15 Nov 2012 EOS 9 Night E. Caribbean Review

[mastergunner267]

Explorer of the Seas 15 November, 2012 9 Night Eastern Caribbean departing from Cape Liberty

 

I am a Crown and Anchor Diamond Member as is my wife. We are both Experienced Cruisers.

 

Let me state this up front: the majority of our cruise was excellent. What follows showcases specific good and bad. I'm not going to review each and every aspect of the cruise as I believe the readers of this forum are an experienced bunch and we all have experienced in some fashion, everything possible onboard the Explorer. I also will not use names when describing the negative as this is my opinion and just one side of the story.

 

I have been an RCCL fan since my first cruise on the old Nordic Empress and have always said RCCL was overall, a better cruise line to comparable cruise lines. This is the first time I have written a review of a cruise and I'm doing so because there were events that happened that deserve to be told. These are my own opinions, observations, and experiences as each cruiser will have taken away a different experience from this cruise.

 

Over the years many people have stated that RCCL has been slowly degrading its service to its customers by charging for this item/service, quality of food, pricing, ports of call, but never in its professional, knowledgable, friendly, and service oriented staff. I have always taken the changes that RCCL have implemented with a grain of salt as they really never affected my cruising experience. This time it did.

 

This review starts from the time of my booking and ends with our return.

 

The Situation....We booked this cruise over 2 years in advance as we were taking our 6 adult children and their spouses/companions with us as we planned on getting married on St Thomas after being together for 10 years. Yes, multiple marriages with children from all, who get along as though they were all raised in the same household. It was the 1st time in many yrs that we could get everybody together as jobs/locations and schedules just never could be coordinated.

 

Called RCCL through the Crown and Anchor Society and made reservations for 3 Balcony Rooms and the Grand Suite for us. All went smooth including all the appropriate discounts. The RCCL rep that handled my reservations was friendly, knowledgable, professional, and extremely helpfull. Deposits were laid down and that was that.

 

4 Weeks out...Emailed the RCCL Dining Staff and requested a specific table 8 people as we have had that table before (also a prior request) as it is along the railing and close to the dinner music. Initial response was prompt but stated they could not guarentee a set table assignment. I then received a second email stating that the request was granted.

2 Weeks out...Was contacted by Mr Denzil Fernandes, our Concierge for the cruise. I emailed back inquiring if it was possible to reserve/purchase 2 over the water Cabanas on Labadee and if was possible for our family to join us even though they are not Diamond Members nor in Suite Rooms. He wrote back promptly and stated that he would hold the Cabanas for us and that we could make final coordination once onboard. He aslo stated it would not be a problem for our family to join us. Throughout the cruise, this young man, for whom this was his 1st time as Concierge, did an ourtstanding job! Bravo!

 

Driving to the Port...This is not an RCCL problem but Cape Liberty needs to have much better signage to direct you to the port. Even though we have driven there many times, I am amazed at how poorly the Cape Liberty signs are placed and unless you have gone there as much as we have, most people are going to miss the signs upon exiting the NJ Turnpike and get lost.

 

Drop Off/Parking/Security/Check-In.... Upon getting to the terminal, the first thing noticed was about half of the drop-off spaces were blocked off thus creating a backup due to a lack of space.I don't know if this was due to damage to the terminal from hurricane Sandy but the exterior seemed to be clear of debris. The port personel did a good job of moving cars along, we dropped off the ladies with the luggage and proceded to the parking area.

 

Nit Pick....Having only one lane for credit card payment caused a large backup and delay.

 

As we stood in line to go through security we noticed signs stating that no liquids were to brought through security. As RCCL had just changed its policy allowing 2 bottles of wine to be brought onboard, and did not specify whether they had to be in checked or carry-on baggage, we all just looked at each other and said "Lets see what happens". One daughter was questioned about her bottle of wine but the rest went through with no problems.

 

After getting everyone through security, I went up to an RCCL staff member and asked if it would be ok if I kept my family together by allowing us to go through the Priority Boarding Area as a group. I had informed her that we had done so once before and knew that the 6 SeaPass cards for our guests would be in a different area. She was gracious and allowed us to do so. Upon reaching the check-in desk I also informed the personnel of this fact and they also went out of their way and retrieved everyones SeaPass cards. The Terminal Staff were great.

 

Rooms...We had Grand Suite, the kids had balcony rooms. My eldest son, upon getting to his cabin, opened one of his drawers to discover used eatting utensils, olive sticks and various trash. He brought it to the attention of one of the floor attendants and was told it would be taken care of right away. He is a cruiser also and thought nothing of it until he went back to his room at 2am and they were still there. He went down to the pursers desk and lodged a complaint and they had to wake an attendant to clean out this mess.

 

Nit Picks.....Our GS bathroom had a wicked sewer stench coming from the floor drain but was easily remedied by placing a towel over it. Also, cold water from the faucets was a hit or miss proprosition. I informed our suite attendant (who was great throughout the trip) but it was over 4 hrs before someone came to look at it. When he did, the water was luke warm to slightly cool. I also know that the Explorer is getting a bit long in the tooth so no big deal.

