“Suite!” Just Retired to be a pirate at sea with Sea Dog and Polly The Pirate Semi Live Explorer Nov. 7th

[Chauncey Picklepants]

We’ve cruised the Caribbean out of San Juan in older ships exclusively and never had reliable ship Internet. As an Obstetrician, I relied on it to check in on my patients and it was woefully inadequate. Our AT&T cell service was much more reliable. 
 

Carambola is great, make sure to walk down the beach to Shipwreck bar. Does Casablanca have an elevator yet?  When we stayed last time, there wasn’t one and I’m too old to carry Mrs Picklepants’ 50 pound suitcase up 2 flights. 😉

Edited November 12, 2021 by Chauncey Picklepants

[Coralc]

Shipwreck Bar is supposed to have Monkeys and Mongooses around lunchtime because they feed them! I would love to see photos of them, if you get a chance. 

 

However, since it is a bubble excursion, you may not be allowed to wander off. 

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

St. Lucia was one of our favorites.  We loved it when the captain took the ship up and spun it around beneath the Pitons.  We were out on the helicopter pad which was a great place to view them. 

We had the same experience at the Pitons on Serenade years ago.

[Luckynana]

13 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

WE INTERRUPT  THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED BROADCAST!!!!!!

 

I don’t know if I will be able to continue this live review as Explorer is having major internet issues. Everyone on board is complaining about it. I can’t even log on let alone upload and post pictures.

 

I have so much good content to share with you but it’s getting to the point where I’m too frustrated and I don’t want to ruin my great cruise.

 

So far everything has been amazing. The Chef’s table was incredible last night. But I think I will share that and most of our great excursions till after I get back home and can get reliable internet service.

 

I apologize. This is not how I wanted my review to go. So please be patient. I promise I will not disappoint you.

 

You could never disappoint us, Greg!  We don't mind waiting until you get home after your cruise to reveal all of your wonderful pictures and review of your time on the Explorer!!  Enjoy the rest of your incredible time on the ship!

[Sunshine3601]

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

You should be going to Customer Service or the Zoom Internet Desk and getting at least 50% of your money back.

We had issues with internet on Grandeur fall 2019 and couldnt access work emails, yes we work while on cruises, they gave us free use of phone from cabin to call work a couple of times and gave us a full refund on the wifi pkg we bought.

When we received our final bill the phones call we made would have cost close to $400, thankful they were free

[Chauncey Picklepants]

31 minutes ago, Coralc said:

Shipwreck Bar is supposed to have Monkeys and Mongooses around lunchtime because they feed them! I would love to see photos of them, if you get a chance. 

 

However, since it is a bubble excursion, you may not be allowed to wander off. 

I don’t have any photographs because we make it a point to leave our phones on ship to be able to swim and stroll without worrying about theft, and to fully unwind.  I’m retired now but at that time, being able to untether for a brief period of time was a welcome relief.  We did use a “camera” but those photos are on camera cards somewhere. We’re not big photo takers.  
 

The monkeys were in the port mall area that was fairly new at the time.  They were chained up by owners and it was, to me, disturbing. 

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, Chauncey Picklepants said:

I don’t have any photographs because we make it a point to leave our phones on ship to be able to swim and stroll without worrying about theft, and to fully unwind.  I’m retired now but at that time, being able to untether for a brief period of time was a welcome relief.  We did use a “camera” but those photos are on camera cards somewhere. We’re not big photo takers.  
 

The monkeys were in the port mall area that was fairly new at the time.  They were chained up by owners and it was, to me, disturbing. 

I didnt care for the monkey show at port either, felt bad for them.

Carambola beach is one of our favorites too.  

[Coralc]

30 minutes ago, Chauncey Picklepants said:

The monkeys were in the port mall area that was fairly new at the time.  They were chained up by owners and it was, to me, disturbing. 

Oh noo. Never touch the port monkeys in St. Kitts. And don't hold them or let them sit on you. They carry staph and other communicable diseases. I am not a fan of monkeys anyway. The ones out at Shipwreck Bar are wild, but still no touching or hand feeding. And as a biologist, I am actually more interested in seeing photos of the mongooses. 

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Let me guess...Gulmohar's related somehow?

hehehehe. It was very interesting to say the least stay tuned.

 

 

2 hours ago, Chauncey Picklepants said:

We’ve cruised the Caribbean out of San Juan in older ships exclusively and never had reliable ship Internet. As an Obstetrician, I relied on it to check in on my patients and it was woefully inadequate. Our AT&T cell service was much more reliable. 
 

Carambola is great, make sure to walk down the beach to Shipwreck bar. Does Casablanca have an elevator yet?  When we stayed last time, there wasn’t one and I’m too old to carry Mrs Picklepants’ 50 pound suitcase up 2 flights. 😉

 

We will be at Carambola beach for our excursion in St Kitts. I’ve heard all about the shipwreck bar. This Pirate dog must go there.

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, Luckynana said:

You could never disappoint us, Greg!  We don't mind waiting until you get home after your cruise to reveal all of your wonderful pictures and review of your time on the Explorer!!  Enjoy the rest of your incredible time on the ship!

thank you Maryann I think you’ll like what I got.

 

3 hours ago, Chauncey Picklepants said:

We’ve cruised the Caribbean out of San Juan in older ships exclusively and never had reliable ship Internet. As an Obstetrician, I relied on it to check in on my patients and it was woefully inadequate. Our AT&T cell service was much more reliable. 
 

Carambola is great, make sure to walk down the beach to Shipwreck bar. Does Casablanca have an elevator yet?  When we stayed last time, there wasn’t one and I’m too old to carry Mrs Picklepants’ 50 pound suitcase up 2 flights. 😉

 

yes CasaBlanca has an elevator now. I can’t imagine going up those stairs with suitcases. It is very slow however and if the hotel is crowded it might be easier to take the stairs.
 

