Explorer of the Seas 21 Nov - 5 Dec 2021 Review — Post Cruise due to Terrible Internet Onboard

[dianajo67]

Currently sitting at the Courtyard by Marriott Isla Verde in Puerto Rico.  Just off the Explorer this morning and decided to start posting a review I typed up during our B2B cruises!  Hope you all enjoy!  I’ll add some additional pics later as they are on hubby’s phone!

 

19 Nov: Covid-19 Test/Depart Virginia/Arrive San Juan/Pirillo’s

 

Stayed up until midnight to take the online Covid-19 test.  Took about 40 mins for both hubby and I to complete and we were both “negative”.  Tried to get 2 hours of sleep as we had to get up at 3 and leave for the airport at 4.  Of course, we couldn’t sleep at all.  We flew to San Juan from Norfolk via Orlando and had no delays.  Given the issues with Southwest earlier in the month, we used points to have back-up flights on American.  We cancelled those flights once we got to our gate and saw a plane and crew there.  Big relief.

 

Got to San Juan around 3 and took a taxi to the Sheraton Old San Juan.  We’d stayed there before.  It’s just an okay hotel, but the location is great for walking around.  We got a free upgrade to a top floor room right next to the pool with a great view of the waterfront.  Of course, being by the pool has some downsides in the noise department.  Seems everyone has to talk loudly and run up and down the halls when departing the pool and waiting for the elevator.  

 

Went to Pirilo’s Rustic Italian Restaurant for dinner.  We’d eaten there on previous trip to San Juan and liked the ambiance with the brick walls etc.  Food was great as usual.  We each ordered a Neapolitan-style personal pizza.  We were so tired at this point having been up for 40 hours that we just went back to the hotel after dinner and crashed about 9.

 

 

 

[dianajo67]

20 Nov: Flavors of Old San Juan Food Tour—Morning Classic

 

Woke up this morning to find out that our Junior Suite had been upgraded to an Owner’s Suite on Explorer of the Seas.  I had bid $450 on RoyalUP and had been expecting to get the upgrade as all my bids except the Owner’s Suite had expired several days earlier.

 

Went on a Flavors of Old San Juan Food Tour that started at 10 and went to about 1:30.  It ended up just being hubby and I along with our tour guide, Ricardo.  It was an excellent tour and I highly recommend it.  Our guide was a high school history teacher who was working on his masters.  He had specialized in the Caribbean region and we learned about so much more than just the local food specialties.  Of course we had pina coladas, mofongo, genuine PR coffee, local chocolate, and several other yummy foods in our 5 restaurant stops.  It started with a coffee/breakfast stop and worked through lunch stops and finally a dessert stop.  Five Stars and a great way to find some new favorite places to eat in OSJ that are not touristy.  It’s possible that Royal Caribbean has started to offer a tour from this company for port visits to San Juan as Ricardo mentioned he took a group from a Celebrity ship recently. We booked via Viator.

 

Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping and stopped for a pina colada at Barrachina’s.  Ricardo actually gave us a list of great places to try that were not on the tour and air dropped us the pins on google maps so we could just open up and navigate to the places.  Really went above and beyond.  Over the course of the evening we visited most of those places for snacks and drinks.  We were stuffed when we went to bed.  Of course, I’d planned to “behave” in the food department this trip.  Not a great start in that regard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dianajo67]

21 Nov: Check out Hotel/Board Explorer of the Seas

 

Checked out of the hotel right at 11 and went to the port.  We had a check-in time at 1, but with the suite, we figured we could try and get in at 12.  We actually ended up being the first new guests on the ship right at 1145.  There were several B2Bers already on there.  Boarding was super easy and fast.  Of course, we had all of our documents in order.  The first week we had coated paper wristbands like you’d get at a concert or fair to indicate our vaccinated status.   The second week, we were back to cloth wristbands with the long tail that everyone hates.  Once onboard, we just walked around and grabbed a bite in Windjammer until rooms were ready at 2.  Our cabin was 1298.

