Explorer 9 day June 19-28, 2014--Random thoughts and pics

[markeb]

We just got back from this cruise yesterday. I'm not really in the mood for a true review, but thought I'd post a few random thoughts.

 

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: We had a great time, and will seriously consider repeating the cruise in a couple of years (I think that'll be Anthem, but I've lost track...).

 

We drove from Northern Virginia late on Wednesday night (DW is a school teacher, and after the winter we had, her school was going through the 19th; she had to take time off on the last day of school so we could make the cruise.). On the advice of the East Coast Departure board, we spent the night (or early morning, as it happened) in Woodbridge/Edison, and drove on to Cape Liberty Thursday morning. It was actually a very easy drive up the NJ Turnpike, and thankfully we had Carol's (138east) directions as the signage (and GPS) near the port are horrible! We arrived at about 11:15, into the morass created by early arrivers and what we thought (more on that later) were late departers, but soon enough we dropped our bags, parked the car, and checked in. We were Emerald and in a Junior Suite, so check in and boarding were quick and painless, although we encountered the first RCI glitch as our reservation still showed us as Platinum. Again, more on that later.

 

This was our first time on Explorer (or the Voyager class in general) and first time out of Cape Liberty. We've cruised all three Freedom class ships (twice on Freedom), so Explorer generally felt like home, with exceptions of course. I know she's due for dry dock and I know there's going to be a major overhaul, but I have no complaints about the condition of the ship. She looked and felt great to us.

 

Our transportation for 9 days (taken on day 5 in St Maarten)

 

 

We did the usual settling in, lifeboat drill, etc., then drifted by the Loyalty desk where Alex looked at our account and went "oh, yeah. You're very Emerald." and corrected our account and loaded the correct coupons (the only real difference being we got to take three unsuccessful slot spins apiece), and we eventually got new SeaPass cards for whatever reason.

 

The cruise in general was great. It was our first time in Bermuda, and we loved Horseshoe Bay

 

 

I'm one of those who ordinarily doesn't care one bit who the captain or cruise director is on the ship. BUT...

 

 

The captain on Explorer was Rick Sullivan. Yes, that's him on the bridge. More on that later as well. We did the Behind the Scenes tour this cruise. I'm going to put a whole post together just on that.

 

Captain Rick was EVERYWHERE! We saw him two nights in Portofino; he spoke to us both nights, and one night he sat at our table for a couple of minutes. He met our group in the stairwell on Deck 10 before we went to the bridge, and then spent time on the bridge with us. He sang with the Filipino rock group "C-Wind Band" in Dizzie's, and again at the Top Tier event. His announcements from the bridge were informative, and funny. The crew members we spoke to loved him. He wanders through the crew area, and remembers names. He was an amazing presence and actually had an impact on the cruise!

 

Now, this is Cruise Critic, right? No, everything didn't go as it should. I decided to go ahead and do the unlimited internet package even though Explorer only has WiFi in public areas. First, the nice little printed pamphlet was wrong; there's no block to apply your C&A discount, and in spite of what the Guest Services rep said, it wasn't automatically adjusted off. We had to go to Guest Services and have someone look it up and forward it to the revenue department to correct. The WiFi was so-so at best even when we were connected, and their DHCP server appeared to be overwhelmed as sometimes you couldn't even get an IP address. No, it didn't wreck my cruise, but they really need to bring in someone who can do this right.

 

Speaking of nice notes on how things (don't) work, there was a nice note in our cabin on towels for use ashore. Basically, it said if you were taking a ship's excursion that involved water or the beach, there would be towels at your gathering site. Otherwise, you'd pick up your towels on deck 3, and there'd be a $25 charge for unreturned towels. You guessed it; no towels ashore. Fortunately, we stopped on Deck 3 anyway, and didn't have to do a U-turn for towels, but this is a newly printed flyer for a new policy. How on earth did they get it wrong so soon?

 

Not RCI's fault, but we probably had the worst dining experience ever due to a large and obnoxious group seated at the adjacent table. On the positive side, we found out that the head waiters really do have a function, and ours was quite visible.

 

This was the largest ship we've been on that didn't do dockside security screening in port. Reboarding was horribly inefficient. Part of that "may" have been the inadvertent result of a very fun group of motorcyclists on board

 

 

(Motorcycles in hold during our tour.)

 

but was otherwise inexplicable. After a particularly miserable line at King's Wharf, they were out at the remaining ports with water service, but I've not seen anything like this before.

 

And, finally, the disembarkation yesterday was just absurd. We had number 5, and finally got off the ship at about 10:15, only to find one bag in the "lost bags" area, and I somehow randomly found another in the "12" area. The porter, on the other hand, was amazing as with no prompting he took our bags to our car so we could exit the lot straight out on the road! That allowed us to avoid the morass we saw on our arrival day, which we now understood to not be LATE departures!

 

As I said up front, the bottom line is we had a great cruise. There were things that could certainly have been done better, but nothing (well, other than the adjacent table) that really affected our cruise. We're signed up for Brilliance next summer to Iceland and the Fjords, and can't wait!

 

And, if the RCI and C&A computers can actually talk to each other this time, once this cruise posts, we'll be Diamond! OK, so we'll have 80 cruise points and the top cruiser on this cruise had over 900, but...

 

(More to follow on the behind the scenes, probably tomorrow.)

[KMVigs]

I just got off the same cruise... and agree with everything you said. Departing was a mess... it's like they didn't know they had to get 3000 people off that day. But overall a fantastic cruise.

[markeb]

I wish I had some pictures, but I don't...

 

We had two meals at Portofino on this cruise. One regular "off the menu" night, inspired in part by the train wreck at the adjacent table (and for those of you wondering, we didn't ask to move as we'd already moved once; that's a long story unto itself). My wife had a salad and the filet, which was cooked perfectly for her, but too big. I had the Risotta and the Saltimbocca alla Romana, which was also amazing. The find of the evening, though, was the 2010 Gaja Ca' Marcanda Promis on the wine list for $79. This wine is sold out in most retail outlets, and was $45-50/bottle at retail when available. $79 is less than 2X retail, which is phenomenal for restaurant pricing! And, it's an amazing Super Tuscan from one of the top Italian winemakers.

 

Our second visit was for the wine tasting dinner. This is a fixed menu dinner, and we were seated at a table with a second couple, who were very nice. There were supposed to be 6-8 people, but apparently it was just the four of us. We've done this on other ships, and enjoyed it each time. This was no exception. It was a 5-6 course (I've forgotten) dinner with four wines; three Italians and a Chilean late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. All were wonderful. I've forgotten the courses, but if memory serves there were two appetizers, beef tenderloin medallions, and strawberry and cream cheese crepes.

 

Again, a very wonderful evening, with a surprise appearance from the ship's master!

[poodog]

Good review

[marci22]

Thanks for posting so soon.

 

Regarding the boarding day crowds, are you saying it was packed with early arrivals at 11:15am?

 

What time did you arrive at the first gate and how long did you spend in line in your car before dropping your luggage off?

 

Thanks!

Edited June 30, 2014 by marci22

[markeb]

Thanks for posting so soon.

 

Regarding the boarding day crowds, are you saying it was packed with early arrivals at 11:15am?

 

What time did you arrive at the first gate and how long did you spend in line in your car before dropping your luggage off?

 

Thanks!

 

The road was already pretty well jammed by 11:15. It probably didn't take as long as it seemed, maybe 10-15 minutes, but it may not have really been that long. They only had about 3-4 drop off points, and probably 8-10 pick up points at that time, which complicated the inbound traffic.

 

We were really happy Saturday that the porter just rolled everything to the lot so we didn't have to try to make that left turn and cross traffic to pick up our bags!

[marci22]

ok thanks. We usually get there by 11am and it's usually about a 10 min wait in the traffic line to drop off.

[jcjrsmith]

We had a great time on this cruise. As you said, the ship appears to be in great shape - yeah, she shows some wear and tear, but they are doing a great job maintaining her. Staff was friendly, we made some new friends and cannot wait to start planning the next vacation.

 

Our waiter, his assistant and our bartender at dinner were great (Francisco, Delvi, and Claudio respectively), as was our stateroom attendant, Melvyn (we were in 7236).

 

I think my son may have had the most fun out of all of us. We were celebrating his graduation from college, and he quickly made a lot of friends to hang out with. He won the "World's Hairiest Man" award in the Sexiest Man competition, played in the dodge ball tournament (second place), the volleyball tournament (second place), the Complete the Song game, and he was absolutely relieved when my wife and I did NOT get selected for the "Love and Marriage" game (I was the guy who did the very loud Tarzan yell). :D

 

My family may very well be in your picture of Horseshoe Bay above.

 

Our only complaints: Disembarking was a PITA due to the congestion caused by waiting for the busses, and the whole "Washy Washy" schtick. I don't mind using the disinfectant, and I use it all the time, but to constantly hear "Washy Washy" all the time got old in a very short order.

 

I would sail on the Explorer again in a heartbeat. What a great vacation.

[gjc1111]

We had a great time as well. Captain Rick certainly was everywhere. One night we were sitting at the bar in the Crown and Kettle with our friends (so just the 4 of us). Captain Rick came over and told Ali to go get dinner and he was taking over!! Saw him again in Portofino. Very personable.

 

Leigh and Erky were terrific as well. Loved the Talking Turkey morning show everyday. We will miss their crazy antics!!

[PuterMonkey]

That's funny...we thought the Washy Washy lady by the Windjammer was hysterical. She often had kids coming up to dance with her. I remember remarking to my husband that I was amazed they had managed to make something as tedious as hand sanitizing have an element of entertainment to it.

 

Barring the horrible organization at debarkation (we did the self walk-off procedure which was a complete mess), this was probably my favorite trip to date. I did notice a lot of the changes I've seen mentioned around the boards regarding things like portion sizes and the worn carpets, but none of it made any meaningful impact on the trip.

 

Oh, and those Coconut Ranger cookies everyone talks about? A-maze-ing. We *may* have stashed a few to take home on the last day of the cruise. ;)

[pattak619]

Does anyone know when Explorer goes into dry-dock ? Thank you in advance :)

[Clarea]

Does anyone know when Explorer goes into dry-dock ? Thank you in advance :)

Early 2015 in Cadiz, Spain.

[PuterMonkey]

We ended up sitting pretty near to the big motorcycle group at dinner, is that by any chance the noisy crowd you were mentioning? Because they were definitely enthusiastic at times :p The captain came out and sat with their leader for dinner several nights. The group is called ETA motorcycle cruises and apparently they board the Explorer every few weeks. (This is all gossip we collected from various crew members). It only costs a few hundred to store their bikes for the week, which feels like a stellar deal to me. We also found out that the group is planning to switch to Celebrity before the Explorer leaves NJ, rather than going to Quantum. It sounded like they're a little high maintenance, as a group..

[markeb]

We ended up sitting pretty near to the big motorcycle group at dinner, is that by any chance the noisy crowd you were mentioning? Because they were definitely enthusiastic at times :p The captain came out and sat with their leader for dinner several nights. The group is called ETA motorcycle cruises and apparently they board the Explorer every few weeks. (This is all gossip we collected from various crew members). It only costs a few hundred to store their bikes for the week, which feels like a stellar deal to me. We also found out that the group is planning to switch to Celebrity before the Explorer leaves NJ, rather than going to Quantum. It sounded like they're a little high maintenance, as a group..

 

No. The bikers we saw were fine. This was an impossible to determine exact relationships family unit that enjoyed flaunting suggested dress while ordering multiple appetizers and entrees and abusing their waiter. Probably wouldn't have paid any attention to the shorts if they hadn't been so rude...

[sharod]

We ended up sitting pretty near to the big motorcycle group at dinner, is that by any chance the noisy crowd you were mentioning? Because they were definitely enthusiastic at times :p The captain came out and sat with their leader for dinner several nights. The group is called ETA motorcycle cruises and apparently they board the Explorer every few weeks. (This is all gossip we collected from various crew members). It only costs a few hundred to store their bikes for the week, which feels like a stellar deal to me. We also found out that the group is planning to switch to Celebrity before the Explorer leaves NJ, rather than going to Quantum. It sounded like they're a little high maintenance, as a group..

 

Please don't think I am picking on you, but I had to laugh :D

 

Hubby and I cruised the Explorer last year with ETA. Nobody in our group was high maintainance . The owner/TA, goes on every single motorcycle cruise. He delivers an excellent product, which is why he has a high repeat guest rate.

 

As far as a couple hundred dollars to store your bike, it varies. We were on a 9 night Eastern Caribbean. Our bike fee was $325. This included permits to ride the islands, gas, and insurance.

 

If you are really interested in what goes on, I did a review here on CC. Also did one on a Harley forum, which is probably more detailed.

 

http://www.hdforums.com/forum/road-trips/872846-yes-we-took-our-harley-on-a-cruise-ship.html

 

 

OP, love your review!!! I fell in love with the Explorer and the crew. She is a very well maintained ship and has lots to offer!!

[PuterMonkey]

Please don't think I am picking on you, but I had to laugh :D

 

Hubby and I cruised the Explorer last year with ETA. Nobody in our group was high maintainance . The owner/TA, goes on every single motorcycle cruise. He delivers an excellent product, which is why he has a high repeat guest rate.

 

 

Haha yes, please take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure everything we heard was as distorted as things usually get on the gossip train. The group never caused any issues for us personally.

[Life is Good Cruising]

Been on many cruises on the Explorer when motorcycle groups have been on board. I don't know any of them personally but have met Steve the leader of the group several times along with others motorcyclist from various sailings, either at the BJ table or in the CL. I have to totally agree with Sharod, that none of them are high maintenance and we found them all to be very nice.

 

I can see how rumors get started.

 

I believe they are going with Celebrity because they got a better deal, money wise.

[Denise5374]

My family was on that cruise as well. Our first time on Explorer and leaving out of Bayonne.

 

Leigh and Erky were probably the best CD team that we have ever had. I am missing Erky's laugh and their morning show.

 

My only complaint was there was limited activities at night. Our previous cruise was on Oasis and it was hard to not compare the two ships, which I know isn't fair to Explorer but it was hard not to do.

 

That said, I though EX was in great shape and our cabin attendant (verina) was excellent. Also our waiters in the MDR (Pepito and Ray, assistant) were also great! I received wonderful service all over the ship.

 

Once I get my pics off the cameras, I am planning on doing a picture review thread.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[LBumb]

good job

[markeb]

As most of you know, Royal offers an "All Access" behind the scenes tour during their cruises. We've never done it, as it's frankly fairly pricey, but DW really wanted to do it, and somehow it was available less than 3 weeks before our cruise, so we went for it!

 

There are only 15 people on the tour. There apparently is normally only one tour per sailing. In our case, because of Royal's Wishes at Sea promotions going on, they added a second one (we were on the original tour). The tour lasts approximately 3 1/2 hours, and was on the last sea day.

 

We met on Deck 2 at 9:35 Friday morning. Our guide was Maeve, who was absolutely wonderful.

 

The tour began with a short walk down "I-95", the main thoroughfare below deck (I believe we were on Deck 0, but I could be wrong).

 

 

Our first stop was the laundry.

 

 

This little jewel steams the wrinkles out of jackets, including this dress coat.

 

 

From there, we went to the waste management area. The environmental officer gave us our tour herself

 

 

It's actually pretty amazing when you think about how much waste of all types are generated onboard. Food waste is macerated into tiny pieces and discharged. Liquid waste (including the toilets) goes through a waste water treatment process, and is eventually discharged cleaner and purer than when it was originally generated. Of course, one of the ways to judge how a cruise is going is by looking at the number of crushed glass containers (flexible bags that hold about a ton of glass) are onboard; those are mostly crushed beer and booze bottles!

 

From there, we had a tour of the crew common areas, and a one on one with the onboard HR chief that was actually fascinating. Somewhere I think I have the handout that broke down the crew, which is mostly Filipino.

 

Crew areas

 

 

 

(cont)

[markeb]

(who on earth dreamed up a six picture per post limit! These are hosted not embedded!!!)

 

continued

 

The galley included a great discussion with the chef. The food budget for Explorer is about $1M per cruise. The galley isn't huge, but it certainly appears functional.

 

 

Next up was the engine control room

 

 

 

fascinating discussion on the actual mechanicals of the ship, which has six 12 cylinder diesel engines generating enough electricity for a medium sized city to power the azipods, fixed screw, and thrusters as well as generating the onboard electricity. About 28 feet/gallon of diesel...

 

Then, on to the bridge

 

 

 

[markeb]

And Captain Rick on the bridge

 

 

The tour wrapped with backstage tours of the theater

 

 

 

and finished behind Studio B

 

 

We had a wonderful time.

 

The tour is not cheap; it was $150 per person. But it was an amazing view of what it takes to run a cruise ship, and an opportunity to discuss life onboard with various crew members. I've been onboard modern submarines and a Nimitz class carrier, but this was still fascinating and I'd highly recommend it!

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review.

[markeb]

Thanks, everyone! This was obviously a popular Cruise Critic cruise, as I think there are at least 3 reviews currently up! The roll call had over 150 participants, and at both the Welcome Back and Top Tier events, Alex made a point that Explorer has the highest percentage of Crown and Anchor members in the fleet!

 

So, the Royal Promenade

 

 

The Crown & Kettle (great beer list, BTW!)

 

 

More from King's Wharf

 

 

 

And some actual pink sand from Horseshoe Bay!

 

 

Oh, and there was this off the Carolina Coast on our way back!

 

 

To paraphrase that great philosopher, Jimmy Buffet, it was a wonderful cruise!

 

And to quote that great Jersey philosopher and poet:

 

Someday girl, I don't know when,

we're gonna get to that place

Where we really want to go

and we'll walk in the sun

But till then tramps like us

baby we were born to run!

 

See you on down the road!