Explorer of the Seas Review...6/12/05

[deaconess]

I just got back yesterday! I thought I'd post a review, as the others that I've read were extremely helpful! Just a reminder, that the following is my opinion based on my experience. Any questions? Just ask! Sorry - it's a long one!

 

We got into Miami the day of departure (usually a no-no, but it turned out OK for us - we were lucky). We got our luggage right away and took a taxi. We felt this was a good move as it was $21 for the both of us, and we were able to leave right away. We were outside the airport for maybe 5 seconds before we were able to get a cab! ....From the taxi, the porters at the pier took our luggage - we didn't have to deal with it....we paid the porters $5 a bag. I've heard many tip $1 per bag...it is up to you...but definitely tip! We got our bags many hours before dinner....others didn't get theirs until the next day! Embarkation - was relatively quick...we were in line by 11:00 AM, we were done checking in by 12...waited for 1 1/2 hours to get on the ship....the rooms weren't ready....had to take stuff to windjammer with you....not a big deal...

 

Debarkation: we were the first tags called, we had Everglades excursion...it took us about 30 minutes to go through immigration, get our luggage, and get to customs....my friend got "pulled over" so that took an extra couple of minutes..( I told her not to list every item...some discrepancies as to how much you are really allowed - she put $971.63...some said $800 limit, some said $1200, some said $1600...still don't know the answer) We were on the tour bus at 8:10....others in our group didn't get on till almost 9am!

 

Food: We ate in the windjammer for lunch, it was pretty good...tried it later in the week for breakfast...didn't like it as much...the food was luke warm and they always served the same things...it was kind of a hit or miss experience. The dining room was excellent! Loved the food and we had terrific service. We were blessed with great tablemates and made some great friends. The breakfast and lunch menus didn't change in the dining room either, but the food was much tastier. I gained 8 lbs! :eek: That should say everything! The pizza in the cafe' promenade was actually pretty good (better than expected)...they also had great cookies, pastries (good for breakfast!) ...loved the self serve ice cream (there's those 8 lbs. again!) We asked the maitre'd to move us to a different table with more people prior to departure...he did with no problem. CON: They only serve what is on the menu...if you want 3 desserts no problem..as long as it is listed...they don't seem to deviate from that too often...no lobster every night for those who wanted it:(

 

Drinks: I am not a heavy alcohol drinker...I opted to not get the soda card...best decision for me! One soda whether the from the fountain or can...is $1.73 That includes gratuity... If you purchase the soda..they automatically give you the can...that is good for a second glass....so basically 2 glasses for $1.73. The card was $6 per day....so I would've had to purchase soda 4xday (8 glasses) in order to make it worth it! I did talk to a mom who was upset, because she bought the card for her daughter who can't drink soda - but intended to use it for the juice....the only place juice and lemonade was available was in the windjammer...and they aren't always open or convenient....I didn't check out the availability of juice or lemonade...so ask before you purchase! One negative experience RE: drinks - the servers don't really know what your purchase price is on the drinks! My receipts always said the type of beverage (be it soda, botted water, or fruity drinks) the beverage price + 15% gratuity...I asked the servers if the total price that was to be charged to sea pass account was the $5.95 listed...was the amount already including gratuity?...he said yes...it wasn't...actually $6.84...had to look it up on TV. Loved the mango tango and the strawberry colada!:D

 

Rooms: We had an interior stateroom. I was amazed by how much storage is in these rooms! They had nooks and crannies everywhere! We had plenty of space! I brought a "hamper" didn't need it...just used suitcase stored under the bed...It was an average interior stateroom....worked great for us, we weren't in there too much anyways! Doors are metal for those of you who like to decorate...but no one did on our ship that I saw. I did use post-its for the room attendant and the best room accessory for us was the night light..gets dark in there...turning on bathroom light would work too!

 

Ship: LOVED it! The decor was beautiful...they were replacing the carpet on the stairs while we were there..so they are renovating....Service was great...Pool areas crowded, chairs on sea days were difficult to find....One lady came back and told me her towel had been on the chair, but it blew away...I moved...(I had been there 29 minutes - darn that 30 minute rule!) The solarium was less crowded by a bunch...my favorite place to be! Get there early though! Must admit, I became a chair hog on the last at sea day...do they have 12 step programs for people like me??

