All Things Explorer of the Seas! -- Part 2

[megr1125]

I'll be boarding the Explorer on the 27th and just wondering if anyone can give me some info on the gym, like hours of operation and if any classes are offered. I figure, with as much as I'm going to be eating, I better be working it off at the same time.

 

Also, if anyone has any pictures of standard inside cabin, that would be greatly appreciated as well!

 

Thanks!

 

GYM???? whatsagym?? lol

 

if you find one of Radio's threads, there's a link in his siggy to all his albums...there should be plenty of inside pix there...and also, he has the Compasses posted from our November cruise so that should give you some gym hours...

[Virtopia]

Thank you both!!

 

Heading to find Radio's thread right now. I like that it closes at 11pm. Work out until close, shower and then a midnight room delivery (which will probably defeat the purpose of my workout) Ah, nothing like cruising.

[emmy]

Explorer is in Bayonne today :)

 

 

http://nyharborwebcam.com/

 

 

Watching her leave right now on the webcam :)

[runner15km]

GYM???? whatsagym?? lol

 

if you find one of Radio's threads, there's a link in his siggy to all his albums...there should be plenty of inside pix there...and also, he has the Compasses posted from our November cruise so that should give you some gym hours...

 

A gym could add 5 years to your cruising life. LOL:)

[megr1125]

A gym could add 5 years to your cruising life. LOL:)

 

OR shorten it if i break something...trust me..i am MUCH safer NOT in the gym!

 

i will take the stairs..sometimes....

[gaylemh]

Me ten trips on Explorer with 3 more booked.

 

Hi Dick, Did you cancel the September 2012 cruise on Explorer? I was looking forward to seeing you and Mari again. Gail

[katieaz]

My niece asked for a recommendation for first cruise with her hubby and kid for summer 2012. Must be out or nyc area, kids are boys 6/8. Thought about RCCL 5day but the itinerary is so so and am concerned about older ship have read on cc that their are odor problems. I am considering recommending Celebrity. I am afraid that 7 day Carnival Miracle may be too much party. Any thoughts? Thanks, Kate

[megr1125]

My niece asked for a recommendation for first cruise with her hubby and kid for summer 2012. Must be out or nyc area, kids are boys 6/8. Thought about RCCL 5day but the itinerary is so so and am concerned about older ship have read on cc that their are odor problems. I am considering recommending Celebrity. I am afraid that 7 day Carnival Miracle may be too much party. Any thoughts? Thanks, Kate

 

I've never been on a ship that didn't have SOME sewage smell..on occasion, here and there...you may or may not notice it..and it can be anyplace on the ship.....it results when people flush stuff that they shouldn't and then the lines get clogged....

 

on EX in November i really didn't notice much smell at all....

[mets550]

My niece asked for a recommendation for first cruise with her hubby and kid for summer 2012. Must be out or nyc area, kids are boys 6/8. Thought about RCCL 5day but the itinerary is so so and am concerned about older ship have read on cc that their are odor problems. I am considering recommending Celebrity. I am afraid that 7 day Carnival Miracle may be too much party. Any thoughts? Thanks, Kate

 

Explorer is a great ship for kids. Highly recommend.

[andrea lynn]

My niece asked for a recommendation for first cruise with her hubby and kid for summer 2012. Must be out or nyc area, kids are boys 6/8. Thought about RCCL 5day but the itinerary is so so and am concerned about older ship have read on cc that their are odor problems. I am considering recommending Celebrity. I am afraid that 7 day Carnival Miracle may be too much party. Any thoughts? Thanks, Kate

I was on the EOS 12/11/12 and thankfully did not experience any odor... As for the Miracle we did that a few years back and LOVED it... NOt at all like your typical Carnival party ship LOTS of families of all ages and mostly NYers, turned out we knew several other families on board.

[C Cruise Dude]

I was on the EOS 12/11/12 and thankfully did not experience any odor... As for the Miracle we did that a few years back and LOVED it... NOt at all like your typical Carnival party ship LOTS of families of all ages and mostly NYers, turned out we knew several other families on board.

