Explorer of the Seas 12/17 review and port changes

[cjmcgree]

Will be cruisin' the Explorer to the same ports (hopefully) on 12/31...belize, costa maya, cozumel and grand cayman.

[BPWJR]

Could be that Belize may not have been able to take the Explorer on another day. Who knows the reasoning behind the changes...

 

Again, except for saying someone sick, that is all that was communicated. Many asking why not just push the unique stop, Belize, back a day and cancel some other common stop (i.e, Cozumel = how many RCCL cruises stop there?) or lose last sea day instead? These questions not answered due to the lack of communication by the Cruise line and Captain. Captain may be great on smooth sailings, went into hiding on this trip.

 

As for Explorer's condition, went on Mariner first, so saw newer ship in this class first and I would say that Radiance, which I saw in March and is older, was better maintained. If you do not want to see, you will not; if you are having problems daily explaining to your kids what you can about problems, will see many.

 

It is the little things that are going to matter in such situations, if one constantly finds the same problems arising (incorrect Compass times, limited seating options, all the whirlpools closed, etc...) it will add up.

 

Overall, human nature at work, most people tried to make best of the situation and I know I tried for my family. My girls still want to go on the next cruise ship tomorrow if they could. However, issues occurred on this sailing that others have the right to know of so they can be prepared if some thing similar happens on their cruise.

[vmom]

As for Explorer's condition, went on Mariner first, so saw newer ship in this class first and I would say that Radiance, which I saw in March and is older, was better maintained. If you do not want to see, you will not; if you are having problems daily explaining to your kids what you can about problems, will see many.

 

 

I don't want to hijack this thread, but one quick question- We were just on the Explorer and are now trying to decide on the Radiance vs the Jewel. How did you find the food on the Radance compared to the Explorer?

[meezer]

I have to agree with BPWJR and what is stated in his post. My husband and I were on this cruise also. This is our 5th with RCCL and 9 cruise total. It was not the missed ports, as disappointing as it was, we understand when we cruise we go with the ship. What was so upsetting was the total lack of communacations by RCCL in many areas. For example, we were told to report to the Palace Theater at 8AM for the tendering for our excursion. We were there, RCCL was not, about 8:20 a staff member carried a stack of papers over and handed them to a young girl passenger standing by me on the stairs then the staff member walked away with no words spoken. The young girl took one and put them down on the stairs. When I picked up the stack it was a revised adgenda, changing all the times, for meeting and tendering for all the excursions. Could we not of had a overhead announcement? The entire trip was filled with constant little problems over and over. It is interesting how different people see this cruise. Most everyone I spoke with were not happy with the way things were handled. Our tablemates (table of 8) were most upset about being kept in the dark. It was almost as if no one knew what was going on from hour to hour.

Food was so so, nothing to remember. Cabin service was wonderful as were most of the staff.

We were going to book our next cruise aboard but after the first 2 days we just didn't have any desire to cruise RCCL again. I know this will pass in time and we'll be back but not for awhile. I'll be posting a complete review for those interested as there were good times and good things.

PS. where was the Captain? He did a good job of hiding away.

[DannyS]

We were on this cruise, and had a fantastic time. While we heard of others having problems with the tenders, we didn't wait more than 15 minutes. (Perhaps because we waited until 10:00 ship time to leave the ship in Cozumel, returned when the ship was docked, and then made a point to be off the ship prior to tendering the next morning?)

 

As for why the ship turned around, cost had absolutely nothing to do with it. The woman threw up, choked on her vomit and ended up with vomit in her lungs - causing both lungs to collapse. She was in very critical condition and the coast guard flight surgeon deemed her too unstable for transport by helicopter. (There are far more medical resources available on the ship)

 

Montego Bay ended up being our favorite port. We hired a driver (from http://www.barrettadventures.com/ ), visited the bird sanctuary, the Rose Hall Great House, sampled sugar cane, saw "downtown" Montego Bay, and had a traditional Jerk lunch.

 

We had originally booked this cruise for Belize and Costa Maya, but rather than spend our vacation being upset about what we didn't get, we focused on what we had - and had a fantastic time.

 

P.S. I agree with the comments about the captain hiding away. This was the first time I'd seen the captain not show up for the C&A party or the Platinum/Diamond event. In talking with a crew member, they weren't at all surprised. He's known to be quite aloof, rarely mingling with crew or passengers. Apparently, he never, ever eats in the dining room - and if he does, he fills his table with senior officers.

[RareBird]

on our last cruise to Bermuda, we encountered bad weather, and while our cruise was on time and docked as scheduled... poor Celebrity Zenith had to skip docking at St. Georges and was tendered in Hamilton in choppy waters - wading through the mess in driving rain as the boats transferred people into Hamilton and we watched from our balcony. This was terrible for those passengers, because the St. George's port is the one farthest away, it has many interesting tours and very expensive to get to by land (taxi around $60 round trip).

[BPWJR]

Just want to thank last two posters for the follow-up; I did trust there was a medical emergency, it was the lack of communication afterward that has been my issue.

 

The comments I heard about costs & fuel had to do with why we did not do Belize..... that the return run to Miami burned-up much of the reserve the ship normally may have and that we were left little leeway fuel wise to make Belize. So, to conserve, just never even try for the Belize stop. Would have cost more to get the tanks refilled to do the run south.

 

Do not know if true, just one of the reasons we heard

[DesertArtist]

We sailed EOS for Thanksgiving and due to bad weather we skipped Cayman which was a big disappointment but I have to agree with some of the other people that say the crew certainly could have handled things better. The day we were to tender to Belize was an unorganized mess. It was our first time sailing RC ( Celebrity and Carnival ships previously ) and we had never needed "tickets" to tender. We found that out as we made our way to the tendering station and were turned back because we were without tickets.

 

Then we were told to get tickets at the guest relations area where we went only to be told they were OUT of tendering tickets....but if we waited until 11 it would become a "free for all" to get off the boat.

 

We tried to make our way down to the tendering area to confirm this info and were rudely stopped again with a lady with a walkie talkie. When we told her we were informed that they were out of tending tickets she got on her walkie talkie - then informed us that the tickets were now being distributed in a lounge.

 

We made our way up there to a massive slow moving line. Eventually we got our tendering tickets and made it over to Belize just in time to catch the noon water taxi to Caye Caulker.

 

It was very disorganized then and it seemed like one group of crew members did not know what the other was doing. We figured this may have been because it was the first western caribbean sailing after relocating from NJ. But after reading the comments in this thread, it certainly seems like they haven't gotten their act together yet. Yes, it was unusual circumstances, but keeping people informed seems like a simple enough task.

[Ocean Boy]

When Exploer was doing her old western route, the same one that Navigator does now, I was surprised at how easily tendering went at Grand Cayman and Labadee. That was also my first experience on a Voyager class ship. It seems like the tendering process on Explorer has gone down hill big time since I was on her.

[vmom]

We sailed EOS for Thanksgiving and due to bad weather we skipped Cayman which was a big disappointment but I have to agree with some of the other people that say the crew certainly could have handled things better. The day we were to tender to Belize was an unorganized mess. It was our first time sailing RC ( Celebrity and Carnival ships previously ) and we had never needed "tickets" to tender. We found that out as we made our way to the tendering station and were turned back because we were without tickets.

 

Then we were told to get tickets at the guest relations area where we went only to be told they were OUT of tendering tickets....but if we waited until 11 it would become a "free for all" to get off the boat.

 

We tried to make our way down to the tendering area to confirm this info and were rudely stopped again with a lady with a walkie talkie. When we told her we were informed that they were out of tending tickets she got on her walkie talkie - then informed us that the tickets were now being distributed in a lounge.

 

We made our way up there to a massive slow moving line. Eventually we got our tendering tickets and made it over to Belize just in time to catch the noon water taxi to Caye Caulker.

 

It was very disorganized then and it seemed like one group of crew members did not know what the other was doing. We figured this may have been because it was the first western caribbean sailing after relocating from NJ. But after reading the comments in this thread, it certainly seems like they haven't gotten their act together yet. Yes, it was unusual circumstances, but keeping people informed seems like a simple enough task.

 

You mentioned you had cruised Carnival before. Carnival uses tender tickets also. Check out the Carnival board for simialar complaints regarding tender tickets. When we were in Belize, we had an excursion with a couple from the Carival Glory who told us the Carnival tender policy which was very simailar to RCCL. The use of tender tickets is used in ports in which the ship is anchored a longer distance away and the tender time can be longer.

[DesertArtist]

You mentioned you had cruised Carnival before. Carnival uses tender tickets also. Check out the Carnival board for simialar complaints regarding tender tickets. When we were in Belize, we had an excursion with a couple from the Carival Glory who told us the Carnival tender policy which was very simailar to RCCL. The use of tender tickets is used in ports in which the ship is anchored a longer distance away and the tender time can be longer.

 

I guess we had never gone to a port before that required the tickets on Carnival - we did the eastern Caribbean on The Pride and you just went down and got in line. I'll keep that in mind next time I choose my destinations. Either that or book an excursion through the cruise line at those ports as those passengers got priority for tendering.

[Jamielps]

The captain was never to be found it seemed, however, one night my party and I were in the Aquarium bar and there were no tables to be found. In the corner there was one with a reserved sign on it. It was for the captain and his party! I found it funny that no one really saw him but I do suppose he did venture out eventually :D

[travellady]

One of my adult sons befriended several cruisers from Norway on the ship and one day, he was invited with this group to tour the bridge and spend time that afternoon with the captain. He had other plans so didn't accompany them but it sounds like the Capt. handpicked who he chose to come in contact with.