 

Activities: Always stuff to do! Quest was great! The Ice show was wonderful. Clo was our CD...she did a great job...loved the comics before the show! The headliner comedians we had were also quite good. My travel buddy went to the art auction...they had some amazing pieces if you are into that...Originals of Rembrant, Thomas Kincade, etc. Shopping Workshop was informative, but a scam....They offer a "Passport book" for the different ports (all of them not just your cruise's destinations) They promise that "everyone who attends will get a free Diamond charm bracelet" provided by Diamonds International.....what you get is a gold plated? charm bracelet with a DI charm that has a microscopic diamond chip in it...OK it's free, but not forthcoming advertisement....The passport book is promo'd as being exclusive to RCI - it costs $20 and you get free gems, including a 1 carat midnite blue sapphire, coupons for $$ off, free gifts, free tote bag, gold necklaces, silver necklaces, tanzanite earings, pendants, etc....the list goes on....what they don't tell you til you look at the book is that you have to go to all of the places mentioned to pick up your free stuff....and the free things aren't always free...I did get 5 free gem stones, 1 of which was a 1 carat amethist, the rest were chips of various stones. I did get 2 pairs of tanzanite earings...again chips - but they were free....80 % was get ____with purchase, or $100 off your purchase of $400 or more....I wasn't planning on spending that much...and where I did purchase, they didn't have a coupon! Valuable seminar as far as where to shop, who is "backed" by RCI (if you get ripped off they claim RCI will protect you) their example was that a woman bought an $800 "emerald" heineken bottle - she didn't go with a recommended store, so she was out of luck! I wouldn't buy the passport book unless you plan to spend over $400 in jewelry....

 

Packing: It is much hotter in the E. Caribbean than I thought (it is June). I should've packed more sleeveless tops...I bought a retractable clip for my sea pass....bad idea. It worked great for the first day. The second day we had 40 mile/hr winds on deck 12 (literally) I think it blew overboard..not sure where but it was gone in a matter of seconds...had it cancelled and got a new one right away...they were nice about it. Used duct tape to make a stripe on my luggage for easy identification...fabulous idea...friends luggage got lost at O'Hare...easy for security to identify...she got it back...should've brought it with...her camera broke (battery hatch) we snatched some off the suitcase to fix - woman across the hall asked if we had anymore (her luggage broke and Guest relations offered her scotch tape!) Should've brought a 2nd Looser fitting formal for the 2nd night...gained too much weight - both my friend and i actually SPLIT our dresses at the seams!:eek:

 

San Juan: Went to El Yunque Rainforest. It was beautiful! I teach ecosystems so this was educational for me too. Saw lizards everywhere, even an Iguana! It was basically a self-guided tour...tour guide took us to the places of interest, then told us things to look for and set us loose...interesting and beautiful...have great pictures! It amazed me how the roots of many trees are exposed( up to 3 ft. above the soil) due to the erosion from the heavy rains! It was very hot, but no bugs!

 

St. Maarten - this was my favorite island...beautiful! They have a water taxi $5 - takes you to town, from the ship for the day (as many times as you want to go) We did land and sea excursion, with the semi submersible. This was pretty good...not too many places stopped and let us get out to take pictures! "I'll slow down so you can take a picture through the glass of the window!" However, the Sea part was cool....went to a coral reef, diver got in the water to feed fish, saw quite a bit! Great for people like me, who are too chicken to actually get in the water to see the wildlife! It was really, really hot!

 

St. Thomas - Did the Blackbeard's Castle and Recommended Shopping Tour, Sky ride to paradise point, Screaming Eagle Jet boat ride (yes, that'd be 3 - we were nuts!) The Blackbeard tour was very informative and quite interesting. The museum curator lived in the house above the museum as did her family since the mid 1800's....she had much knowledge! Did I mention that it was hot?? Sky ride was good. Great view. They have a restaurant and a gift shop at the top, a place to get your picture taken with a parrot, not much else. OUr ship was the only one in port - made for great pictures, saw the powerboat jettin' around the water....it went behind the cruiseship's smokestack...made it look like it was smoking...interesting photo...Would've like to stay up there longer with an "umbrella drink", but had to get back for the boat ride...got to pier to meet tour - the ride was cancelled...the boat was smoking on the last tour and the captain cancelled...guess it wasn't the ship's smoke afterall! We had our $$ refunded to our sea pass card by that night! I decided to go on the ship and sit by the pool, I was there in the pool by myself for over an hour! It was marvelous! It was hot....

