Explorer of The Seas - September 30th, 2016 Review

[Cheezwhizard]

Hello fellow cruisers! This is my first review on Cruise Critic so just throwing that out there before we begin!

 

My mom and I went on the Explorer of the Seas on a 8-night Pacific Northwest/Coastal sailing from Seattle on September 30th (this is a bit over due).

 

My mom and I have sailed on Royal Caribbean before, and in fact, my last cruise was just the two of us and it was on the Explorer of the Seas. We had done a 8-night Northern Europe cruise from Southampton hitting Le Havre, Cherbourg, Oslo, Zeebrugge, and Rotterdam.

 

For our second time on the Explorer, we had three days at sea and four ports to visit: Santa Barbara, San Fransisco, Astoria, and Victoria.

Alright - here we go :D

 

Day 1 - Seattle

Having never visited Seattle, mom and I decided to fly in the day before. We are from Canada and just across the border from Detroit, so this is where we flew from. I believe our flight got in around noon or early afternoon. We took the subway system from the airport to (I believe) Westlake station, which brought us to the centre of Seattle and wasn’t too far from our hotel. The transit cost was $3 per person. We then grabbed a taxi to the hotel. I think it may have been around $10-15.

After dropping off our bags at the hotel (it was too early to check-in), we went out to explore. We were trying to get to Pike market area on our own and took a couple of wrong turns. It took a lot longer than it should of! hehe We got our exercise in that day and did a lot of sightseeing! We eventually did make it to where we were trying to go.

The Pike Market/Public Market and the beautiful waterfront has lots to do. This area has tons of dining options from ocean-view restaurants to quick eats on the go. I'm allergic to shellfish, but I’m sure there are many awesome seafood joints down there!

My mom and I got to see the infamous fish-slinging done by the mongers in the fish market.

The entire market is a lot bigger than it appears from the outside. There are a couple of floors inside the building. After we finished exploring this area, we headed back to our hotel by cab as it was getting darker and we didn't want to get lost again. We stopped at a Walgreen’s close to the hotel so I could grab two bottles of wine for the cruise. I think they may have been on sale for around $6-7 each.

 

For supper, I wanted to check out 5-Point Cafe. I had read about them on trip advisor. It was a short stroll from our hotel and a few minutes away from the Space Needle. They are open 24 hours, 7 days a week. It had an awesome happy hour menu! Happy hour is served monday-friday from 4-6pm. I had a domestic draft for $2 and a cheeseburger and fries for $3.50! My mom ordered the vegetarian quesadilla for $2.75 and half nachos for $3.50 (which she added chicken for $1.75). The portions were massive, considering the prices were so low! We actually couldn’t eat all of the food. My cheeseburger was really tasty too. I definitely recommend this place.

After this, we decided to walk to the Space Needle. The Space Needle and Chihuly museum was rented for a private event, so we weren’t able to visit inside.

side note: On the way to the Space Needle, a guy in his early twenties was extremely disoriented (assuming on drugs) that he almost fell into my mom and I a few times. It was heart-breaking, but made my mom and I uncomfortable because even when we tried to avoid him, he would sway back over to where we were. This happened for a few minutes until he turned and began going another way. This was around 6-6:30pm.

 

After the walk to see the Space Needle, we headed back to the hotel for the night.

 

Day 1 finished!

Day 2 on it's way!

[ImpulsivePuppy]

looking forward to more!

[Hard-habit-to-break]

Thank you so much for posting. Looki g forward to reading more.

[easyboy]

Great start! Will be following along.

[Cheezwhizard]

looking forward to more!

 

 

woohoo!

[Cheezwhizard]

Thank you so much for posting. Looki g forward to reading more.

 

 

thank-you for following along!

[Cheezwhizard]

Great start! Will be following along.

