MrPete

So, the ride to and from Hamilton was quite relaxing, loving looking for all those special looking houses.

Upon returning to the ship, it was announced that the Dockyard Festival was being cancelled for the evening, but there would be entertainment in the show lounge. Seems that after that glorious afternoon of sunshine more rain was on the way.

We went to the show, which included a phenomenal juggler. Afterward, we went out to Dockside for a stroll, to check out the party at Snorkle Park, and to get a rival night picture of the ship from last year, facing the opposite way.

2007:

Well, we couldn't have been farther away from the ship at Snorkle Park when the heavens opened up. We RAN back to the ship, soaked, and never got my 2008 shot. :(

It was still raining when the "deck party" started. Pretty disappointed in the offerings. I was beginning to realize this is where they were scaling back A LOT. The buffets.

Enjoyed the light show from the passing storms before finally calling it a night. We wanted to get up early the next morning to get back to Horseshoe, or make it over to St. George.

Mr.Pete Would you book that cabin again?

ABSOLUTELY!

 

I just posted on the large EOS thread that the Explorer went out in the big thunder/lighting storm tonight across the NY Harbor. They were surely rocking and rolling!!!

I was watching the weather myself when a storm was passing up by us, and I saw all that activity passing by the harbor and across LI, thinking THOSE POOR PEOPLE. :eek:

On our previous two EOS sailings, we had our rooms on the port side of the ship, and each time we docked to starboard, so we had the bay side for our view.

On our cruise on the Carnival Pride, we had an aft cabin, and that ship docked to port, so we had a southerly view.

Being we had an aft cabin, I was hoping to be docked once again to port, and was disappointed as it appeared to be the opposite, until I realized the ship was swinging around before we docked.

So, we were thrilled to have an aft cabin facing south to the lighthouse and the bay.

After that noon rain, and lunch, we packed our stuff to head over to Hamilton, when DW discovers her Seapass card is missing. SO we missed our desired ferry, but luckily the next one was a half hour later. Had great weather for our bay crossing.

Day three: BERMUDA!!!

It was extremely windy as we approached the island. Very hard to even walk around deck 12. Lost not one, but two cups of Seattle's Best.

I was happy to see my Blackberry internet connection worked, so I made sure to keep up with my obsession as we pulled in, but left it behind as we boarded pink bus #7 to Horseshoe Bay.

The water was a bit more choppier this year than last year.

2007:

2008:

We got a good three hours in at the beach when I turned around and noticed the darkest cloud coming over behind us from the north. Within seconds, the wind was whipping so bad that the pretty pink sand was no longer that pretty, and downright painful.

And then the heavens opened up. Stupid us, we didn't look at any forecast and left, catching the one working air conditioned bus on the island :eek: :eek: and made our way back to the ship.

It had already stopped raining by the time we hit Dockside, so we figured we'd have lunch, and then maybe take the ferry over to Hamilton.

Danger, Will Robinson!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

nyuk nyuk nyuk....:p

Day 2 I made my way up to deck 11 hoping the chair hog police were still in action. THEY WERE!!

Everyone that was coming along to dump and set up their stuff was promptly attacked like flies by men in yellow vests to cease and desist. I watched this for a long while, as I found it more amusing than my Compass.

For the ones they "missed", they appeared to be timing empty sets of chairs, and then scooped up the stuff and took it away.

Rest of the day was family day, just hanging by the pool. Late in the afternoon, the ship starting rocking pretty noticeably. The veterans took it in strides, but the newbies were concerned. And vocal. And some sick. We met some that had sworn off cruising just over this 6/8 hour spell. The waves were simply rolling at an awkward angle to the ship, creating this constant roll. Later in the evening, I noticed we had slowed quite a bit. I’m wondering if this was for the comfort of the passengers, but it delayed our arrival in Bermuda the next morning. We didn’t dock until 9AM Monday morning.

It was formal night, and we donned our duds and made our way to dinner. The Captains gala was not going to be until after dinner.