 

Nassau, Bahamas - Dirty and smelly....REALLY HOT! Got sun stroke....:( Should've stayed on the boat....did the Ghosts of Nassau walking tour...yeah...this was supposed to be a light -hearted goofy thing to do on our last day....did I mention it was a walking tour...1 1/2 hours! Thought I was going to die...even the tour guide was having difficulty! I would've rather climbed Mt. Kilamanjaro...would've been easier! Our group started with 25 people, we ended with 8! We lost people along the way due to heat or boredom....

 

Miami - Everglades...Awesome! very cool! Never went? you should....took us back to the airport we were there checked in and sitting in at our gate by 12:15.....unfortunately our flight wasn't until 7:30 PM!

[MOZISME]

Hi,

 

Great review. Very informative. Love these boards, trying to get as much information before heading out. Our group of 10 are going on the same Itenerary in Aug 21 (even hotter and humid).

 

I guess I would like to know how was the ships condition. Looked old, well kept... you know? How was Portifino's resturant?

 

Other than drinks, did you have any other problems? If I missed it in your review, how was the embarkation?

 

Plus do you have any PICS of the Ports of Call?

 

Thanks.

 

Chris

[deaconess]

The ship was beautiful....only looked worn if you looked for it! They were re-carpetting the stairs in the aft while we were on board....the ship was very clean....bedspreads looked a bit worn, but that was about it....

 

As for pics, unfortunately I don't have a digital camera or a scanner, but I may get a CD , so I'll see what I can do...:D I researched online a bunch for all the ports...I'd recommend you do that as well...it help to pick excursions, but also just to see what you're getting yourself into and get excited!

 

Embarkation, didn't really take very long and was organized....but, it took longer than my last cruise (pre-9/11).....we got on the pier at 11 AM went in and up an escalator into a line which was pretty long, but moved quickly (15 min. or so) we showed our identification and scanned our bags....then we went downstairs into a different line, had our picture taken for security, then continued on into a line that was divided by what deck you were staying on, there you took care of sea pass, ticket info, guest check-in, and immigration card for the Bahamas, from there we went into a last line where we simply waited for them to start letting passengers on the ship. The whole thing from start to finish took about 3 hours, give or take...it was worth it to come early....by the time we were getting on the ship, we couldn't see any empty space in the room we had just left....packed like sardines.....

 

I didn't go to Portofino's....dining room food was excellent...I knew people who went and said it was REALLY great! So full they got sick, but they just couldn't stop eating it! They did a demo on the promenade the 1st day, and it smelled and looked terrific!

 

Problems: Were mainly business related....my friend got a Visa gift card (pre-paid the card in cash to not have interest on her credit card, and felt safer doing it that way)to link to her sea pass....she called corporate, talked to the people in Miami, and a staff member at the Guest Relations Desk, all told her that it wouldn't be a problem as long as the card had the VISA logo...the last night she went to "settle up" and they told her that they wouldn't accept it! She was fortunate that she had another card! Another problem I already hit on....I felt nickel and dimed to death...mini charges here and there...big sales pitch...shopping, art auctions, Johnny Rockets, gratuities, it all added up, but they were kind of sneaky and not forthcoming about some of their charges. Another problem was that I had a false charge on my sea pass. The bartender accidently put the same drink in 2x. I noticed it the same day it happened and it took 3 days to have it reversed (just paperwork and such, they were accomodating - just a lengthy process)...I highly recommend checking your charges daily on the TV....it is easier to have charges looked into on Wednesday than on the last day with 300 other people! That's about it with the problems, there were some little things here and there that are annoying, but not a big issue. There was a stain on my bedspread - they changed it....excursion cancelled - not their fault.....There are quirks on any vacation - but certainly nothing big enough to ruin it!

 

In other posts, people said that they condense their packing by just bringing a change of pants/skirt for dinner....same top, different bottoms...no go....you will get so hot and sticky during the day...you are going to have to wring out your shirt and pour on the "smell good" just to be with other people! Bring a complete change of clothes for dinner!

 

You will have a wonderful vacation, I'm sure! I'm jealous! I want to go again!

[Cruise Craver]

Thanks for the review. You were a big help. Where was your cabin? What category?

