Explorer Review - 9/23/16 Pacific Northwest Cruise

[rmurray847]

My review is a little late and may not be entirely helpful, since the EXPLORER is in another part of the world altogether.

 

My wife and I cruised on EXPLORER on the Pacific Northwest Itinerary from 9/23-9/30. Our prior cruise had been last summer on NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS, a near twin to EXPLORER, so we knew the layout quite well from Day 1.

 

For the first time in my cruising experience, I bought the unlimited drink package. Unfortunately, I signed up for it just after the rates went up (and package choices dropped), but I went for it anyway. We have also in the past only sailed in balcony rooms, but this cruise enticed me because we got a good rate for an interior promenade room (on 7th deck). The price jump to oceanview or balcony was more than I wanted to pay.

 

So the first lesson we learned was that for us, an interior room (even with the promenade window) is just not that fun. I know others don’t care, and that’s fine. But for US…not waking up to natural light and not being able to see the ocean and step onto the balcony was a big, BIG loss. We still enjoyed our cruise very much indeed, but interior rooms are NOT for us, it turns out. So we may find ourselves having more time between cruises because we need to make sure we can afford the balcony. The promenade cabin is about the same size as the balcony stateroom we had on the Navigator last year (maybe a smidge smaller), and we did enjoy the window seat…but people watching from the window didn’t end up being very fulfilling. We had a very good stateroom attendant, the bathroom worked great and we slept very comfortably. No issues there. (I always sleep well on cruises…I have to scratch my head at those who complain. Putting the severe stress of work behind me for a few days makes it so easy to sleep, especially after action packed days in port.)

 

The ship itself was clean and tidy. The layout is pretty simple, really. From the promenade deck, you can reach the theater, the dining room and most “interior” stuff very quickly. There are several bars around (which I enjoyed…try the ridiculously sweet/tart Caramel Daiquiri at the R-Bar), and with the drink package, service is so much faster. Most bartenders poured with a heavy hand, which I liked, but keep an eye out. A few were stingy, so I avoided them going forward.

 

This was the first cruise I’ve been on where I finally begin to understand some of the complaints I read about food in the MDR. (We’ve sailed NCL once, and this was our third time on Royal). In the past, the food has always been pretty nice for us. Not every single dish was a homerun, but we seldom left the table disappointed. On EXPLORER (we did My Time Dining as always), there were several nights where the food left me wanting. First night I had Prime Rib. It was a generous portion, but quite tasteless. Big disappointment. Few desserts were remarkable, and on several nights, we saw very few appetizers that appealed. On the 2nd formal night, we had lobster, but there was no steak & lobster option. The lobster plate came with some shrimp, and it was all tasty. My wife and I both ordered that…and I ordered the “always on the menu” strip steak entrée so we could split the steak. TERRIBLE steak. Terrible cut of meat, overcooked and really pretty dreadful. Also, our service was spotty. The first couple of nights, we were over in one corner, not a very nice location, and our water was a bit smarmy. So we asked for seating near the “balcony” (looking down on decks 3 & 4). We were accommodated with our seating choices each night, but had differing wait staff every night thereafter. Some were perfectly fine, others were just okay. I missed the experience of having the same wait team each night and getting to know them…but where they first seated us was simply NOT exciting at all. We still never went to Windjammer for dinner…just too chaotic. But by the end of the trip, our usual enthusiasm for dinner (“oh boy, it’s dinner time”) was quite dampened.

 

In the past, we always spend a night in CHOPS, but decided to pass this time. However, we did do the “pasta making demonstration” lunch at Giovanni’s. It was $20 and VERY well worth that charge. It was a delightful two hours. The food was excellent…very, very tasty. The chef who presented on pasta making was humorous, and even though I didn’t learn too much about making pasta, it was still fun. Then we got a quick tour of the galley, which was great. $20 really well spent. I highly recommend this little treat on a sea day.

 

On embarkation, we lunched at Windjammer. The usual chaos with getting a seat, and the extra clutter with everyone pulling luggage with them. But the food was fine. One morning, we had room service, but the food was disappointing enough that we then breakfasted regularly in the Windjammer. Again, getting a seat was tough, but the food was generally nice. Lots of selection. The omelet bar was always packed, so I never bothered, but I noted the adjoining fried egg station, where each morning I got a couple of eggs over easy in about 30 seconds. Never a wait…tasty treat. My drink card allowed me to get fresh squeezed OJ, which I certainly enjoyed. Especially compared to the regular “juice” they serve. If you have that package, take the extra time to get real juice!

