Review of the Explorer of the Seas - May 10-19, 2012 Bermuda - Caribbean Cruise

[speakertosuits]

Comments and questions welcome (I think).

Summary: This is our third cruise on Royal Caribbean International (RCI) and we found it to be enjoyable with a more energetic feel compared to other ships we have been on. Having a nine day cruise allows access to more Caribbean islands and for a more relaxed pace. Being a large ship, the Explorer of the Seas (Explorer or ExOTS) offers a great variety of activities and entertainment and except for the two promenade parades, we rarely felt crowded.

Background: Mary and I (Bob) are an early 60s couple, recently retired and living in Brooklyn, NY. This is our 35st cruise, mostly Holland America with a number of cruises with Celebrity, Princess, Norwegian Cruises and now RCI. We have cruised in the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, transatlantic and Hawaii.

The Itinerary: The Explorer has been doing alternating nine day cruises to Bermuda and the Caribbean or the Bahamas with five day Bermuda cruises. This cruise departed Cape Liberty Cruise Port aka Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal on Thursday May10th at 5P with stops at Bermuda (Saturday 9A to 5P), St. Maarten (Monday 12 noon to 8P), San Juan (Tuesday 7A to 1P), Labadee, Haiti (Wednesday 8A to 4P) returning to Cape Liberty on Saturday May 19th at 7A. For this cruise, the ExOTS was the only ship in each port. Since we have been to most of these ports before, we either walked around the port area or rolled our own shore excursions.

The Ship: The Explorer is the second of five Voyager class ships whose most notable feature is the Royal Promenade, a four story high, three lane wide indoor atrium that extends about 300 feet through the center of the ship on deck 5 between the forward and aft Centrums. The Royal Promenade has “window” rooms that look out onto the promenade from both sides on the upper three levels and a mix of shops, bars and eating venues on deck 5. The Centrums are another feature of RCI ships and these extended from deck 3 to deck 12 forward and to deck 14 aft.

Most of the public spaces are on decks 3 to 5 and decks 11 to 14. The main dining room is aft on decks 3 to 5 with buffet options in the Windjammer Café aft on deck 11. For more information on the Voyager class of ships, go to this URL http://voyager-class.com/. Although the ExOTS is over twelve years old, the crew keeps her in fine condition, constantly cleaning, painting and polishing. We did not notice any off odors that a few others have noted.

Pre-cruise: Living in Brooklyn, we arranged for a private car service to deliver us to Cape Liberty via the Verrazano and Bayonne Bridges. Tolls for the two bridges were $28 RT. Total fare with tolls ran $120 with a nice tip. The traffic light for the turn onto Port Terminal Boulevard can be the main delay point for those coming south off Exit 14A of the New Jersey Turnpike. Since we came north off the Bayonne Bridge, traffic delay was minimal. Door-to-door travel time was less than an hour. After delivering the luggage to the porters, we had our boarding papers and ID checked at the entry to the terminal building. Have your Setsail Pass and passport/other government ID in hand when you enter the terminal. Immediately after entry, you clear the standard airport security system (carry-on x-ray and metal detector portals), but you can wear your shoes and belt. After security, you enter the main hall with multiple service positions for getting your room/ID card. For suite and Diamond (D), Diamond+ (D+) and Pinnacle (P) club passengers (pax), there is a separate VIP service area to your left when you enter the main hall. Not sure if we saved time there since the main hall was not busy at 11:30. After getting our room cards, we had to go to a separate service position where our pictures were taken. Immediately afterwards, we boarded a shuttle bus for a 3 minute ride to the ship.

Upon boarding, we asked to and were allowed to drop our carry-ons in our cabin. Normally, access to the cabins is blocked till early afternoon. We then went to the Windjammer Café which is a self serve buffet on deck 11 for lunch and walked around the ship. Forward of the Windjammer on deck 11 is the general pool area, the Solarium (adult only) and the gym. The pool areas are open with no retractable covers but plentiful shaded areas. Deck 12 has more spa facilities forward with a sun and running area amidships and Johnny Rockets and some teen and children areas aft. Cabins were unblocked at 1:30P and both our check bags were waiting for us in the room. Muster (emergency) drill at 4:15P did not require that you bring your lifejacket. After muster drill, we met a number of people from the Cruise Critic roll call for sail-away on the helo deck forward on deck 5.