 

Bonus....Finally! A flat screen in the room!

 

Day One...At Sea

 

1st Dinner...Met our wait staff, Both were friendly but at times seemed overwhelmed and never got our orders completely right throughout the cruise.

 

The one thing that is still confusing to me is the separation of ordering wine by the glass vs beer and cocktails. Our assistant waiter would take the wine orders but we had to wait for a separate bar attendant for the other drinks, if you could ever get one. Even when we did, it took forever and the rash of reciepts generated was ridiculous and became a distraction from the meal. We resorted to going to the bar outside of the dining room to get our drinks.

 

Food in General for the whole cruise...I don't go on cruises to eat, I go on them to relax. I am of the opinion that food is a subjective topic. To some its good, to others it sucks. I have always felt that the dinning room food on the Explorer was decent. Nothing to write home about, but decent. That changed on this cruise. The "new" dinner menu introduced recently just seems to be a cost cutting measure. Most of the food was served barely warm and was, for the first time in my many times cruising RCCL, BLAH! Don't try to serve more complicated entree's if you can't get it to the table hot. Even the "standby's" were not worth eatting. If you ordered steak, good luck in getting one cooked to order and, they were tough. It's sad when the appetizers are better than the main course entree's. We all ended up ordering 2 or 3 of these to offset having only one or two bites of the main course because we were always pushing the plates away. By day 6 we were eating dinner in the Windjammer or grabbing bites at the Promenade Cafe as the food was hands down way better.

 

Days 2,3....At Sea. The ships stores, bars, shows, live music (especially the guys out on the pool deck!) and Prommenade staff are still a top notch group of people. Courteous, polite, friendly and talented....Kudo's to Radu in the 19th Hole!

 

Nit Pick....Diamond Members have a nightly "Diamond Event" in the 19th Hole Lounge, which is right off of The Viking Crown Lounge from 5-8:30pm. When that nightly event is in progress, the 19th Hole becomes a non-smoking lounge. Since there are only 4 lounges that now permit smoking (19th Hole, the Casino Bar (except Formal Night), The Chamber, and the Cigar Bar, that removes a smoking bar each night until 8:30pm, When we gather as a group and want to sit together, that leaves only the Cigar Bar to gather at, and it has no TV's. I think RCCL could move the Diamond Event to lower level of The Chamber as it is not in use during those hours and free up the 19th Hole for those that smoke.

 

Day 4...San Juan.

Arriving in San Juan at 4pm on a Sunday is just a waste. Stores and small restaurants are closed or closing, its dark by 6pm, and there is nothing to do. I don't know the reason why we had to arrive at 4pm, but it was just a waste of time.

 

Then the best happens. Since there was nothing to do in port, both early and late dinner seatings showed up for dinner. The kitchen and dining staff did not expect this. How do I know? Because when you are told they are out of a featured entree or you have to wait for them to prepare a new batch, and you have to wait 45 minutes between appetizers and main course, you know they weren't expecting so many people.

 

Nit Pick.... 4 nights in a row I ordered a Cappacino, and never recieved one. Each night our assistant waiter would take my SeaPass card to register the wine we ordered from our wine package and return it. Because I got tired of waiting for yet another Capaccino, we got up and left. He still had my SeaPass card in his pocket as he forgot to give it back after he brought the wine.

 

Day 5...St Thomas

 

Our wedding on St Thomas was planned and executed by Island Bliss Weddings, owned by Janel and Stewart Scott......It went off without a hitch, perfect in every way. It was a small affair on a beautiful beach with our children and their spouses plus Erin's mom and stepfather who flew in for the weekend. I highly recommend them and our photographer Mike from Toes in the Sands Photography. We had lunch at Jack's, which is at the Pt Pleasant Resort area, and that also went off without a hitch. Thank You to all who made that day very special!

 

Dinner at Portafino's....We have had dinner at Portafino's at least once on every one of our cruises. Each time was excellent, the food superb, the service over the top. This is why we chose to have our "so called reception dinner" there. It's a 2 1/2hr dinning experience. I booked dinner for 8 for an 8:30pm seating 3 weeks prior to the sailing. Unfortunately, our experience this night was total mess. Let me tell you our previous experiences so you can understand why.

 

Whenever we dined at Portafino's, you were greated and seated by the Matre'd and introduced to your Waiter and assistant. The Head Waiter would introduce himself and his assistant, already know your names, converse for a few minutes asking about your cruise and just made you feel relaxed and attended to. He would ask if you were going to have wine with your meal and if so, he would take the time to make recommendations of certain wines to go with certain entree's. After this was done, his assistant would bring over the various breads and spreads and he would describe each in detail. They would leave to retrive the wine as you nibbled on the delicious contents of the bread basket.