 

Cool, a time traveller!

[demodawn]

We were just on explorer in Nov with 2 four year olds and a two year old. We all had a great time and would go again in second. I did smell the sewage a few times but not enought to bother me. As Meg said I have smelled it on just about all cruises. Kids club was top. Kids didnt want to leave.

[my4luvs]

i have never been on the celebrity, but my friends have with their children. celebrity was not kid oriented but i have been on the explorer 5 times with my kids and they absolutely loved it. adventure ocean is a must. carnival is too much of a party boat

[beachbuddy]

My niece asked for a recommendation for first cruise with her hubby and kid for summer 2012. Must be out or nyc area, kids are boys 6/8. Thought about RCCL 5day but the itinerary is so so and am concerned about older ship have read on cc that their are odor problems. I am considering recommending Celebrity. I am afraid that 7 day Carnival Miracle may be too much party. Any thoughts? Thanks, Kate

 

We were on Celebrity Silhouette over Thanksgiving and I can tell you I don't think it's kid friendly at all. There were very few kids onboard and the ones I did see were walking around with workers from the kids club and they were all little ones I'd say around 5 yrs old. I'd definitely pick RCCL over Celebrity.

[red devil]

Hi Dick, Did you cancel the September 2012 cruise on Explorer? I was looking forward to seeing you and Mari again. Gail

Yes we did cancel. We are going in May for our 55Th anniversary.

[red devil]

[katieaz]

WOW! Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will recommend RCCL. it does have a great kids. You guys are the best! Hope to see you one a cruise sometime soon. We will be on RCCL Mariner in October (Holy Land) assuming the ports are safe???. Happy Sailing

 

Kate

[terrirus]

I was just reading on a post elsewhere, that you can bring food off the ship. If you were having a beach day and wanted to bring something off for lunch. Is this possible, or will they stop you as you leave.

The post recommended bringing a collapsible cooler and ice pack.

Just wondering!

[booze brothers]

They are usually pretty strict about removing food from the ship, even at a port .

 

Most of the time there is a sign warning against removing food, when disembarking .[/b]

[Canagirl]

Yes, what booze brothers says is accurate. It is not because of the cruise line but because of the port and concerns with their local food safety.

 

There is a possibility if it was something pre-packaged, like a granola bar, it might be okay, but you couldn't take any fruit or any food that was prepared on the ship or did not come pre-packaged or is not still in the original package (e.g. you couldn't put a sandwich in a ziploc bag!)

Edited January 13, 2012 by Canagirl

[asoowal]

Curious minds want to know…what to expect.

Thanks,

Aaron

[Canagirl]

Curious minds want to know…what to expect.

Thanks,

Aaron

 

We did the 10 day, but didn't bring the Compass home with us.

 

However - Radio did his great 'live' thread which you can read here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1514642

 

He also posted scans of the Compass here:

 

http://public.fotki.com/Radio88/

[red devil]

Do they charge for WI FI and do you have to buy a package my daughter would like to know.

And where is the best place to go.

Thanks

Dick

[Jester580]

Yes they charge for WiFi and it's not cheap. We had to usually go to either the Cafe Promenade or up to the internet lounge to get WiFi service. The WiFi is the same as the wired computers they provide, and it was something like $0.67/min and it is SLOW!

[Jester580]

Oh also I did want to reply to the question about removing food from the ship.... Yes they do say you cannot take food with you, but we broke the rule at every port. What we did was take a bunch of zip lock bags in our luggage (I'm not cheap, but we had a couple of excursions that did not provide time to dine and ran past lunch hour). So we went to the wind jammer the night before, grabbed a plate of sandwiches fruit or bagels and took them back to the room and just stuffed them in our beach bags as security does not inspect your bags coming off the ship.

 

Just a helpful tip!

 

 

Also for sneaking booze on, I'm not going to say I did this, which I may have, but we bought 4 bottles of rum at the bacardi factory and hid one under towels in our beach bag. Security saw we had bottles and directed us to the booze check in station where we conviniently only gave them 3 bottles, thus leaving one to take back to the room :D