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

Shipwreck Bar is supposed to have Monkeys and Mongooses around lunchtime because they feed them! I would love to see photos of them, if you get a chance. 

 

However, since it is a bubble excursion, you may not be allowed to wander off. 

 

I have not heard yet what we will be allowed to do. It’s interesting that in both St. Maarten and St. Lucia it was highly discouraged to interact with the local vendors. In St Maarten they gave out a sheet of paper that said dk not get beach massages or interact with the vendors. Sounds like the islands want to limit their exposure to us cruisers.

 

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

We had issues with internet on Grandeur fall 2019 and couldnt access work emails, yes we work while on cruises, they gave us free use of phone from cabin to call work a couple of times and gave us a full refund on the wifi pkg we bought.

When we received our final bill the phones call we made would have cost close to $400, thankful they were free

 

I’m still having major issues. I may go down tomorrow and ask what are you going to do to make this right?”
 

2 hours ago, Chauncey Picklepants said:

I don’t have any photographs because we make it a point to leave our phones on ship to be able to swim and stroll without worrying about theft, and to fully unwind.  I’m retired now but at that time, being able to untether for a brief period of time was a welcome relief.  We did use a “camera” but those photos are on camera cards somewhere. We’re not big photo takers.  
 

The monkeys were in the port mall area that was fairly new at the time.  They were chained up by owners and it was, to me, disturbing. 

that would disturb me too.

[perfect match]

@Sea Dog I just want to add my voice to what everyone else is telling you about trying to keep up with a live review using internet that clearly isn’t working. Relax, enjoy your time with your family. Enjoy your cruise. We’re patient. We can wait until you get home and have internet that really does work. We’ll be here! 

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

A week goes by too fast, @Sea Dog and before you know it, cruise is over.  Take your photos and take notes but sit back and enjoy every moment on your cruise and don't beat yourself up for trying to keep up with the live review for us.  We're already so grateful that you are sharing so much with us.  Really appreciate it- especially food photos.  😋

[bobmacliberty]

Our daughters, especially my younger daughter, wanted desperately to see the monkeys at the Shipwreck Bar.  We took a walk down the beach from Carambola but no monkeys.  We had a drink and then walked back.  About halfway back, we saw a guy with a monkey.  I love these pictures as they captured pure joy.

 

 

 

[Sea Dog]

 

Third time trying to post anything. Great day yesterday in St.Lucia seeing the majestic Pitons.

 

 

Our beautiful lady Explorer of the Seas.

 

[Sea Dog]

3 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

I love these pictures as they captured pure joy.

I love these pics. How far was the walk? I’m not sure they will let us venture out from our bubble.

[bobmacliberty]

I think it was around 15 minutes...maybe a quarter mile??

[Sea Dog]

Bridgetown Barbados today. Important note for those coming to Barbados. If you do not do a Royal Excursion you must stay on the ship.

 

Case in point. Linda’s is having some pain problems in her feet. So she decided to cancel  her Barbados shopping and beach while Jonathan and I do the Atlantis Submarine.

 

Linda cancelled but was told she now must stay on board. She was fine by that. She was refunded the cost of the excursion in OBC.

 

I know am going down to talk to my good friend at the Zoom desk to tell him my Surf and Stream is more like a death crawl and trickle.

 

Wish I could post pictures but it’s not happening.

Funny thing last night I went up about 1am on the top deck to see if I could get some stars shots. I was greeted with heavy wind and rain.

Picked the wrong time to go through a squall. Got soaked pretty good.

[kleibo]

10 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Bridgetown Barbados today. Important note for those coming to Barbados. If you do not do a Royal Excursion you must stay on the ship.

 

Thanks so much for the review - we are scheduled for February.   I thought on most of the islands you had to do a Royal excursion or you had to stay on the ship?

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, kleibo said:

 I thought on most of the islands you had to do a Royal excursion or you had to stay on the ship?

The list of islands which require ship excursions to leave the ship change all the time - it is updated on the RCI site.

[Sea Dog]

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The list of islands which require ship excursions to leave the ship change all the time - it is updated on the RCI site.

This is true. St. Thomas and St. Maarten we could roam. Barbados no for sure. We were on Royal Excursions for every island so we did not pay too much attention to the local restrictions since it did not apply to us. Like @Biker19 says check Royals websites for exact information.

[Ocean Boy]

I hope St. Kitts is off of the bubble list by January.

[Sea Dog]

Yesterday we were greeted with this.

 

 

4th time to try and upload this. Finally success.

 

I did have a talk with my new friend who runs the Zoom desk. He remembered me……we talked about the internet infrastructure on board. I asked if some of the problems were because of the age of the equipment and if Explorer had been reamplified when she was originally scheduled  would the the system be updated with newer and faster equipment?  He said yes absolutely. He will be giving me credit but how much remains to be seen. I just emphasized that if you are going to run a promotion of surf and stream and that you can stream movies you should deliver on that promise.

[Wink87]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Third time trying to post anything. Great day yesterday in St.Lucia seeing the majestic Pitons.

 

 

Our beautiful lady Explorer of the Seas.

 

Gorgeous photo!

[George C]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I hope St. Kitts is off of the bubble list by January.

St Kitts was removed from our allure cruise in two weeks 

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

He will be giving me credit but how much remains to be seen.

 

I got 40% of the package cost back, which I felt was a bit on the stingy side since it wasn't fixed until day 6 on an 8-night cruise, but it was better than nothing and by that time I couldn't really be bothered arguing anyway.

Like you, I had been trying to do a live review and the photos simply weren't uploading, so I ended up finishing the review after the cruise. I'll look forward to seeing all your pics when you get home and are able to upload them without going mad with frustration. :)