“Live” review of Explorer to ABC islands

[teddybear231]

15 hours ago, Deeliteful said:

 

Early night tonight as an early start tomorrow so will post pics when I’m lazing at the Marriott for my beach and pool day.

 

Night, night 😴

 

Will you be visiting the Marriott in Curaco? We were looking at booking a day pass here, could you please take pictures and give an honest review as if it was worth it or not? Have fun! 🙂 

[Deeliteful]

8 hours ago, teddybear231 said:

 

Will you be visiting the Marriott in Curaco? We were looking at booking a day pass here, could you please take pictures and give an honest review as if it was worth it or not? Have fun! 🙂 

Day 5

Yes I had booked the Marriott with Resort for a Day and .I loved it. I needed a relaxing day after my hectic tour yesterday and this really hit the spot.

Picked up at 9 am and driven the 10 min ride to the hotel.  Checked in and got our card and voucher for drinks, food and towel. $65 of the cost is on your voucher for food and drink and you also get a soft drink and a bottle of water.

 

I relaxed by the pool, swam a few times, had fabulous fish tacos for lunch, with a couple of margaritas and a Corona during my stay. The pick up is 6 pm is your ship is in port late, which ours was but we opted to be picked up at 3.45 instead which was perfect.

 

Honest opinion? Yes totally worth it, great service, food and drink and a lovely place to chill out. 5* imo.

 

Had arranged to have a wash and blow dry in the salon and was able to move the time to an earlier slot which was great.

 

Met the girls in the R bar for pre-dinner drinks and then to dinner.

 

Another nice menu and I splashed out and had two starters! 🐷 bay scallops and the shrimp and salmon fritters. Both very tasty, I went with the pork loin for my main and that was good too. No dessert or cheese for me tonight.

 

Finished the evening with a nightcap in the R Bar as have an early start in Aruba tomorrow.

 

Pics to follow as need to change devices!

[Deeliteful]

[Deeliteful]

[Deeliteful]

[voyager70]

Great pics, thank you! May have to look into this for our day in Curaçao as we haven’t decided what to do yet.

[Deeliteful]

Day 6?

Aruba, did a cruise ship tour Aruba by land and sea. Ok but not great IMO can’t recommend it.

Beach next time I think.

 

Windjammer for lunch.

Looks messy but tastes delicious! Fish curry, fries and a little lamb and beef stew. 

[Deeliteful]

I find a lot of desserts in the windjammer very synthetic though they look good, I don’t think they taste great. But bring on the Cream puffs! Coffee the other day and lemon today! Just fabulous. No pics as I ate them!

[Arzeena]

20 hours ago, voyager70 said:

Great pics, thank you! May have to look into this for our day in Curaçao as we haven’t decided what to do yet.

I second Deeliteful's views. And the fish tacos 😄. We have been there a dozen times both post covid and in the earlier years and love it. (What was the) Hilton (previously) nearby was also very nice.

[teddybear231]

21 hours ago, Deeliteful said:

Day 5

Yes I had booked the Marriott with Resort for a Day and .I loved it. I needed a relaxing day after my hectic tour yesterday and this really hit the spot.

Picked up at 9 am and driven the 10 min ride to the hotel.  Checked in and got our card and voucher for drinks, food and towel. $65 of the cost is on your voucher for food and drink and you also get a soft drink and a bottle of water.

 

I relaxed by the pool, swam a few times, had fabulous fish tacos for lunch, with a couple of margaritas and a Corona during my stay. The pick up is 6 pm is your ship is in port late, which ours was but we opted to be picked up at 3.45 instead which was perfect.

 

Honest opinion? Yes totally worth it, great service, food and drink and a lovely place to chill out. 5* imo.

 

Had arranged to have a wash and blow dry in the salon and was able to move the time to an earlier slot which was great.

 

Met the girls in the R bar for pre-dinner drinks and then to dinner.

 

Another nice menu and I splashed out and had two starters! 🐷 bay scallops and the shrimp and salmon fritters. Both very tasty, I went with the pork loin for my main and that was good too. No dessert or cheese for me tonight.

 

Finished the evening with a nightcap in the R Bar as have an early start in Aruba tomorrow.

 

Pics to follow as need to change devices!

 

Thank you for the honest review and pics, I think we are going to do the same thing in March!

[Deeliteful]

Day 6 continued.

I had a massage and facial booked for 3 pm (special price!) and it was really good. No selling, just an excellent treatment from Roberta.