 

Upon returning with the wine, he would go through the various appetizers in detail and make his reccomendations. You would make your appetizer choices and enjoy your bread and spreads with your wine. After your appetizers arrived, he would leave you alone to enjoy the begining of your meal, checking back once to ensure all was well and to refill your glass of wine.

 

Upon finishing our appetizers, the waiter would return and clean your table, and again make his recommendations for your main course and answer any questions we may have had. Again, he would leave, place the orders, and we continued with our dinner. The food throughout the evening was excellent This is how it continued throughout the entire evening. A Dining Experience!

 

On this cruise, our Matre'd met us at the door and seated us at our table, very polite and professional. A waiter and his assistant came over and imediately started pouring Olive Oil and Basalmic vinegar into plates while his assistant placed the baskets of bread and the spreads on the table, then left. No conversation, no explanations of the spreads/breads. He came back with a wine list, handed it to my wife, made no recommendations, and attempted to take our appetizer order. I looked around and saw that it was a full house, gave him the benefit of the doubt, and just said we were not ready yet. We hadn't been sitting more than 15 minutes and I never like being rushed through a dinner.

 

He returned with the wine, poured glasses to those that wanted it, and took our order for the appetizer. He left, that's it. No going over the choices, nothing. We may have been 30 minutes into our meal when the waiter came with our appetizers, and asked if we had decided on our main courses. Again I said, "No, please don't rush us" He then states "You must hurry as the kitchen will be closing soon". That put me over the edge. I stood up and headed for the Matre'd who was at the kitchen's plating window. The waiter intercepted me and asked if there was anything he could do, I snapped "NO!" and continued to the Matre'd. I got her attention and informed her that my party was not to be rushed and for her to inform her staff of the same. She was very professional and polite, apoligized, and said she would handle it, which she did. (I did personally thank her upon leaving) Our main courses came, the food was bland, not hot, and generally just poor. We left immediately without waiting for dessert as this was not the Portofino's I so highly touted to my family.

 

Day 6...Samana, Dominican Republic

 

We decided to stay onboard as we had been to Caya Leventado before (nice island beach, but really just a beach) but one son and his wife did the seal show which for them was a blast (but very expensive) and our two daughters did the beach. My oldest son and his wife did the Hike, Bike, and Kayack excursion. The bikes were so rusted and in such horrible shape that they literally broke apart and the replacements were no better. Making matters worse, they used under-age children as labor. They took the bike debacle in stride but the use of children as laborers was not. My son filed a formal complaint with RCCL.

 

Day 7...Labadee

 

Just a great relaxing day. Mickey, our cabana attendant, was excellant. Never intrusive, yet always seemed to be around when you needed. RCCL has done a wonderfull job with Labadee as it continually improves this little piece of paradise.

 

Day 8...At Sea (Thanksgiving, Formal Night)

 

We decided to give the dining room a last shot. The meal was fine, the service fine, and I had my wife order a Capaccino to see what would happen. She actually got hers! Everything was going good right up until the point where the waiter interupted us and said "Since you probably will not be eatting here tomorrow night"...and proceded to give us a lecture on how important it is that we "Rate" them highly in the Customer Survey as their portion of the tips depend on it. We were all stunned, but especially my younger son (31) and wife. He is an Executive Chef at a five star restaurant, his wife, the Head Waitress. Both have been in the restaurant business many years, and she was pissed! I have never seen such an unprofessional display by a staff member of RCCL.

 

Day 9....At Sea

 

Rough seas and wind kept us inside but all just used the day to relax and pack.

 

Departure....

 

We all met in The Chamber as I coordinated with the Concierge, Mr Fernandes to allow us to stay as a group. He supplied us with the appropriate luggage tags and we were off the ship at 9:30am. Again, the Terminal Staff were a top notch group, our luggage was easily found, and I even had the luck of getting the same porter helped me with my bags when we arrived. He loaded up everyones bags, followed us through Customs, and brought them to our cars in the Parking Area! Great gentleman!

 

Note: I understand that we were lucky getting off in such a timely manner as after we departed, there was a long delay due to the large amount of NON-US citizens onboard.

 

Last Nit Pick....Upon arriving home I noticed that I have over $3000 in pending charges on my credit card from the cruise. Like others, I use one specific card for cruising on RCCL because of this fact, but its just plain annoying, especially when we did not spend $3000.

 

In Conclusion........Again, overall our cruise was execellent, marred only by bad dinning experiences and a horrendous display of unprofessionalism. The arrival time at San Juan just precluded doing anything usefull there, Samana may have potential, but I have yet to see any improvement in excursion choices. We cruise to relax, enjoy the service that the crew and staff of the Explorer has always provided, and just enjoy being far away from our everyday lives for 9 days.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Thanks so much for your review of your Explorer cruise! :)

[ctcruiser1721]

Thanks for your review.

 

I think I would've been most disappointed with the experience at Portifino. It takes all relaxation out of the experience when one has to speak up in order not to be rushed.

[shirtee]

We had the same thing happen to us on the Jewel by our waiter. It was a 5 night cruise and on night 3 he started about us not forgetting our vochers for his tipps and giving him all excellents on our comment cards. He made us all feel so uncomfortable, no one wanted to tipp him at all. (of course we all did).

Seems this is common now for RCCL, I personally do not like it at all.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[retird]

I just got off the same cruise and I do agree with the San Juan stop being too late and too short. Disembarking at Bayonne was a bit of a mess as well. My experiences with dining was the exact opposite of yours. My food was always the right temperature and excellent quality. Our waiter was very relaxed. He encouraged trying more than one appetizer and dessert and spaced them out properly. There was never a mention of tipping. each night he made his recommendations and in some cases recommended against certain dishes. at the end of our meal he always gave us tips on how to best enjoy our next day port stop. Everyone at our table loved the dining, the shows and their overall cruise experience. We were not a family and some of our table guests were seasoned cruisers on a number of cruise lines. In case anyone remembers, one of our tablemates was Elliott, who performed at karaoke each night and one afternoon in the promenade with the Jamaican band.

[springvalley]

Ugh, I would've been really frustrated about being rushed, too. Our dining experience was excellent this time. We had a fantastic waiter and assistant and I found the food to be of better quality and better choices than the last two times we had cruised.

 

I totally agree about signage to and around the port. Nothing was clearly marked, it was confusing whether you should park and carry luggage or drop off then park and where that would be if so...there was a long congested line of people just wondering what the process was. I found the employees at the terminal to be obnoxious and rude- one woman yelled directly at me that we were told to have all our documentation ready, when I was holding it in an envelope at my side that she didn't see. I showed her it was ready and she just huffed and started in on some other people. Just over the top, but this was the first time we have left from this port so not what I was expecting.

 

Overall a great time and I also had a few "NitPicks" but nothing major.

[IWORK2CRUISE]

mastergunner267,

Nice review.

Do you happen to know if Radu just came from Brilliance of the Seas?

We thought he was terrific.

[buffi001]

If "not being rushed" is critical to your enjoyment of dinner, why would

you book a seating for 8:30 PM. Taking your time ordering, and in between

courses, is absolutely fine, but it sounds like the chef's staff would be there well past midnight (and then have to clean up) if you had your way. I don't mean this to sound harsh, but why not book an earlier time, allowing yourself ample rest time between courses, while allowing the staff to finish up at a reasonable time?

 

I strongly suspect that I'll receive ample criticism for this post, but I think

your expectations are a little unreasonable. It is Royal Caribbean, not Crystal

Cruise Lines.

[setter73]

Who was the cruise director on the 11/15 Explorer sailing?

[crisndeefromde]

Congratulations are in order! Glad you had a great day in St Thomas.

 

Sorry your cruise wasn't quite up to your expectations. I do see from your signature that you have another Explorer trip planned so I hope that one is much better for you.

[springvalley]

Who was the cruise director on the 11/15 Explorer sailing?

 

Richard Spacey. It was his last cruise before his time off so there was a fantastic farewell show where the staff recognized him, as well.

[Joiseymom]

My in-laws were on this cruise and they were very disappointed. Bil and Sil sail this cruise every year, but this will be the last. They said everything deteriorated from last year. My mil said the food was inedible, it was so salty. She also ate multiple appetizers for dinner.

 

I have to say I have yet to cruise RCCL, and after what I have heard, I will not any time soon.

[retird]

My in-laws were on this cruise and they were very disappointed. Bil and Sil sail this cruise every year, but this will be the last. They said everything deteriorated from last year. My mil said the food was inedible, it was so salty. She also ate multiple appetizers for dinner.

 

I have to say I have yet to cruise RCCL, and after what I have heard, I will not any time soon.

 

wow, did she eat in the MDR? The 8 people at our table including me found all the meals excellent.

[buffi001]

My in-laws were on this cruise and they were very disappointed. Bil and Sil sail this cruise every year, but this will be the last. They said everything deteriorated from last year. My mil said the food was inedible, it was so salty. She also ate multiple appetizers for dinner.

 

I have to say I have yet to cruise RCCL, and after what I have heard, I will not any time soon.

 

 

"Inedible"? Are you kidding me? We were on the Explorer in October, and

this analysis couldn't be further from our experience. The food was very good and the service was excellent. I did notice this comment is from someone

who has NEVER sailed on RCLL..... a qualified reviewer? Doesn't seem so!

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Thanks for your review

 

We are sailing with our family in a couple weeks, our son is bringing acouple newbees to cruising. we sailed on Jewel in August and enjoyed the food from the new menu. We were at the front of the dinning room which often means cold food however they did a great job of serving hot food. The ice cream is sometimes a little soft however great job was done for us.

 

Hopefully we will have a wonderful family cruise

 

Congratulations on your wedding in St Thomas

 

Happy sailing

 

Brian J

[davy jones]

Thanks for your honest review.