 

There were 2100 people onboard the first week including 400 kids.  About 200 of those were unvaccinated.  Not surprising given it was week of Thanksgiving.  Ship felt a bit empty and pool chairs were easy to get.  In fact, we never saw a single person using the loungers in the area reserved for suite guests the entire week.  The second week had 1900 onboard with few kids.

 

The biggest issue first day was the room key fiasco.  I literally had to get 5 different sea passes (keys) to our cabin. First keys by our door didn’t work, so we went to guest services and they reissued them to us.  Hubby’s second key worked, but mine didn’t and so we went back to guest services to get a third key for me.  It worked.  About this time, they realized that none of the keys for the 10^th floor worked and the line at guest services was getting really long with folks with faulty keys.  The staff ended up opening up all the rooms on the 10^th floor and letting folks in while they rekeyed every single room and delivered the new keys.  We were unaware that new keys (our 4^th) were put in our room as our 3^rd keys worked.  I saw them sitting there and thought they were our previous keys.  We were stopped on the way getting off the ship in St Thomas and told that we were using bad keys although they still worked to open our door.  After some checking, they let us get off but told us we had to go to guest services when we got back on.  When we got back after our excursion, the folks at security handed us another envelope with keys in it (our 5^th).  We have lots of souvenir keys from this trip!

 

I have to say that we enjoyed the extra space of the Owner’s suite, but Explorer is showing her age a bit.  The spa tub was unusable.  When you turned on the jets, the water turned a gross slimy brown.  I thought maybe it was just because the ship hadn’t been used in about 18 months and we were the first to use the tub.  Thought it might just be some rust or something that needed to be flushed out.  When I talked to our room attendant, she said they were required to fill the tub and run the jets with bleach every week between guests.  We had thought we could at least wash some clothes in there, but no way.  Had to use the stand-alone shower all week.  I didn’t care for it as there was no place to put my foot when shaving my legs.  Otherwise, the room was fine for the first week of our B2B.

 

Internet was the worst I’ve ever experienced on a ship.  Forget any Black Friday shopping for sure! Could not even log into Royal Caribbean.  I wanted to cancel a shore excursion for my second week and never could.  The shore excursion desk and guest services couldn’t help me.  They just told me to come back the first day of the second leg and they’d give me OBC.  Very aggravating.  I wandered the ship looking for a stronger signal without much success.  I could get my basic e-mail and that is about it.  I ended up being able to cancel the excursion using wi-fi at a beach bar in St Lucia on Thanksgiving Day.

 

Ate dinner at Giovanni’s the first night.  It was pretty empty.  Food was great!  No complaints.  I had the filet mignon as I was trying to limit stuff like pasta and potatoes this week.  After that, it was off to the schooner bar for a Baton Rouge 2.0 recommended by @Sea Dog.  Nover is an excellent bartender with a great sense of humor.  His name has a story.  Apparently, his parents named their kids for the month they were born in.  His siblings are April, June, Julie and Augustus. Guess his birth month…

 

We skipped the entertainment first night as we were enjoying the piano player/singer in the Schooner Bar.  Name is Manda Vincent and she was from Ireland.  Kind of a quirky personality, but we enjoyed her enough to listen in several more times during the cruise.

[zpdw484]

Thanks for the review. Not much info from the explorer sailings out there yet. Was you able to do anything at all with the onboard internet?  We're u able to get any money refunded on it? We board explorer the day after Christmas and my wife is pretty set on buying the internet package. I've been trying to temper her expectations after what I've read here. She usually buys it mainly to have a line of communication with a few people back home via Fb messenger. 

[little britain]

Friends found out last night that PR does not recognise or accept the AZ vaccine - so anyone with that (aka most of the UK!) will be classified as unvaccinated and will need to do a test within 72 hours of arrival......  this information is not on the RCI website.

 

https://www.travelsafe.pr.gov/

[dianajo67]

23 hours ago, zpdw484 said:

Thanks for the review. Not much info from the explorer sailings out there yet. Was you able to do anything at all with the onboard internet?  We're u able to get any money refunded on it? We board explorer the day after Christmas and my wife is pretty set on buying the internet package. I've been trying to temper her expectations after what I've read here. She usually buys it mainly to have a line of communication with a few people back home via Fb messenger. 

