde

crisndeefromde

Posted
Posted
well we all know how accurate info coming out of RCI can be....:rolleyes::D

 

we will just have to be surprised.....not that i care one way or another...(as long as it is NOT one of 2, i am fine...)

 

I am so so jealous....Meg!!! you are going on your cruise with some great peeps!!!!! Awesome....wish I could come along...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Loralie

Loralie

Posted
Posted

I was just reading a thread about Lunch in Portifinos. Some people thought that on some ships, lunch is offered for $10.00 per person and some people said it was a pasta demo.

 

Does anyone on this thread know if either one is offered on the Explorer? Do you know what the menu is? Any info would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Loralie

Link to comment
Share on other sites
red devil

red devil

Posted
Posted
I was just reading a thread about Lunch in Portifinos. Some people thought that on some ships, lunch is offered for $10.00 per person and some people said it was a pasta demo.

 

Does anyone on this thread know if either one is offered on the Explorer? Do you know what the menu is? Any info would be great.

 

Thanks,

 

Loralie

 

Lunch in Portifinos on the Explorer is for Suite guest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
smeck

smeck

Posted
Posted
Hi all,

 

We will be on the Explorer on December 1st. From the photos I've seen of snow covered decks, I'm really hoping that the pools are heated!?:confused:

Or do they heat up really fast when we get down south?

 

Thanks,

 

Karyn

 

As far as I know Mother Nature provides all the heat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...