Despite have a wash and blow dry yesterday in the salon, I got soaked in the spray on the boat taking us to the sub! So I asked if they would straighten my hair and the same stylist I had yesterday did it and didn’t charge me! I thought that was great service, I did tip him of course.

Met with the group of women, who have become friends on the cruise, at the R Bar pre dinner and then dinner at 8. Two of them had My Time Dining but joined me at the table on Day 2 and stayed since. We have a great dinner table.

Dinner pics to follow as they are on my phone.

I had Greek Salad, Salmon Tartare and Jumbo Shrimp. All good. Pics of other diners’ dinners included !

 

So now we’re back at sea and we managed to get a cash poker table going! You really have to persuade the host to make it happen. 
I played for 2.5 hours and lost $15 - so quite happy with that, it was fun.

There are two more tournaments, one on each sea day so I’ve registered for those. 🤞

Heard good reports of Eagle Beach on Aruba so may go there next time (if there is a next time)! The sea was pretty choppy for the snorkelling and diving apparently and two of the friends that tried it did not feel safe doing it. One could not swim back and needed to be brought back by one of the guides, no vests were provided.

I’ll check out the name of the tour with them later and let you know.

 

[Deeliteful]

[voyager70]

48 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

Your hair (and food) looks great!

 

[Welly9]

1 hour ago, Deeliteful said:

Its funny, the English do their Cheese plate after Dinner, and us North Americans (Canadians) do it before. Notice how its in the classics? it use to be in the Desserts, uhmmmm I had a chat with the F&B Mgr ;O)

Great trip, excellent pics! Like I shared earlier, we are on her (the Xplorer lol) in March 2nd voyage after her Re vamp.

[Deeliteful]

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Edited January 27, 2023 by Deeliteful
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[Deeliteful]

Room service for breakfast, a short stay at the poker tournament and Blackjack tournament! Lunch in MDR then an hour in the sun.

Now for a nap before formal night.

Pic of lunch menu and also Zumba class on the Promenade this morning! Well attended and looked fun.

[moposh]

21 hours ago, Deeliteful said:

I find a lot of desserts in the windjammer very synthetic though they look good, I don’t think they taste great. But bring on the Cream puffs! Coffee the other day and lemon today! Just fabulous. No pics as I ate them!

They look great, but taste bad.  It's a shame.  I don't know what the problem is.  I guess they need new recipes.

[moposh]

Your hair looks fab.

 

In Aruba I've the De Palm SNUBA Adventure planned.  I hope it will be good.  
 

It's not fun snorkeling where the water is choppy.  That happened to me in Mexico once.

[Deeliteful]

2 hours ago, moposh said:

Your hair looks fab.

 

In Aruba I've the De Palm SNUBA Adventure planned.  I hope it will be good.  
 

It's not fun snorkeling where the water is choppy.  That happened to me in Mexico once.

De Palm seem to be the main tour operators on Aruba. I will let you know who they went with when I meet up with the others.

[Morecruisesplz]

6 hours ago, Deeliteful said:

Duplicate

Do you happen to remember what they call this dish in your photos? 3 of us were served it when we ordered Beef Stroganoff on the Explorer a few weeks ago. We knew it was right but waiter insisted that it was.

[Deeliteful]

It looks like the Tagliatelle that someone had and they did tell him it was noodles not pasta.

Tonight’s dinner was good again, I went with the shrimp and potato salad, the lobster and molten chocolate cake with ice cream. I did get two portions of lobster.

After dinner I visited the casino and played a little poker until bed time, we gain an hour tonight.

Won $420 so happy 🥳

Pics from dinner.

Night night. 
last day tomorrow 😢

[Deeliteful]

More dinner pics 

[Arzeena]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:09 AM, Welly9 said:

Its funny, the English do their Cheese plate after Dinner, and us North Americans (Canadians) do it before. Notice how its in the classics? it use to be in the Desserts, uhmmmm I had a chat with the F&B Mgr ;O)

Great trip, excellent pics! Like I shared earlier, we are on her (the Xplorer lol) in March 2nd voyage after her Re vamp.

I love my cheese plate after dinner too!

[Billy Baltic]

Has there been any talk onboard of the dry dock and what’s happening?

[Deeliteful]

On 1/28/2023 at 9:57 PM, Billy Baltic said:

Has there been any talk onboard of the dry dock and what’s happening?

Just that it’s happening! Lot of crew staying on board to help. Don’t know much more.

Will update the review shortly -just landed in London and have a 4 hour wait before my next flight so have some time if I can stay awake 🙄