[slakis]

Nice review.. I sailed Explorer of the Seas 5/8-5/15 on the Wester Caribbean cruise. I took quite a few pics with the digital camera and posted them along with my review at the link below.

 

We ate at the Windjammer when we first got on the ship. It seemed really crowded at first, but that's just because everyone was headed to the same place at once. Throughout the days, it will seem less crowded. The deck was crowded on the sea days, but I stayed inside most of the time.

 

see my pics and review at the link below.

http://www.mycruisepictures.com.

 

Explorer of the Seas was awesome. Had a blast, Staterooms 1230, 1232 and 1234, Deck 10 all with balconies. Closest rooms to the Bridge on Deck 10.

[MOZISME]

Slakis,

 

 

Great pictures. What kind of camera did you use. I was very impressed.

 

Well done.

 

Chris.

[llwren]

I have a specific question about your balcony. Did your balcony have a door that could open between the two cabin balconies? We are on Deck 8 in 8638 and 8640 cabins and are hoping to be able to go back and forth between the cabins by going through the balcony. On the lst RCI ship we were able to just open a door that separated the balconies. Any information would be greatly apprecited.

Thanks

Linda :D

[Carrie P]

We leave for miami 7/22 and our cruise on the explorer 7/24... Tell me more about the Everglades tour.... Was thinking of that for the end of the cruise before hitting the airport. I think our flight is 2 something...

[deaconess]

Our Cabin was 7513 - interior.....we were completely forward.....very quiet, but I'd recommend something either in the middle of the ship or toward the aft....it'd be easier to get to things

 

The everglades tour was great! The air conditioned coach bus was waiting right when we left customs. The bus goes to Miami airport and then on to Ft. Lauderdale airport...so it is the same tour for both. The bus driver describes the area as you drive to the Everglades. We saw quite a few aligators along the way! We took a 20 minute airboat ride, it started raining so we may have cut it short....the scenery is just beautiful....river of grass, aligators in their natural habitat, flowered lily pads....then we got back and had an animal show. We sat under an indian built shelter and the animal tour guide showed us many animals native to FL...Aligators, porcupine, fisher, skunk, toad, scorpion, and others...it was interesting! At the end of the talk he let people hold a baby aligator (with a clip over its mouth) for $2 a picture -using your own camera. Then we ate lunch. This isn't included in the amount for the excursion so bring some cash (they also have a gift shop)...After lunch we went for a small walk around the grounds. They had 3 sections of cages. We saw some tortoises in 1 cage. Aligators in another and the guide fed them. Then in the 3rd cage were approx. 30 baby aligators and he fed them....it was funny to see them fight over the food. They also had peacocks roaming all over the grounds. We had some time to shop and then we left for the airport. He continued his drive-by tour on the way to the airport. We figured that a taxi costs $21 and for a few bucks more we could actually do something fun....it was worth it for us...hope this helps!

[slakis]

MOZISME - Thanks a bunch. My camera is a Dimage Minolta Z1.. Love it, 10x optical zoom, 3.2mp, wonderful camera.

 

I also had my laptop on board, so was able to copy pictures off my 2 memory cards to my laptop, which was a big help, though I did have 2 big memory cards with me.

 

Thanks for liking the pictures everyone. I had an awesome time, had to share them with everyone.

 

www.mycruisepictures.com

 

Oh yeah, we had 3 staterooms all together, but the balconies didn't connect to each other. Would have been really nice, but they didn't have that.

[llwren]

Thanks

[llwren]

slakis

Thanks for all the information, especially about the connecting balconies. I guess you answered my question! Your photos were very helpful and fun to look at. Thanks for sharing your memories with all of us. Hopefully we can do the same for other future cruisers

Linda

[kevinsmom]

Hi,

 

Great review. Very informative. Love these boards, trying to get as much information before heading out. Our group of 10 are going on the same Itenerary in Aug 21 (even hotter and humid).

 

I guess I would like to know how was the ships condition. Looked old, well kept... you know? How was Portifino's resturant?

 

Other than drinks, did you have any other problems? If I missed it in your review, how was the embarkation?

 

Plus do you have any PICS of the Ports of Call?

 

Thanks.

 

Chris

 

hey chris,

we will be going on the same date as you....aug 21st! i am so excited. there will be 6 of us and my 2 1/2 yr old son. i have been on the voyager and i know it is a similar ship. we loved the voyager, i am hoping the explorer will be just as great.

Gina