The Cabin: We booked a Grand Suite, 1256, forward starboard. At about 390 ft2 with a 90 ft2 balcony, the cabin is double the width of a standard balcony cabin. As one enters, to the left is a dressing area with three closets and a waist high granite topped dresser with six large drawers and a built-in mini-fridge. The closets are to the left against the hallway wall and the dresser is on the right of this area which divides the dressing area from the living room area. There is also a bar setup area with glasses and an ice bucket. There are full length mirrors on the closet doors.

 

The only gripe we have about this class of cabins is that the lighting for the two closets furthest from the entry door is very inadequate. Mary noted acerbically that she should not have to use a flashlight to find her shoes in the closet. An extra ceiling light by the last two closets would help

 

To the right of the entry is a large bathroom with a tub shower, dual sink vanity and a shelf for towels. The sink vanity has drawers down the middle and hidden trashcans under each sink. The mirror above the sink has storage behind it for toiletries. Amenities included bath soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body lube. There is a razor point with both 110V and 220V outlets. The razor point is powered only when the bathroom light is on. Beyond the bathroom door is a mirror along with switches for the down lights by the windows and sliders for controlling the light levels in the cabin.

 

The living area beyond the dresser has a large sofa, two club chairs and a coffee table. The sofa is flanked by two end tables with lamps. Behind the bathroom is a sleeping alcove for a king sized bed and a vanity desk area with four more dresser drawers and a mirror area above the vanity with two hidden storage areas behind the side mirrors. The coffee/tea service setup is on the desk and there are 110V and 220V outlets just below the mirror. The balcony siding door is on the living area side with a light switch for the balcony light to the right of the door. The LCD TV and DVD player are in a low console to the left of the balcony sliding door. The balcony had two chairs a full height table and a lounger. The veranda deck had teak flooring.

Pax booking a full suite (Grand, Royal Family, Owner and Royal) have access to the concierge lounge on deck 9 aft which has morning continental breakfast and a cappuccino/espresso machine and cookies in the afternoon. Access to the lounge is by the room card. The concierge has regular morning and afternoon hours. From 5P to 8:30P, there is a nightly cocktail party in the lounge that is limited to suite pax. In addition to complimentary cocktails, wine and beer, there are hot and cold appetizers available. Suite pax have access to reserved seating in the main theatre as well as a separate seating area on the pool deck. In addition to the regular ice dancing shows in Studio B, there was a special show for suite and D+/P club pax with complimentary cocktails.

The Ports: We docked at Kings Wharf at the Royal Naval Dockyards on the northwest tip of Bermuda. There is a maritime museum at the dockyards along with a shopping mall and an assortment of restaurants. There is a ferry into Hamilton (schedule available online; tokens for the ferry ride can be bought right at the pier; $4 each way). Weather was sunny with temps about 70 F. The Clock Tower Mall at the dockyards had a good selection of vendors though there were some empty spaces. I did the Segway tour of the dockyards which cost $75 for 90 minutes. The Segway is a battery-powered single person scooter. Forward/reserve motion is achieved by leaning forward or back and steering is done with a scooter like tiller. Although not difficult to use, it is not easy to stand still on them. Also, my lower leg and back muscles were a bit sore afterwards. Still, it is definitely worth the price. Mary chose to do other things in the dockyards area and we went back to the ship for lunch.

At this port and at Philipsburg and San Juan, a group of motorcycle riders who brought their bikes on board were able to tour the islands with an escort from local bike clubs and/or police. I believe this is done regularly by a third party tour company. There were about twenty bikers on this cruise.

Monday noon saw us docking at the main pier at Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. There we took a taxi to Maho beach where the planes come in perilously close to the road for landing (and blow sand and the unwary beachgoer into the sea on takeoff). If you see videos of planes landing at St Maarten on YouTube, they are not photo-shopped, they are real. We picked up some really good dark chocolates from the Belgian Chocolatier shop at the pier. Taxis are on a fixed rate and the two of us paid US$20 each way plus tip.

Tuesday saw us docking at the pier 3 at San Juan. Weather here was very hot and humid. We walked around the lower part of Fort Morro, a 17th century Spanish fort at the throat of the entry into San Juan harbor. If you do this walk, bring lots of water and go early in the morning as the there is no shelter from the sun once it cranks around to the southwest. You can reach this area by turning left after leaving the pier and heading towards a broad plaza area with a fountain at the end. Turn left at the fountain and follow the walkway around the base of the fort, a 1 to 2 mile walk. The walk is well paved with benches for sitting. On the way back or if you do not want to do the entire walk, the Red Gate is an entry into the old walled part of the city about a 1/4 mile past the fountain. Keep in mind that the streets and sidewalks in old San Juan are narrow, uneven and hilly. If you need a drugstore, there is a well stocked Rite-aid not far from the piers.

