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Is the Explorer being flown from America to Southampton in 2015???

jc24cruiser
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jc24cruiser

jc24cruiser

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It is probably me being stupid....

 

But doing a search on the website I can see Explorer in the Caribbean in January and February then sailing from Southampton from April onwards.....but no TA from one to the other?!?!

 

Trying to book my first TA for my family (inc my kids who will be 7 and 8 then and will have been on their first cruise this October).

 

My choices so far are.....

Brilliance of the Seas - 14 nights - seen bad reviews though re kids on TAs

Visions of the Seas - 15 nights - which will give me enough points to go up to Diamond

Allure of the Seas - 12 nights - more to do (but also quite a bit more expensive, understandably so) but will miss out on Diamond status by 1 point :eek:

 

Or......maybe the Explorer????

 

Is the Explorer somewhere between Vision and the Allure in regards to things for the kids to do???

 

And how am I missing the Trans Atlantic cruise? Do they sometimes set the date of these later than the other cruises either side of it???

 

Thanks in advance for any help/advice/tips anyone can offer :D

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Clarea

Clarea

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Well that blows my fourth option :rolleyes:

 

Does any one have any advice regarding choosing between the Brilliance, Vision and Allure for a family crossing?

 

Thanks x

Allure will have the most to do.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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Clarea, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Explorer eventually going to Asia?

 

Since she will either be in Europe or Asia from now on, there will be a general refurbishment including a change in décor from a Caribbean theme to European or Asian theme. They will probably have 200+ carpet layers onboard, another 200+ upholsterers onboard, and some contractors to start demo work. The normal crew will be used to support these contractors (emptying cabins for carpeting, taking furniture to be reupholstered, and general cleanup). Public venues like the lounges will be taken over by the upholsterers setting up hundreds of sewing machines and band saws to cut 30+ layers of fabric at a time. I've been on NCL ships a couple of times when we did this due to a complete market change (Caribbean to Hawaii, or Caribbean to Europe).

 

The expense of not carrying passengers on the TA (usually at lower revenue) is offset by a shorter shipyard period, and a quicker return to positive revenue in the new market.

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SnowshoeCat

SnowshoeCat

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Clarea, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Explorer eventually going to Asia?

 

 

I thought so, too. But when I was searching Norwegian fjord cruises for 2015, there she was, sailing out of Southampton. I just sailed Ex last week for the first time and really appreciated what a difference a nice ship can make. I wouldn't say the decor was "Caribbean" though. Just sort of classic, I would say. But my experience is very limited.

 

As always, chengkp75, thank you for your insights!

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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I thought so, too. But when I was searching Norwegian fjord cruises for 2015, there she was, sailing out of Southampton. I just sailed Ex last week for the first time and really appreciated what a difference a nice ship can make. I wouldn't say the decor was "Caribbean" though. Just sort of classic, I would say. But my experience is very limited.

 

As always, chengkp75, thank you for your insights!

 

I thought I'd heard that she was doing the 2015 season in the UK, and then going to Asia. Could be another ship, senior moments do happen. I'm not a real good judge of décor, just ask my wife, but I know they do market research and focus groups on things like the carpet, upholstery, pictures, etc, for each market the ship sails in. NCL's Jade didn't get the full treatment when she went from Hawaii to Europe, and there are a lot of quizzical looks at the Hawaiian themed décor.

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Topo Gigio

Topo Gigio

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I thought I'd heard that she was doing the 2015 season in the UK, and then going to Asia. Could be another ship, senior moments do happen. I'm not a real good judge of décor, just ask my wife, but I know they do market research and focus groups on things like the carpet, upholstery, pictures, etc, for each market the ship sails in. NCL's Jade didn't get the full treatment when she went from Hawaii to Europe, and there are a lot of quizzical looks at the Hawaiian themed décor.

 

Looks like she eventually will end up in Asia/Australia. Read the other day that she will reposition from UK to Asia in Oct or Nov. 2015.

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SnowshoeCat

SnowshoeCat

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I thought I'd heard that she was doing the 2015 season in the UK, and then going to Asia. Could be another ship, senior moments do happen. I'm not a real good judge of décor, just ask my wife, but I know they do market research and focus groups on things like the carpet, upholstery, pictures, etc, for each market the ship sails in. NCL's Jade didn't get the full treatment when she went from Hawaii to Europe, and there are a lot of quizzical looks at the Hawaiian themed décor.

 

It's very possible. I don't follow these things closely - or at all. It's just that I happened to see it when I was researching Norway. I may not have noticed it was Ex at all if I hadn't just disembarked a day earlier.

 

As far as decor. Well, I didn't notice any palm trees or fish in the carpet pointing me in the right direction, so that was the limit of my observations ;) I think I would like subtle themes to add to the experience, or no themes at all. Hawaii in Norway probably wouldn't work.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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Posted (edited)
It's very possible. I don't follow these things closely - or at all. It's just that I happened to see it when I was researching Norway. I may not have noticed it was Ex at all if I hadn't just disembarked a day earlier.

 

As far as decor. Well, I didn't notice any palm trees or fish in the carpet pointing me in the right direction, so that was the limit of my observations ;) I think I would like subtle themes to add to the experience, or no themes at all. Hawaii in Norway probably wouldn't work.

 

Just noodled around, and found that the shipyard prior to sailing from Southampton will be a full month, so there may be major demo work being done to the public spaces, and this is why the non-revenue TA. When we brought the Sky into SF to reflag as the Aloha, we went from Vancouver without pax, and the contractors managed to fill 6 9-cubic yard dumpsters to overfull in the two days. That included busting out the marble tile floor of the casino. They could just about gut the ship on a TA!

 

Another concern is fire loading. You can only stow so much flammable material in a given space, based on the sprinkler design. So, if they are planning on carpeting, etc, this stuff will have to be stored around the ship, not just in crew areas.

Edited by chengkp75
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SnowshoeCat

SnowshoeCat

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Well now you have me concerned. The ship was beautiful just a few days ago. Do they just trash all those materials? Demolition for the sake of it? I understand if the design is "dated", or in need of repair, but I thought the ship was just fine.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Well now you have me concerned. The ship was beautiful just a few days ago. Do they just trash all those materials? Demolition for the sake of it? I understand if the design is "dated", or in need of repair, but I thought the ship was just fine.

I know that one of the common things they do is replace the pool deck covering. The the hallway carpeting is usually replaced too. Not a conducive environment for guests.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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I know that one of the common things they do is replace the pool deck covering. The the hallway carpeting is usually replaced too. Not a conducive environment for guests.

 

Yeah, the teak decking is pretty intensive. They use a router to gouge out the caulking between planks, then tape off the joint, and then apply the caulk, all the while sanding the deck. It gets pretty messy around there, and usually the guys waiting to paint the pool can't start until the deck is done. If they are upgrading the dining venues and lounges, etc, there will be a lot of demo, plus lots of that involves moving bulkheads and such, so there will be places where the lights are hanging by the wires for a few days until the new interior structure goes up.

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

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I posted about this a week ago, after my two weeks on the Explorer.

 

According to the officers on board, Explorer will sail in March 2015 without paying cruisers to Cádiz, Spain, where her revitalization will take place. The entire process will take about five weeks, some in wet dock and some in dry dock. She will then move to Southampton for the spring, summer and fall 2015 seasons.

 

After that, apparently she is going to Australia. (no one on Explorer mentioned this, but posters FROM Australia have posted that they received emails from RC about this).

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FLACRUISER99

FLACRUISER99

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Posted (edited)
I posted about this a week ago, after my two weeks on the Explorer.

 

According to the officers on board, Explorer will sail in March 2015 without paying cruisers to Cádiz, Spain, where her revitalization will take place. The entire process will take about five weeks, some in wet dock and some in dry dock. She will then move to Southampton for the spring, summer and fall 2015 seasons.

 

After that, apparently she is going to Australia. (no one on Explorer mentioned this, but posters FROM Australia have posted that they received emails from RC about this).

Its on CC News also. http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5820 Edited by FLACRUISER99
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