Afterwards, we went to the production show which we had already seen twice before. The four main singers were ALL quite talented, and there was still Tracie, who had been there before each time.

Ship had stopped rocking by the time we got back to our cabin, thank God, or DW would have been b!tching the whole night.

BTW, although the bedding was changed before our cruise last year, the bed for the third person (sofa) is a rock. Too bad I didn’t think earlier about asking is they still had that egg crate mattressing.

We were happy to hear Dave Chapman had returned to the EOS as CD. And he didn’t disappoint. He’s great at that witty repartee with the pax.

Made our way to the Palace Theatre.

I’m still weirded out by those embalmed Asian ladies on the curtain.

Had a comedian for first night entertainment. We had seen him previously last year and bombed. He was a lot better this year.

It was a long day, so after the welcome show we made our way to the Café Promenade for our assorted treats.

This was followed by a retreat to our room and balcony. I fell asleep on the lounger for a bit watching the stars.

Of special note was the comparison of this aft cabin to the afts we’ve had on the Spirit class ships of Carnival. There was no crashing noises from the wake, and no swaying motion either. We were quite comfortable where we were. Although it was a haul to get everywhere, we didn’t complain.

Pete...what was your view of Formal Night??

Do we pack the full length dress & Tux or should we skip it?

It certainly wasn't like Carnival. I saw only a couple of black tuxes and the men in one family in white tuxes, and the rest were suits, jacket and ties, down to no jacket and/or no ties.

I went the dark suit route with matching underroos.

Well, while DUH boat was going under DUH bridge, I looked back and saw an NCL ship (it was floating) coming down the Hudson.

It was looking really nice, and then behind that, I noticed the Victory pulling out from its berth. So it was the three of us in a line. Victory, of course, was heading north, we were heading south, but I never knew which NCL ship that was, and have no idea where it was going. Never saw her again, so it wasn't ber MUD a.

Keep it coming MrPete, you are too funny. Of course it's "The Bridge"- what else would we call it?

I am reminded that it was my own DW, getting on the Victory last year for the third trip to Canada, asked if we were sailing up the Hudson this time. :eek:

We had early seating, and being we were in the back, had to take the aft set of elevators. These were absolutely horrid, and even when they came, they were packed. Not sure why it was more noticeable on this cruise, but it really was a PITA.

We were assigned, deck 3, Magellan, table 366. There was a couple from RI, and we were eventually joined by a couple and their 11 YO son, from LI.

Now came the best news yet. After such bad dinners and service last year, there was a 180 turnabout noticed. Service was great, as was the food. Even the new menus were easier to read. And I always found more than one choice, and sometimes even ordered two entrees.

Aother nice touch was that they gave us nice hats to wear.

The real bonehead turned out to be the table bar person, who didn’t seem to know his ass from his elbow, so I just made sure I brought my drink on the way to dinner. They really lost, and we saved, on those tasty but expensive after dinner drinks.

Was a bit concerned about the weather on this trip, as the outlook wasn’t the greatest. I just had to keep my fingers crossed. But today for sailaway it was a brilliant sunshine. I also happened to notice that my Blackberry was still functioning with the internet, even on board, so I even got a chance to post a bit on the mega EOS thread.

As I mentioned earlier, our roll call was pretty slow. Most exciting thing I saw was someone was getting married. No one seemed interested in a meet and greet, and after failing miserably last year, not one was scheduled. Too bad, because it was a lively crowd on board.

Sailaway came, and I made sure to see the WTC memorial.

A lot more locals this year, so there wasn’t much talk about sailing under the George Washington Bridge. Even if the out of towners didn’t just say “the bridge”, it wouldn’t be as funny.

Of course, the obligatory pix.

And for the out of towners, the REAL GWB:

Booked Explorer of the Seas in a Junior Suite on Deck 6 facing the aft of the ship. The travel agent tried to convince us that these staterooms are considered the most requested because passengers prefer the added privacy and views of the water but we are wondering if there will be added vibrations and extra noise. Is is true that the balconies are slightly larger? Any thoughts?

I almost made the mistake of booking one of these cabins before seeing how much more ship there was before aft actually started.