We could get basic email occasionally.  No streaming.  No complicated websites…..like Royalcaribbean.com or my credit card sites.  Basically….no sites with any kind of pop-ups….like trying to buy something online.  Forget it.  No FaceTime.  Occasionally got into Facebook surprisingly, but no uploading of pics or anything.

[dianajo67]

22 Nov: St Thomas

 

Normally, we just catch the small ferry from Crown Bay over to Water Island and hang out at Honeymoon Beach.  This cruise, we decided to go on the Caribbean Fast-Cat 2-Island Snorkeling Safari through the ship.  Went to Turtle Bay and then on to Honeymoon Beach on Water Island.  The snorkeling wasn’t great, but Hubby was anxious to play with the new Go-pro 10 I bought him as an anniversary present.  He got extremely lucky.  Just as he was swimming back to the boat a turtle decided to come up from the bottom and swim just a couple feet from him.  He got some great footage and felt that experience made up for the lack of anything else to see on the snorkeling portion of the trip.  The tour providers themselves were great and we enjoyed the staff.  Honeymoon Beach stop was simply that.  Hung out on the beach for an hour or so drinking rum punch provided by the tour.  Recommend as long as you don’t mind the limited snorkeling sights.  The tour sometimes goes to Buck Island instead of Turtle Bay according to the tour description.

 

Back on board, we showered and went exploring.  Before dinner, we checked out the concierge lounge and diamond club areas.  We had the Deluxe beverage package so didn’t really spend any time in either place the first week.  Grabbed coffee in the morning occasionally.  Breakfast for suites was available in Chops and hubby went several times.  I’m not much of a morning eater, so I mostly just fought with the internet before showering and heading out the door on an excursion.  We had no official sea days this week.  The concierge lounge is kind of small and had no windows.  Not a very exciting place to hang out.  Diamond lounge is up on Deck 14 off the Viking Crown Lounge.  It was busier than I thought it would be given there were no free drinks in there.  Lots of folks took their snacks out into the bar area.

 

Dinner was MDR and then we visited the Schooner Bar again until our 800 show.  It was a production show called ‘Invitation to Dance’.  We enjoyed it and recommend it.

[dianajo67]

23 Nov: St Croix

 

We made today into a sea day.  Slept in a bit and then just got off and walked around town for about an hour.  Spent the rest of the day pretty much just relaxing and celebrating our anniversary onboard.

 

After dinner in the MDR, we saw the headliner show ‘An Evening with Celine Dion: starring Tracey Shield’.  She had a great voice and did sound a lot like Celine Dion.  The problem was song selection.  She probably only sang 3 Celine Dion songs.  Most of the songs were songs neither my hubby or I had ever heard before.  It’s like she took obscure songs from groups like Queen and decided to put them in her show.  Maybe an original or two also.  Strange! I think most people want to hear music they know on cruise ships.  We left a bit disappointed.  

 

Back to the Schooner Bar where Manda, the piano player and singer this week, would play requests.  Great voice too!  We spent a lot of time at the Schooner Bar this trip.  We won trivia at least four times!  We did visit every bar for at least one drink though.  You generally have to use your phone to see the menus via QR code, but they have a “regular” menu available if you ask.  I hate carrying my phone around with me which is one reason why I don’t have a bunch of pics on here.

[dianajo67]

Tom’s pic from the St Thomas excursion.

 

[dianajo67]

24 Nov: St Maarten

 

Didn’t really see any ship tours that interested us as we’d been to St Maarten many times in the past.  Looked online and found Random Wind Catamaran and Snorkel Cruise.  The excursion left from Dock Maarten a short walk from the cruise port and was about 5 hours long.  We really enjoyed this tour.  There were only about 15 of us on the tour.  Went to a couple snorkel locations and had an open bar and lunch.  The only word of warning is that the tour did not provide snorkel vests.  They had noodles and Tarzan swing, but no vests.  The noodles worked fine for us, but I recommend bringing an inflatable vest if you have one.  They are pretty inexpensive on Amazon.  We had only brought our masks and snorkels this day.  We snorkeled over a sunken helicopter and submarine.  Highly recommend.