 

I agree with you about Portofino. Upcharge restaurants on mainstream lines should provide a superior dining experience. Your experience was considerably less that that.

[chipq]

Thanks for sharing your review. It is ashamed the quality suffers so noticeably when these changes are made but if they charged a higher fare to help maintain quality their sales would drop. A viscious cycle.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[UandMe4Ever]

Explorer of the Seas 15 November, 2012 9 Night Eastern Caribbean departing from Cape Liberty

 

I am a Crown and Anchor Diamond Member as is my wife. We are both Experienced Cruisers.

 

Let me state this up front: the majority of our cruise was excellent. What follows showcases specific good and bad. I'm not going to review each and every aspect of the cruise as I believe the readers of this forum are an experienced bunch and we all have experienced in some fashion, everything possible onboard the Explorer. I also will not use names when describing the negative as this is my opinion and just one side of the story.

 

I have been an RCCL fan since my first cruise on the old Nordic Empress and have always said RCCL was overall, a better cruise line to comparable cruise lines. This is the first time I have written a review of a cruise and I'm doing so because there were events that happened that deserve to be told. These are my own opinions, observations, and experiences as each cruiser will have taken away a different experience from this cruise.

 

Over the years many people have stated that RCCL has been slowly degrading its service to its customers by charging for this item/service, quality of food, pricing, ports of call, but never in its professional, knowledgable, friendly, and service oriented staff. I have always taken the changes that RCCL have implemented with a grain of salt as they really never affected my cruising experience. This time it did.

 

This review starts from the time of my booking and ends with our return.

 

The Situation....We booked this cruise over 2 years in advance as we were taking our 6 adult children and their spouses/companions with us as we planned on getting married on St Thomas after being together for 10 years. Yes, multiple marriages with children from all, who get along as though they were all raised in the same household. It was the 1st time in many yrs that we could get everybody together as jobs/locations and schedules just never could be coordinated.

 

Called RCCL through the Crown and Anchor Society and made reservations for 3 Balcony Rooms and the Grand Suite for us. All went smooth including all the appropriate discounts. The RCCL rep that handled my reservations was friendly, knowledgable, professional, and extremely helpfull. Deposits were laid down and that was that.

 

4 Weeks out...Emailed the RCCL Dining Staff and requested a specific table 8 people as we have had that table before (also a prior request) as it is along the railing and close to the dinner music. Initial response was prompt but stated they could not guarentee a set table assignment. I then received a second email stating that the request was granted.

2 Weeks out...Was contacted by Mr Denzil Fernandes, our Concierge for the cruise. I emailed back inquiring if it was possible to reserve/purchase 2 over the water Cabanas on Labadee and if was possible for our family to join us even though they are not Diamond Members nor in Suite Rooms. He wrote back promptly and stated that he would hold the Cabanas for us and that we could make final coordination once onboard. He aslo stated it would not be a problem for our family to join us. Throughout the cruise, this young man, for whom this was his 1st time as Concierge, did an ourtstanding job! Bravo!

 

Driving to the Port...This is not an RCCL problem but Cape Liberty needs to have much better signage to direct you to the port. Even though we have driven there many times, I am amazed at how poorly the Cape Liberty signs are placed and unless you have gone there as much as we have, most people are going to miss the signs upon exiting the NJ Turnpike and get lost.

 

Drop Off/Parking/Security/Check-In.... Upon getting to the terminal, the first thing noticed was about half of the drop-off spaces were blocked off thus creating a backup due to a lack of space.I don't know if this was due to damage to the terminal from hurricane Sandy but the exterior seemed to be clear of debris. The port personel did a good job of moving cars along, we dropped off the ladies with the luggage and proceded to the parking area.

 

Nit Pick....Having only one lane for credit card payment caused a large backup and delay.

 

As we stood in line to go through security we noticed signs stating that no liquids were to brought through security. As RCCL had just changed its policy allowing 2 bottles of wine to be brought onboard, and did not specify whether they had to be in checked or carry-on baggage, we all just looked at each other and said "Lets see what happens". One daughter was questioned about her bottle of wine but the rest went through with no problems.

 

After getting everyone through security, I went up to an RCCL staff member and asked if it would be ok if I kept my family together by allowing us to go through the Priority Boarding Area as a group. I had informed her that we had done so once before and knew that the 6 SeaPass cards for our guests would be in a different area. She was gracious and allowed us to do so. Upon reaching the check-in desk I also informed the personnel of this fact and they also went out of their way and retrieved everyones SeaPass cards. The Terminal Staff were great.

 

Rooms...We had Grand Suite, the kids had balcony rooms. My eldest son, upon getting to his cabin, opened one of his drawers to discover used eatting utensils, olive sticks and various trash. He brought it to the attention of one of the floor attendants and was told it would be taken care of right away. He is a cruiser also and thought nothing of it until he went back to his room at 2am and they were still there. He went down to the pursers desk and lodged a complaint and they had to wake an attendant to clean out this mess.

