New Year's on the Explorer + An Added 5 Nights ~ 12/27 and 1/4 ~ My Diary

[maxs mom]

Enjoying your review as always. What is the pretty stain glass fixture behind you when made your "Salud" toast? Don't remember seeing that when we sailed on EX.

 

That was in the very back of the dining room on deck five. That's where our table was most nights.

[ggroup]

I always love your reviews-even though we are diamond, I learn something new from each one! One question- do you have experience cruising with kids, being Max's Mom?

 

Thanks for all you do.

[maxs mom]

I always love your reviews-even though we are diamond, I learn something new from each one! One question- do you have experience cruising with kids, being Max's Mom?

 

Thanks for all you do.

 

LOL! Glad all this work is helpful to someone!!

 

No......all of our children have had 4 legs. Max was a 100 pound Doberman lap dog who is no longer with us. Holly is our current "child"......a Bassett mix rescue.

 

I taught school (early childhood and ESL) for 40 years......does that count!? But on cruises, I try to avoid all children as much as possible. However it takes all that I have not to correct children on cruises......running in the halls or Promenade, etc.

[maxs mom]

Friday ~ January 2, 2015 ~ At Sea

 

Two wonderful sea days going back to Port Canaveral! Ahhhhhh.......I love it when that happens. Just one sea day at the end is not enough. We can really relax today.

 

We had a nice breakfast this morning. We met a lovely couple in here this week and enjoyed having breakfast with them most days. They were staying on board for the next cruise, too, so we were glad about that. We really enjoyed their company. Rose and Carlo were from Florida, but originally from Haiti. Great folks!!

 

 

The Captain, Rick Sullivan, stopped by our table to say hello.

 

 

I went to the gym this morning. Not many people there at all.

 

I met John in the Library for some reading time, but I was very cold....so I went down to the Promenade for some hot tea to see if I could warm up. I did some journal writing and, of course, people watching. Many were out doing a lot of shopping!

 

 

We met S & V for lunch in the WJ. It was excellent! Cookie and ice cream for dessert! Afterwards we went to their Suite to hang out for a while and totally relax. Here we go.

 

 

 

Balcony time was nice. The balconys on this ship are very narrow. I sure have missed not having a balcony this cruise and not being able to see outside! It has really made me irritable!

 

 

Here might be a good time to talk about the condition of the Explorer. She really is in good shape, but definitely needs a face lift. The carpets, drapes, upholstery......are all very sad. So when those are updated and bathrooms redone, plus more specialty restaurants added, she will be just fine!! Sorry she is leaving us for a while. The refurb will be done in March.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Later.....we went to gather pictures and choose the ones we wanted. Then on to the shops where I bought these neat silk pouches for $1 each. They are great for jewelry!

 

 

It's formal night again and we get dressed up once more. Hardly anyone in the CL tonight.

 

 

 

In the elevator on the way to dinner!

 

 

On the way to dinner tonight, I made the arrangements for our dining on the next cruise.....we requested our same waiters and there was no problem with that.

 

We were expecting Prime Rib and Lobster tonight......but that did not happen.....because of the special New Year's Dinner that they had this week. So I had my favorite pasta dish tonight.

 

 

 

After dinner, we went to the Quest in Studio B. We got there late so we couldn't get seats. We had to watch it on the TV monitors. S & V had never been, so they positioned themselves so they could watch the real thing.

 

We headed for bed after that and set the clocks back an hour tonight.

[abw]

I must say Max's Mom, yours is one of the best reviews I've read to date. We are truly novice cruisers. Leaving for only our second one in 6 days on Liberty of the Seas. Love the descriptions of how you have spent each day. After our first cruise on the Oasis my husband and I were not to sure how we felt about cruising since we just couldn't relax trying to cram everything possible into each day with excursions and such in each port, so this cruise we've decided to just relax and let the days play out and see how we feel about it. Not sure if you have ever said where you are from since this is the first review of yours I have read but I did see a reference to Clemson and saw a pic of your husband in a carolina tshirt. We live in the upstate area of SC and I can't help but think you both look familiar to me somehow. With that said, keep up the good work with these reviews and I'm looking forward to looking for any of your past reviews.

