"Sorta" Live from the Explorer in the Norwegian Fjords

[RachelG]

1 hour ago, English Voyager said:

It is not difficult at my age, but I am confused!

 

It has always been my understanding that the key card only controls the lighting not power to the sockets.

 

I have not been on the Explorer, but on every cruise ship I have been on I have often left items on charge while I have gone to eat.

 

If the key card controlled power presumably the in suite refrigerators would have to be on an independent  circuit.

That is a good point.  I just figured that all the electricity was off.  I will check that out next time onboard.

[boblerm]

It seemed to me that it did control the lights, and chargers, not the fridge or a/c. 

[Travelcat2]

Bob - thank you for your input regarding my iPhone.  One quickie question...... wouldn't I have to turn on "Data" on my iPhone in order to send photos?  I'm always concerned about turning anything on as I don't want to incur tons of charges.  Will give it a try before the cruise.

 

In terms of the electricity and keycard, we have even used the little cardboard thingie that is in with your keycard to put in the slot.  Several things will work - not only keycards.

[Focused1]

A business card also works. 

[English Voyager]

2 hours ago, boblerm said:

It seemed to me that it did control the lights, and chargers, not the fridge or a/c. 

Did you always put your card in the slot even if the room was flooded with sun light?

[GrJ Berkshire]

Great ship, but not my favourite. So much wasted space in the area to the spa and pacific rim, plus glamour/glitz over practicality, eg the wall in D suites opposite the bed, like this dislike the lack of view out. Theatre with poor sight lines, silly steps, and useless upstairs area, no open front viewing area. These all stop it being the best.... Lets hope they get Splendour better. Hopefully will make CR quieter as well, we ate by choice in the back corner on Explorer, found the Navigator much quieter- lower ceiling?

[Travelcat2]

53 minutes ago, English Voyager said:

Did you always put your card in the slot even if the room was flooded with sun light?

 

Having the suite flooded in sunlight won't charge your laptop, tablet, etc.  We keep the card in the slot all the time.  If we don't need the lights, obviously we turn them off.

[English Voyager]

22 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Having the suite flooded in sunlight won't charge your laptop, tablet, etc.  We keep the card in the slot all the time.  If we don't need the lights, obviously we turn them off.

In which case you don't know if the card in the slot controls only the lighting or the lighting, and the power to the sockets.

 

My question was posed to ascertain if not having placed the card in the slot had resulted in a loss of power to the sockets.

 

 

[Travelcat2]

26 minutes ago, English Voyager said:

In which case you don't know if the card in the slot controls only the lighting or the lighting, and the power to the sockets.

 

My question was posed to ascertain if not having placed the card in the slot had resulted in a loss of power to the sockets.

 

26 minutes ago, English Voyager said:

 

 

 

Actually, there are times when the stewardess takes out the card and everything is off (including my chargers that plug into the wall).  The refrigerator is likely on a different circuit.

[greenolaker]

What about the a/c?  Does that go off if the key card is removed?

[boblerm]

24 minutes ago, greenolaker said:

What about the a/c?  Does that go off if the key card is removed?

As best as I can tell, it does not. 

[boblerm]

4 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Bob - thank you for your input regarding my iPhone.  One quickie question...... wouldn't I have to turn on "Data" on my iPhone in order to send photos?  I'm always concerned about turning anything on as I don't want to incur tons of charges.  Will give it a try before the cruise.

 

   
Jackie, you needn't use any data at all, simply log in to ship wi-fi with your phone exactly as you do with your iPad. In fact, I always make sure that I have roaming data turned off when I am traveling to remove chance of unpleasant bill surprises. 

 

The problem with posting from your phone is that clearly, you would prefer to be using a keyboard on a different device for text. To me, the most convenient way would be to post text with whatever your preferred device is, and then go to your phone and separately post your photos.  You are allowed, I believe, 2 devices logged on per person, so you needn't log in and out.

 

To make it more convenient to post from your phone, I would recommend putting a shortcut to the Cruise Critic boards on your phone's home screen . Here's how-
Open your safari browser to the CC message board site

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/

 

Click on the upward facing arrow at the top

 

 

Choose "add to home screen". 