 

Nit Picks.....Our GS bathroom had a wicked sewer stench coming from the floor drain but was easily remedied by placing a towel over it. Also, cold water from the faucets was a hit or miss proprosition. I informed our suite attendant (who was great throughout the trip) but it was over 4 hrs before someone came to look at it. When he did, the water was luke warm to slightly cool. I also know that the Explorer is getting a bit long in the tooth so no big deal.

 

Bonus....Finally! A flat screen in the room!

 

Day One...At Sea

 

1st Dinner...Met our wait staff, Both were friendly but at times seemed overwhelmed and never got our orders completely right throughout the cruise.

 

The one thing that is still confusing to me is the separation of ordering wine by the glass vs beer and cocktails. Our assistant waiter would take the wine orders but we had to wait for a separate bar attendant for the other drinks, if you could ever get one. Even when we did, it took forever and the rash of reciepts generated was ridiculous and became a distraction from the meal. We resorted to going to the bar outside of the dining room to get our drinks.

 

Food in General for the whole cruise...I don't go on cruises to eat, I go on them to relax. I am of the opinion that food is a subjective topic. To some its good, to others it sucks. I have always felt that the dinning room food on the Explorer was decent. Nothing to write home about, but decent. That changed on this cruise. The "new" dinner menu introduced recently just seems to be a cost cutting measure. Most of the food was served barely warm and was, for the first time in my many times cruising RCCL, BLAH! Don't try to serve more complicated entree's if you can't get it to the table hot. Even the "standby's" were not worth eatting. If you ordered steak, good luck in getting one cooked to order and, they were tough. It's sad when the appetizers are better than the main course entree's. We all ended up ordering 2 or 3 of these to offset having only one or two bites of the main course because we were always pushing the plates away. By day 6 we were eating dinner in the Windjammer or grabbing bites at the Promenade Cafe as the food was hands down way better.

 

Days 2,3....At Sea. The ships stores, bars, shows, live music (especially the guys out on the pool deck!) and Prommenade staff are still a top notch group of people. Courteous, polite, friendly and talented....Kudo's to Radu in the 19th Hole!

 

Nit Pick....Diamond Members have a nightly "Diamond Event" in the 19th Hole Lounge, which is right off of The Viking Crown Lounge from 5-8:30pm. When that nightly event is in progress, the 19th Hole becomes a non-smoking lounge. Since there are only 4 lounges that now permit smoking (19th Hole, the Casino Bar (except Formal Night), The Chamber, and the Cigar Bar, that removes a smoking bar each night until 8:30pm, When we gather as a group and want to sit together, that leaves only the Cigar Bar to gather at, and it has no TV's. I think RCCL could move the Diamond Event to lower level of The Chamber as it is not in use during those hours and free up the 19th Hole for those that smoke.

 

Day 4...San Juan.

Arriving in San Juan at 4pm on a Sunday is just a waste. Stores and small restaurants are closed or closing, its dark by 6pm, and there is nothing to do. I don't know the reason why we had to arrive at 4pm, but it was just a waste of time.

 

Then the best happens. Since there was nothing to do in port, both early and late dinner seatings showed up for dinner. The kitchen and dining staff did not expect this. How do I know? Because when you are told they are out of a featured entree or you have to wait for them to prepare a new batch, and you have to wait 45 minutes between appetizers and main course, you know they weren't expecting so many people.

 

Nit Pick.... 4 nights in a row I ordered a Cappacino, and never recieved one. Each night our assistant waiter would take my SeaPass card to register the wine we ordered from our wine package and return it. Because I got tired of waiting for yet another Capaccino, we got up and left. He still had my SeaPass card in his pocket as he forgot to give it back after he brought the wine.

 

Day 5...St Thomas

 

Our wedding on St Thomas was planned and executed by Island Bliss Weddings, owned by Janel and Stewart Scott......It went off without a hitch, perfect in every way. It was a small affair on a beautiful beach with our children and their spouses plus Erin's mom and stepfather who flew in for the weekend. I highly recommend them and our photographer Mike from Toes in the Sands Photography. We had lunch at Jack's, which is at the Pt Pleasant Resort area, and that also went off without a hitch. Thank You to all who made that day very special!

 

Dinner at Portafino's....We have had dinner at Portafino's at least once on every one of our cruises. Each time was excellent, the food superb, the service over the top. This is why we chose to have our "so called reception dinner" there. It's a 2 1/2hr dinning experience. I booked dinner for 8 for an 8:30pm seating 3 weeks prior to the sailing. Unfortunately, our experience this night was total mess. Let me tell you our previous experiences so you can understand why.

