Max's Mom on the Explorer ~ 10/13/13 ~ My Picture Diary

[maxs mom]

That's it. I'm retiring from medicine, grabbing my guitar, and taking up my new career.:)

 

I think you should go for it!!!

[maxs mom]

Saturday ~ October 19, 2013, ~ At Sea

I was up early and decided to take some pictures around he ship before anyone else got up.

This is Dizzy's in the Viking Crown:

This is the 19th Hole where the Diamond Event is held every night:

[maxs mom]

John's favorite spot on Deck 6:

Guest Services......look.....no lines of complainers!

The Crown and Kettle:

Café Promenade and the Soda Machines:

[psupa]

Did a little reading after lunch.....then I went to the Top Tier sail away on the Helipad at 3:45.

Thy had champagne and sugary drinks up there. There was a guitarist.....nice ambiance.

It was so crowded that I couldn't see anything. It was very HOT up there as well. Met up with a few CC people. Wendy gave out s few crystal blocks to people.

 

Now this is different. I've never seen that done on the helipad before. Really enjoying your review and pics of our favorite ship.

[sarahleebones]

Awesome review! I'll be on the EX in a few weeks (with Robyn and Shar) :D

 

Love all the pictures! I'm not thinking a Bermuda cruise might be a though it the future.

[maxs mom]

We went down to breakfast around 8:30. I understand the French toast is to die for!!

We said good-bye to our awesome breakfast wait staff!!!

After breakfast we headed for the photography shop and picked up the pictures that we wanted. Then we headed to the Promenade for some last minute shopping.

Gene is always looking at the watches. He knows more about them than the shop people!!

We loved these little guys that sang "Hot, Hot, Hot"!

Score! On some t-shirts!!

[island lady]

I don't know for sure......I'm just speculating here. Since they are removing Portofino from all the other ships and replacing them with Giovanni's Table.....that will probably happen. Don't know if they can add a Chops or not' date=' but that would be nice. I'm sure they will turn the 19th Hole area into the Diamond Lounge. Probably put a big screen TV in the Pool Area. The Explorer needs a lot of cosmetic work.....cleaning up rust and that sort of thing. It took a beating being in some severe winter conditions for so long. They still have some TV's in the cabins to be replaces with flat screens. I know they have been replacing a lot of equipment in the theater area. And they are adding 75 cabins to all the Voyager Class ships.....up on Deck 12 forward. Will be interesting .[/size']

 

Thanks so much for the information. I was thinking perhaps they were adding a DL

too, but did not see that on the new plans when I click on the alternate deck plans

for after the first week of November. Will definitely be interesting to see the changes

just after it comes out of dry dock! :)

 

Perhaps the CL was not busy when you were on due to the suites guests enjoying

the view in cloud nine? That is the only thing I don't like about the CL on the Voyager

and Freedom class. There is no view. We prefer the DL to the CL on the Freedom,

and from the looks of all the other D+ passengers in there, we are not alone. Though

the CL is indeed very classy! :)

[cruiselover2890]

I will be sailing Explorer in 27 days with 11 other family members! I'm really starting to get excited after reading your review!

[maxs mom]

Now this is different. I've never seen that done on the helipad before. Really enjoying your review and pics of our favorite ship.

 

They do this from time to time on many of the ships. Look out for it.

[critcatny]

This will be our 1st cruise on Explorer of the Seas & RCI in 19 days :) What exactly is the Quest? Pictures sure looked like it was a fun time.

[cjruns]

I'll be sailing on the Explorer for the first time this Dec. Thanks so much for the review and pictures. I now feel like I have already been on the ship! She looks beautiful in your pictures. Thanks again for great review.

[MillbrookMom]

Congratulations on retirement.......being able to cruise whenever a great deal is found is sure a huge bonus.

 

We will be on Explorer again in 47 days.......can't wait!

[Ocean Boy]

This will be our 1st cruise on Explorer of the Seas & RCI in 19 days :) What exactly is the Quest? Pictures sure looked like it was a fun time.