This gives you a shortcut directly to the CC message boards.

Even better, once you begin a thread, you can add a shortcut directly to that thread by going to the thread in Safari and doing the same thing . Then, with one tap you can go directly to the first page of your thread, you only need to click th double arrow >> button at the top to bring you to the latest page.  I find this very convenient, if you have any questions ,please let me know.

 

BTW, I'm not sure if everyone is aware, there is a Test Forum on Cruise Critic, it can be found on the main forum index page under Forum Assistance. Here you can play around trying different things on different devices and see what works out best for you. It's a good idea to have things worked out beforehand so you don't waste precious cruise time trying to figure things out.

Edited August 25, 2019 by boblerm

[flossie009]

To move photos from iPhone to iPad (or between any Apple devices) the simplest way is to use "Air Drop". This only requires a Bluetooth connection between devices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVLdVmUiqqU

 

[golfgirls]

We have thoroughly enjoyed following along your journey via this thread.  Well done and thank you!  You have travelled to one of our favourite destinations on our favourite ship with our favourite CD.  Yes...a bit envious to be sure.  

 

I have a question for you regarding the talented Entertainment crew that you enjoyed so much.  We had a similar experience last Christmas with the best ‘cast’ ever.  Do you remember if a young lady named Janneke was the lead female singer?  She was out of this world fantastic and I hope Regent has been able to keep her as part of their team.  

 

Thanks again for taking us onboard vicariously. 

[Pinksunset]

Thank you for sharing your cruise and for posting these fabulous pictures.  I appreciate seeing how beautiful Explorer really is!  I also thank you for the pictures of your F2 cabin.  

Question:  Is there enough room to comfortably dine in the suite?  We made the “mistake “ of cruising the Mariner in a named suite for our first Regent cruise, and cannot quite afford to repeat that very frequently.  Perhaps an F2, though (without that extra bathroom) might work. It looks quite spacious.  

[jeb_bud]

11 hours ago, boblerm said:

Yeah, I really don't quite get the business of not wanting you to charge devices while you are out.   So on Regent, do you leave an old keycard in and the room attendant does not remove it?

I was on the Explorer in April. I too was worried about leaving my keycard behind when leaving our room so I used my library card. Sometimes I would pull the card halfway out and leave it, then just push it back into place to turn on the power when we returned. 

 

If if we had devices charging I would leave the card in place. If the room stewards serviced the room while we were out they usually half pulled the card when they left but we did get some extra charging time between our departure and theirs. 

 

I was also uncomfortable with the idea of leaving a credit card in the slot but Between my library card and a couple of supermarket cards I found lower risk alternatives. 

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

To move photos from iPhone to iPad (or between any Apple devices) the simplest way is to use "Air Drop". This only requires a Bluetooth connection between devices.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVLdVmUiqqU

 

Thanks, Susan, I'm glad that someone with more expertise in all things Apple has chimed in here. This seems like the way to go for those that are shooting with their iPhone and posting with their iPad. The good thing is that since it is Bluetooth,  no worries about whether or not the ship wifi is sufficient for the transfer.

[boblerm]

21 minutes ago, golfgirls said:

We have thoroughly enjoyed following along your journey via this thread.  Well done and thank you!  You have travelled to one of our favourite destinations on our favourite ship with our favourite CD.  Yes...a bit envious to be sure.  

 

I have a question for you regarding the talented Entertainment crew that you enjoyed so much.  We had a similar experience last Christmas with the best ‘cast’ ever.  Do you remember if a young lady named Janneke was the lead female singer?  She was out of this world fantastic and I hope Regent has been able to keep her as part of their team.  

 

Thanks again for taking us onboard vicariously. 

Thank you golfgirls, I greatly appreciate your comments.

The female lead singers were Marsha and Nell, both excellent.  But I will keep my eyes peeled for Janneke, hope I get to see her at some point!

[jeb_bud]

10 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Amazon does carry them.  You just need to make sure you get the one that's compatible with your camera.   I have used it on an older Ipad...worked great for me. 

 

I use a Lightning to SD card adapter to get photos from my DSLR to my iPad. That way I don’t have to worry about the connector match on the camera end. Transfers to my iPad pro(10.5”) are very fast. 

[golfgirls]

Sorry, back to the entertainment for a moment.  I think we know Nell as well.  She did some solo performances on a different cruise.  Very talented indeed.  And if I am not mistaken, is engaged to CD David Nevin.  

[liptastic]

35 minutes ago, Pinksunset said:

Thank you for sharing your cruise and for posting these fabulous pictures.  I appreciate seeing how beautiful Explorer really is!  I also thank you for the pictures of your F2 cabin.  

Question:  Is there enough room to comfortably dine in the suite?  We made the “mistake “ of cruising the Mariner in a named suite for our first Regent cruise, and cannot quite afford to repeat that very frequently.  Perhaps an F2, though (without that extra bathroom) might work. It looks quite spacious.  

I know others may and will disagree, but my opinion is that we found it uncomfortable to have breakfast in the cabin. We had a concierge suite on our first Explorer cruise. Liked the bathroom and walk in wardrobe area, but felt the living area less so.

The sofa/couch is smaller and uncomfortable. We always have breakfast in the cabin and it’s the only cruise we felt it to be less enjoyable.

This is only our opinion,    Jean.

[boblerm]

18 minutes ago, Pinksunset said:

Question:  Is there enough room to comfortably dine in the suite?  

Pinksunset, perhaps this picture will help.

 

You would need to use the small table, there is a chair to bring to the other side. 

We had breakfast there 1 day, I would say that it is far from ideal, but doable. 

 

FYI, if the reason that you are considering in suite dining is that you'd rather not dress up the dress

code at times, there is dress down dining at the pool grill in the evening. We have never done it, but the people we have spoken to seem to enjoy it. For me, this would be a better dining experience than in suite, but that is just our preference. 

[RachelG]

There is enough room for two people to dine comfortably, but you can’t have a party.

[boblerm]

50 minutes ago, liptastic said:

I know others may and will disagree, but my opinion is that we found it uncomfortable to have breakfast in the cabin. We had a concierge suite on our first Explorer cruise. Liked the bathroom and walk in wardrobe area, but felt the living area less so.

The sofa/couch is smaller and uncomfortable. We always have breakfast in the cabin and it’s the only cruise we felt it to be less enjoyable.

This is only our opinion,    Jean.

Hi Jean,

The one time that we had breakfast in our suite, the problem we felt was that since all the items come at once, it was problematic organizing things well on the smallish table.  We have never had dinner in our suite , have you?  Off the top of my head, if they serve one course at a time, that might work out better, I think that there would be room for 2 plates, glassware, breadbasket.  

For us, we would prefer not to dine that way unless one of us wasn't feeling well, part of our cruise experience is getting dressed in the evening and getting our and about the ship, just our preference..

[liptastic]

14 minutes ago, boblerm said:

Hi Jean,

The one time that we had breakfast in our suite, the problem we felt was that since all the items come at once, it was problematic organizing things well on the smallish table.  We have never had dinner in our suite , have you?  Off the top of my head, if they serve one course at a time, that might work out better, I think that there would be room for 2 plates, glassware, breadbasket.  

For us, we would prefer not to dine that way unless one of us wasn't feeling well, part of our cruise experience is getting dressed in the evening and getting our and about the ship, just our preference..

Bob first of all thanks for your excellent live blog. As always it’s been delightful to follow along with you both.

We have never had dinner in the cabin on any cruise but always have breakfast there. Whilst the concierge cabin was nice for us it just didn’t work living area wise. Breakfast felt cramped and the sofa not great to relax on. Like you and Jeannie we like to get dressed up for dinner and enjoy the evening pre dinner and post dinner with drinks and company. We are very lucky and privileged to be able to make these choices and appreciate it greatly. 

Look forward to your next live blog, thanks,

Jean.