Explorer-10/24 Review

Just back from the Explorer and thought I would post a few observations, good and bad.

First the embarkation was a breeze and our cabin was actually ready for us when we boarded around 12:00. We had to stand in line a few times to get seapass pictures and the like but for the most part painless.

We had a Grand Suite 1560 and our cabin steward Brenda was a dream.. Always friendly when we saw her and very quick about getting the room done every morning.

For the most part all of the crew and staff were very friendly, especially Guissepie, the concierge. What a great kid who bent over backward for us including getting us a table for four at dinner after we requested one and then ended up at a 10 topper. I can't say enough good things about him. The bad news for the rest of you is that he was promoted on this sailing to a supervisor in guest relations and is moving to the Voyager.

Let me get the bad stuff out of the way first. All four of us found the food in windjammer and the dining room marginal..We ate in Portofinos 3 times because the dining room menu looked unappealing. The fillet we ate on day two ( in the dining room) was over cooked (as it usually is when your feeding 3000) Clam chowder with no clams, iceberg lettuce for all salads.. you get the picture. We ate in the dining room one morning and I ordered eggs benedict.. You could have played golf with the poached eggs. They were hard boiled and cold. The windjammer was usually crowded especially in the morning around the "Egg Harbor" I guess most peoplle found the fake eggs in the buffet line unappealing.

Portofinos on the other hand was fabulous!! Great service and great food.. I had the Halbut all three nights because it was sooooo good!! The rest in our party agreed.

Ports of Call:

We stayed on the boat at Belize because if you didn't go on a tour there wass really nothing to see or do. Plus it is a long tender ride. Guissepie recommended a tour or stay on board so thats what we did.

Costa Maya was fun... We went to the fishing village where the beach is located.. Plenty of little shops and vendor tables.. We found a place owned by a couple of retired Americans from San Jose California.. They were very friendly and had a great time shooting the bull and chugging down cerveza.

The port area at Costa Maya is very touristy and developed, but very nice.. All of the tp shops are there along with a dozen eateries.. There is even a big pool with a swim up bar.. Lawnchairs, sand shops drinks and food..A fun place to wrapup the day.

Cozumel was also fun.. We went to town first thing for a little shopping.. It had been a few years since we were there and the place is really built up..All kinds of new shopping malls and new hotels going up. We opted to spend the afternoon at Paradise Beach.. It's another place owned by Americans about 10 kilometors south of the pier.. $5 gets you a lawn chair, floating mat, and access to all of the water toys.. Beer and food were litle stiff but cheaper than the ship.. I would recommend this place if you want to spend the day sunning..

We took our only excursion in Nassau at Breezes, the all inclusive resort. Free food and drink and access to all of the facilities. The beach was pretty nasty with washed up seaweed everywhere but the pool area was good.. The excursion is $78 and a little over priced unless you can pound down enough drinks and gorge yourself at the buffet.. We sail Oosterdam in January and will head back to Nasau.. I think we'll try something else.

Back on the ship....

Entertainment in the lounges is really lacking.. We found one guy (a one man band) in the Ketle lounge who is very good and we frequented that establishment a few times.. The couple traveling with us went to the iceshow and said it was okay but nothing speciel.

The casino was fun but dead most nights.. I was expecting standing room only at the crap table but most nights there was no one playing.

The ship is a site to see.. The Royal Promenade is cool and you rarely felt like there were 3000 people on board.

Back to the dining room.. Our waitress Christine was great!! The best weve ever had on a cruise.. Her assistant Ronel was also very good..

Overall, a great trip.. Just don't expect gourmet and definetly book portifinos a couple of nights.. It's well worth it.

Scott

Thanks for the review! Those Voyager class ships are something, aren't they? Sorry to hear you were disappointed with the food. Glad you could find an acceptable alternative. Just read a review, same ship 2 weeks earlier, and they enjoyed the food. Just goes to show that tastebuds are very subjective. :) I enjoyed your descriptions of the ports of call. We went to Cozumel last month (Hurricane chased us away from the Bahamas and Key West) and I really didn't like it. Once we left the initial pier area, I thought it got kind of creepy, people trying to pull us into their stores.:eek: We did not go into town, though. Maybe if I go back, I'll try it.