 

On our last sea day (seas were rough, and most outdoor areas were closed), we had lunch at Johnny Rocket’s. Enjoyed the decadent treat. The vanilla malts were excellent. My disappointment with the EXPLORER (as with the NAVIGATOR) is in Café Promenade. This is the little place where you can pick up food any time of day (pretty much), but it’s just little sandwiches and terrible pizza. I miss my experiences on other ships (smaller ones, ironically) that had 24 hours sit-down “comfort food” places. A ship as big as this could surely have found a place for such a restaurant.

 

One day, we did the wine tasting (about an hour after we did the great lunch package with Giovanni’s) . It was $25, ($20 for me because of my package). We are not wine snobs in the least, so we enjoyed learning about the different wines. I think there were 5 glasses, if memory serves. We enjoyed the camaraderie at our table almost more than the tasting. I wouldn’t do this activity EVERY time, but it was something new for us, and lots of fun.

 

Also new to us…we skipped some of the shows! Usually, dinner & a show is great for us. We work our entire dinner schedule to accommodate. But this time, we skipped the “Production shows.” They were really quite bland on NAVIGATOR, so we passed this time. We saw the guest stars, so we enjoyed the comedian, the juggler and yes, even the ventriloquist. And of course, we enjoyed The Quest.

 

The time of year and itinerary made this cruise one with very few kids. My wife and I are in our early 50s, and we felt we were on the young end of the range for this cruise. So some of the usual “fun” events like Battle of the Sexes or Love & Marriage Game show were VERY sparely attended, and when we went, we noticed that many of the same handful of folks were contestants. Same people who “led” groups in The Quest also competed in everything else. In general, the whole cruise was just a bit low key in atmosphere. Of course, the weather was very fall-like and often chilly, so the outside spaces were quite subdued. Very little party atmosphere. Even disco night was understated from what I’ve seen before. Those cruise director staff had to work really hard to drum up enthusiasm.

 

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at the port (via Uber) at 11:30. Bags were whisked away. We had our documents ready, and were shown right to the Gold line. Immediately called up to a desk. On board, sipping my first drink, by 11:45. Yay! Debarkation was also pretty simple. We walked right off the ship, found our bags and took all of 3 minutes getting through the VERY non-thorough customs line. No questions of anyone. Just show your passport, hand your form, and go on your way. Waited 10 minutes for our Uber driver to find us, and off we went. Really smooth.

 

As far as the itinerary, we had a GREAT time. Seattle was fun to visit before and after (and we had a B&B that essentially overlooked the port, so when we woke up in the morning, there was our ship!). Astoria, OR was a delight to discover. We walked for miles, rented bikes (BIKES & BEYOND, $20 for the whole day), visited breweries, walked some scenic trails and just had a delightful time in this little, scenic town. Lots to do here, actually. Spending two days in San Francisco was great…I had been there all of one day in my life, so we rented a car and ventured out to Muir Woods & Napa Valley on day one, plus a great dinner in town. The next day, we hoofed it to Coit Tower and to Chinatown, and had a terrific lunch before visiting the Museum of Modern Art. Such fun. Victoria was delightful as well. I ended up enjoying this itinerary even more than I had hoped I would. I highly recommend it. (Kids probably would be tougher to thrill with it, though.)

 

There were certainly bumps as described above. Since we have become jaded veterans (after only 3 prior cruises), perhaps the flaws are a little harder to ignore. But we still had a GREAT time, and I have few regrets. Feel free to fire away with questions...I'm sure I missed talking about lots of stuff.

[pk_crusing]

Thanks

for you review. We will be on explorer out of Sydney in Feb.

We have just been on the voyager out of Asia and found this a very subdued trip, I will be interested to see how an out of oz trip feels.

Again thanks for putting your thought down for us to read.

[Max and Ruby]

HI, thanks for your review. We are going to Alaska next summer on the Explorer.

 

My question- you mentioned using Uber. Did you take Uber from ship to airport or somewhere else when disembarking? I thought I read that for the FL ships at least Uber was not permitted to pick up or take passengers to airports.

 

Thanks!

Angela

[rmurray847]

HI, thanks for your review. We are going to Alaska next summer on the Explorer.

 

My question- you mentioned using Uber. Did you take Uber from ship to airport or somewhere else when disembarking? I thought I read that for the FL ships at least Uber was not permitted to pick up or take passengers to airports.

 

Thanks!

Angela

 

We ubered from our B&B directly to the port. Got dropped off right where everyone else drives up. VERY easy. Afterwards, we ubered to a car rental place. HOWEVER, I don't think there would have been issues going directly from port to airport via Uber. The only weirdness I saw in Seattle was that if you Uber FROM the airport, the car that picks you up will be a hybrid. Apparently, only hybrid or electric cars can pick up from the airport.

[Max and Ruby]

Thanks very much!

Angela

[plowboy920]

Nice review! We were on EOS the week before you, same exact ports. I agree with everything in your review, except we did specialty dinning every night and the food was wonderful! Our cruise was one of the best we've done! :D

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.