 

 

thank you so much! it's a new adventure for me, but I have always wanted to do a review

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 2 - Onto the Ship

We woke up early, enjoyed the included continental breakfast at the hotel, and got ready to go. We arranged for the cruise shuttle with the hotel. I think it was $9 each. We stayed at Quality Suites by the Space Needle. The cruise port was a little less than 10 minutes away. It wasn't far at all. We arrived to the cruise port very early, maybe around 10am. Check-in had a little bit of line, but mainly because we had arrived so early and they weren't allowing guests to check in yet! Once the doors opened, the process went smoothly. My mom and I were probably within the first 50 passengers on board. It was nice being on the ship when it was practically empty! Great time to see the ship again and take some photos.

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 2 - Onto the Ship Continued

 

We enjoyed the sail-away party. The sun was shining, the drink of the day was delicious, and the Seattle skyline was stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure what we did for the rest of the day... I'm sure just enjoyed the Explorer!

 

Note: mom and I went to the main dining room every night for dinner, except for the buffet once, maybe twice. We did not book dinner at any of the restaurants on board. We did our time dining and requested the same staff every night. We usually made the reservation the night before, but not always. Our servers were kind (I unfortunately can't remember their names right now) and it worked great for my allergies.

[JoyMouse]

I'm enjoying following along especially since I was on the cruise with you!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tinkerbellcgy]

I was on this sailing as well. Fond memories. :cool:

[Cheezwhizard]

I'm enjoying following along especially since I was on the cruise with you!

 

 

Great - thank you! I hope you had a wonderful time :)

[Cheezwhizard]

I was on this sailing as well. Fond memories. :cool:

 

 

I actually remember your cruise critic name during our roll call! I did the meet-and-mingle as well as the slot pull :D

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 3 - At Sea

I honestly have no idea what we did this day. I know we participated in the cruise critic meet-and-mingle as well as the slot pull, but can’t remember if it was held on this day. I’m thinking it was. :confused:

We had lunch in the dining room (known as the bistro and home of the tutti salad) and it was great. We did this both sea days. The tutti salad bar, for those who don't know, has many, many toppings and ingredients to make your own salad and the chef mixes it up for you. Both my mom and I enjoyed the menu here. Usually, you'll be seated at a table with others and we did this the first day, but the other sea day, we were seated at our own table due to my allergies (shellfish, tree nuts, other less serious allergies). One of the officers (I believe that is their title - they wear the white uniform) from Turkey took excellent care of us. She made sure to sit us at our own table and personally helped me with my order. I didn't feel comfortable ordering from the salad bar because when I went up, I noticed a piece of shrimp had fallen into one of other ingredient bowls. I didn't want to take any chances, but it wasn't a big deal to me - I could always order off the menu. When she heard this, she asked me what I would like in my salad and brought it to me directly from the kitchen. She took quality time out of her day to help me 1:1 and it was so appreciated. I seen her a few other times during the week and she always made sure she stopped by to say hello and see how I was doing. I wish I remembered her name! I did make sure to do the survey after the cruise and put in a note of thanks and appreciation for her.

A few random photos from the cruise

These were handy after a couple days into the cruise! ;)

OK - how hilarious is this? On all of the cruises I have been on, I have never, ever seen towels be made into this!!! We loved it! :')

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 4 - Santa Barbara, California

 

We didn’t have anything planned for Santa Barbara. We spent a few hours here walking along the beautiful beach, checking out the pier/boardwalk area, and strolling down State Street. You'll have to tender into Santa Barbara. The tender ride back to the ship was a lot more rocky, but nothing to complain about. Where we got dropped off was right next to a beach and marina. The beach has nice, white sand but there was some glass and other sharp objects here and there so be careful. I think some people grabbed a cab and headed to a different beach.

The pier has some cute shops and restaurants. We enjoyed our stroll here. It's at the end of State Street so we decided to head there once we were done. State Street has a lot of shopping and food options.

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 4 - Santa Barbara, California [a couple more photos]

 

the two below are from the pier

 

 

on the tender, on the way back to the ship

[easyboy]

OK - how hilarious is this? On all of the cruises I have been on, I have never, ever seen towels be made into this!!! We loved it! :')

Glad to see this first on picture, otherwise, I might faint when I enter the toilet ! :eek::D:eek:

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 5 - San Fransisco

 

Again, we didn’t have any plans for San Fran. We’ve been here before on a previous cruise with Disney and spent two days here, where we went to Sausalito, Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, and of course, Alcatraz.

 

I had wanted to be on top deck when the ship went under the Golden Gate bridge, but kind of forgot about it...:rolleyes: I woke up and dashed to the top deck, just in time!

 

 

Now - this was a cloudy, cool morning but the rest of the day was actually quite nice!

[Cheezwhizard]

Glad to see this first on picture, otherwise, I might faint when I enter the toilet ! :eek::D:eek:

 

 

My mom was the one who saw it first and it definitely scared her! :')

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 5 - San Francisco [continued]

 

Mom and I decided that we were going to head to towards Westfield Centre. The walk was about 30-40 minutes from the ship. We bought a bottle of water and went on our way, going through China Town during the journey.

 

 

We made it to the busy area and my mom was able to go to the Disney Store (we are a Disney family all the way). We went into a crowded Ross store as well. We hopped on a bus to head back to the port area. It cost a couple of dollars. We ended up getting off a bit too soon (I thought I recognized the port and wasn’t paying attention to the numbers — a lot of those terminals down there look very similar) so we still had about a 15 minute walk to the ship. We had a late lunch on the ship at the Windjammer, grabbed a sweater, and went to Pier 39.

 

There was a free shuttle being offered from the Port so we took that. Although we’ve been to this area before, it was nice to walk around and check out the shops again. We bought a hot drink at the Biscoff Coffee Corner (side note: I didn't care for the complimentary coffee on board). We saw the sea lions and watched the sunset. We walked the short distance back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

[novalab]

Hope you continue with your review. Really enjoying it, especially your beautiful pictures! We will be sailing on Explorer in a few months (Alaska, finally!!):D

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this!

 

Judy

Nevada

[Cheezwhizard]

Hope you continue with your review. Really enjoying it, especially your beautiful pictures! We will be sailing on Explorer in a few months (Alaska, finally!!):D

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this!

 

Judy

Nevada

 

 

I've had a busy couple of days and wasn't able to keep posting! I didn't know if anyone was following along! My apologies. More posts on the way :D

[easyboy]

I've had a busy couple of days and wasn't able to keep posting! I didn't know if anyone was following along! My apologies. More posts on the way :D

Take your time! Following along.

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 6 - Sea Day

 

This day, the ship was a-rocking. I’ve been on many cruises (let’s summarize: 8 or 9 with Disney, 2 with Royal not including this one, and 1 with Carnival) and this was the roughest I’ve ever felt the seas. The clothing hangers in the closest were whacking against the wall and my stomach and head were feeling it. Some fresh air did help, but this day was mostly spent in the stateroom. By the way, we had an inside stateroom. We booked this cruise two months in advance when we saw the great price for an inside. The room was clean, had sufficient space, and served us well. Our housekeeper was Rooney from India. He was very polite and quiet. He also was not feeling well today! I couldn't imagine having to work when the ship is going through rough seas. :fever:

I will say that on the Explorer, the t.v. channel offerings weren’t the greatest. The same two-three episodes of a show played over and over throughout the week. Normally, I wouldn’t care because I’m out and about enjoying the ports and ship, but when you’re feeling ill, it’s nice to have some good T.V.!

Edited March 3, 2017 by Cheezwhizard

[Cheezwhizard]

Day 7 - Astoria, Oregon

We booked an excursion on the ship for this port (on day one of the cruise actually, as it was previously sold out when I wanted to book online). We were going to Cannon Beach (yes - this where the Goonies filmed their final scene :D)

 

A school bus picked us up at the port on this cloudy and gloomy day. The bus driver had a time frame to work with, as she had to pick up school kids at the end of the day. During the drive, we were told history and tidbits of information. After a half hour, we stopped in Seaside for some shopping. We only had a half hour here, which wasn’t enough time. It isn’t a big town, but you didn’t want to go too far or shop too long. Mom and I went into Dundee's Donuts, grabbed a hot beverage to-go and a donut. The donuts were delicious!!!