Wednesday dawned bright and hot as we docked at Labadee which is on the north shore of Haiti near the city of Cap Haitien. RCI has been using Labadee as their private beach port and they have added extensive civil works including a concrete pier than can accommodate two large ships, paved and compacted sand walks and roadways, fixed structures for shops, food service and rest rooms as well as the dragon roller coaster and zipline facilities. Tram service is available for the mobility impaired. We had access to the suite only beach and after an initial walk around; we went back to the Explorer to change to swim gear. However the walk back was so hot, we followed the advice of a more experienced cruiser and had our beach day on board. The solarium area was virtually empty with no chair hogs. The ship was pleasantly quiet most of the day. After noon, the pier was blocked off for a medivac copter to land and take off a pax with health problems. We later heard that the pax was recovering in a hospital in the Dominican Republic and would be flown back. Definitely worth having insurance with medivac coverage.

Dining: We had first seating at 6 PM in the Main Dining Room (MDR) at a table for 6 on deck 3. For reasons I will not go into, we switched to a table of 8 on deck 4. The quality of preparation of the food in the MDR was the equal of what we have had on Princess and HAL although the selections were less extensive. Service was efficient and the food, while not piping hot, was certainly at an acceptable temperature when served. As Diamond members, we also had access to the D/D+/P breakfast area in a private dining room on deck 3, but we drifted back to the Windjammer for its greater variety. Lunches in the MDR were also very good with a spec your own salad bar and 30 minute hot entrée service (usually faster unless they got slammed by a large inrush of pax at lunch). Formal dress nights were the first Friday, Sunday and Thursday. In most cases, men wore suits though many wore either blazers (with or w/o ties) and a few just wore resort casual attire.

The Windjammer offers a large variety of foods at breakfast and lunch and we often found ourselves eating there rather than the MDR. The first part of the Windjammer is divided into two sections serving identical items which are opened at staggered intervals as needed. Further back is the Island Grill area which has a reprise of the selections in the Windjammer Cafe. The salad bars are available in all areas. In addition, the Island Grill offers spec your own omelets at breakfast and spec your own sandwiches at lunch. The breakfast offerings were the same day to day as was many of the lunch entrees. The hidden gem here is the Jade Grill which is one of three hot/cold food service islands behind the Island Grill area. The Jade Grill which is on the starboard side offers Asian entrees such as congee and miso soups, various curries and Chinese dishes and sushi that change daily. Seating in the Island Grill area is more available than in the Windjammer. The table servers come around to offer beverages (both free and extra tariff) and clear away used plates. We did not use the Windjammer for dinner, but they have the same entrees as the MDR and then some.

There is no outdoor grill for burgers and such; the burgers at the Windjammer looked dry and overcooked. Soft ice cream dispensers are forward of the Windjammer on the starboard side. Although there is snack service from 3:30 to 5 PM each afternoon, we preferred the offerings in the Concierge lounge.

Yet another food venue is the Café Promenade in the Royal Promenade on deck 5. This is a 24 hour eatery which offers continental breakfast in the morning and light sandwiches, pizza and snacks the rest of the time. If you get it fresh, the pizzas were good, otherwise they were dried out. Seattle’s Best coffee, regular and decaf, along with hot water for hot cocoa and various teas and iced water/tea is available at all times. Extra tariff items include specialty coffees and Ben and Jerry Ice Cream. We did not try Portofino’s, the extra tariff Italian restaurant nor Johnny Rockets, the 50s diner but we heard positive reviews from other pax about them.

Entertainment: The cruise staff headed by Richard Spacey (lives up to the name) put on some good entertainment including a staff parade in the Royal Promenade the first night out and other activities there as well. We did not partake of the main production shows as we often find them over-amped. If you have a chance, do see the ice dancing show in Studio B which is offered several times during the cruise. It was a refreshing change from the regular run-of-the-mill shipboard entertainment and the ice skaters are quite good. Wear a jacket or at least a long sleeve shirt as Studio B is quite cold. Open skating sessions were also offered. The Quest also held in Studio B is a late night, adults’ only game show that can be quite hilarious and/or scandalous depending on your level of prudishness. The blues/rock band Take4 played late night in Dizzy’s club was the best entertainment for us. Roots Vibration did reggae and island music out on deck during sea days and were good as well. Latin and salsa music was played in the Aquarium bar on deck 4. Did not get to try the rock climbing wall; maybe next time.

