REVIEW Explorer of the Seas 11/6-13 PART II

LUNCH, MUSTER DRILL, OUR 1ST DINNER & SHOW: Once onboard we went straight to our cabins 8644 & 8645, checked them out, met our cabin steward Marvin, asked him to empty both fridges (No problem! He was great!) All our luggage made its way to the cabins by 3pm.

Went to the dining room checked out our tables, which were wrong but ok whatever. They had DH & I at different tables. We laughed about it and decided we’d fix it later. Between the 32 of us we were assigned MAIN DINING at 3 tables of 8 & 1 table for 10 all next to each other at the back right of the DaGama dining room. (2 tables were at the windows – NICE) Hit the windjammer for lunch 1:30ish Not crowded at all. Easily found a table for the 5 of us. Found out the food repeated as you walked around the stations. That was fine with us there was still a huge selection of hot and cold – loved the sandwiches on focaccia bread. Yum!

Next stop: the pool bar for the soda package. I don’t know what we were thinking but we got one for everybody. Bad idea. DH and I rarely drink soda we shouldn’t have even bought it for us. Once again we laughed………...as we walked away with our $45 souvenir cups LOL. The kids got major use out of the soda package! Well worth it for them!

We ran into the rest of our group as we explored the ship. Everyone was tired from traveling that day – Not us!!! We were roaring to go! Did the muster drill. Our station was in the dining room so it wasn’t too hot but it was hard to find a seat in our assigned area. Anyway it was over fast enough and it was then that I remembered that we really didn’t have to dress up that night for dinner (woooohoooo!) so we spent some time relaxing on our balcony. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Sigh.

Our dining room waiter was Cetin from Turkey (Chet) the kids had Rocky (I called him the goat guy because he kept making these weird goat noises – He was a character and kept us laughing all week!) All our tables had the same assistant waiter “K” (don’t ask what his real name was) Our bar guy way Bryan! The service was EXCELLENT every night! Couldn’t ask for better. Rocky always knew what the kids wanted to drink and made sure their drinks were waiting for them when they sat down. He cut their steak and even knew all their names by the end of the meal! The kids were impressed! Chet treated us like gold! I always have a tough time ordering. I can NEVER make up my mind so Chet told me he’d take care of it for me. (Well, let me tell you that I enjoyed every meal he chose for me!!!!) We ordered a bottle of wine. I told Chuck we should get the package - he poo pooed that idea. I reminded him about the soda package fiasco and he just ignored me. Oh well. I tried.

FYI: I took some time glancing around the dining room to see what others were wearing. Very mixed. Shorts, pants, skirts, dresses Tshirts, flip flops, sneakers………..a little of everything.

The Bon Voyage show was terrific!!! Carly B was the CD! I thought she was great! Very peppy and really motivating! I’m not really a “show” person but I really enjoyed it so give it a try – you may like it too.

Hit the casino after the show. Played the slots and Roulette. Won maybe 20 bucks. Crashed about midnight after relaxing on the balcony again.

ADVENTURE OCEAN: Jackie and Heather (13) went to Optix and we rarely saw them the rest of the trip!!!! Heather has cruised before so she knew just where to go and what to do to have fun!!! We signed Becky & Sarah up in the Adventure Ocean Club (9-11) and gave them “signing out privileges”. GAGA BALL was a big hit with them! They loved the club and did so much there! Please sign your kids up and make them go. They will have soooooo much fun. Especially the “late nights”. It does cost $5 per hour per child BUT it is soooo worth it! Some of the kids in our group were signed up but their parents didn’t push it. Well these kids just kept complaining about how bored they were. Sad because they didn’t have to be bored.

Ok, bad parent sighting!! My kids were really left to their own devices most of the time. We'd meet for breakfast lunch and dinner and that's about the only time we'd see them unless we specified a meeting time/place. On most nights they returned to their room at 1am THEY LOVED AO THAT MUCH!! Jackie and Heather on the other hand were seen hanging in the hot tub at 3am with their new cruise buddies. :eek: I was a little concerned....Chuck wasn't. That's a man for ya!!! Anyway, they never got into any trouble and I did receive compliments from staff and guests that they were always very polite and respectful so I guess alls well that ends well. :o

TOWELS: The tan towels left in your room are $20 a pop. DO NOT leave them laying around - DO NOT lose them! You can trade them in at the pool for fresh ones.

DAY 2 AT SEA , M&M, THE POOL & MANGO TANGOS: Ate breakfast in the windjammer ( never used the DR for breakfast or lunch) Not too much trouble finding a table. The staff actually carried our trays while we hunted for a table LOL. We did not tip in the Windjammer. Now don’t have a cow. I checked with Guest Relations and they told me that since we had prepaid our tips EVERYONE was covered.

Our M&M was ok. Met TC and his family, Jane and her daughter, and sorry but I know I’m forgetting some of you. Sorry sorry sorry! Screen names and real names are bouncing around in my head LOL. I know we met Linda and Phil in GC later in the week! I did think the M&M would have been better if we were not seated at tables. There was really no mingling going on. We left early. The sun was shining and we wanted to hit the pool! Found lounge chairs by the pool without a problem. This only happened once. All the other sea days, the pool was soooooo crowded! Chair hogging was rampant!!! Couldn’t even find a lounge chair in the sun OR shade on decks 11 or 12! On the 2nd sea day my mom came down to the pool after me. It was packed! The seat next to me was being “hogged”. I had been there at least 30 minutes and no one used the chair. I removed the towel and mom sat down. No one bothered us about it and never claimed the abandoned towel. Their loss. YES, THE POOLS ARE SALT WATER.

Ok, now I am not one for FooFoo drinks BUT on the recommendation of one of the pool bartenders I tried a MANGO TANGO $5.46. I am hooked. That’s all I drank all week. (Well, besides water & wine) Have one! They are to die for!!!!!!! Don’t forget to ask for a regular glass, the same drink in a souvenir glass was around $8.00!! Learned that the hard way LOL. I don’t remember any of the bartender’s names but I can tell you that I think I met every one on the ship as evidenced by my final bill! Dinner, show, casino, bar bed. (I took bonine that night – the kids did not)

Keep an eye out for PART III

I have a 13 yr. old boy. What types of things are there for him to do? He is mainly into video games. Do they have Nintendo in the club? Or just in the younger club? I'm a bit concerned he will be bored. He had a blast on his last Disney cruise, but he was in the 10-12 club so they had plenty of activities for him.

Our M&M was ok. Met TC and his family, Jane and her daughter, and sorry but I know I’m forgetting some of you. Sorry sorry sorry! Screen names and real names are bouncing around in my head LOL. I know we met Linda and Phil in GC later in the week! I did think the M&M would have been better if we were not seated at tables. There was really no mingling going on.

That was my observation as well. If we weren't all seated at little tables it would have been easier to "Meet and Mingle." Still, it was a nice guesture and I thought we had a good-sized group, even if most of the raffle items did go to that one table (which wasn't the one I was at). :rolleyes:

best,

Laura

MM--Yes, we shouldn't have all been seated. I felt obligated to sit vs. mingle.

AO --My boys are 13, 12 and 9, and they all -loved- AO. They 'won' lots of little souvenier type things at for raffles and contests and made several new friends.

Souvenier glasses--I was given a souvenier glass right away! I asked the bartender, "Is this a promotional glass?" I asked him 3x and 3x he answered 'huh?' You have to say REGULAR GLASS PLEASE in a loud voice I think.

My biggest prob was room service. I asked for 4 bread plates for breakfast(for 5 people, only thing we ordered). They called to say 'one plate serves two people' I said yes I know give me 4. They sent two. I told the room service waiter to go back and get two more. He came back with one, explaining, 'it serves two people!' Why did they fight with me about a croissant and some danish? Another high seas mystery, brought to you by,

Linda

Just moving it up to keep all the "parts" together....someday I'll learn how to Link them...