We had Guissepie on the Radiance last year, he is the best!!!

I was on this cruise, I have to say that everything was great. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed everything about the Explorer.

The food was wonderful, We never even considered Portofino's, Didn't have to.

Service was wonderful, Entertainment was exceptional, There is nothing I would change about this ship.

Tillie

Even the powdered eggs were fine with me. The Omlets were great. You should have sent the Eggs Benedict back if they were over cooked. Mine were perfect and not hard boiled at all. I was surprised, because they were the last time. Food in other venues was fine. Not gourmet as no one expects that anyway.

Overall the trip was wonderful. I was extremely happy with what we did in Belize. We took the Water Taxi to Caye Caulker ( RDTRP $17.50 US). As we were coming off the pier at the Caye, a local came up to us and asked if we wanted to do snorkeling. We said sure and he took us over to Marios (Again the price was $17.50 US) The snorkeling included Shark Ray Alley. I have seen on other reports that the sharks were very few. Not this time, they were all over the place as well as the Rays. Was a little leary getting in the water with sharks even though they were harmless, at first. Mario said the secret to drawing them in is to run the boat engine, they come to the sound. When they started to leave the area, he fired up the outboard and they all came back. We did not go over to Coral Gardens as there was not going to be enough time. However we were not disappointed. Mario took us over to the local reefs, and we saw everything that we could have hoped for. Did I mention it was just the three of us and Mario on his boat, and yes it is covered. Huge Groupers, lobsters, and every fish that I could have imagined in huge schools. Someone has compared this to being in an Aquarium. I agree. We then went back to the Caye and had lunch at the Plantation Restaurant. We were there, right as the folks from Coral Breezes were getting ready to leave. The Coral Breeze folks were borrowing equipment from Mario so I know they got to the island at the same time we did. So we ended up with 45 minutes more Snorkel time then they. I met Monica from Coral Breezes and she told me we could go back with them rather then take the taxi at no charge But they left to early ( tee hee) Lunch at the Plantation came to 12.00 US including cokes for the 3 of us. each had sandwiches and soda. The day was marvelous and total including lunch was 40 per person. As a side note, there was a meeting going to take place that night with all the tour operators on the Caye. The Belizan govt is wanting to put a fee of 10.00 US per person for snorkeling or diving on any of the reefs in the country. The tour operators would have to pass this on to the customers, so they were very upset about it. We were back in plenty of time to catch the tender to the ship. Also heard that Carnival has struck a deal with the Gov't to build a deep water port here for the Cruise ships. Hope so the tender is about 20 minutes but not that bad. Day was hot. According to the Cruise director on deck 13 it reached 101 degrees.

Costa Maya and Cozumel were very good as well. We loved the massages on the beach for 20.00 in the village. We did the Ruins in Cozumel, interesting, but infested with mosquitos, so bring bug spray. One of our party happened to be running interference for us this day as he stopped counting after 22. We rented a Geo tracker and toured around the rest of the island and had a great time at all the stops we made

Only 2 service snafus the whole trip and one didn't directly affect me either.

The first one is that I was refused service with my soda card in the sports bar. I always use a 1 litre mug for soda. This was the only bar that refused to fill, said it was ships policy that it could only be served in glass. (bah humbug). I later talkd to the Bar Manager for the ship and he said that this was not company policy and what would anyone care what it was dispensed into as long as you bought your package. He was going to have a conversation with the Bartenders in general to make sure that everyone understood that it was ok to fill up mugs that people brought on their own. he said he was glad I had said something, because he considered it constructive criticism, since they were there to provide service. He also said having the mug was alot safer then walking around the ship with a glass and didn't need to be refilled as often. I later found out form my sister that this same bartender in the Sports Bar even refused her service and she had no liter mug like me. He knew she had a card so kept ignoring her.

Second snafu and again not personally affected by it. I found the waiter that we had to be extremly rude to the ass't waiter. So much so that he put his hand in her face to push her out of the way because he wanted to talk to the table. Everyone noticed and and he was rude to her the whole week. I will tell you that everyone one of us treated her extremely well in the tip department and the waiter only got what was coming to him. We all told her to get away from him. He was fine as a waiter and we had no service problems, but they are a team and should be acting like one. Well I did have to ask for creme brulee for desert 3 times before he finally got the message and brought me one on the third night. The fact that only one lobster tail is served and then you only get a half of one if your order more is annoying but he said that was policy. I havent been on RCI in 2 years so was wondering when this changed as last time we got 2 per entree. He told me it was over 2 years ago and I know that was bull.

Best Bartender and most enoyable person on the ship was Marcel in the Schooner Bar. We would hunker down there every night around 11:30 and drink and joke with him until he closed it down for the evening. Very high caliber employee and reflective of what service RCI wants to give to there quests. Very little activity here. Maybe becasue the singer was a bit off key every night.

Casino was active all the time. My sister won her cruise and cruise expenses back between the slot machines and blackjack table.

James Andrews was the Cruise Director and the best one I have seen on the 3 RCI ships I've been on

Got to go for now. Will probably add more to this thread then turn it into a review and submit.

I was also on the cruise and had a great time. The windjammer food was fair. Not exceptional but no worse than any other cruise. (Have been on explorer before as well as Navigator). The main dining room was very nice. Again, food was fine. We were a large party including a v-gan and everyone was able to find something. We did do Portofino. The food was very good. It was most def. worth the 20. PP but we cancelled our 2nd reso b.c it was too much food. Also hit Johnny Rockets- was great for lunch and yes you did have to pay.

We found the entertainment fine. The Beatles band was GREAT. By far that was the best show. The letter-man was ok. As for the RCCL produced shows they were ok but lets face it- were not in Vegas! For the twenty somethings out there...Ours were in the Chamber evernight. I was told the music was dated and dj damion was no great. Anthony the bartender was fab! A real riot!

I have seen the casino more busy at times. I rather liked that is was less busy- did not have to wait around for a spot at the tables.

I did find that everyone was very friendly on this ship. There were however some exceptions. We found some of the ruddest people on the planet. Did not let it spoil our time though.

On the whole it was a great trip. We would all cruise RCCL again as usual. If anyone has any questions please let me know.

Jamielps@aol.com

Hi,

I just came back also this past Sunday and figured I would add my 2 cents worth.

I have to say that we did not have a single complaint with any of the RCCL staff. Every single employee that we met had excellent customer service skills. Not only that they all seemed to really enjoy their jobs and got along great with each other.

Our waiter and assistant waiter Trevor and Vincente were great. We never had to ask for anything they were always one step ahead of us. They even entertained us with tricks at the end of each meal. Everyone at our table couldn't say enough good things about them.

The cabin stewards regularly checked in on us to see if everything was okay and answered all our questions. They kept the cabin immaculate.

We had no problems with the food. We used room service, Windjammer, Cafe Promenade, dining room, Portofino's and Johnny Rockets. It is true that the food is not 5 star but the food was good and we had no complaints. I was curious about it because I had read a lot of complaints on various threads before we left on the quality of food. Some of the threads complained about the breakfast at the Windjammer, that it was the same thing every day. While that was true, the had every possible thing that you could think of to eat for breakfast so I don't understand what the complaints were about.

There was so many activities on board the ship that we couldn't do them all. We did see the singer from the Letterman. We did like him quite a bit. We also thought the ice show was quite good. The love and marriage show and the quest was funny. The karoke (sp) was great to see and the emcee for that was wonderful, (forget his name..Steven maybe).

We also enjoyed the art auction. Didn't get to go to it until Friday. Next time we will go sooner to get a better understanding of it but we did find it interesting. We also took a tour of the atmospheric lab. It might not be everyones cup of tea but if you are into that type of thing which my husband is, it is definitely something you should take the time to do.

We also hit every bar on the ship numerous times, (and have the bar bill to show for it) and again the staff was great. Loved the piano guy up at Dizzy's and his music trivia contest.

We just had one major complaint....we didn't want it to end. It was really a perfect vacation and on a scale of 1-10 my husband and I both rated it an 11.

If anyone is going on EOS in the near future and has any questions please feel free to email me at dvg1027@aol.com

My wife just mentioned one thing I forgot in my review.. It has to do with debarkation.. It actually went smooth until we showed up at the baggage carousels to get our suitcases.

RCCL has installed carousels like you see at airports. (they weren't there the last time we sailed out of Miami but it has been a long time)

It took forever to get our bags and we were one of the first ones off. Several of the porters complained that the old way of lining them up on the floor in a big room was better and faster for everyone.

Baggage carousels are great at an airport when you have 150 people getting off an airplane..Not with 3000 people getting off a cruise ship

Iowacruiser,

I always hated this coming into Miami. Its been there for 2 years now that I know of. Our friends color was called at 8:45 and we left the ship at 10:00. By the time we got to the carousel, their luggage was still not there

We were on the EOS a few weeks back and I have to say I had no complaints...each person has their own expectations of a cruise vacation.

I have to say...I have been on 5 cruises and I have never had to complain about any food on all ships. Now I am a very tiny person and am considered a picky eater:rolleyes: and it still amazes me how I think the food is great.

I think if people find things wrong with the food, you can bring it to someone's attention and they will be more then happy to make sure you enjoy your meal. I do read sometimes that people do pick at certain things...which is totally fine but I think people just don't let certain things past and make bigger deals then need be. I am the type to not let anything bother me while I am on vacation, but that is just me:D . Remember they are there to please you so let them.....and speak up and make your vacation the best there is...

Gkrebs: I am just curious, who was your head waiter....sounds a bit like our last head waiter on the EOS..just wondering..if you don't mind.

Thanks.

Ok I got a little stomach bug. I met people from the ship and they got or knew someone who got a bug. Did this happen to anyone else that wee? 10/24. For me personally I had a salmon sandwich at cafe promonode and I was convinced that was what did it.

Also,

The baggage system was terrible. The first time on EOS they put them on wrong colored carosel. This week agian on EOS it took 1 1/2 hours to get them and this was at 7:15 am

We were on the EOS a few weeks back and I have to say I had no complaints...each person has their own expectations of a cruise vacation.

 

I have to say...I have been on 5 cruises and I have never had to complain about any food on all ships. Now I am a very tiny person and am considered a picky eater:rolleyes: and it still amazes me how I think the food is great.

 

I think if people find things wrong with the food, you can bring it to someone's attention and they will be more then happy to make sure you enjoy your meal. I do read sometimes that people do pick at certain things...which is totally fine but I think people just don't let certain things past and make bigger deals then need be. I am the type to not let anything bother me while I am on vacation, but that is just me:D . Remember they are there to please you so let them.....and speak up and make your vacation the best there is...

 

Gkrebs: I am just curious, who was your head waiter....sounds a bit like our last head waiter on the EOS..just wondering..if you don't mind.

 

Thanks.

Wasn't head waiter who caused a problem , but forgot his name anyway. It was the waiter Patel

No one in our grp got sick, but we did not eat the salmon from the promenade

Hi,

No one in our group got sick either. I ate smoked salmon each morning at the Windjammer. Never had it at the Cafe Promenade but I would think it would be the same in either place. Hope you are feeling better Jamielps.

Iowacruiser,

 

I always hated this coming into Miami. Its been there for 2 years now that I know of. Our friends color was called at 8:45 and we left the ship at 10:00. By the time we got to the carousel, their luggage was still not there

Thanks! I am feeling better now. I did miss Nassau though. Thankfully it was a quick bug

We were on the Explorer last Thanksgiving, and the luggage was lined up as it had always been, not on a carousel.

was there more then one ship in the port. the Explorer was docked in the very last spot. This was the same place we docked on the Voyager in 2002 and the crousels were there at that time. Im now wondering if more then one RCI ship is in port if only one ship gets carosels and the others dont. Sounds like this might be the case

Jamie,

Glad your feeling better

Just wanted to pipe in with my thoughts.

We had purple tags and when we got off the ship we didn't have any problems waiting for our luggage it was there shortly after we walked up to the carousel. My group likes this better then the hunt and seek when they line up all the luggage in a big room.

We thought the food was pretty good considering how many people they are feeding in the dining room. If we didn't like something we just ordered something else and our waiter was very accomodating. Kudos to Ali and Christian.

Thought Johnny Rockets was overrated. Thankfully we had C&A coupon for the cover so it wasn't too bad. Probably wouldn't pay to eat there though. A couple at our table did eat at Portofino's and couldn't say enough about how good it was. So maybe next time we are on one of these ships we might try this.

I agree with Gary about Marcel in the Schooner bar. He was fantastic. I ended up there the last night and enjoyed a great ending to a enjoyable cruise.

Rob

Thanks for all of your posts !

We have a year to research Explorer before we sail, and I'm looking forward to hearing all kinds of opinions and suggestions. I think we are going to book a PR cabin when we put down our deposit next week -- wonder what any of you think.

Glad to hear that most of you enjoyed most of the food. I think it always comes down in part to expectations. We know it's not going to be Wolfgang Puck or Emeril food for the most part, so we enjoy it for what it is.

Can't wait . . .

Just wanted to pipe in with my thoughts.

 

We had purple tags and when we got off the ship we didn't have any problems waiting for our luggage it was there shortly after we walked up to the carousel. My group likes this better then the hunt and seek when they line up all the luggage in a big room.

 

We thought the food was pretty good considering how many people they are feeding in the dining room. If we didn't like something we just ordered something else and our waiter was very accomodating. Kudos to Ali and Christian.

 

Thought Johnny Rockets was overrated. Thankfully we had C&A coupon for the cover so it wasn't too bad. Probably wouldn't pay to eat there though. A couple at our table did eat at Portofino's and couldn't say enough about how good it was. So maybe next time we are on one of these ships we might try this.

 

I agree with Gary about Marcel in the Schooner bar. He was fantastic. I ended up there the last night and enjoyed a great ending to a enjoyable cruise.

 

 

Rob

So Rob you met my wife Eva and Vicky there that night. They didn't get back to the cabins until 5:15 that morning

Great trip! As always!! We had nice weather except that last sea day with the rain in the morning. I thought the food was generally good and our waitress Christine was the best we ever had!! Portofino's in my opinion was over-rated. It was basically the same food as in the dining room (with a bit more presentation).

The islands were great. We did a few excursions on our own which were incredible. In Belize, we went diving and snorkeling with a small operator who took us to a tiny island (and I mean tiny) in the middle of the sea with no one else around. It was a great day...

We took the bus in Nassau to cable beach and had a nice day there as well. Our party of 8 really enjoyed the trip.

Tough coming back to work this week! Time to plan for the next cruise!

Scott

Just as I feel Scott. After 1 week at work I need another asap!

Hey anyone on this week. Do you remember the name of the Letterman who performed on this ship?

Hi Jamielps,

It was Mark Preston. We got his CD when we were there. His website if you need it is http://www.markprestonsinger.com

Donna

Hello all! I am going through major cruise withdrawals.

My husband and I had a great time on the ship. We both thought the food was pretty good. The only thing that my husband said was the pancakes were kinda hard.

Belize was fun. We did the cave tubing with Xtreme. Richard was great. It was a little harrowing ride back to the ship but we made it.

I also enjoyed Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Nice and relaxing.

We had no trouble getting off or getting our luggage. However, we were part of the last group out. Wish I could have stayed.

Thanks for all of your posts !

 

 

 

We have a year to research Explorer before we sail, and I'm looking forward to hearing all kinds of opinions and suggestions. I think we are going to book a PR cabin when we put down our deposit next week -- wonder what any of you think.

 

 

 

Glad to hear that most of you enjoyed most of the food. I think it always comes down in part to expectations. We know it's not going to be Wolfgang Puck or Emeril food for the most part, so we enjoy it for what it is.

 

Can't wait . . .

we had a promenade on deck 7 right over the sports bar. room is fine, bed could be better positioned, but then u lose the love seat on the window. Overall we enjoyed it. Great for ppl watching and the parades. No noise problems at all