We just got off the EOS this morning, and I had an aft corner on deck ten. There were no vibrations to speak of, and more surprisingly, did not sound like I was right next to the falls of Niagara.

Opened the stateroom door to 1688, and we were QUITE pleased by the width, but were greeted by that pole I had seen previously in pix, right smack in the middle of the room. Didn’t think I was going to notice it much until the first night getting into bed, and there was the pole, right between me and the TV.

No bother. It still reminded me of a JS, except I had forgotten about the shower. Still reminds me of the tubes the Robinson family had to get in for launch on the Jupiter 2.

Walked out to the balcony, and again, although strange, a lot nicer than the caves they have on the sides of the ship they call balconies.

Once again, a pole in the way, but open space, covered space, and even a little alcove. That came in handy during one of those passing nasty storms.

Two chairs, a table, and two lounge chairs. I was ready to relax.

But not yet. Had to make my way up to the pool deck for my first foo foo. And it was made JUST RIGHT.

Strangely, at 2:20, deck 11 was still pretty quiet. Got some nice relaxing swims in as the crowds grew…..all in anticipation of sailaway.

Wife surprised me this year for our 20th anniversary ……. another cruise to Bermuda on the Explorer. Although I like the EOS, and like Bermuda, not too sure how I was going to be three times out with the same ship and itinerary.

I also wasn’t too happy with the room assignments, so I rebooked it from scratch.

We had a JS the prior year, and found this type room perfect for us, only there were no triples left.

I didn’t wish to try a D1 again, as I found these too small, so I started looking at owners suites when the TA comes though with a cancelled corner aft on deck 10 (1688). I was quite familiar with this room as I had oft read about it, so I booked it without going back and studying all things about it. Seems it’s one of those secret D1 rooms that are configured differently, with a deep and extended and weird balcony.

Eventually, I did visit webshots, and it was even different than I remembered, plus I knew wife hated aft cabins, but I figured I'd just cross my fingers.

From there, it was a visit to a little frequented roll call on CC, but that was OK.

EMBARKATION:

Being this year the ship was leaving on a Saturday, I wasn’t sure what we would hit, so we aimed to arrive at the pier at 10:30. Hit no traffic then entire trip, so we were there in something like 37 minutes.

Place was pretty quiet, and it seemed the previous debarkation went fast.

Took my obligatory pic of the ship from the parking spot, and made our way back to the terminal.

Checkin was pretty empty as well, and we were quickly processed.

We were handed a boarding pass with the number 4 on it.

Looked like we were going to get on board early this year, and we lucked out. We were on the ship before noon.

Headed straight for the Windjammer, and then out to the pool to claim our usual seas. Took the obligitory EOS sign hanging on deck 12.

At 1:30 we made our way down to our room. Somewhere in between I dropped on DW our room location and type. I thought it would come to fist to cuffs (whatever that means), but it passed quickly, especially when we opened the door......

Stay tuned......

Just passing through, but this caught my eye. Why is dressing up though of as trying to impress or pretending? There is a vast majority that enjoys wearing fine clothes, dressing up, etc. No need to knock it.

The only time I saw the Tropicale was on an episode of the A-Team.

Ah...the pink elephant. :D ;)

Does anyone else get a Santa coming out of a chimney on this thread on the top right when it's opened?

 

Now SailorJill and I are taking the time to do the things we could not do when I was on the Corporate Treadmill.

Well, please take the time to take MORE CRUISES, and report back about them! :) :)

Exactly. Where in the rules must a post be a review. :confused:

Almost made it!

Not only a trip, but an adventure! What every vacation should be!

Great read!

WOW. Nice to see they updated the look, but it looks a little sterile, like the main halls.

I had to look twice when I saw the shower pic. :eek:

We did the Fascination in 1995. San Juan/St. Thomas/Guadaloupe/Grenada/Caracas/Aruba/San Juan.

I understand this happen quite often. So often you sometimes read about bear cruises here. And then everyone starts complaining.

I don't get it. :confused: