Just back from Explorer 10/9-10/18 - 9 night Bermuda/Caribbean

Just back from the Explorer of the Seas, 9 night to Bermuda, San Juan, and Labadee (St. Maarten skipped due to Hurricane Gonzalo.) I'm not going to write a full review, but I will make a few notes and answer any questions I can.

• After previously reading about the ship condition, all I can say is that for a 14 year old ship, it is in great condition. Yes, there is wear and tear in spots, including the furniture, carpet and balconies, however nothing that impacts you greatly.
  
• I was very disappointed with the service on the ship overall. Yes, you had your great servers here and there, but the overall feeling of outstanding "wow" service was missing from this ship. I noticed it mostly in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch. My personal opinion was that those workers were miserable.
  
• The cruise staff including the cruise director and activities manager were just okay. Cruise Director=Keith Williams & Activities Manager=Erky
  
• The captain (James MacDonald) was outstanding throughout the voyage. He got us safely around TS Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo. He made sure we were updated with announcements and made descriptive videos regarding the position of the storm vs the ship.
  
• The guest entertainments (Tony Tillman, Joel Mason, and Blaze of Glory) were all amazing.
  
• The production shows were good. I really enjoyed the singers, however the actual shows were just alright. Do not miss singers Robbin and Stanley on the very last night. They each did a few solo songs and were amazing.
  
• The Ice Show was excellent. Sound of the Seasons was the name and the theme was really good, incorporated with good music and a fresh new cast.
  
• The food in the Windjammer was usually always hot. In my experience, this is not always the case on some ships.
  
• Debarkation was the worst experience of the entire trip. I can honestly say after 23 cruises, it was the worst debarkation ever. It was announced Friday that we would get into Bayonne an hour late on Saturday morning, so I'm sure this had something to do with it, however I noticed only one person scanning passengers off in the front of the ship and we waited for approx 10 minutes for a bus to get to the main terminal.
  

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Glad to hear Blaze of Glory was back on Explorer. We saw them in May and thought they were amazing too, hoping they'll be back on board for the November 1 sailing. Totally agree with you on the CD, Keith & Irky are just okay and the debarkation process can problematic at times. As far as service, we noticed on our 9/25/14 sailing a lot of crew members looking very tired most of the time. Heard that quite a few crew members from Explorer have left and been assigned to work on Quantum, which may explain why some looked miserable or tired due to added responsibilities.

Thanks for taking the time to do a review.

Thanks for the review.

Given the two storms, was it a rocky ride?

Thanks for the review. Leaving Thursday on same cruise. Hoping we get to Bermuda. Anyone have an update.

Glad to hear Blaze of Glory was back on Explorer. We saw them in May and thought they were amazing too, hoping they'll be back on board for the November 1 sailing. Totally agree with you on the CD, Keith & Irky are just okay and the debarkation process can problematic at times. As far as service, we noticed on our 9/25/14 sailing a lot of crew members looking very tired most of the time. Heard that quite a few crew members from Explorer have left and been assigned to work on Quantum, which may explain why some looked miserable or tired due to added responsibilities.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do a review.

I agree. Service is one of the main things that varies ship to ship and can essentially give a cruise a good or bad memory. Although it wasn't bad, I agree, they did look tired, especially in the dining room. I mean come on, smile a little! :)

Thanks for the review.

 

Given the two storms, was it a rocky ride?

Once we left Bermuda and started heading west and then south, it was a little more rocky than usual (especially at night) however nothing unbearable.

Coming back up to Bayonne, it was rocky once again in the Atlantic, probably due to the high winds.

I thought I had read that Bermuda was already taking back ships, although there was some damage, but no casualties which is great.

Thanks for the review. Leaving Thursday on same cruise. Hoping we get to Bermuda. Anyone have an update.

Bermuda is once again open to cruise ships.

When does Bermuda season begin, looking at 2016 and nothing in April.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Itineraries won't be out until Spring of 2015 for Bermuda.

They usually start cruises to Bermuda in April. With the changing of ships it seems to start in May.

We were on the same sailing and can say the OP was spot on with the review. The Captain showed an unwavering commitment to keeping us safe, informed, and in sunny skies. The entertainment was excellent...far exceeding our expectations.

The only things I'd add are 1) on top of tired MDR servers who didn't seem to care, we found the MDR food to be the worst we can recall. That seafood dish on the last night looked like it came from Long John Silver's. 2) they had some major maintanence issue with one of the pools on one of the last two sea days....nasty brown stuff kept running into the pool (which they drained to survey). It was out of service for the better part of a day while they repaired.

I know Exporer has lots of loyal fans who will defend her to the end but she really does need the upcoming refurb...and someone to get the crew re-energized. I'm loyal to Royal and have faith they'll get Explorer back up to snuff soon.

We were on the same sailing and can say the OP was spot on with the review. The Captain showed an unwavering commitment to keeping us safe, informed, and in sunny skies. The entertainment was excellent...far exceeding our expectations.

 

The only things I'd add are 1) on top of tired MDR servers who didn't seem to care, we found the MDR food to be the worst we can recall. That seafood dish on the last night looked like it came from Long John Silver's. 2) they had some major maintanence issue with one of the pools on one of the last two sea days....nasty brown stuff kept running into the pool (which they drained to survey). It was out of service for the better part of a day while they repaired.

 

I know Exporer has lots of loyal fans who will defend her to the end but she really does need the upcoming refurb...and someone to get the crew re-energized. I'm loyal to Royal and have faith they'll get Explorer back up to snuff soon.

I won't defend her and agree she is long over due for refurbishing.

I'll just jump in this review..

Guess we were lucky had great service all cruise both for lunch and dinner.

food was good for us, and avoided the windjammer except for 2 times..lol

Specialty rest was really good, and enjoyed johnny rockets.

The one pool was closed early on because they had to drain as someone decided to go #2 in the pool. Our friend was talking to crew in their language and got that out of them.

refurb is needed for some stuff. It didnt effect our cruise,

Had a great time, even with the storms and changes to itinerary.

The seas were smooth as glass one day, and the so called swells the last 2 days were really nothing.

Was a bit rocky while sleeping 2 nights but didn't bother me. I like to think that right now I am over my seasickness..whoohoo to bigger ships.

Excellent captain.....soso everyone else.. Went to Bon jovi and elton both good shows. Skipped the rest

I will say Bayonne is a terrible port. I don't remember it being that bad the 1st time we went. We were a group on a bus and were told to pull over while others went in front of us. We might have still be there if my cousin didnt get out and yell at the guy who had forgotten us. How can you miss a white bus?

I hate departure day.. and this was a bad one. The blame goes to the self departure people. Done it before and it is great..except here you have to lug the luggage on the shuttle..

Advice.. dont do it...

Once we were off the ship it was smooth .. luggage was set up great. Loved the little areas luggage is assigned, easy to fine.. and customs was a breeze.

off ship till all of us were on bus was about 1/2 hour.

Great cruise. Loved the ship.. perfect size for me.

We will see if we do Anthem next new years

We were on the same sailing and can say the OP was spot on with the review. The Captain showed an unwavering commitment to keeping us safe, informed, and in sunny skies. The entertainment was excellent...far exceeding our expectations.

 

The only things I'd add are 1) on top of tired MDR servers who didn't seem to care, we found the MDR food to be the worst we can recall. That seafood dish on the last night looked like it came from Long John Silver's. 2) they had some major maintanence issue with one of the pools on one of the last two sea days....nasty brown stuff kept running into the pool (which they drained to survey). It was out of service for the better part of a day while they repaired.

 

I know Exporer has lots of loyal fans who will defend her to the end but she really does need the upcoming refurb...and someone to get the crew re-energized. I'm loyal to Royal and have faith they'll get Explorer back up to snuff soon.

I'll just jump in this review..

 

Guess we were lucky had great service all cruise both for lunch and dinner.

food was good for us, and avoided the windjammer except for 2 times..lol

Specialty rest was really good, and enjoyed johnny rockets.

 

The one pool was closed early on because they had to drain as someone decided to go #2 in the pool. Our friend was talking to crew in their language and got that out of them.

 

 

refurb is needed for some stuff. It didnt effect our cruise,

Had a great time, even with the storms and changes to itinerary.

The seas were smooth as glass one day, and the so called swells the last 2 days were really nothing.

Was a bit rocky while sleeping 2 nights but didn't bother me. I like to think that right now I am over my seasickness..whoohoo to bigger ships.

 

Excellent captain.....soso everyone else.. Went to Bon jovi and elton both good shows. Skipped the rest

 

I will say Bayonne is a terrible port. I don't remember it being that bad the 1st time we went. We were a group on a bus and were told to pull over while others went in front of us. We might have still be there if my cousin didnt get out and yell at the guy who had forgotten us. How can you miss a white bus?

 

I hate departure day.. and this was a bad one. The blame goes to the self departure people. Done it before and it is great..except here you have to lug the luggage on the shuttle..

Advice.. dont do it...

Once we were off the ship it was smooth .. luggage was set up great. Loved the little areas luggage is assigned, easy to fine.. and customs was a breeze.

off ship till all of us were on bus was about 1/2 hour.

 

Great cruise. Loved the ship.. perfect size for me.

We will see if we do Anthem next new years

Agree, agree! I do remember seeing one of the main pools closed towards the end of the week, I figured someone did something in it, that's usually the case.

I really hope the refurb revitalizes not only the ship but the crew, although we won't be seeing Explorer back here for a while.

Agree, agree! I do remember seeing one of the main pools closed towards the end of the week, I figured someone did something in it, that's usually the case.

 

I really hope the refurb revitalizes not only the ship but the crew, although we won't be seeing Explorer back here for a while.

One of the pools was closed twice (as Bermuda Shorts mentioned). First time was actually for vomit in the pool, not poop. I was a first-hand witness to that unfortunate event. Yuck. The encouraging thing I DID see at the pool was, while one pool was being fixed for the mystery brown liquid, a pool attendant had a family remove their diaper-clad baby from the one pool that was left open. On past cruises, I've seen them less than vigilant about that.

Agree, agree! I do remember seeing one of the main pools closed towards the end of the week, I figured someone did something in it, that's usually the case.

 

I really hope the refurb revitalizes not only the ship but the crew, although we won't be seeing Explorer back here for a while.

Isn't it going to Europe and Asia?

One of the pools was closed twice (as Bermuda Shorts mentioned). First time was actually for vomit in the pool, not poop. I was a first-hand witness to that unfortunate event. Yuck. The encouraging thing I DID see at the pool was, while one pool was being fixed for the mystery brown liquid, a pool attendant had a family remove their diaper-clad baby from the one pool that was left open. On past cruises, I've seen them less than vigilant about that.

The pool attendants seem to be very active in walking around on this cruise, which is nice to see. I tried to stick to deck 12 or the solarium instead of the hustle and bustle of the main pool area.

Isn't it going to Europe and Asia?

Yes, she is going to Port Canaveral this winter, then off to Europe, Asia and Australia. So who knows when/if we will see her back to the U.S.