Back from Explorer today...

Just got home from the Eastern Carib itinerary on Explorer. WOW...

I'll post my narrow minded opinions in the next couple of days, but if anyone has questions I'll be glad to tell the parts I remember...

Just for info purposes, the rumor that RCI had to re-carpet the port side passageway of Deck 6 due to claw marks from Cabin #6680 to the debarkation point...have no basis in fact.

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

Sounds like you had a great time. Looking forward to your review.

Up next Mariner of the Seas

Then Jewel of the Seas

LOL Sounds like you had a fantastic time, can't wait to read your review!

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Navigator of the Seas 6/26/04

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We are going to be on the Explorer on June 20th. Who did you have for entertainment?

first year anniversary celebration

Seas,

My wife and I mostly relaxed on the cruise (our first). We're not really "joiners", if you know what I mean.

As far as entertainment...Cruise Director was some Irish lady named Clo, I think. Lots of personality, ten places at the same time, etc....seemed to enjoy her job. Wasn't dazzled by the RCI Singers but, it is after all, a lounge act....like a lot of singers today they seemed to substitute vocal gymnastics for the ability to carry a tune. Don't get me wrong, I only saw them once and they may have dazzled the times I didn't see them.

First night there was a comedian, can't remember the name, pretty funny guy. When we got to Nassau on Saturday they boarded a new guy named Carl Guera, whose next funny line will be his first....

There was another act called "Majestic". If you like variety acts, you'll love this couple. Wonderful acrobatics, very graceful...fun to watch.

On my first cruise I discovered there are some people I would love to meet:

(1) The person who designed the shower in our stateroom. Freakin' genius...

(2) Whoever tasted all those Frufru drinks before they started selling them...

(3) The salesperson that convinces all those women that their hair looks good in those braids and then sells them to said women.

P. T. Barnum was an amateur...

For all you anal retentives on this board:

(1) Had turndown service the first night!!! We were prepared to forge ahead without it, but...

(2) Nice view from the balcony on Deck 6. You can't see the few million gallons of water within 50 feet of the ship, but the billions of gallons beyond that are easily visible while sitting down. As I have said before, the view at sea is mostly the same...line across the middle, dark blue below, light blue above.

(3) I'll admit to having only one entree' per night, but every one I had was wonderful. Ate in Portifino one night, but if I had it to do over I would skip it. It was great, but I missed our Waiter and Assistant Waiter. The fact that they were attractive young ladies is not relevant...

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

Nice review, made me chuckle. I've been back about a week. I agree with you on the dining room. Food was a little better than on the Grandeur over a year ago. Husband's steaks were way better than on other cruises. I also had a deck 6 balcony, but I for one didn't like the wall coming up so far. I like the partially glass ones on the higher decks better. The balcony felt a little closed in to me. But I'll take that over a window any day. And Clo was one of the better CD's I've come across. Chatted with her briefly a few times, once at the M&M. Seems to genuinely enjoy what she does and meeting everyone. Her humor seemed to come from the heart.

Izzy

NCL Starward 4/92

NCL Wind 12/00

Adventure of the Seas 4/02

Grandeur of the Seas12/02

Explorer of the Seas 5/04

<MARQUEE>Until Carnival Pride:

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Roll Call Pride 10/17 CLICK HERE

Great review. I was on the same cruise in cabin 6220. The ship was amazing. Especially after seeing the four other ships docked along with us in Nassau. I thought I was the only one who felt that way about the shower and the hair braids.

Now I'm suffering from depression. I opened my fridge to get something out to cook and I almost cried at the thought of having to actually prepare a meal

og719

We are doing Eastern Caribbean for the first time...What excursions did you do?

Jackie

sbell1,

None! In St Maarten we did a day sail on the Winifred (www.sailwinifred.com). Nice little 43-footer that took us to Caneel Bay on St John for snorkeling, lunch and general goofing off. The boat only takes 6 people and, as I said, we're not crowd people so it was perfect for us.

Frankly, we enjoyed leaving the ship for a couple of hours in port, then going back to the ship and hanging out by the pool almost all alone. Very relaxing.

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

Okay, I've had a couple of glasses of wine and I'm ready to regurgitate more opinions....

Embarkation - I thought it was great. Keep in mind that I spent 30 years in the U.S. Navy, so standing in line isn't a big deal. Still, I thought it went quickly and efficiently. We arrived at the port about 1050 and were on the ship by noon. Would have been there earlier except for the presence of PWSBATTs (People Who Shouldn't Be Allowed To Travel), who continually held up lines by not being ready for the next station.

Dropped the bags off in the stateroom closet and went straight to the dining room. Harry the maitre' d took my request for a table for two and hooked us up with table #570. We loved it!!! Waiter was Annetta from Poland and Assistant Waiter was Lorena from Argentina. Both personable, efficient and kinda cute...

First night we met the "Head Waiter"...name was Tim or Tom, not sure which. Had a Randy Quaid thing going with a goofy haircut. I'm not sure what the Head Waiter thing is all about. Guess it's some Euroweenie thing, because he didn't do anything but come by and start talking when my mouth was full of food...

I ate fish all week and it was excellent. Saw people ordering two or three appetizers and entrees and all that, but that's just not me. Not criticizing...just not my cup of meat (obscure Zappa reference...).

Only ate in Windjammer twice and it was fine both times. Ate lunch twice at Johnny Rockett's (THANK GOD, there was no service charge!!!! Now I can afford another cruise...) and it was great both times.

