Explorer of the Seas Review...The Good, the Bad (Not Really) and Room for Improvement

[chrismch]

Just completed our first cruise since pre-covid. It was great to be back on the ship again and the staff was happy to greet us. However, they are still trying to put everything back in place. On this cruise our cruise director told us as of the next cruise all of their 26 ships will once again be at sea. Like land-based businesses, they are having trouble finding crew members for all the duties required.  That's their biggest problem. An officer told us there are delays in bringing on new crew due to the timing it takes to get their visas. During that two-year lapse, those who used to be on the ships found other jobs. Staffing was cut at embassies/state depts who process passports and visas. Cargo connections they once had disappeared in many cases, and they need to find new sources. 

 

We boarded our ship in Miami, which is always a mad house, even with boarding at 1:00 PM. However that went quickly and efficiently. They checked your COVID cards and ID, then take your picture. You'll get your SeaPass card once allowed into your stateroom. For our cruise, that time came at 2:00 PM.

 

We booked a veranda and when I entered the room, I thought there would not be enough space to store all our clothing. but we soon discovered there are hidden cabinets behind mirrors and drawers with more space then expected. I also liked the reading lights on each side of the bed. If possible, take a small power strip with you since there are only two outlets in the room which are by the desk. The bathroom has a single dispenser for use as shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner. If you bring your own travel size shampoo and conditioner, make sure you lay them flat on the small rack above the soap dish. As I took my first shower, I picked up one of the bottles which caused two others to tilt and become projectiles on my toes. Wow! Did that hurt and create a big black and blue mark!

 

Glad we booked the specialty restaurant for the first night and avoided the overcrowding in windjammer or trying to get reservations at the main dining room. The second night we had my time dining booked at 8:30 - which was the only time we were told was available when we set up our reservation about three weeks prior to the cruise. However, when we got to the restaurant there were long lines for both the walk-ins and the reserved my time dining options. This would be the case for the rest of the cruise. Luckily for us, the concierge in the Diamond lounge was able to get us early dining with an assigned table for the rest of the week. There are three levels for the MDR, but only one is used for my time dining and shared with assigned time dining, thus the delays.

 

Breakfast and lunch on the windjammer are the same every day with only one or two added options. However there are lots of choices and you won't go hungry. However if you want some bread toasted you'll have to go down the line to get someone’s attention to take the bread back to the toaster and watch it. Big disappointment from my last pre-covid cruise was the lack of a seafood night or gala dessert night on the WJ. A big plus for me was the inclusion of the Nestle Vitality Vitamin Enhanced Flavored Water dispensers which are zero calories. My favorite was the tropical mango. They’ve upgraded their coffee as well and now you can get Lavazza in the WJ. 

 

If you like really buttery, flaky breakfast pastries, you won't find them here. They're good, but they're not bakery quality like you'd find on the land. That was good for me since it cut down on my calorie consumption.

 

Dinner in the dining room was hit or miss. The tenderloin and prime rib were great, but the New York Strip was tough. The rack of lamb and lamb shank were superb. At one meal, I sent back the herb crusted salmon as it was dry and overpowered by the thick herb crust. The side order of calamari and mussels in a pasta dish were also overcooked and sent back. The maître-d' did try to get me to order another entrée, but by that time I’d lost my appetite for the meal. 
Another dish that I loved was the Moroccan Tuna. Since I’d sent back a meal the night before, the maître-d’ specifically detailed the spices and preparations for this dish and said the response to it was love or hate with no middle ground. I love experimenting with spices, so I truly enjoyed it. 

 

For this cruise we used the gym every day. The busiest time was 7:00 to 8:30 AM. The jacuzzi in the gym was mainly for soaking as the only jet was in the center and the water was lukewarm. Also made good use of the steam room and sauna in the changing rooms. However, if you want to get a key for one of the lockers, you’ll need to go to the next level at the reception desk for the spa. Usually like doing spa treatments on a ship, but as they doubled the price of what you get on land. I now do them before boarding. The best deal they offered was a 75-minute head to toe massage for $179 on port days.

 

As we've been to each of these ports previously, we did not book any excursions. We heard mixed reviews from those who did so.

If you like your mixed drinks to be consistent only order them from the main bars. When I ordered drinks from the dining room or at the Palace Theater bar, they came back as something totally different. 

 

Entertainment for the week consisted of two production shows with great dancers, but the singers were off key from time to time. There was a comedian one night, an ice show another night and two other specialty acts. Kuba, a single musician, played unique instruments along with the house orchestra. Impact was 5 dancers and musicians. The other two nights were filled with games and karaoke. One night the house band played ballroom and swing music in the Star Lounge.

Other music included the Caribbean beats band on the pool deck, a guitar player with an overdubbed mix in the pub, and a single acoustic guitar player in the promenade at odd times. 

 

The promenade shops are light on stock and could easily be consolidated into one store. The cupcake shop has disappeared. The promenade cafe now includes Starbucks and paid ice cream. Soft serve ice cream is still available in the back of the pool deck after 11:00 AM at no charge.