Mary and later I hooked up with a good trivia team (one of two from Cruise Critic) and we won a number of daily games as well as the ultimate trivia contest which was held over five sea days. The activities were definitely higher energy than other ships we have been on. For Crown and Anchor members, there was a private party in the Maharajah Lounge. The Captain, Olav Nysetter, was quite visible around the ship and mingled freely with the pax.

The Staff: They were uniformly friendly and helpful from our MDR waitstaff to our room steward and bar staff. Our room steward Ruby, efficiently tended to the room and immediately synched into our morning schedule. When we got into our room, she came around and explained the services available and whether we received all of our luggage. We asked her empty the fridge and put the ice bucket there. One of the Diamond level perks are complimentary wine and 25% discounts on other drinks in the 19th Hole bar on deck 14 which we used on occasion. Also of note is a kinetic sculpture using billiard balls that is fascinating to watch.

The concierge, Mario Reyes, did an excellent job to greeting and helping the suite pax and along with waiters Winston and Tony, provided exceptional service in the concierge lounge despite overflow crowds in the evening. There was a special morning party with the ship senior officers for Suite pax on a sea day.

The Pax: Sailing out of the metropolitan New York area, most of the pax are from about a 2-3 hours drive of NYC though we met people from the west coast, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia. The pax are socially and ethnically diverse which made for interesting conversations. There were some children, but they were neither noticeable nor obnoxious.

Post cruise: We used the suite pax checkout which got us off the ship by 8A. We picked up our bags, cleared Immigration and Customs and got a local cab service home. The price worked out the same as our outbound trip and we got home by 9:30A.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thanks for your review. We are sailing the EX of S to Bermuda. It sounds like your shipboard experience was good.:) I had not read that the pax could use the skating rtink. Did they rent skates?

[sharod]

Thanks for the review!!!!

 

We will be on her April 2013 WITH our motorcycle!!! Looking forward to exploring the islands in a different manner. Hubby and I are looking forward to it!

[fish6]

Thanks for your review. We are sailing the EX of S to Bermuda. It sounds like your shipboard experience was good.:) I had not read that the pax could use the skating rtink. Did they rent skates?

I will be with you on our October cruise to Bermuda :) YES you can use the rink (refer to your cruise compass for times) and it is free. You have to wear a helmet now if you want to skate and don't forget to bring a long pair of pants and socks to wear.

 

Donna

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thanks Donna--I am looking forward to our cruise. I am sure I will have long pants and socks along. On any cruise from NJ/NYC in October you need to be prepared for cool weather (and hope for the best).

[spanky]

Having been on the same cruise with Spearkertosuits and (also meeting with him and his wife), I can say that his review was very detailed, honest & truthful. And his progressive trivia team did beat us (be we did come in 2nd)!

 

dave a.k.a. spanky

[Judicruise]

Thanks for your detailed and informative review of your voyage. We will be traveling on her for the 1st time in July. We also have cruised on Princess lately and haven't been on RCL since the Nordic Empress so your review was much appreciated.

[LBumb]

great job

[khm1]

Thank you for your very detailed review! I will be on the same itinerary on July 5. Can you tell me if the shops in town ( not at the pier) stay open past 5? I would like to do some shopping after our trip to the beach. Thanks.

[Luvscruising44]

Hello Bob & Mary! This is a great review. Enjoyed our times together, especially progressive trivial pursuit and the Blues Brother rendition in the 19th hole. I guess you heard that I didn't make it home until May 24th. Whatever bug I picked up on the ship put me in the hospital for 5 days. While I was in the hospital, Rich came down with Strep throat. Rich is finally better and I'm on oxygen. Will be seeing a Pulmonologist soon to find out what shape I'm in now. While in the hospital I had pulmonary hypertension and will now need further testing to find out if I have permanent damage. We booked another cruise onboard, so hope I'm in good enough shape to go on that one (it's not until April 3013). Take care. Luvs

Comments and questions welcome (I think).

