Live from Explorer's final round-trip out of New Jersey

[scotandtamcruzn4fun]

Thanks for the live thread. I am anxiously waiting to board her on Nov 1

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[F27TW]

The Tutti Salad Bar is calling my name.

 

Carol

 

 

I'm excited about this report ... we had a great cruise on Explorer this past May .. .sad to think she's outta there now :(

 

Question re: the Tutti Salad Bar .. I still have yet to see it, but I was under the impression it was only on sea days .. do they do it on embarkation day too? and whereabouts?

 

Enjoy .. its a pretty special cruise youre on!

 

BTW -- that Rum Cake from the factory .... try the ginger one !!

[junior8]

Just departed EOS on Thursday. I had so much fun, going to relive some moments through you Carol. :D

 

I sent you a PM just now

[Life is Good Cruising]

I'm excited about this report ... we had a great cruise on Explorer this past May .. .sad to think she's outta there now :(

 

Question re: the Tutti Salad Bar .. I still have yet to see it, but I was under the impression it was only on sea days .. do they do it on embarkation day too? and whereabouts?

 

Enjoy .. its a pretty special cruise youre on!

 

BTW -- that Rum Cake from the factory .... try the ginger one !!

 

Your correct it is only served in the dining room on sea days or when the dining room is opened for lunch. The dining room is not opened on embarkation day for lunch, only WJ and Cafe Promenade.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Life is Good Cruising

[Merion_Mom]

Drydock for 45 days starting in March. Drydock will be in Spain. So your timeline makes sense for Southampton in late April 2015.

 

(Sorry to butt in! I got the lowdown from our headwaiter a few days ago.)

 

This is correct, to the best of my knowledge.

[allentownahoy]

Hi Carol, what a nice surprise to get to follow along with you for the next week until I join you on board.

Enjoy.

Ruth

[Merion_Mom]

I'm excited about this report ... we had a great cruise on Explorer this past May .. .sad to think she's outta there now :(

 

Question re: the Tutti Salad Bar .. I still have yet to see it, but I was under the impression it was only on sea days .. do they do it on embarkation day too? and whereabouts?

 

Enjoy .. its a pretty special cruise youre on!

 

BTW -- that Rum Cake from the factory .... try the ginger one !!

 

Embarkation on Thursday.............sea day and Tutti Salad Bar on Friday! :)

[Merion_Mom]

I HOPE that this will work now...............

 

My first view of the Explorer through the wet van window on Thursday, October 23, around 11:40 A.M.:

 

 

 

And next:

 

 

 

That is the ENTRANCE of the new terminal to the right of the cement mixer truck.

 

 

Hard at work:

 

 

 

[Yorkvillain]

Your picture posting was a success! Looks great.

[Merion_Mom]

Now I am on board and looking down on the roof of the new terminal: (isn't it LOVELY????) (nice airconditioning equipment)

 

 

 

 

This, of course, is the beautiful gateway thingie that you walk through to get from terminal to ship........no more shuttle bus! WOOHOO!

 

 

 

 

Now, sailaway:

 

It was cold. It was raw. I went up to the VCL which was PACKED. I went into the card room and plopped myself down on a front-row seat at the window. Let's start with.......

 

 

Lady Liberty

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

Now, looking down on the pool deck. Most people were dressed reasonably. Some were VERY bundled up. There were a few idiots in shorts and t-shirts. I saw one such young man jumping around, hugging himself, trying to get warm. Then his father came out on deck and handed him his sweatshirt. :D

 

 

 

 

Pilot boat. We were delayed in our departure by the presence of health inspectors. Captain Ron said that they were VERY thorough in completing their job, but that the result was 99 out of 100. Yea, Explorer!

 

[Merion_Mom]

I didn't take a picture, because it would have been creepy and stalkerish, but when I leaned over a bit, I could see two young ladies in bikinis, dashing around the pool's edge and looking disappointed that there was a net over it! :eek:

 

Then I could see two young men IN THE HOT TUB.

 

"It takes all kinds", as my mother used to say.

 

Time to go under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. I have done this a few times, and it is a sight to behold. Today we shall watch it, "frame by frame", FROM INSIDE!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

.............and there she goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

Someone asked on a thread about the Adventure of the Seas: what does the balcony of a D cabin look like?

 

Rather than find that thread right now, I will post some pictures of my balcony.

 

 

 

Non-movable translucent glass on one side:

 

 

 

Non-movable metal on the other side:

 

 

Your own private little cave!

[3CatsInMA]

Your pics look great!:)

[Merion_Mom]

Meal report:

 

I rarely eat breakfast.

 

For lunch on embarkation day, I had the tuna salad on dark whole grain bread with tomato and spinach, because I didn't see any good leaf lettuce! I really like their tuna. I "discovered" it on the Grandeur. They had seafood salad instead on the Enchantment, and it wasn't nearly as good as the tuna.

 

I ran into my friend Ruth and we got re-acquainted.

 

The voice kept announcing that he was so happy that we were on board and hoped that we would have a wonderful cruise and would we PLEASE EAT AND GET THE HECK OUT OF THE WINDJAMMER.

 

Dinner on the first night was the usual, whose name I forget but can find out if you want to know.

 

I had lamb broth with farro (one of my favorite RC soups), a caesar salad, the smoked fish rillettes, and salmon. It was salmon on the "real" menu, not the alternative menu. That night, the alternative fish was cod.

