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

[LookingForward2]

Thank you Carol - this is great to be able to be with you all week.

We are so looking forward to meeting you next week.

Gather all the tidbits you can this week to enable us to be a little more informed for our 14 night journey!

[ComeOnLetsGo]

Since this is the last Bermuda visit for the Explorer, I'm going to stop by the pier and watch the ship depart. (I'll be standing on the pier but near the entrance)

[DPurcell58]

My husband's friend is sailing with you. Enjoy and thanks for the reports!

[Lionesss]

Really looking forward to this thread and all the postings.

 

I remember when you posted from the Mariner of the Seas!

 

Safe journey

 

Sea Ya

[CaroleV]

I'll be on her next week & reading every word!! Any hints would be appreciated.

[Merion_Mom]

Since this is the last Bermuda visit for the Explorer, I'm going to stop by the pier and watch the ship depart. (I'll be standing on the pier but near the entrance)

 

Bye! We are about to leave now. :)

[Merion_Mom]

The gangway opened promptly at 8:30 A.M. this morning.

 

Do I know this because I was waiting impatiently to be let off the ship?

 

Hell no! The Captain woke me up with his announcement! ;) :D

 

I had no specific plans for the day, since we were required to be back on board by 2:30.

 

As I stepped onto the pier, I noticed that we were at the Heritage Wharf end, where I had never been docked before. There was always another ship: Norwegian, or Celebrity, in that spot. Today we were the only game in town. There was no visible damage from the hurricane, and no one was talking about it. (within my earshot)

 

I took these two nice shots of the area from the pier:

 

 

 

(I have a closeup of the Calico Jack later.)

 

My favorite thing to do in the Dockyard is to watch the glassblowing, so I head straight there.

 

Alas, they do not operate the studio on Saturdays! BOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

I took these pictures of the furnaces, which were glowing hot (part of the day-off process) and the shop area.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[jerseyk]

Well done Carol, thanks!

 

Walter

[Merion_Mom]

So then I walked around, taking pretty pictures of the marina.

 

This is a Bermudan police car. ;)

 

 

Did someone mention being on the Coral Princess recently? ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruzinlady1947]

Just watched you sail away. Is that the last time that the Explorer will be visiting Bermuda?

 

Happy sailing. Hope you get some sunshine on the rest of your voyage. Looked a little cloudy in Bermuda. And thanks. Your pictures are really good.

 

 

Gwen :)

[Merion_Mom]

Clock Tower Mall. I have been there several times. This is as close as I wanted to get today. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the local ferries.

 

 

 

The free shuttle that drives around the Dockyard. (which is about five blocks long and three blocks deep)

 

 

 

There she is!

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

The place was very "deserted" since we were the only ship in town and had limited time. Many of the activities were left without customers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

The ferry schedules. (the direct ferry to St. George doesn't run on Saturday. You have to take the ferry to Hamilton and then to St. George. The guy said that this doubles the time that it takes)

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

Limestone "MoonGate" and our Lovely Lady.

 

[Merion_Mom]

Then I reboarded the Explorer and went up to the Windjammer for some lunch.

 

Trust me, there was nothing that I ate that was worth photographing.

 

I made myself a salad - fine, but not the same ingredients as in the MDR. But there were some nice sprouts today. Still no spring mix lettuce, so I am sure that we won't have any. They would have used it immediately, not held it. Just romaine, iceberg and then radicchio and spinach. No nice parmesan up here, either. Or meats (shrimp, chicken, tuna). But the same gloppy dressings - that's the reason that I make and use my own.

 

And the Explorer has Grey Poupon in the packets with the other condiments! (on my last few ships, they had only off-brand yucky yellow mustard). This is a key ingredient in my homemade salad dressing. :D

 

I took a couple of sugar-free chocolate chip cookies out to the pool deck and took these pictures from there. (Deck 11)

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's the Clock Tower Mall at the back of this next photo:

 

 

 

 

You can't see it, but that's Snorkel Park Beach back there.

 

 

 

 

Here is the promised "closeup" of the Calico Jack:

 

 

Edited October 25, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[Merion_Mom]

We interrupt this trip report to bring you some nostalgic reminiscing about the Explorer of the Seas.

 

The Explorer was our first cruise. Seven nights, eastern Caribbean, round-trip Miami.

 

We stayed at the Intercontinental, which was GORGEOUS.

 

 

At that time, there was nothing nearby. I think that there are lots of things that you can walk to from there now.

 

 

San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Nassau & Labadee. Those were the days of more port calls and fewer sea days.

 

I can remember seeing the Royal Promenade. AWESOME!!!

 

 

 

 

Then I noticed this sign. It's changing colors! How BEAUTIFUL, and not gaudy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DKNYC]

Well I just tuned in to the Bermuda webcam. Late as usual, and you are in fact gone.☺ Congrats on the trivia win yesterday. I will be cruising with the East ghosters next year on Liberty. Say hi to Ernie and the gang. The pics are awesome. See ya soon. I am having PB & J for lunch.

Denise

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[ChrissieDunk]

Hi MM,

Loving your updates so far. We have just joined Cruise Critic but are joining you next Saturday for our Honeymoon. Can't wait, this will be our second RC cruise, last one was on Adventure.

 

If you get a chance, can you ask what the state of play is with photograph packages as the online booking isn't available and the company that deal with it have said the online price for the full digital package will be the same as ore booking! If not don't worry!

 

Also, how do we find out about the Meet and Mingle as it would be great to meet others from on here.

 

Enjoy your week and we will follow with interest!

 

Dunk and Chrissie

[Annefran]

Hi Carol thanks the live report. We were lucky enough to cruise on EOS late July/August for one last cruise before she left NJ. Like you we have cruised on her 6 times and those are our best cruise memories. Tell Leigh X the CD that Jules and Anne said hi. We absolutely love Leigh and he's a wonderful CD. I'm enjoying your review thanks so much.

 

Anne

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[ComeOnLetsGo]

Yikes. I was planning to go and watch the Explorer depart Bermuda at 4:00pm but I didn't know that the it was leaving at 3:00pm. Anyway I arrived just as it was pulling away from the pier and I what is great is that I was still able to snap a few pics too.

 

Even though it was not a summer day I think the day was very nice for cruisers. The water was very calm and there was very little wind. I hope everyone had a great day here. Enjoy the remainder of the cruise.

[DKNYC]

Hi MM,

Loving your updates so far. We have just joined Cruise Critic but are joining you next Saturday for our Honeymoon. Can't wait, this will be our second RC cruise, last one was on Adventure.

 

If you get a chance, can you ask what the state of play is with photograph packages as the online booking isn't available and the company that deal with it have said the online price for the full digital package will be the same as ore booking! If not don't worry!

 

Also, how do we find out about the Meet and Mingle as it would be great to meet others from on here.

 

Enjoy your week and we will follow with interest!

 

Dunk and Chrissie

 

Hi Dunk & Chrissie

Congrats on your wedding and honeymoon! Here is the link to the Part 2 f our roll call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2110048

 

Here is where you can sign up for the Official Meet & Mingle.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcall/cruiselinel2.cfm?cruiselineid=32

 

or

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do

BTW: the M & M is in Maharaja's at 8:45AM on the first sea day Nov 2, 2014 I believe...Early I know.

See you next week!:D

 

Denise

Edited October 25, 2014 by DKNYC

[allentownahoy]

That is so cool that you and Ruth ended up at the same table for dinner. Tell her I say hi. enjoying your thread.

Ruth

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Hi Carol, just found your live thread!

Jealous of the Tutti salad, love it, something I missed on the Crown Princess.

I'm enjoying your reports and your pictures are great!!

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

***

[crisndeefromde]

awe when you did the remember when....our first cruise April 23, 2006 7 nights out of Miami...western caribbean.....we did Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Grand Cayman......I loved every minute on board and on that ship. We were with a large group from Smithtown NY fire department.....I am so blessed to have family that guided me thru the experience and made me feel safe and kept me busy....now 30 some cruises later.....and many many nites on the Explorer... I find myself looking at the site and thinking about booking more on her....

 

Enjoy every minute and thank you so much for taking time to share this special trip with all of us.

[Merion_Mom]

Interesting dinner tonight.

 

I had mixed salad, caprese salad and the pork tenderloin with prosciutto. All good. WAY too much food. Coffee ice cream for dessert. ;) :D Also some berries, courtesy of Ruth.

 

Here is the interesting story:

 

As I wrote previously, we have a ten-top. Night one, night two, 8 people. Tonight, six of us are sitting there. Two of the regulars have not come. There are, thus, four empty chairs.

 

The headwaiter brings over three unfamiliar people, and they sit down. I get their story: they have just arrived.

 

They missed the ship in Bayonne and had to fly to Bermuda, spend the night in a hotel, and join us this morning.

 

Why?

 

Guess.

 

That's right.

 

They flew the morning of the cruise.

 

And encountered delays.

 

And missed the ship.

 

We all know the moral of the story.