 

And of course they still have the 80s dance party on the promenade deck with the cruise entertainment staff dressed as go-go dancers and the guys as the Village People doing YMCA and other songs. Surprised how buff those guys really are when not wearing their button-down crew shirts! Fun to dress up for this event and sing and dance with the crew. 

 

The worst part of the cruise was debarkation. most you'd think with all the years cruise lines have been doing this they'd somehow be able to make it go more quickly and efficiently. At 8:30 AM, we brought our hand luggage to the theater to wait. It took an hour to get off the ship and get our bags. The bags are now on carousels like it's see at airports with all the debarkation time luggage mixed together. list made for a real mess. and then you get out to Miami to find transportation. At 9:30 a few people were already coming to the ship – crazy! the vans that were taking people to the airport we're having trouble getting all the luggage in. The same was the case for individuals who were picked up by friends who had no idea how much luggage they had to stow in their small trunks. When my husband came around with the car to pick up me and the luggage, the guy directing traffic would not let him pull over and told him to keep going. This frustrated me immensely. I now had three pieces of luggage to roll down to the far end of the pickup area. However, halfway down the loading zone, one of the people directing traffic took pity on me and rolled the two bigger pieces along (to protect me from getting hit by a car) and dropped them at the car. He was off again before we even had a chance to tip him.  

 

Would we cruise on this ship again? Maybe. However while we were on board, we booked a Celebrity cruise with good perks!

Edited May 25, 2022 by chrismch

[Missusdubbya]

Thanks for your review

[firefly333]

I agree my time dining needs work. The standing in line part doesnt work for me either. Carnival you push a button and the computer matches you to a table almost immediately. None of that standing in line stuff. That's just a bad system. I changed to early now until rcl fixes it. 

 

I was just on grandeur and we didnt even have the usual Caribbean stuff and rum cakes for sale. They had Bermuda caps on clearance. I think the ship went there before. 

 

I got a separate survey today on the app. I said they need to incorporate the scan to plan (to get off) into the app. My tablet doesnt have a built in scanner in my camera, so it's a hassle every time to deal with customer service. They assume you have a scanner. They should have planned ahead and built something into the app where you check in to depart. .. along with a button to push to get a my time dining table like carnival has. All built into their app. 

 

You said would you book your ship again  ... maybe but didnt. That's how I got off feeling. I'm taking a break. You described the hassle perfectly I felt. 

[swingphi]

Thanks for the review. We're going on the Explorer in July. I was going to do my time dining, but I will switch to traditional as you advise.  Any other advice you wish to share is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

[retired dude]

we too just got off of the explorer and the review of chrismch was spot on...We enjoyed most of the cruise, but the food was indeed hit/miss and the deembarkation was a mess...Six times they announced that they were sorry for all of the delays in getting of the ship and we were supposed to be in the first group of folks with luggage at 8:20 and we got off of the ship at 10 a.m.We will now stay in tampa for our next two cruises on celebrity and rccl....hope all goes well for everyone... 

[volk904]

We got off the Explorer 4 weeks ago. We walked off and it was as fast as any ship we have been on.  

[chrismch]

18 hours ago, swingphi said:

Thanks for the review. We're going on the Explorer in July. I was going to do my time dining, but I will switch to traditional as you advise.  Any other advice you wish to share is greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Make sure you go to the correct terminal. For our cruise, RCL docked in terminals A and G.

[chrismch]

17 hours ago, retired dude said:

we too just got off of the explorer and the review of chrismch was spot on...We enjoyed most of the cruise, but the food was indeed hit/miss and the deembarkation was a mess...Six times they announced that they were sorry for all of the delays in getting of the ship and we were supposed to be in the first group of folks with luggage at 8:20 and we got off of the ship at 10 a.m.We will now stay in tampa for our next two cruises on celebrity and rccl....hope all goes well for everyone... 

We've always had debarkation issues in Miami. Not so much in Ft. Lauderdale where our next cruise will be embarking from.

[chrismch]

2 hours ago, volk904 said:

We got off the Explorer 4 weeks ago. We walked off and it was as fast as any ship we have been on.  

We were at 90% capacity. Was your ship that full?

[Surfguyxxx]

Appreciate your perspective.  I've got 2 cruises booked on the Explorer this summer and I'll keep your thoughts in mind.  

[Russ Lomas]

On 5/25/2022 at 12:35 AM, chrismch said:

And of course they still have the 80s dance party on the promenade deck with the cruise entertainment staff dressed as go-go dancers and the guys as the Village People doing YMCA and other songs. Surprised how buff those guys really are when not wearing their button-down crew shirts! Fun to dress up for this event and sing and dance with the crew. 

Did you mean a 70's dance party, or 80's like you said?  Always hoping that RCCL would start moving onto the next decade for their parties, but when you say the Village People, I assume they are still doing the 70's party

[chrismch]

41 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

Did you mean a 70's dance party, or 80's like you said?  Always hoping that RCCL would start moving onto the next decade for their parties, but when you say the Village People, I assume they are still doing the 70's party

Sorry, typo. Yes, 70s dance party.

[AF-1]

Thank you for your honest review.  So if I read your post correctly; you suggest to go with traditional dining times verses my time dining.