 

I really didn't want dessert, but decided that I could eat a small piece of carrot cake. I do not know why, but my waiter decided that it would be hilarious to bring out five desserts. So he did. No one ate them. No, wait, the guy who had the creme brulee told another guy how good it was, so guy #2 ate that. The rest went to waste.

 

Nice table. Main seating at 6 P.M. Directly next to the Captain's Table on Deck 3, which was unoccupied yesterday, as expected, but also tonight, first formal night. Table for 10, only 8 so far. Nice couple from Manchester, England. Couple from Brunswick, New Jersey. Couple from Saratoga Springs, NY. Me. My friend Ruth, by sheer coincidence. We hadn't planned it!

 

Today, lunch was the Tutti Salad Bar. Not sure what the problem was in the dining room this afternoon, but I went to the salad bar, waited in a pretty long line, had my salad made (slowly), returned to my table, got my plastic bottle, returned to the salad table and put oil and vinegar in my plastic bottle, sat down at my table, dressed my salad, ate my salad..............and no one at my table had been served lunch yet.

 

I left and went up to the Windjammer and found some soup. It was labeled "sweet and sour soup". I told myself, "Oh, it's a funny mistake. Someone means hot and sour soup. There's no such thing as sweet and sour soup."

 

It was sweet and sour soup. :rolleyes: I ate it anyway. The chunks of chicken in it were very tender.

 

It was VERY hard to find a seat in the WJ. I asked if I could eat in Portofino. I was told: no gold card, no Portofino. :(

 

I insinuated myself into someone else's table for just a few minutes to eat my soup.

 

Tonight:

 

First formal night, the non-lobster menu.

 

I had the roman vignole salad, lobster bisque (it really has gotten better lately) and the crepes filled with artichoke hearts. I really like this entree.

 

Anyone out there ever cruised with me and been seated at my dining table?

 

Tonight for dessert I had.....................{drum roll please}

 

Coffee ice cream.

 

It's the only flavor I eat on board. I only eat it when I don't like any of the desserts but I still want dessert. Most times, I just skip it.

 

They try to give me a hard time about it not being the night for coffee. "Tonight is butter almond. Want some butter almond?" (No, I want coffee). "Tonight is pistachio. How about some pistachio?" (No, I want coffee.) You get the gist. I pretty much always get my coffee ice cream. I just tell them: it's there. It's just not the canister in the front. Push the front one aside, and there it will be, with my name on it.

 

I think that I may have breakfast tomorrow, because we lose an hour of sleep tonight and I want to get off early in Bermuda because we are only there until THREE. So fortification may be the wisest choice. :D

Edited October 25, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[Merion_Mom]

Just departed EOS on Thursday. I had so much fun, going to relive some moments through you Carol. :D

 

I sent you a PM just now

 

There is no PM on Cruise Critic. :confused: ;) :cool: :p

 

But my contact info is in my signature. :D

Edited October 25, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[Merion_Mom]

Hi Carol, what a nice surprise to get to follow along with you for the next week until I join you on board.

Enjoy.

Ruth

 

WE are looking forward to YOUR arrival! ;) :D

[Merion_Mom]

I promise: Lots of pictures of the Royal Dockyard and lots of food porn. I even took my phone to dinner tonight........and then forgot to take photos! (typical, and one of the manifestations of my severely deteriorating brain/memory)

 

Speaking of which...........we won at trivia this morning. ;)

 

Our Meet and Mingle was HUGE and GREAT. I actually won the first raffle drawing. (you could have knocked me over with a fern frond!) I got a key chain (!), a highlighter, a free movie (not sure if there is a dollar limit.......the porn flicks cost more. Um, I HEARD that the porn flicks cost more! ;) :o), and a sticker that is specific to a large sub-group of our group.

 

Hi, East Ghost Explorers!

 

I am now an honorary member. I even got the shirt. :D

 

That's how I stumbled into morning trivia.......M&M was in the Maharajas Lounge, and I walked back through the Schooner Bar, and there was.........trivia.

[Merion_Mom]

I actually went to a PORT TALK today. I decided that I would like to know more about the history and culture of Bermuda. Well, he didn't talk as much about that as about seeing/visiting the island, but it was interesting and informative nonetheless. (even though he said that Snorkel Park Beach was free, which it is not)

 

This is the guy:

 

 

 

 

He was fine, but as someone muttered afterwards............"For this, he gets a free cruise?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

[Merion_Mom]

By the way, here's the thing about the quality of the pictures:

 

My camera takes great pictures. Never grainy or fuzzy. But I can't upload my camera's pictures.

 

My phone is an iphone 4. Not the fabulous upgraded camera that many of you have. But at least I have been able to solve my tech problems by taking pictures on the iphone, uploading them to another social media site, then downloading them to photobucket, then posting them on Cruise Critic.

 

PHEW. I am exhausted just TYPING that! :eek: :p

[Coralc]

He is sort of pixelated. :D Enjoy your cruise. We will enjoy tagging along. :)

~Patti :)

[PCWalton1]

Carol,

Don't worry the pictures are fine. :) Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. Have a great time,

[kayehall]

A friend of mine is on this cruise.....Barb Schoonerman from Marion NY. Maybe you guys will meet!!! If so, tell her Kaye says HI.....She will be floored!!!

:D:D:D:D:D

[Kik35]

Carol-Great live review!!:). Appreciate all your efforts in getting the pix, they're great. This will def help pass the time until next weeks repo cruise. Enjoy the rest of the week. See you Nov 1.:cool: