OCD Planner's ~ EXPLORER ~ 5 Night Pictorial Review 1/4/15

[ace1zoe2]

The water near the island was very shallow and you could walk out a very long ways and still only be up to your knees.

 

 

 

 

The next beach area further down offered these "clam shells" for rent. I believe these can be rented either on the ship or once you arrive on the island if any are available. During the time that we were there, there were many unoccupied.

 

 

 

We continued down to the last beach area where we had the entire place all to ourselves. There were 2 umbrellas and 4 chairs on the whole beach. Nothing but peace and quiet, so we took advantage of it and enjoyed an hour or so of just relaxing!

 

[theatrebabe]

 

The next little lagoon type area seemed a little less crowded:

 

 

This is where we spent our time when we were at Coco Cay this summer. Someone brought some bread into the water and starting feeding the fish, and suddenly there were hundreds of the most beautiful fish swimming all around us! There was also a sting ray a little farther out, that people who had snorkels could see. We were wishing we had gone back to Coco Cay on Freedom on this trip instead of Nassau!

Edited January 12, 2015 by theatrebabe

[ace1zoe2]

The water was beautiful!

 

 

 

 

The shells that I found around my lounger. I gathered them long enough for a picture then left them for someone else to enjoy later on.

 

 

 

We took the nature trail on the way back to the main area.

 

[ace1zoe2]

Coming back from the end of the beach area from the nature trail offered a different view:

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-afternoon we headed back to the ship. It was a great lazy day. We had a great day just walking along the beach at the waters' edge, lounging in shade, had a little lunch, looked around the straw market and spent time together doing basically nothing... and we didn't spend a dime.

 

 

At the end of the day we watched Coco Cay disappear on the horizon while enjoying a view of the wake from the balcony. What a great day!

 

[ace1zoe2]

Alrighty folks, stick a fork in me, I think I'm done! I've spent the last 12 hours doing nothing but 10 days worth of laundry and working on this report.

 

I have to head back to work tomorrow so I'm hoping that tomorrow night I can get the Cozumel port day done.

 

Until then... Happy Sails!

Cindy

[MMOMOM]

First things first, it was time to look for lunch. We stopped by the Promenade Cafe hoping to avoid the craziness of the Windjammer for lunch on embarkation day but they weren't serving food yet. So off we went to the WJ for a salad and a place to sit for a few minutes. The food was standard WJ fare, nothing to rave about, but it was an included meal that I didn't have to cook or clean up after so I was happy!

 

Shortly thereafter our rooms were open and we started our first of many treks down the long, long corridor to our home away from home in cabin 7394 center aft Junior Suite at the very back of the ship.

 

 

Luckily as we were passing by the luggage area we spotted one of our small suitcases and asked for permission to take it with us. I quickly unpacked my bag to get settled in for the next 5 nights. Hubby's bag was no where in sight but we would spot it after a photo tour of the ship and bring it back and unpack it before dinner.

 

The first thing I did after unpacking was to adorn our cabin door with this fabulous one of a kind gift that our DD made us for Christmas. It made me smile every time I rounded the corner and spotted our door!

 

 

This was our first time sailing on Explorer and the first time to ever sail out of Florida. We've been on other Voyager class ships including Voyager, Adventure x 2 and Navigator this past February on the first cruise out of dry dock. I have to admit when we opened the door to our Junior Suite we were a little disappointed after having sailed Navigator.

 

Explorer is definitely ready for an update and I'm sure that she will be just as impressive as Navigator when she comes out of dry dock at the end of April sporting her new carpets, bedding, curtains, upholstery and more.

 

Now for your viewing pleasure, the very orange, very dated JS 7394:

 

 

I totally didn't get the need for the two large chairs which sat in front of the sofa. We ended up pushing one of them up under the desk area and the other over in front of the right window to get it out of the way.

 

 

 

The Junior Suite comes with a single cup coffee maker (but full size coffee bags-not sure how that is supposed to work out) and a hot pot for making hot tea. The sugar, creamer, stir sticks, cups, etc were there but you had to bring tea bags from the WJ, Cafe Promenade or bring your own. There is also a small safe that you enter a 4 digit combination of your choosing. We found it just large enough to slide in my iPad (at an angle then it would lay flat), my DH iPad mini, his wallet and my small cross body purse.

 

 

Thanx Cindy for the pictorial review, I'm enjoying reading it! We were on that cruise as well and I agree, lol, what is up with those chairs? They were so in the way! And, the coffee .... I didn't pay attention in the beginning since one of our favorite things is having room service deliver coffee and juice in the morning before we actually get dressed and go for breakfast. Worked fine till the last morning when we couldn't get room service. I saw the coffee pot but couldn't find the coffee!! DUH ... guess I didn't look in the cabinet above! My wonderful husband went down and got a couple of large Starbucks for us, but guess with the small maker and the large bags it wouldn't have worked anyway! Also, we've never done an Aft cabin. Always looked to us like the people above are looking right down at you ... but looks nice in your pictures. Maybe we'll do that yet! Thanx again for the review!

[MMOMOM]

The outside of the 19th Hole offers a ping pong table which is available 24/7. On certain days the ship hosts a Ping Pong tournament with fabulous prizes such as keychains and pens!

 

 

After dry dock this area (the 19th hole inside and outside) will become the new Diamond Lounge, based on Navigator of the Seas upgrades last year and talking with the staff onboard Explorer. At that time it will become a true lounge open 24/7 to meet and mingle with others, enjoy coffees, access the concierge during certain hours, host the Diamond breakfast (continental) in the mornings and the Diamond cocktail hour in the evenings. We really enjoyed this area on Navigator with it's great views to sea and to the outdoor areas of the ship.

 

Down one deck to Deck 13 you will reach the Sports area of the ship. It features a rock climbing wall which is open various hours each day which are printed in the Cruise Compass.

 

 

 

 

Just beyond the rock climbing wall is the sports court which is open for basketball, volleyball, dodgeball and other organized and non-organized events.

 

 

Just past the sports court is the center of the deck is the Golf Simulator and the the In-Line Skate Shop. The simulator is a ($) pay venue but skating is free.

 

 

We missed the 'dedicated' Diamond Lounge too. We liked it on the Oasis. We didn't use this offering since my husband enjoys a regular drink before dinner, so for the first time we just went to a lounge and used the uploaded coupons for the Diamond drinks. Worked well. We did have one charge one night that shouldn't have been there, but went to the desk in the morning and they took it right off, no problem. If Explorer follows the Navigator, it sounds like it will be really nice. But still, we had no problems and enjoyed our time talking with the bartenders and others around ... it was all good!

[ace1zoe2]

We missed the 'dedicated' Diamond Lounge too. We liked it on the Oasis. We didn't use this offering since my husband enjoys a regular drink before dinner, so for the first time we just went to a lounge and used the uploaded coupons for the Diamond drinks. Worked well. We did have one charge one night that shouldn't have been there, but went to the desk in the morning and they took it right off, no problem. If Explorer follows the Navigator, it sounds like it will be really nice. But still, we had no problems and enjoyed our time talking with the bartenders and others around ... it was all good!

 

 

Agreed. We only went to the "event" on two nights. The other nights we went to the Champagne Bar or Schooner Bar... I could get the same bar mix there and we enjoyed the atmosphere more.

 

I've also found from my last two cruises that between the DL & the pre-loaded vouchers that I no longer need to bring on the two bottles of wine as I had done in the past.

 

If you have any more observations or comments about the cruise feel free to post away!

 

Cindy

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MMOMOM]

Two other areas on Deck 11 I wanted to show you. First is Portofino's ($) pay venue specialty dining. I'm thinking as with all the other ships it will go away during dry dock and be replaced by something else, most likely Giovanni's Table or Chop's Grille.

 

We enjoyed having dinner here on the formal night on the first Sea Day. It's a much quieter, more intimate dining experience with wonderful food and great service.

 

 

 

The cost for dinner is $25pp with a $10 cancellation fee if not cancelled 24 hours before your reservation. The venue is open nightly from 5:30-9:30pm by reservation only. Dress code is smart casual.

 

The night that we had dinner we were seated next to a couple. She was dressed in a little black dress and he was in his Army dress uniform. Hubby stepped away "to the restroom" and made arrangements with Portofino's to cover their tab for the evening. We asked that it be anonymous and for them to just write "Your Service to our Country is Appreciated" on their bill. She asked my DH if we wanted to include drinks as well and he said yes (they both had a class of champagne).

 

Throughout dinner we heard them telling their waiter that they were just married and were on their honeymoon which made it even better! Then they order more champagne. I was wondering how much our bill might be at this point :)

 

Finally when the bill was delivered to them the hostess came by and told them that he had a fan close by... not so anonymous anymore :( He turned to us and thanked us for their meal and we congratulated them on their marriage and wished them well. We told him we had meant to remain anonymous (but I'm guessing that got lost in translation with someone whose first language is not English) but we truly appreciated his service to our great country. I also let him know that our daughter was "married to the military" and that she and our SNL are stationed with the Navy in JAX, 17 hours from home so we know how it can be for them. The wife thanked us and said they were 850 miles from home, stationed at Ft Rucker.

 

Even though the surprise didn't go as planned originally we enjoyed treating them to a special night during their honeymoon. Luckily when our bill arrived we found out that they had the "Drink Package" so we only owed for the dinner fees without the 4 glasses of champagne :)

 

The last area, the ladies room just outside Portofino's, made me smile every time every time I went there. It had the best view of any public restroom I'd ever been in!

 

 

How nice of you to do that. Our son did 5 years in the Marine Corps and was in Iraq at the beginning of the war. He is now working at Dobbins Air Base here in GA. He was on a Government Contract, which ended, meaning his job as well. He was offered a dual position (Contract and Military) if he enlisted in the Army National Guard there. Out of a job and his wife expecting their first baby, it was a no brainer. He's doing well. So, we too appreciate the Military and we thank you for your Son in Law's service as well!

[BillOh]

The last area, the ladies room just outside Portofino's, made me smile every time every time I went there. It had the best view of any public restroom I'd ever been in!

 

 

I've obviously never seen this in person, or seen a picture for that matter. There is a similar picture that goes around from the men's room on Voyager that is similar.

[ace1zoe2]

I've obviously never seen this in person, or seen a picture for that matter. There is a similar picture that goes around from the men's room on Voyager that is similar.

 

 

I've actually seen that picture of the urinal in the men's room that is right next to the window. That would be a weird feeling going to the restroom there, even though I know it's a privacy window!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cruisin_cutie216]

I am in LOVE with your review!!pictorials are the best :-)

[ace1zoe2]

I am in LOVE with your review!!pictorials are the best :-)

 

Thank you! I appreciate the compliment. I'm about to get back on it and post some more pictures :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ace1zoe2]

Day 3 was a Sea Day and it was pretty laid back. The C&A Welcome Back party was held in the Palace Theater. There were passed drinks such as wine, champagne and some mixed fruity drinks.

 

 

You could tell from the crowd waiting on the stairs and in front of the theater that it was going to be a big crowd.

 

 

First up was the entertainment which was a male & female performer from the RC Singers & Dancers. They did a great job and had a wonderful mix of about 6-8 songs.

 

 

Next the captain made his entrance on lying on a sofa with a mic in hand, he addressed the crowd, "Helllllooo Ladies!.................................and gentleman. He made a short speech and introduced his staff then turned it over to the Cruise Director & Loyalty Ambassador. Sorry this is a horrible picture but I'm posting it just to give you an idea of what we saw.

 

 

After that it was mostly a sales pitch from the Loyalty Ambassador about booking cruises or getting a RCI Credit Card. They also recognized A LOT of people receiving awards for Pinnacle. They probably handed out 20 bottles of wine and took pictures with all the recipients individually as they called them each up. I'm sure they were having a great time but it was a pretty boring 20 minutes for the rest of us... maybe I'll feel differently someday in the unlikely event that I live long enough to ever make Pinnacle :)

 

C&A members made up 1/3 of the ship. There were:

 

680 Gold

197 Platinum

106 Emerald

192 Diamond

109 Diamond +

26 Pinnacle

 

The couple with the most points had 1,864 nights onboard.

 

Afterwards we enjoyed the afternoon on our balcony just watching the wake and having a little R&R.

 

[ace1zoe2]

After dinner we took in our only performance in the theater which was a group who was performing on Explorer for the first time. The group name was "These Guys" and DH & I greed they are one of the top 2 performances we've seen out of all of our cruises. They did every kind of music imaginable from pop, funk, barber shop quartet, current hits, oldies, a cappella, etc.

 

We enjoyed every minute of the entire show! If you have not seen them before I highly suggest that you make time to do so.

 

 

After the show we headed back to the room for evening. The following day was day 4 and we would spend the day in Cozumel. We have previously visited Cozumel on at least 4 other occasions and had done excursions like snorkeling, 4 wheeler tours, jeep tours and twice just walked around the port area.

 

Up until 2 weeks before the cruise I had no plans whatsoever. I finally started looking at Trip Advisor trying to decide what we would do this time. At first I was leaning towards doing Chankanaab National Park on our own and doing the swim with the dolphins... then I looked at expected water temps and decided against it.

 

Finally I decided on booking a private tour with guide through Cozumel Cruise Excursions dot net. They had great reviews on TA but I read of some complaints on Cruise Critic in the ports forum about them being slow to answer emails and send confirmations. I experienced exactly the opposite. I booked online, made my deposit of $19pp thru Paypal and received confirmation with instructions for where to meet within 12 hours. The instructions were very detailed and even included a picture of the person who would be meeting us outside the port area. The total cost per person was $69 and the $100 balance was due in cash on the day of the tour. The cost included the Jeep, tour guide, entrance fee to Punta Sur ($14pp), beer and bottled water during the drive and a chicken fajita lunch during the trip. Our only additional cost was $2 for a bottle of water at the restaurant as we couldn't bring in outside drinks. I figured if we rented a Jeep and did it on our own we would have spent close to the same amount after fuel and probably not seen as much as we did.

 

The tour included 5 hours with a guide who would either drive us in a Jeep or ride in the back while we drove. DH preferred to let him drive so that he would have time to look at the sites. The tour was totally customizable to what we wanted to do. They have a suggested list of things to see and do. I emailed them before we left to let them know areas that we wanted to visit and to let them know that we had no interest at all in shopping or going to the Tequila store. I received an email back the same day stating it was our tour and to just tell our driver what we wanted.

 

We arrived at the International Pier on Wednesday around 7:30. The view from the aft balcony:

 

 

When we were here in February on Navigator we had docked the opposite direction with the aft of the ship hear the pier. This time we faced out to sea. When we arrived Vision of the Seas was docked and shortly after we docked you could see Carnival coming in to dock.

 

 

We watched the dock worker tie off the ship:

 

 

And the crew member hoist the flag just beyond our balcony:

 

 

As we left the ship you could really notice the difference in size of the two RCI ships sitting in port:

 

[Honeymooner15]

This has to be the best review I've seen. Thank you for going deck by deck. I learned a lot. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ace1zoe2]

This has to be the best review I've seen. Thank you for going deck by deck. I learned a lot. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

Thank you so much for following along & taking time to comment. I have a lot of pix to post from Cozumel.

 

After that I have tons of pix from our All Access Tour which took us to the Galley, Laundry Facilities, the Theater, Studio B, Environmental Services, Crew Bar & Entertainment areas, the Engine Control Room, The Bridge & more!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[irishgal432]

Hi Cindy,

 

Would the Jeeps accommodate 4 adults? My BIL doesnt drink, so all inclusive beach days are out for us and he has never been to Cozumel, so I think this may be perfect.

 

I am going to check out the bathroom in Portifinos!

[ace1zoe2]

Hi Cindy,

 

 

 

Would the Jeeps accommodate 4 adults? My BIL doesnt drink, so all inclusive beach days are out for us and he has never been to Cozumel, so I think this may be perfect.

 

 

 

I am going to check out the bathroom in Portifinos!

 

 

We have a Jeep at home & I think there are only seat belts for 4. If there are 3 smaller adults it might possibly work for them in the back seat & one in the front passenger seat but I'm not positive.

 

The price is the same whether you have 2 or more. I'd just rent 2 Jeeps & guides & travel as a group. You'd still be together everywhere you stop and be comfortable in the Jeeps while riding.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tillydog]

This is all speculation on my part but since Explorer is a Voyager class ship and they have added the Flowrider to both Navigator and Voyager I think it will be added to this ship as well.

 

The deck plans for Deck 13 for April 24, 2015 and forward are not showing up on line, only for before April 2015.

 

Thank you for a brilliant review. I love a good pictorial review!

Just still gotta wait to November to go on her!!

[ace1zoe2]

Thank you for a brilliant review. I love a good pictorial review!

Just still gotta wait to November to go on her!!

 

 

You are so welcome. I enjoy doing it. You will have a fabulous time come November!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smitty99n]

We are enjoying your review and the pictures of the Explorer. We will be on the Explorer on the 18th, in 6 days. We are taking a rental car from Orlando and boarding terminal 1. Given the newness and confusion there, would you recommend taking the car to the Budget office first or dropping people off at the pier terminal and then returning the car to the rental office and get the shuttle. thanks

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and awesome photo's.

[ace1zoe2]

We are enjoying your review and the pictures of the Explorer. We will be on the Explorer on the 18th, in 6 days. We are taking a rental car from Orlando and boarding terminal 1. Given the newness and confusion there, would you recommend taking the car to the Budget office first or dropping people off at the pier terminal and then returning the car to the rental office and get the shuttle. thanks

 

I think that if you have a lot of passengers and/or a lot of luggage that I would do a drive thru at the port and drop everyone off and get rid of the luggage... less do deal with at the rental agency - it is crazy there on turn around day with all the car getting there and people getting off the ship at the same time.

 

In our experience the shuttle line was long but it may be different for you. It would be a bit of a hassle with a lot of luggage. In our case we only had a carry-on size bag each so it wasn't a big deal.

 

It's only a 5 minute drive between the port and rental agency.

 

Hope that helps!

Cindy

[ace1zoe2]

Enjoying your review and awesome photo's.

 

Thank you so much for saying so! I appreciate the compliment. There's still more to come. :)