 

Dinner was in Chops.  I had the Filet and Hubby had the bone-in ribeye.  Perfectly done.  Again, no complaints.  We ate at Chops 4 times in our two weeks. Food was great.  Surprisingly, the best filet we had the entire trip was in the MDR on the second formal night each week!  Cut like butter.  Overall, we thought the MDR food was better than before Covid-19.  Still wish they’d cook the broccoli and carrots a bit more as they were kinda hard.

 

Went to the ice skating show called ‘Spirit of the Seasons’.  I’ve seen a lot of ice skating shows on cruise ships, but I think this was my favorite one!  Loved the costumes and the great music selections!  Highly recommend.

 

 

[dianajo67]

25 Nov: St Lucia

 

Thanksgiving Day!  Decided to do the West Coast Catamaran Cruise through the ship.  They had multiple large catamarans running this day.  We really didn’t enjoy it very much as it was crowded and the folks running it were quite bossy.  Felt like I was back in the military with all the orders they kept hollering out at everyone.  Although the tour description mentioned snorkeling, you could only do it if you brought your own gear.  Was not as relaxing as it should’ve been.  The staff was also a bit stingy with lunch.  Folks could only have a chicken drumstick or a small piece of fried fish.  Sides were your basic beans and rice or some ramen noodles.  Of course, they provided some good rum punch on the way back to port in hopes of getting good tips.  The rum punch was good.  Folks who were new to cruising and excursions probably enjoyed the tour much more than folks who’ve done a few independent ones in the past.  We generally book non ship excursions for the smaller numbers and cost. 

 

Dinner was MDR and they had some nice traditional Thanksgiving options.

 

Headline show tonight was Bobby Brooks, son of the R&B singer Jackie Wilson.  We enjoyed this show quite a bit.  I will also say that the cruise ship orchestra that is working with the on-board entertainers is excellent!  We were familiar with all the songs and he had a great voice.

 

Christmas decorations started going up overnight!

 

[dianajo67]

26 Nov: Barbados

 

We skipped our planned excursion today and decided to just walk around the port shops and enjoy the empty ship!  We needed a break from Catamarans and Snorkeling.  We also skipped our evening entertainment as we knew we had the second week of our B2B to see the shows we missed the first week.

 

We did a bit of packing as we had to move rooms for our second week.  Originally, we were in the same Junior Suite both weeks.  We received upgrades for both weeks.  First week was owners suite.  We’d be moving down the hall to a Grand Suite for our second week.  I had reduced my bid on the owners suite to below that of the grand suite because I wanted to try both of them out and see which we prefer.

 

27 Nov: St Kitts/Nevis

 

Got up this morning and reported to the conference room on deck 2 for Covid-19 testing.  We were there at 0710 and the line was already really long.  All the kids on board had to test in addition to the B2Bers.  If folks had followed the instructions left in their rooms, the process would have gone much faster.  Many folks did not register ahead of time, so there was a clog at the check in desk for the test as folks filled out info online.  Once we got to the actual test, it was literally 30 seconds to swab our noses and send us out a side door.  We had our results in our email within the hour.  Both Negative!

 

This day gets a bit fuzzy as I had way too much rum punch on our excursion that started at 1030.  We did the Catamaran Fan-at-Sea to Nevis with Snorkel and Beach through the ship.  The snorkel part was a lot like the one on St Thomas.  There wasn’t much to see.  There was also a bit of a current, so we didn’t stay in too long.  That led to early access to the Rum Punch.  We had some on the sail over to the island of Nevis and had free access to it for the hour we spent at the beach over there….and the entire sail back to port.  Everyone was dancing pretty hard on the way back.  Hubby got some video that I’m going to delete at first opportunity!  Guess I needed help getting my shoes on when we got back to the dock.  Not my norm.  Just be aware the punch is potent on this excursion!  

 

Needless to say, I didn’t want to drink that evening at all.  Went to bed on the early side!  Tomorrow is turnover day.  We’d be moving to Grand Suite room 1248.

[dianajo67]

28 Nov: Turnaround Day/San Juan

 

Woke up feeling surprisingly well considering my adventure with Rum Punch the day before.  We finished packing and reported to the Star Lounge at 0930.  We had coordinated with our losing and gaining room attendants so we could get access to our new room as early as possible. It helped that they were on the same hallway.

 

Turnover was easy, but not quick.  We finished up not long before they started general boarding at 1145.  We did not leave the ship at all, but we had to wait for Customs and Border Patrol to come onboard after the last of the ship departures at 10.  They came to the star lounge eventually and then it was quick.

 

Got into our new room at 1130 or so and unpacked.  We decided we like the Grand Suite more than the Owners Suite on this ship.  The balcony is much larger and has a lounger.  The tub/shower was spacious with plenty of space to put our shampoo bottles etc.  We were also farther forward and the internet worked a tiny bit better in the front of the ship.  The AC also seemed to keep the room cooler than the previous room. Both rooms had decent water pressure.  I might’ve preferred it a bit harder as my hair is thick and I hate weak pressure when I’m rinsing out shampoo.  The temperature was very hot though.

 

We decided to skip the Deluxe Beverage Package this week and just use our diamond vouchers and drinks in the concierge lounge.  After so much drinking the first week, I think we were both ready to ease up a bit.  Hubby did get the Refreshment package though for continuous access to soda and specialty coffee.  The Lavazza espresso makers in the suites just didn’t cut it for him.

 

Met another couple in the concierge lounge who were also going to Chops at 6, so we decided to go and sit together.  Food was great.  I got the Filet again and Hubby got the ribeye.

 

Went to the headliner, a comedian named Anthony Acosta.  This was hands down the WORST show I’ve seen on a cruise ship.  At least 20% of the audience got up and walked out.  He was not funny at all.  You could’ve heard a pin drop in the theater when he delivered his punch lines.  He was up there talking about hating kids and providing advice on how you could beat then and make it look like an accident.  There are folks who can pull off offensive topics in a way that can get a chuckle, but this guy came across as serious.  He chided the audience at the end and walked off pretty quickly.  He’s supposedly a long-time Royal Caribbean entertainer.  Think he should take another look at his material.  Even the cruise director, Elvis, didn’t have much to say when he came on stage afterwards.  Do not recommend.

 

The cruise director, Elvis, was quite good!  We enjoyed his energy and he was very visible during the week.

[dianajo67]

29 Nov: St Maarten

 

Today was a great excursion that we booked independently online.  Capt Bob’s Speedboat, Snorkel and Lunch was about 5 hours long.  We had 9 people on our boat and they ran three of them.  Boarded the boats at Dock Maarten, a short walk from the ship.  I think we basically went 2/3 of the way around the island with multiple stops to snorkel.  Visited a few off-shore islands also.  Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about history etc.  Creole Rock was by far the best snorkeling spot on the island.  We had some great baguette sandwiches and access to a cooler of drinks all day.  Stopped just off Maho Beach in the afternoon as the biggest plane of the day from Air France flew just over our heads to land.  Highly recommend this tour with caveat.  The water was a bit choppy, so the rides between stops were fast and bumpy.  Felt it the next morning.  Would do it again!

 

30 Nov: Sea Day

 

Lazy day.  I worked on this review on the lounger on our balcony.  Tom went to the theater and watched a movie.  Ate lunch in the windjammer.  They had a nice selection.  We noticed folks were now able to use the Coke machines by themselves.  Previously, they had an attendant filling cups.  The pool deck was packed today and the ship felt really busy for 60% capacity.  Dinner was Chops.  I tried the grilled branzino.  Was not a fan.  Sticking to meat in the future.  The upcharge lobster looked fabulous though as several folks near us ordered them.  Tonight was formal night.  Last week it was days 2 and 6 which is normal.  They decided to do days 3 and 6 this week to have one be on a sea day I guess.