 

Whenever we dined at Portafino's, you were greated and seated by the Matre'd and introduced to your Waiter and assistant. The Head Waiter would introduce himself and his assistant, already know your names, converse for a few minutes asking about your cruise and just made you feel relaxed and attended to. He would ask if you were going to have wine with your meal and if so, he would take the time to make recommendations of certain wines to go with certain entree's. After this was done, his assistant would bring over the various breads and spreads and he would describe each in detail. They would leave to retrive the wine as you nibbled on the delicious contents of the bread basket.

 

Upon returning with the wine, he would go through the various appetizers in detail and make his reccomendations. You would make your appetizer choices and enjoy your bread and spreads with your wine. After your appetizers arrived, he would leave you alone to enjoy the begining of your meal, checking back once to ensure all was well and to refill your glass of wine.

 

Upon finishing our appetizers, the waiter would return and clean your table, and again make his recommendations for your main course and answer any questions we may have had. Again, he would leave, place the orders, and we continued with our dinner. The food throughout the evening was excellent This is how it continued throughout the entire evening. A Dining Experience!

 

On this cruise, our Matre'd met us at the door and seated us at our table, very polite and professional. A waiter and his assistant came over and imediately started pouring Olive Oil and Basalmic vinegar into plates while his assistant placed the baskets of bread and the spreads on the table, then left. No conversation, no explanations of the spreads/breads. He came back with a wine list, handed it to my wife, made no recommendations, and attempted to take our appetizer order. I looked around and saw that it was a full house, gave him the benefit of the doubt, and just said we were not ready yet. We hadn't been sitting more than 15 minutes and I never like being rushed through a dinner.

 

He returned with the wine, poured glasses to those that wanted it, and took our order for the appetizer. He left, that's it. No going over the choices, nothing. We may have been 30 minutes into our meal when the waiter came with our appetizers, and asked if we had decided on our main courses. Again I said, "No, please don't rush us" He then states "You must hurry as the kitchen will be closing soon". That put me over the edge. I stood up and headed for the Matre'd who was at the kitchen's plating window. The waiter intercepted me and asked if there was anything he could do, I snapped "NO!" and continued to the Matre'd. I got her attention and informed her that my party was not to be rushed and for her to inform her staff of the same. She was very professional and polite, apoligized, and said she would handle it, which she did. (I did personally thank her upon leaving) Our main courses came, the food was bland, not hot, and generally just poor. We left immediately without waiting for dessert as this was not the Portofino's I so highly touted to my family.

 

Day 6...Samana, Dominican Republic

 

We decided to stay onboard as we had been to Caya Leventado before (nice island beach, but really just a beach) but one son and his wife did the seal show which for them was a blast (but very expensive) and our two daughters did the beach. My oldest son and his wife did the Hike, Bike, and Kayack excursion. The bikes were so rusted and in such horrible shape that they literally broke apart and the replacements were no better. Making matters worse, they used under-age children as labor. They took the bike debacle in stride but the use of children as laborers was not. My son filed a formal complaint with RCCL.

 

Day 7...Labadee

 

Just a great relaxing day. Mickey, our cabana attendant, was excellant. Never intrusive, yet always seemed to be around when you needed. RCCL has done a wonderfull job with Labadee as it continually improves this little piece of paradise.

 

Day 8...At Sea (Thanksgiving, Formal Night)

 

We decided to give the dining room a last shot. The meal was fine, the service fine, and I had my wife order a Capaccino to see what would happen. She actually got hers! Everything was going good right up until the point where the waiter interupted us and said "Since you probably will not be eatting here tomorrow night"...and proceded to give us a lecture on how important it is that we "Rate" them highly in the Customer Survey as their portion of the tips depend on it. We were all stunned, but especially my younger son (31) and wife. He is an Executive Chef at a five star restaurant, his wife, the Head Waitress. Both have been in the restaurant business many years, and she was pissed! I have never seen such an unprofessional display by a staff member of RCCL.

 

Day 9....At Sea

 

Rough seas and wind kept us inside but all just used the day to relax and pack.

 

Departure....

 

We all met in The Chamber as I coordinated with the Concierge, Mr Fernandes to allow us to stay as a group. He supplied us with the appropriate luggage tags and we were off the ship at 9:30am. Again, the Terminal Staff were a top notch group, our luggage was easily found, and I even had the luck of getting the same porter helped me with my bags when we arrived. He loaded up everyones bags, followed us through Customs, and brought them to our cars in the Parking Area! Great gentleman!

 

Note: I understand that we were lucky getting off in such a timely manner as after we departed, there was a long delay due to the large amount of NON-US citizens onboard.

 

Last Nit Pick....Upon arriving home I noticed that I have over $3000 in pending charges on my credit card from the cruise. Like others, I use one specific card for cruising on RCCL because of this fact, but its just plain annoying, especially when we did not spend $3000.

 

In Conclusion........Again, overall our cruise was execellent, marred only by bad dinning experiences and a horrendous display of unprofessionalism. The arrival time at San Juan just precluded doing anything usefull there, Samana may have potential, but I have yet to see any improvement in excursion choices. We cruise to relax, enjoy the service that the crew and staff of the Explorer has always provided, and just enjoy being far away from our everyday lives for 9 days.

 

Hi and congrats on your wedding! Thanks for a great review which I think is probably fair and accurate. I see you'll be sailing again on 11/3/13. We will be on that cruise as well, as the 2nd leg of our B2B...First leg, Bermuda!!

 

Any additional info re the EX will be appreciated. I know she's older, but.....:):)

[Maraprince]

If "not being rushed" is critical to your enjoyment of dinner, why would

you book a seating for 8:30 PM. Taking your time ordering, and in between

courses, is absolutely fine, but it sounds like the chef's staff would be there well past midnight (and then have to clean up) if you had your way. I don't mean this to sound harsh, but why not book an earlier time, allowing yourself ample rest time between courses, while allowing the staff to finish up at a reasonable time?

 

I strongly suspect that I'll receive ample criticism for this post, but I think

your expectations are a little unreasonable. It is Royal Caribbean, not Crystal

Cruise Lines.

 

 

The better question would why doesn't RCCL state "in order to allow sufficient time for you to fully enjoy your specially prepared dinner and the entire fine dining experience, we are unable to take any reservation after 8:00 PM" or something to that effect? I would think that it normally takes from 2 to 2-1/2 plus hours based upon my own experience with other lines' speciality restaurants. If the kitchen would need to rush the service, limit the time on when the last time reservations can be made to allow the enoughtime to cook and serve the food without rushing through it. If you take an 8:30 PM reservation, be able to do so without having to shut down by 9:30 PM or so.

 

MARAPRINCE

[mastergunner267]

If "not being rushed" is critical to your enjoyment of dinner, why would

you book a seating for 8:30 PM. Taking your time ordering, and in between

courses, is absolutely fine, but it sounds like the chef's staff would be there well past midnight (and then have to clean up) if you had your way. I don't mean this to sound harsh, but why not book an earlier time, allowing yourself ample rest time between courses, while allowing the staff to finish up at a reasonable time?

 

I strongly suspect that I'll receive ample criticism for this post, but I think

your expectations are a little unreasonable. It is Royal Caribbean, not Crystal

Cruise Lines.

 

I have no problem with your criticism, and it would be a valid point IF I didn't have totally opposite experiences all the other times I dined there, with the same 8:30pm reservation time. IDK if you caught the timeline, but being told to hurry up 30-45 minutes into a 2.5hr dinner is uncalled for. You expect to recieve what is advertised and what you have experienced before...a Fine Dining Experience. That was not. I got better service at my local Uno's. Again, this was my experience that night and I'm sure other people who dined there that night were extremely satisfied. Considering that everything else that day went without a hitch, I was pretty sure Portofino's would be a slam dunk to complete the event because of its fine reputation and consistancy.

[mastergunner267]

Congratulations are in order! Glad you had a great day in St Thomas.

 

Sorry your cruise wasn't quite up to your expectations. I do see from your signature that you have another Explorer trip planned so I hope that one is much better for you.

 

The cruise as a whole was excellent! What occured would never be enough to ruin a cruise for us. I wrote the review to get some feedback. When you sail predominately on one ship as we do, eventually you are bound to have a bad experience (and I considered what occured an isolated one at that). It won't stop us from sailing on RCCL because every other cruise was problem free. I guess it was our turn....lol

[buffi001]

I have no problem with your criticism, and it would be a valid point IF I didn't have totally opposite experiences all the other times I dined there, with the same 8:30pm reservation time. IDK if you caught the timeline, but being told to hurry up 30-45 minutes into a 2.5hr dinner is uncalled for. You expect to recieve what is advertised and what you have experienced before...a Fine Dining Experience. That was not. I got better service at my local Uno's. Again, this was my experience that night and I'm sure other people who dined there that night were extremely satisfied. Considering that everything else that day went without a hitch, I was pretty sure Portofino's would be a slam dunk to complete the event because of its fine reputation and consistancy.

 

I hope you're not saying that you spend three hours eating at Uno"s...

just kidding! I understand your argument. It just seemed very harsh when

I read your initial post. This seems much more measured....don't give up

on them. We ate at Portofino's on the EOS in October, and the meal and service were exemplary. maybe you just hit them on a bad night.

[grod19]

I am curious, when you had your issues did you voice your problems to anyone? Problems occur and a good cruise line, hotel, dining venue, etc will do everything they can to correct them immediately. After you did not receive your beverage at dinner did you inform the waiter? On the second night did you speak to a Maitre D?

 

I am heading on the EX in 2 weeks and have been on her in the past. I don't let little things bother me(seems you are the same way), but when service dips below the acceptable level I expect someone to step in and correct it.

[andrea lynn]

I was in your shoes during my last sailing on EOS. I wrote a letter to RCCL as if they aren't aware of the issues they can't make things better. They responded within a few days and even offered future credit. Needless to say I will be on EOS next week and again in 2013.