 

I asked my son if the invitees knew the captain previously and he said no, they were contacted during the cruise and asked if they'd like to join the captain but didn't know him beforehand. I heard this happened with other groups of people on the ship as well.

 

Possibly he's shy and prefers small gatherings ;)

[TrinaLC]

One of my adult sons befriended several cruisers from Norway on the ship and one day, he was invited with this group to tour the bridge and spend time that afternoon with the captain. He had other plans so didn't accompany them but it sounds like the Capt. handpicked who he chose to come in contact with.

 

I asked my son if the invitees knew the captain previously and he said no, they were contacted during the cruise and asked if they'd like to join the captain but didn't know him beforehand. I heard this happened with other groups of people on the ship as well.

 

Possibly he's shy and prefers small gatherings ;)

 

I would bet the Captain was from Norway and was inviting fellow compatriots up

[mohavemommy]

... It seems to me it would have been cheaper for the cruise line to send this person back to port by helicopter and possibly pick up part of the tab. I can't imagine that the money they lose on excursions is not more than the airlift tab. Interesting that the person's medical problem could wait so many hours for the ship to get back to Miami. And why not drop them off in Key West?...

 

The woman had a heart attack and it was determined that she couldn't be flown. That would have been better for the masses and keeping with the itinerary... but when you can't, you just can't. This was reported by another passenger on this sailing on the other thread that has now gone "poof". I can only hope that this woman is ok.

[Ocean Boy]

The woman had a heart attack and it was determined that she couldn't be flown. That would have been better for the masses and keeping with the itinerary... but when you can't, you just can't. This was reported by another passenger on this sailing on the other thread that has now gone "poof". I can only hope that this woman is ok.

Obviously I have no facts of the case other than what I read on these boards. But it seems a bit odd that someone having a heart attack could not be flown. Plenty of people having heart attacks are air lifted from small hospitals to places that can perform angioplasties. The procedure could have been carried out much faster with an air lift than a four hr. sailing back to the Port of Miami.

[sas80]

That would have been the ideal thing to do. Wonder why they didn't do that? Makes perfect sense.

 

On one of our cruises we were not able to stop at Labadee due to problems in Haiti, so a stop at the Bahamas was a last minute substitute, but the rest of the port schedule remained the same.

 

Because then they have to refund all y'all your port taxes and fees. More work for them.

 

Does anyone know what the port taxes and fees are in the missed port vesus Cozumel? Y'all might be entitled to a refund, albeit small, but a refund none the less!

[ellencruiser]

Obviously I have no facts of the case other than what I read on these boards. But it seems a bit odd that someone having a heart attack could not be flown. Plenty of people having heart attacks are air lifted from small hospitals to places that can perform angioplasties. The procedure could have been carried out much faster with an air lift than a four hr. sailing back to the Port of Miami.

 

The person did not have a heart attack. The woman threw up and aspirated (I believe that is how it is spelled). She was with some friends and the medical team on board the ship did not feel that they could give her adequate medical help. The captain made the decision to turn back because the Coast Guard's helicopter was occuppied on a higher level medical emergency. Because the decision was not made to get her to a hospital until 2 1/2 hours after the medical situation, we had longer to go back and because the coast guard was not able to airlift her we had to go more towards Miami. I was on this cruise and I was told this same story both at the medical office and by one of the guest relations managers on board the ship. And, nobody, including the captain, ever said that this woman had a heart attack. We all assumed it due to the nature of the "alpha code" that was called and the boat turning around a few hours later.

 

Ellen

[vmom]

Because then they have to refund all y'all your port taxes and fees. More work for them.

 

Does anyone know what the port taxes and fees are in the missed port vesus Cozumel? Y'all might be entitled to a refund, albeit small, but a refund none the less!

 

They don't have to refund you port taxes or fees. Last RCCL cruise we missed Grand Cayman and didn't get any type of refund or compensation.

[Ocean Boy]

The person did not have a heart attack. The woman threw up and aspirated (I believe that is how it is spelled). She was with some friends and the medical team on board the ship did not feel that they could give her adequate medical help. The captain made the decision to turn back because the Coast Guard's helicopter was occuppied on a higher level medical emergency. Because the decision was not made to get her to a hospital until 2 1/2 hours after the medical situation, we had longer to go back and because the coast guard was not able to airlift her we had to go more towards Miami. I was on this cruise and I was told this same story both at the medical office and by one of the guest relations managers on board the ship. And, nobody, including the captain, ever said that this woman had a heart attack. We all assumed it due to the nature of the "alpha code" that was called and the boat turning around a few hours later.