 

We don't discuss that on these boards. You have to go and find out.;)

[Dharma517]

I could not believe my eyes!! :eek:

We don't discuss that on these boards. You have to go and find out.;)

[Ocean Boy]

I could not believe my eyes!! :eek:

 

That is why we don't discuss it on these boards!:eek::D:D

[maxs mom]

This will be our 1st cruise on Explorer of the Seas & RCI in 19 days :) What exactly is the Quest? Pictures sure looked like it was a fun time.

 

Oh.....I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you!! Go.......it's a lot of fun!

[maxs mom]

cjruns....I love cruising in December. We have the first two weeks booked. Can't wait!

MillbrookMom......We have had to cruise during school vacations for so long and have had to pay those premium prices......being able to wait for a good deal is so nice!!

LOL!! We have been Questing since 1985 and it's still a lot of fun.....especially on the smaller ships. Some of it has not changed a bit.....but Leigh did a lot of things with it that I hadn't seen before. The first one we went to was called Western Quest and it was held on Western night! Everybody wore their cowboy boots and such. Those were the days. There were 4 people on our team!

[maxs mom]

After shopping for a while......we decided to park ourselves at the Crown and Kettle and just visit and people watch.

[rwdnj]

This will be our 1st cruise on Explorer of the Seas & RCI in 19 days :) What exactly is the Quest? Pictures sure looked like it was a fun time.

 

AHHHHHH, THE QUEST. Not to be missed.

I could tell you but the CC members would kill me!!!:eek::eek:

Go with an open mind, a sense of humor and a few drinks in your hand.:D

You will have a blast!!!

And dont just sit there and watch,, JOIN IN THE FUN!!:cool:

[maxs mom]

Before we knew it, it was time to go and change for lunch. We were invited to have lunch with officers at noon. It was held in the same area where we eat breakfast on Deck 3. There were two tables of D+ and Pinnacle folks there.

This lunch was really, really nice and once again, we managed to overeat!! I had a shrimp risotto.....full of shrimp. That was a gracious plenty to eat right there, but then I had salmon for the main course. John had chateaubriand.

Then there was apple pie a la mode for dessert! All was very, very good!. Can you say stuffed!!! They kept bringing mimosas out during the whole meal!

At our table were two young engineers.....one from Croatia and the other from Romania. They were delightful. I especially liked talking to the one from Croatia since we went to Dubrovnik last summer.

A very enjoyable event!

Well......the afternoon was kind of blah.......we were chugging toward home.....I had to return the pool towels.....and we had to pack......ugh!!!! I hate short cruises. Seems like you just get there and start having fun, and then you have to leave. Give me a back to back any day!!!

[maxs mom]

It clouded up and was very gray looking on the way home.

We went to the CL and thanked everyone for treating us so nicely. Our bar servers were great! They never let us go thirsty!!

And Denzil was a real gentleman. He was also good to us. He should be on vacation now...or actually tomorrow.

We had our regular table at dinner and had wonderful service from Rodney and Kenger one more time!!. I wasn't very hungry after that huge lunch and I had a hard time finding something I wanted to eat tonight. I finally settled on the pasta .......which I never get.....and it was quite tasty.

[maxs mom]

I had the chocolate sensation for dessert tonight. This is a dessert that is on the menu every night and it is VERY good. When in doubt.....be sure and order this. It is always good!

We were so pleased with our wait staff this week. Rodney and Kenger were the best!!

After dinner we made our way down to the casino to use our Spin to Wins....Ha!!

Janet won a key chain.

"Yay! I won a key chain!"

Celebrate!!

[maxs mom]

We went back to our cabins to turn in and saw a sad sight!!

Booooooooooo!

[Ocean Boy]

This cruise is coming to an end way too fast. I think that you had better book another one..... soon. I would do my part but I'm not the retired one.:eek::D

[maxs mom]

Sunday ~ October 20, 2013 ~ Bayonne

We were up really early this morning to make sure we got all our stuff together and would have time for a good breakfast. We were still sailing at that time and soon the Verrazano bridge came into view. It was a beautiful morning.

And we're back!!!