Room service once for breakfast and it was great.

Tune in tomorrow for comments on walkie-talkies thrown over the side and the great "Who Will Stop and Get Soft Serve Ice Cream?" contest on the Promenade....

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

Love your sense of humor Cannot wait for the next installment!

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Navigator of the Seas 6/26/04

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Hey Og what seating did you have? And did you

happened to see Ron and Jennie haha

they were the drunkest couple I have ever seen

they made me laugh hysterically every

time I saw them. They would get totally

trashed in the chamber and start taking their

clothes off and had to be told to out put them

back on thank god! They would also yell at

the top of their lungs "DECK 8" for some weird

reason...just thought that was funny.

I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Nice to see a review without a bunch of people saying nasty things about each other. I read the reviews, but pay little attention to them. Everyone has their own opinion and not all will agree. Right now I'm living vicariously through others until my own cruise/s.

Can't wait to read more!

Karen

Brilliance of the Seas Jan 2005

Monarch Of The Seas

Whodunit Murder Mystery Cruise

Carnival Ecstasy 8/2001

Voyager of the Seas 8/2000

Carnival Holiday 3/1998

Viking Seranade 1/1996

Viking Seranade 4/1995

D-Dan,

Late seating on Deck 5. Don't know about the drunk naked people, but sorry I missed them!

Went to The Chamber one night, but all it seemed to be was the ship's officers trying to get laid in their cutesy uniforms. Wore a real one for a long time...been there.

KStevens,

Glad you enjoy it. Just callng them the way I see them. Love Victorville! Spent more than one long weekend in beautiful downtown Wilsonia...same neck of the woods, I think.

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

So we're sitting outside the pub on the Promenade and notice the soft serve ice cream machine on the other side. I start watching people coming along and try to guess which ones are going to stop at the ice cream machine. Hours of free entertainment! No fair picking kids. Gotta at least look like they are over 21. Batted about .650 that day. You can play in a lot of leagues with that average...

Pools - we spent time around both the solarium and the other pools. Whenever I got wet it was always in the solarium pool, only because I figured it MIGHT have a lower urine level than the ones that allowed kids. I have seen people mention that the waiters around the pools were pushy. I didn't get that vibe at all! Guys walking around saying "Who wants a Bahama Mama?" was the extent of it. Not one of them ever said anything directly to me. Saw some chair hogging, but not much. Looked like there were plenty of chairs to go around.

Saw one walkie talkie go over the side and I really hope the owner had just left it lying on his chair and someone got annoyed enough to toss it. Use them if you must, but please turn them down. I don't really care if the kids are in the arcade, you're at the pool and MawMaw is feeding the slot machines...

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

Og,

I'm loving your sense of humor...great review.

More please; you're a classic.

Did you have any luck in the casino or did you let MawMaw win it all?

Happy Cruisin',

BichonBabe

Explorer 10-24-04

Navigator 12-14-02

Sea Princess 10-9-99

10/24 Explorer of the Seas--Days until we sail!!!!

BB,

Funny you should ask about the casino. We went in the first evening. My wife had a $20 and a $50, put the 20 into a $1 Wheel of Fortune slot. First pull...nothing. Second pull she won $320! I won a few bucks at blackjack the first night, then at craps the second. We gave some of it back through the week, but not all. Probably paid the wine bill. I could go over the wine bill, but that thread was scary enough without me adding to it. Suffice to say, since I ate fish all week I had a nice South African SB, a nice New Zealand SB and a nice Australian Chard. Oh, and a Mondavi Family Pinot Grigio...fun sipping wine. Total wine bill around $110. No Wine and Dine available.

Let me get dinner and a few glasses and I'll try to relate the thrill of Formal Night...

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."

Keep it comin'

Izzy

NCL Starward 4/92

NCL Wind 12/00

Adventure of the Seas 4/02

Grandeur of the Seas12/02

Explorer of the Seas 5/04

<MARQUEE>Until Carnival Pride:

</MARQUEE>

Roll Call Pride 10/17 CLICK HERE

Aaaaahhhh...Formal Night! Not a tux kind of guy, so I brought my dark suit. Wife had a very nice beaded thingee and looked fabulous. Had our picture taken over the Promenade and they came out looking just like us! When we got home we proudly pulled out that picture and my 12 year old stepdaughter announced that I look like a preacher. Standing next to a hooker...yeah, well I like it!

Some real stunners on Formal Night. Ladies looked dynamite, guys looked mostly uncomfortable, but nice. As I have mentioned before, the hair braid thing...if you're 12 it's one thing. If you're 50 it's another. Lady in the nice red dress with the braids...I'm sure it was "fun" and all that, but it looks dorky...and I know dorky, being a dork and all.

I started thinking this evening and decided that all would have been much better if the lovely and talented Annetta (Polish waiter) would have just brought the desserts we asked for. Instead, she seemed to have this Jewish Mother thing going and we had to "try" all of them. Now I like raspberry tart as much as the next guy, but put it on top of the cheesecake I had ordered and the cake my wife had ordered and the creme' brulee that neither of us ordered....

One more thing about dinner...is it just me or is the butter on that ship the best on the face of the earth? We got down to the Land O' Lakes stuff later in the week, but the first couple of days I could have eaten the butter with a spoon...and frequently did.

"He saw himself as a crystal pool of clarity, and viewed his life as a troubled glass of misunderstood virtue."