[dianajo67]

1 Dec: Aruba

 

Today we did another independent trip through Rockabeach Tours…a UTV adventure.  I’d been to Aruba on a land-based vacation before and was familiar with the desert interior.  However, Tom had only done snorkeling and beach tours previously.  We thought a break from being on catamarans was a nice idea too.  Overall, it was a great excursion, but extremely dusty.   The terrain was rougher than I thought it would be.  Tom enjoyed driving it though.  Stopped at a beach with 3 sea bridges and a natural cave pool.  We did not swim in the cave pool as the access ladder was pretty rickety.  We saw most folks visibly breathe a sigh of relief once getting back up the ladder and onto dry land.  Stopped at old gold mining structure and drove by the lighthouse.  Spent an hour at a very nice beach (Arashi?) just beyond Palm Beach that is popular with locals.  You could walk out a long ways on the sandy bottom before the water got deep.  Great beach for little kids.

 

 

 

After getting a shower back on the ship, we walked around town and had some appetizers and drinks at the West Deck restaurant.  It’s on the water about 10 minute walk from the port.   It has great ratings on trip advisor, but we thought it was only okay.  We ended up getting some pizza at Café Promenade once back onboard.  The pizza onboard seems to get better and better in recent years.  They also have grilled veggies and quite a few other things at café promenade…easily enough variety to make a nice meal.  Used to mostly be little sandwiches and dessert-type items.  We grabbed ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches some mornings there before departing the ship on an excursion.

 

[dianajo67]

2 Dec: Curaçao

 

Today we did another independent that went to Playa Piscado to swim with the sea turtles and then to Grote Knip beach.  While the beach was stunningly beautiful and the waters nice and calm, the swim with the turtles was excellent.  Hubby got a ton of great footage on his go pro including some of a turtle coming right up and staring into the lens from about a foot away.  Playa Piscado has a fishing pier where the boats clean their catch.  It attracts the turtles.  Must’ve been 6-7 of them around us most of the time.  We had to be careful to not touch them as they came so close to you! It was a little crowded there as many tour providers make stops there.  It’s about a 35 minute drive from the pier to get to the best beaches in Curaçao.

 

 

Dinner was our last Chops Dinner and we reverted to our steak favorites.  I’d been avoiding the starchy sides the entire trip, but decided to splurge on whatever I wanted tonight.  I was too stuffed to eat the cheesecake dessert.  Ended up with a Miami Vice in the Schooner Bar later to make up for it.

 

I should also mention, that we’ve been stopping in the concierge lounge each evening before dinner for an appetizer and glass of wine.  Service was great in there and suite guests could really get just about any drink they wanted.  I think my best margarita was in there.  The concierge was Jorge.  He tried to help us with the internet situation and we ended up with a partial refund.  Otherwise, we didn’t really need his services.

 

Saw a show called Duo Quintessence in the Royal Theater.  It was a great show and featured a couple doing amazing aerial feats etc.  There have been similar acts on other ships.  What made this act stand out is that the couple shared some video during costume changes that introduced us to them and their history.  We all figured the couple was from Eastern Europe or Russia, but it turned out to be a married couple from West Virginia (her) and England (him).  They had met on Royal Caribbean when they were in a production cast and then went on to get married and focus on their aerial skills.  They are on their first contract as headliners for Royal Caribbean.  Highly recommend!!

[dianajo67]

3 Dec: Bonaire

 

This was our first time in Bonaire as the stop kept getting cancelled on us in previous cruises.  We had the absolute best shore excursion there through Woodwind Bonaire.  It’s a snorkeling trip over to Klein Bonaire with 3 stops, full bar, big lunch and impressive service.  They had everything from full body wet suits to prescription masks that folks could use at no charge.  They also cleaned and defogged personal masks and they broke us up into small groups with a guide who was extremely patient.  Can’t say enough about this tour.  Before Covid-19, you would have to book this tour at least 6 months out to get a spot.  Most of our group were 2-3 time repeat customers!  Tour ran from 9-2.

 

Walked around a bit afterwards.  Many shops were closed.  Not sure if it was a result of Covid-19 closures or what, but there was very little to see near the port.

 

Tonight was second formal night and we ate in the MDR.  We had the beef tenderloin which was better than the filets we had in Chops!  Had a lobster tail on the side and it was better than usual.  Not chewy at all.

 

Tonight’s entertainment was a singing and dancing production show called Red, Hot and Swinging.  It was not as good as the Invitation to Dance Show.  The songs were basically unfamiliar to most of the audience and the costumes were kinda boring.  There is a lot of talent in the cast and it was mildly enjoyable, but I swear the folks who put these shows together are still trying to appeal to folks who died 10 years ago of old age.  Hubby, who is a bigger music lover than I am and a regular winner in music trivia games, didn’t know most of the songs either. It was also kinda disjointed in that it was hard to really see the theme glueing it all together as a production.  Recommend, but it’s not on par with shows on the newer, bigger ships.

[dianajo67]

4 Dec: Sea Day

 

Packing Day!  We’ve enjoyed our B2B, but are ready to get home!  I like when they have a sea day at the end, so there’s no rush to pack etc.   Used up our free Diamond drinks and prepared to start back on our diets tomorrow.  We have another two cruises in January (Harmony and Mariner) and need to lose a few before then.  I’m kinda concerned about my “flying home” clothes fitting after these two weeks.

 

Almost skipped tonight’s entertainment, but so glad my hubby convinced me to go.  “Gaucho” is part comedy, part magic tricks, part concert and part amazing feats with a ball on a string!  Loved it!  Highly recommend.

 

5 Dec: San Juan/Depart Ship

 

Departure was super easy!  Off the ship in like 5 minutes and into a taxi.  Hubby had called our hotel this morning to ensure they could hold our bags until our room was ready in the afternoon.  We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Isla Verde for one night before flying back to Virginia.  When we arrived at 0830, our room was ready!!!  It’s a beautiful resort and we were so lucky to turn our anticipated “waiting around” day into a full-access resort day with beach, pool and included welcome drinks.  Ocean Labs brewing company is a 10 minute walk away and has a full restaurant with flights of craft beers available.  Highly recommend this hotel as they were great about getting into a room super early! Very close to airport as we had a 6 AM flight out the next day!

 

6 Dec: Fly Home to Virginia

Edited December 7, 2021 by dianajo67

[becksterbeets]

We are sailing on the Explorer starting Sunday, the 12th. I was told by a scooter rental place on St. Kitts that cruisers can now access the island on our own if we are vaccinated. If possible, we'd like to rent a scooter and explore on our own. When you were in Port Zante in St. Kitts, was the port still enclosed by a fence? 

[Luckynana]

Thank you for spending the time to take us along on your B2B!  

[dianajo67]

2 hours ago, becksterbeets said:

We are sailing on the Explorer starting Sunday, the 12th. I was told by a scooter rental place on St. Kitts that cruisers can now access the island on our own if we are vaccinated. If possible, we'd like to rent a scooter and explore on our own. When you were in Port Zante in St. Kitts, was the port still enclosed by a fence? 

On our sailing, I believe vaccinated individuals could book “govt approved” independent tours.  I would check with royal Caribbean on the latest as many things changed within days of our trip.

[becksterbeets]

Thank you! I will contact them and hopefully learn the latest!

[zeppgirl]

Thank you for posting!  We'll be on the explorer in 2 weeks!  

[MindyJohn]

Thanks for the detailed review!  Lots of great info.  I have 5 weeks in Jan-Feb.  Sorry to hear about the bad internet!

Edited December 8, 2021 by MindyJohn

[MandyMooToo]

On 12/6/2021 at 7:40 AM, zpdw484 said:

Thanks for the review. Not much info from the explorer sailings out there yet. Was you able to do anything at all with the onboard internet?  We're u able to get any money refunded on it? We board explorer the day after Christmas and my wife is pretty set on buying the internet package. I've been trying to temper her expectations after what I've read here. She usually buys it mainly to have a line of communication with a few people back home via Fb messenger. 

 

We were on Explorer Nov 28-Dec 5 with the surf and stream package and had no issues connecting to websites, banking (I continuously check my credit cards while traveling), my husband's goofy game on his phone worked and I downloaded a couple of books without issue.  Not sure why the difference unless the OP had only the surf package?