Summary: This is our third cruise on Royal Caribbean International (RCI) and we found it to be enjoyable with a more energetic feel compared to other ships we have been on. Having a nine day cruise allows access to more Caribbean islands and for a more relaxed pace. Being a large ship, the Explorer of the Seas (Explorer or ExOTS) offers a great variety of activities and entertainment and except for the two promenade parades, we rarely felt crowded.

Background: Mary and I (Bob) are an early 60s couple, recently retired and living in Brooklyn, NY. This is our 35st cruise, mostly Holland America with a number of cruises with Celebrity, Princess, Norwegian Cruises and now RCI. We have cruised in the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, transatlantic and Hawaii.

The Itinerary: The Explorer has been doing alternating nine day cruises to Bermuda and the Caribbean or the Bahamas with five day Bermuda cruises. This cruise departed Cape Liberty Cruise Port aka Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal on Thursday May10th at 5P with stops at Bermuda (Saturday 9A to 5P), St. Maarten (Monday 12 noon to 8P), San Juan (Tuesday 7A to 1P), Labadee, Haiti (Wednesday 8A to 4P) returning to Cape Liberty on Saturday May 19th at 7A. For this cruise, the ExOTS was the only ship in each port. Since we have been to most of these ports before, we either walked around the port area or rolled our own shore excursions.

The Ship: The Explorer is the second of five Voyager class ships whose most notable feature is the Royal Promenade, a four story high, three lane wide indoor atrium that extends about 300 feet through the center of the ship on deck 5 between the forward and aft Centrums. The Royal Promenade has “window” rooms that look out onto the promenade from both sides on the upper three levels and a mix of shops, bars and eating venues on deck 5. The Centrums are another feature of RCI ships and these extended from deck 3 to deck 12 forward and to deck 14 aft.

Most of the public spaces are on decks 3 to 5 and decks 11 to 14. The main dining room is aft on decks 3 to 5 with buffet options in the Windjammer Café aft on deck 11. For more information on the Voyager class of ships, go to this URL http://voyager-class.com/. Although the ExOTS is over twelve years old, the crew keeps her in fine condition, constantly cleaning, painting and polishing. We did not notice any off odors that a few others have noted.

Pre-cruise: Living in Brooklyn, we arranged for a private car service to deliver us to Cape Liberty via the Verrazano and Bayonne Bridges. Tolls for the two bridges were $28 RT. Total fare with tolls ran $120 with a nice tip. The traffic light for the turn onto Port Terminal Boulevard can be the main delay point for those coming south off Exit 14A of the New Jersey Turnpike. Since we came north off the Bayonne Bridge, traffic delay was minimal. Door-to-door travel time was less than an hour. After delivering the luggage to the porters, we had our boarding papers and ID checked at the entry to the terminal building. Have your Setsail Pass and passport/other government ID in hand when you enter the terminal. Immediately after entry, you clear the standard airport security system (carry-on x-ray and metal detector portals), but you can wear your shoes and belt. After security, you enter the main hall with multiple service positions for getting your room/ID card. For suite and Diamond (D), Diamond+ (D+) and Pinnacle (P) club passengers (pax), there is a separate VIP service area to your left when you enter the main hall. Not sure if we saved time there since the main hall was not busy at 11:30. After getting our room cards, we had to go to a separate service position where our pictures were taken. Immediately afterwards, we boarded a shuttle bus for a 3 minute ride to the ship.

Upon boarding, we asked to and were allowed to drop our carry-ons in our cabin. Normally, access to the cabins is blocked till early afternoon. We then went to the Windjammer Café which is a self serve buffet on deck 11 for lunch and walked around the ship. Forward of the Windjammer on deck 11 is the general pool area, the Solarium (adult only) and the gym. The pool areas are open with no retractable covers but plentiful shaded areas. Deck 12 has more spa facilities forward with a sun and running area amidships and Johnny Rockets and some teen and children areas aft. Cabins were unblocked at 1:30P and both our check bags were waiting for us in the room. Muster (emergency) drill at 4:15P did not require that you bring your lifejacket. After muster drill, we met a number of people from the Cruise Critic roll call for sail-away on the helo deck forward on deck 5.

The Cabin: We booked a Grand Suite, 1256, forward starboard. At about 390 ft2 with a 90 ft2 balcony, the cabin is double the width of a standard balcony cabin. As one enters, to the left is a dressing area with three closets and a waist high granite topped dresser with six large drawers and a built-in mini-fridge. The closets are to the left against the hallway wall and the dresser is on the right of this area which divides the dressing area from the living room area. There is also a bar setup area with glasses and an ice bucket. There are full length mirrors on the closet doors.

 

The only gripe we have about this class of cabins is that the lighting for the two closets furthest from the entry door is very inadequate. Mary noted acerbically that she should not have to use a flashlight to find her shoes in the closet. An extra ceiling light by the last two closets would help

 

To the right of the entry is a large bathroom with a tub shower, dual sink vanity and a shelf for towels. The sink vanity has drawers down the middle and hidden trashcans under each sink. The mirror above the sink has storage behind it for toiletries. Amenities included bath soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body lube. There is a razor point with both 110V and 220V outlets. The razor point is powered only when the bathroom light is on. Beyond the bathroom door is a mirror along with switches for the down lights by the windows and sliders for controlling the light levels in the cabin.

 

The living area beyond the dresser has a large sofa, two club chairs and a coffee table. The sofa is flanked by two end tables with lamps. Behind the bathroom is a sleeping alcove for a king sized bed and a vanity desk area with four more dresser drawers and a mirror area above the vanity with two hidden storage areas behind the side mirrors. The coffee/tea service setup is on the desk and there are 110V and 220V outlets just below the mirror. The balcony siding door is on the living area side with a light switch for the balcony light to the right of the door. The LCD TV and DVD player are in a low console to the left of the balcony sliding door. The balcony had two chairs a full height table and a lounger. The veranda deck had teak flooring.

Pax booking a full suite (Grand, Royal Family, Owner and Royal) have access to the concierge lounge on deck 9 aft which has morning continental breakfast and a cappuccino/espresso machine and cookies in the afternoon. Access to the lounge is by the room card. The concierge has regular morning and afternoon hours. From 5P to 8:30P, there is a nightly cocktail party in the lounge that is limited to suite pax. In addition to complimentary cocktails, wine and beer, there are hot and cold appetizers available. Suite pax have access to reserved seating in the main theatre as well as a separate seating area on the pool deck. In addition to the regular ice dancing shows in Studio B, there was a special show for suite and D+/P club pax with complimentary cocktails.

The Ports: We docked at Kings Wharf at the Royal Naval Dockyards on the northwest tip of Bermuda. There is a maritime museum at the dockyards along with a shopping mall and an assortment of restaurants. There is a ferry into Hamilton (schedule available online; tokens for the ferry ride can be bought right at the pier; $4 each way). Weather was sunny with temps about 70 F. The Clock Tower Mall at the dockyards had a good selection of vendors though there were some empty spaces. I did the Segway tour of the dockyards which cost $75 for 90 minutes. The Segway is a battery-powered single person scooter. Forward/reserve motion is achieved by leaning forward or back and steering is done with a scooter like tiller. Although not difficult to use, it is not easy to stand still on them. Also, my lower leg and back muscles were a bit sore afterwards. Still, it is definitely worth the price. Mary chose to do other things in the dockyards area and we went back to the ship for lunch.

At this port and at Philipsburg and San Juan, a group of motorcycle riders who brought their bikes on board were able to tour the islands with an escort from local bike clubs and/or police. I believe this is done regularly by a third party tour company. There were about twenty bikers on this cruise.

Monday noon saw us docking at the main pier at Phillipsburg, St. Maarten. There we took a taxi to Maho beach where the planes come in perilously close to the road for landing (and blow sand and the unwary beachgoer into the sea on takeoff). If you see videos of planes landing at St Maarten on YouTube, they are not photo-shopped, they are real. We picked up some really good dark chocolates from the Belgian Chocolatier shop at the pier. Taxis are on a fixed rate and the two of us paid US$20 each way plus tip.

Tuesday saw us docking at the pier 3 at San Juan. Weather here was very hot and humid. We walked around the lower part of Fort Morro, a 17th century Spanish fort at the throat of the entry into San Juan harbor. If you do this walk, bring lots of water and go early in the morning as the there is no shelter from the sun once it cranks around to the southwest. You can reach this area by turning left after leaving the pier and heading towards a broad plaza area with a fountain at the end. Turn left at the fountain and follow the walkway around the base of the fort, a 1 to 2 mile walk. The walk is well paved with benches for sitting. On the way back or if you do not want to do the entire walk, the Red Gate is an entry into the old walled part of the city about a 1/4 mile past the fountain. Keep in mind that the streets and sidewalks in old San Juan are narrow, uneven and hilly. If you need a drugstore, there is a well stocked Rite-aid not far from the piers.

Wednesday dawned bright and hot as we docked at Labadee which is on the north shore of Haiti near the city of Cap Haitien. RCI has been using Labadee as their private beach port and they have added extensive civil works including a concrete pier than can accommodate two large ships, paved and compacted sand walks and roadways, fixed structures for shops, food service and rest rooms as well as the dragon roller coaster and zipline facilities. Tram service is available for the mobility impaired. We had access to the suite only beach and after an initial walk around; we went back to the Explorer to change to swim gear. However the walk back was so hot, we followed the advice of a more experienced cruiser and had our beach day on board. The solarium area was virtually empty with no chair hogs. The ship was pleasantly quiet most of the day. After noon, the pier was blocked off for a medivac copter to land and take off a pax with health problems. We later heard that the pax was recovering in a hospital in the Dominican Republic and would be flown back. Definitely worth having insurance with medivac coverage.

Dining: We had first seating at 6 PM in the Main Dining Room (MDR) at a table for 6 on deck 3. For reasons I will not go into, we switched to a table of 8 on deck 4. The quality of preparation of the food in the MDR was the equal of what we have had on Princess and HAL although the selections were less extensive. Service was efficient and the food, while not piping hot, was certainly at an acceptable temperature when served. As Diamond members, we also had access to the D/D+/P breakfast area in a private dining room on deck 3, but we drifted back to the Windjammer for its greater variety. Lunches in the MDR were also very good with a spec your own salad bar and 30 minute hot entrée service (usually faster unless they got slammed by a large inrush of pax at lunch). Formal dress nights were the first Friday, Sunday and Thursday. In most cases, men wore suits though many wore either blazers (with or w/o ties) and a few just wore resort casual attire.

The Windjammer offers a large variety of foods at breakfast and lunch and we often found ourselves eating there rather than the MDR. The first part of the Windjammer is divided into two sections serving identical items which are opened at staggered intervals as needed. Further back is the Island Grill area which has a reprise of the selections in the Windjammer Cafe. The salad bars are available in all areas. In addition, the Island Grill offers spec your own omelets at breakfast and spec your own sandwiches at lunch. The breakfast offerings were the same day to day as was many of the lunch entrees. The hidden gem here is the Jade Grill which is one of three hot/cold food service islands behind the Island Grill area. The Jade Grill which is on the starboard side offers Asian entrees such as congee and miso soups, various curries and Chinese dishes and sushi that change daily. Seating in the Island Grill area is more available than in the Windjammer. The table servers come around to offer beverages (both free and extra tariff) and clear away used plates. We did not use the Windjammer for dinner, but they have the same entrees as the MDR and then some.

There is no outdoor grill for burgers and such; the burgers at the Windjammer looked dry and overcooked. Soft ice cream dispensers are forward of the Windjammer on the starboard side. Although there is snack service from 3:30 to 5 PM each afternoon, we preferred the offerings in the Concierge lounge.

Yet another food venue is the Café Promenade in the Royal Promenade on deck 5. This is a 24 hour eatery which offers continental breakfast in the morning and light sandwiches, pizza and snacks the rest of the time. If you get it fresh, the pizzas were good, otherwise they were dried out. Seattle’s Best coffee, regular and decaf, along with hot water for hot cocoa and various teas and iced water/tea is available at all times. Extra tariff items include specialty coffees and Ben and Jerry Ice Cream. We did not try Portofino’s, the extra tariff Italian restaurant nor Johnny Rockets, the 50s diner but we heard positive reviews from other pax about them.

Entertainment: The cruise staff headed by Richard Spacey (lives up to the name) put on some good entertainment including a staff parade in the Royal Promenade the first night out and other activities there as well. We did not partake of the main production shows as we often find them over-amped. If you have a chance, do see the ice dancing show in Studio B which is offered several times during the cruise. It was a refreshing change from the regular run-of-the-mill shipboard entertainment and the ice skaters are quite good. Wear a jacket or at least a long sleeve shirt as Studio B is quite cold. Open skating sessions were also offered. The Quest also held in Studio B is a late night, adults’ only game show that can be quite hilarious and/or scandalous depending on your level of prudishness. The blues/rock band Take4 played late night in Dizzy’s club was the best entertainment for us. Roots Vibration did reggae and island music out on deck during sea days and were good as well. Latin and salsa music was played in the Aquarium bar on deck 4. Did not get to try the rock climbing wall; maybe next time.

Mary and later I hooked up with a good trivia team (one of two from Cruise Critic) and we won a number of daily games as well as the ultimate trivia contest which was held over five sea days. The activities were definitely higher energy than other ships we have been on. For Crown and Anchor members, there was a private party in the Maharajah Lounge. The Captain, Olav Nysetter, was quite visible around the ship and mingled freely with the pax.

The Staff: They were uniformly friendly and helpful from our MDR waitstaff to our room steward and bar staff. Our room steward Ruby, efficiently tended to the room and immediately synched into our morning schedule. When we got into our room, she came around and explained the services available and whether we received all of our luggage. We asked her empty the fridge and put the ice bucket there. One of the Diamond level perks are complimentary wine and 25% discounts on other drinks in the 19th Hole bar on deck 14 which we used on occasion. Also of note is a kinetic sculpture using billiard balls that is fascinating to watch.

The concierge, Mario Reyes, did an excellent job to greeting and helping the suite pax and along with waiters Winston and Tony, provided exceptional service in the concierge lounge despite overflow crowds in the evening. There was a special morning party with the ship senior officers for Suite pax on a sea day.

The Pax: Sailing out of the metropolitan New York area, most of the pax are from about a 2-3 hours drive of NYC though we met people from the west coast, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia. The pax are socially and ethnically diverse which made for interesting conversations. There were some children, but they were neither noticeable nor obnoxious.

Post cruise: We used the suite pax checkout which got us off the ship by 8A. We picked up our bags, cleared Immigration and Customs and got a local cab service home. The price worked out the same as our outbound trip and we got home by 9:30A.

[Poorplaya]

Great review. Very detailed. Thanks for posting.

[speakertosuits]

khm1, as I recall from our 2010 trip to Philipsburg, the stores in town were open to 6 or 7P. At that time, we did not see much activity at the port. Now may be different.

 

Lyn, we heard about your distress and hope you are feeling better. Did you ever find out what you got that damaged your lungs? We have had issues with cold/flu while flying/cruising as well. Not severe but annoying nevertheless.

 

Hi Spanky, your team did well too. It took us a while to open up the point spread and we had our share of errors too. I enjoyed trivia a lot more than I thought I would. Learned a lot and got to meet new pax.

[khm1]

khm1, as I recall from our 2010 trip to Philipsburg, the stores in town were open to 6 or 7P. At that time, we did not see much activity at the port. Now may be different.

Thanks! I guess that I will find out when I get there.:)

[sept10dsm]

Thanks for the great review! We sail on the Explorer in Sept and glad to hear you enjoyed her so much!!

[Kiwi-Reggie]

Glad to hear you had a wonderful time. I will be staying in the same room at the end of this month. I would like to know if the Cruise Line provided fresh flowers in the room. Thank you.

[SNJCruisers]

I had read on another thread that there were 3 formal nights on the 9 night ExOS cruise....could you please confirm or deny this. Need verification for a debate on our roll call for the 10 night ExOS at the end of next month. Thanks

[Mickeymouse22]

I had read on another thread that there were 3 formal nights on the 9 night ExOS cruise....could you please confirm or deny this. Need verification for a debate on our roll call for the 10 night ExOS at the end of next month. Thanks

 

My wife and I were on the 9 night cruise that left on 5-24. There were only 2 formal nights - nights 2 and 8 (the 1st Friday and the following Thursday).

 

Fred

[khm1]

There were only 2 formal nights. They were on night 2 and 8. We had a great cruise. The entertainment was fantastic. Sorry that I missed the meet and mingle. I slept in and the time change really threw me off! The time changed twice during the cruise.

Kristine

[Maraprince]

We have an 11 night sailing in early November on the Explorer that is also a special C & A member sailing. Will we have 3 formal nights?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

[SNJCruisers]

We have an 11 night sailing in early November on the Explorer that is also a special C & A member sailing. Will we have 3 formal nights?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

It seems like it's at the total whim of the captain.....there have been conflicting reports on various 9 night ExOS sailings, some have had two while others have had three.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your cruise. Glad you had a good time.

[Luvscruising44]

We were on the 9 night 5/10/12 Explorer cruise and we had a surprise 3rd formal night. I'd go prepared for 3 to be on the safe side. I think our cruise was out of the norm; it's usually 2 formals. Don't know why we had 3. Royal is not that picky about what you wear to the MDR, so don't worry about it and enjoy your vacation. Hope this clarifies things for you. Luvs