 

Ellen

That all makes far more sense form a medical standpoint. Someone above mentioned the heart attack and that it was deemed unsafe to fly the patient. That made no sense to me at all.

[mohavemommy]

The person did not have a heart attack. The woman threw up and aspirated (I believe that is how it is spelled). She was with some friends and the medical team on board the ship did not feel that they could give her adequate medical help. The captain made the decision to turn back because the Coast Guard's helicopter was occuppied on a higher level medical emergency. Because the decision was not made to get her to a hospital until 2 1/2 hours after the medical situation, we had longer to go back and because the coast guard was not able to airlift her we had to go more towards Miami. I was on this cruise and I was told this same story both at the medical office and by one of the guest relations managers on board the ship. And, nobody, including the captain, ever said that this woman had a heart attack. We all assumed it due to the nature of the "alpha code" that was called and the boat turning around a few hours later.

 

Ellen

 

Wow... that sure is different from what I read on the earlier thread. I hope that poster comes back and explains what they saw and heard. They mentioned that they were in the Dining Room when they saw it happen to her. Maybe they assumed it was a heart attack because of the response they saw.

[The Big Booper]

I posted this information on the other thread (the Art Fern thread that went poof).

 

The EOS was due in Belize on Tuesday along with a big CCL boat. On Wednesday there were 4 ships scheduled in Belize and 3 scheduled for Thursday. Obviously there was no room for the EOS on these two days and Belize couldn't be pushed back to Friday because of the logistics of getting back to Miami by Sunday AM. All according to cruisecal.com.

[barbyma]

 

My recommendations for what they should have done

 

Skip Belize make it another sea day and then finish the rest of the ports according to iteneray, that way we would have at the ports when we we supposed to be and ports could have handled 3500 pax.

 

I couldn't agree more, and don't understand what led to the decision to move all of our ports around instead of just staying at sea a day.

 

That said, I had a nearly opposite experience from those posting here; we found the food in the dining room AMAZING. EVERY SINGLE DISH. On the Serenade last year the food in the dining room was hit & miss, with some great dishes & some mediocre. This trip everyone in my party of 8 agreed the dining room food was incredible.

 

Portofinos - we had to skip our Tuesday night resos for 2 when our youngest had a migraine. Thursday night, when the 6 adults in our party went, the food was just okay and the service less than stellar. We'd have been better off staying in the dining room where we'd gotten terrific food & the best service ever.

 

Our cabin steward was terrible, the bartenders were great, Guest Services was hit and miss, and the excursions desk was a nightmare. They did not notify tour operators of our itinerary changes (Atlantis said they found out when they got an email from ME cancelling a direct booking) even though we knew Georgetown was moved (to Friday) on Monday. Another operator told us they found out Friday morning that we would be there.

 

One thing I agree with the other posters on: tendering was a disorganized NIGHTMARE. But, at least we didn't have the horrible line Carnival had in Georgetown. That one looked like the line to Space Mountain!

 

I'll be posting a full review soon.

[barbyma]

We had originally booked this cruise for Belize and Costa Maya, but rather than spend our vacation being upset about what we didn't get, we focused on what we had - and had a fantastic time.

 

We were VERY disappointed to miss Belize & Costa Maya. The things we most wanted to do were:

* swim with dolphins

* horseback ride through the rainforest

* see monkeys, parrots, reptiles, etc. in the rainforest

* see Mayan Ruins!!!

 

We were only able to do the dolphin swim. BUT...we were not angry about it! We cruise with full knowledge that life happens & plans get derailed. Like anything else, if you make the best of it you may be surprised.

 

I could not believe the number of people chewing out the staff & crew for the missed ports and demanding to be compensated (even though the cruise was not shortened).

 

I had NO desire to visit Jamaica and nearly stayed on the ship, but ended up having a great time. We ate at a place called "The Pork Pit" and it was exactly what we wanted: the equivalent of our local hamburger stand with jerk everything and rice & "peas".

 

That said, I was extremely disappointed with the communication on the ship and most of my complaints in this area are unrelated to the itinerary changes. Because I didn't have enough information to put together a schedule without conflicts, I missed (among other things):

* the Ice Show

* a chance to skate (inline OR ice)

* the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman

* bingo

* the CC Meet & Mingle

* the C & A cocktail party

 

Many crew & staff (even the captain) need to learn that they are running a business that survives on SERVICE and not a military transport.

[sas80]

They don't have to refund you port taxes or fees. Last RCCL cruise we missed Grand Cayman and didn't get any type of refund or compensation.

 

The port taxes and fees you are charged are based on your actual travel to that port.

 

If the ship doesnt dock, the ship doesnt pay the fees, and the passengers are entitled to a refund of those fees.

 

Someone is getting some extra dough in their pocket and it aint the customers!