 

 

 

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[maxs mom]

I must say Max's Mom, yours is one of the best reviews I've read to date. We are truly novice cruisers. Leaving for only our second one in 6 days on Liberty of the Seas. Love the descriptions of how you have spent each day. After our first cruise on the Oasis my husband and I were not to sure how we felt about cruising since we just couldn't relax trying to cram everything possible into each day with excursions and such in each port, so this cruise we've decided to just relax and let the days play out and see how we feel about it. Not sure if you have ever said where you are from since this is the first review of yours I have read but I did see a reference to Clemson and saw a pic of your husband in a carolina tshirt. We live in the upstate area of SC and I can't help but think you both look familiar to me somehow. With that said, keep up the good work with these reviews and I'm looking forward to looking for any of your past reviews.

 

 

 

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Hey There!

 

Yes.....I remember the days of trying to cram everything and every activity in that we could! It was exhausting, even when we were young. We started cruising almost 30 years ago, and back then, we would literally run from one activity to the next. Now we do nothing!! And we do get a lot of relaxing in on every cruise. I guess, to some that's boring, but to us, it's just wonderful.

 

I was born and raised in the upstate of SC. ( G r e e n w o o d....to be exact). John and I met in Greenville and I taught school there for 14 years before we moved to NC. So it's possible that we may know each other from somewhere.

 

Thanks for posting!

[imjoyful2]

Jane, I am enjoying your review! :) We have sailed on Explorer 4 times (we were on the November repo with the rogue wave) so I love seeing the photos of so many familiar things! Looking forward to the rest of your photos & stories! :D

 

I always love your reviews-even though we are diamond, I learn something new from each one! One question- do you have experience cruising with kids, being Max's Mom?

 

Thanks for all you do.

 

We've cruised with our children, our most recent being 15 days. I have been slowly posting our trip on my blog (link below) you are welcome to check out. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions (I have a contact button on my blog). Our children LOVE to cruise!

[maxs mom]

Saturday ~ January 3, 2015 ~ At Sea

 

Did I say I love having two sea days at the end of a cruise?

 

Had our last breakfast in the special dining room for this cruise. There was a big crowd here this morning. Enjoyed sitting at the big tables and chatting with others.

 

I was bad and didn't go to the gym today. We went up to Dizzy's and checked e-mail and read for a while. When the children's talent show started......we left. I just couldn't listen to 10 renditions of "Let It Go"!!

 

We had lunch in the WJ and it was delicious. No problems getting a table. Great view for our last lunch on this cruise.

 

 

Of course I had to have another cookie!

 

 

We went back to S and V's balcony for another view of the outside!

 

 

It was raining a bit.

 

 

 

Did some packing in the PM. (Thank goodness we were changing cabins!) More reading and resting.

[maxs mom]

During our time in the CL, I went up to Portofino and made our reservations for the next night....new cruise. No problems. The Portofino manager and the waiter that we had both times this week were very nice to us.

 

 

We enjoyed our last night with S and V in the CL.

 

 

We thanked everyone in there although we would be back the next night!!

 

 

 

The last night's dinner menu is the worst of the cruise to me. I much prefer eating in a specialty restaurant on the last night, but we would be eating in Portofino tomorrow night, so we toughed it out! So dinner was very underwhelming. I had the seafood mash which is usually not too bad, but tonight it was not good. The Key Lime Pie, however was excellent!

 

 

We said good-bye to Eric, our wonderful waiter, but told him he would see us again next cruise. (I'm sure he was delighted! LOL!)

 

[maxs mom]

We went back to S and V's cabin for a little while after dinner to visit. Then we thought we would head to Maharajah's to watch the Ravens/Steelers game, but they were having some kind of game show in there. We strolled the Promenade instead.

 

 

We went back to our cabin....then to the Library to use the rest of our internet minutes. We had an hour to use, but it was so slow, we actually only got about 20 minutes out of that.

 

On to bed after that.

 

They were really picking up the luggage very fast tonight! Glad ours didn't have to go.

 

[maxs mom]

Oh.....I forgot about this.......there was a parade tonight and I watched it from our cabin. You really can't see much from these windows, just a small portion on the Promenade. I got a couple of pictures of the parade, but they are terrible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and I forgot this, too. In the afternoon I discovered that one of the cabins that our Pinnacle friend's family had was very near S & V's cabin. I ran into them and we had a nice visit. They had bought the replenish package and had a bunch of water, etc. left over from that, so they gave us their water! So nice. So Matthew brought it all back to our cabin for me. Great! We were all set. Later on in the afternoon, there was a knock on our door.......they were bringing our case of water to us! Are you kidding me!? We don't need it NOW! Thanks a lot! Oh well........we learned a valuable lesson about traveling during a holiday week......although.....I've since found out that some other cruise buddies sailed on another RCI cruise that departed on the 27th as well......they took a case of water on......no problem. Ugh!

[north29]

Thanks for taking the time to relive this cruise for us. We were also on that cruise and funny do not remember you in the Concierge lounge.

We though the ships over all service and crew were GREAT, comparable to the old Monarch. we did have a major issue in Portifino with the bill, even guest relations could not understand it. Some how it was it was worked out.

However not having a toilet that worked/ or we could count on for 7 of the 8 days(last day it worked) was a PITA LOL Funny one, on the night we were invited to the captains table, I have never accepted before, just as we were getting ready the whole bathroom flooded, LOL Yes we have to laugh about it now.

Edited January 25, 2015 by north29

[maxs mom]

Thanks for taking the time to relive this cruise for us. We were also on that cruise and funny do not remember you in the Concierge lounge.

We though the ships over all service and crew were GREAT, comparable to the old Monarch. we did have a major issue in Portifino with the bill, even guest relations could not understand it. Some how it was it was worked out.

However not having a toilet that worked/ or we could count on for 7 of the 8 days(last day it worked) was a PITA LOL Funny one, on the night we were invited to the captains table, I have never accepted before, just as we were getting ready the whole bathroom flooded, LOL Yes we have to laugh about it now.

 

We were in the Lounge every evening at around 7 o'clock and stayed until around 8:20 or so. Sorry to have missed you! We've had the toilet issue and flooded bathroom before.....not fun. On this sailing, we never had much hot water first thing in the morning. A cabin across the hall from us kept having flooding issues.....they were always trying to dry out the carpet. Were you on Deck 7?

[The Big Booper]

We just got off the Oasis yesterday (Saturday) and I am glad to see you are still doing your EX trip report.

 

We were on the "lifeboat" EX repositioning along with Jenn (who has her kids with her on cruises).

 

Maybe I can do a quickie writeup before I have to go North for tax season in the wonderful snowy conditions. :eek:

[SherriZ366]

Friday ~ January 2' date=' 2015 ~ At Sea[/u']

 

Two wonderful sea days going back to Port Canaveral! Ahhhhhh.......I love it when that happens. Just one sea day at the end is not enough. We can really relax today.

 

We had a nice breakfast this morning. We met a lovely couple in here this week and enjoyed having breakfast with them most days. They were staying on board for the next cruise, too, so we were glad about that. We really enjoyed their company. Rose and Carlo were from Florida, but originally from Haiti. Great folks!!

 

 

The Captain, Rick Sullivan, stopped by our table to say hello.

 

 

I went to the gym this morning. Not many people there at all.

 

I met John in the Library for some reading time, but I was very cold....so I went down to the Promenade for some hot tea to see if I could warm up. I did some journal writing and, of course, people watching. Many were out doing a lot of shopping!

 

 

We met S & V for lunch in the WJ. It was excellent! Cookie and ice cream for dessert! Afterwards we went to their Suite to hang out for a while and totally relax. Here we go.

 

 

 

Balcony time was nice. The balconys on this ship are very narrow. I sure have missed not having a balcony this cruise and not being able to see outside! It has really made me irritable!

 

 

Here might be a good time to talk about the condition of the Explorer. She really is in good shape, but definitely needs a face lift. The carpets, drapes, upholstery......are all very sad. So when those are updated and bathrooms redone, plus more specialty restaurants added, she will be just fine!! Sorry she is leaving us for a while. The refurb will be done in March.

 

 

 

 

 

Looked the Diamond Breakfast room was better during your cruise than on our. The first time we tried it, I waited a long, long time for Cappuccino and the second time, they seated us in the regular breakfast area.

 

I thought Captain Sullivan was great. He came to the D+/Pinnacle lunch, mixed and even served some tables.

[maxs mom]

We just got off the Oasis yesterday (Saturday) and I am glad to see you are still doing your EX trip report.

 

We were on the "lifeboat" EX repositioning along with Jenn (who has her kids with her on cruises).

 

Maybe I can do a quickie writeup before I have to go North for tax season in the wonderful snowy conditions. :eek:

 

Good to hear from you, Dave! Hope y'all had a good time on the Oasis. I don't envy you having to go north!!

[maxs mom]

Looked the Diamond Breakfast room was better during your cruise than on our. The first time we tried it, I waited a long, long time for Cappuccino and the second time, they seated us in the regular breakfast area.

 

I thought Captain Sullivan was great. He came to the D+/Pinnacle lunch, mixed and even served some tables.

 

Our service was quite good. There were a couple of days that the service was a little slow, but that was about it. It was really crowded on the 5 night cruise, so we really had to go early.

[north29]

We were in the Lounge every evening at around 7 o'clock and stayed until around 8:20 or so. Sorry to have missed you! We've had the toilet issue and flooded bathroom before.....not fun. On this sailing' date=' we never had much hot water first thing in the morning. A cabin across the hall from us kept having flooding issues.....they were always trying to dry out the carpet. Were you on Deck 7?[/size']

 

From the Guest relations and other people, the kids on board were flushing plastic cups and anything they could find to see if it would go down the drain/toilet. Girls were flushing feminine hygiene items down also. These poor behaviors were playing havoc for the crew and other cruisers. My problem was not because of that. My problem was that RC booked the whole ship and there was no place to move us to, luckily we did not have a noro outbreak LOL

Still trying to place you in the lounge.

[maxs mom]

From the Guest relations and other people, the kids on board were flushing plastic cups and anything they could find to see if it would go down the drain/toilet. Girls were flushing feminine hygiene items down also. These poor behaviors were playing havoc for the crew and other cruisers. My problem was not because of that. My problem was that RC booked the whole ship and there was no place to move us to, luckily we did not have a noro outbreak LOL

Still trying to place you in the lounge.

 

We always sat in the same place. In the first cluster of chairs on the left hand side of the room when you walk in.

[maxs mom]

Sunday ~ January 4, 2015 ~ Port Canaveral

 

Up around 6 this morning. We weren't docked yet. We decided to get breakfast early in the WJ and that worked out fine. We were able to get our eggs to order.....but we had to scrounge around for everything else! I hate that. But it wasn't too bad today. It was pretty quiet.

 

 

 

We got everything all packed up...then went to the CL for some more coffee. The Suite guests are asked to meet there for departure. We said good-bye to Steve and Veronica. Then it started to get crowded, so we left.

 

 

 

Denzil commandeered an elevator and started sending people down on an express ride. Nice perk. They didn't have to wait long for the elevators.

 

 

I checked on our new cabin and found that it was ready. I had previously touched base with the new cabin steward and told her we were coming, so she got that cabin ready first. By the time we got back to our cabin, Patrick was there with a trolley, so we piled everything on and he helped us move it all up to deck 9 to our new, spacious, wonderful D1 cabin! Complete with drawers, a larger closet, a full sofa, and a balcony!! I felt so liberated! Ahhhhh.......I can see the ocean.

 

[Joe12]

Thanks for a great review Jane.

I have noticed that the pictures on many of your previous reviews have been deleted which is a shame because I could spend all day reading them.

Hope you enjoy the Anthem,

Joe

[maxs mom]

A couple more cabin and balcony pictures:

 

 

 

Our balcony furniture was pretty crappy. I'm sure all the balcony furniture will be replaced in the refurb. That will be nice.

 

 

By the time we got all our stuff dropped off at the new cabin.....it was almost 9:30 and we had to meet in the Aquarium Bar for our turn around. Now this turned out to be a joke because there was absolutely no communication or organization about this whatsoever. First of all....we waited in the bar for 30 minutes, the we walked off down to the terminal. (There were about 30 of us.)

 

 

We sat in an area down there for a while. At least that was a nice area.

 

 

Here's another picture of the terminal area:

 

 

Next they walked us somewhere else where we had to stand for a while. One lady had to use the restroom.....and that took some doing! Then we walked down a long winding ramp to the luggage area. People were still trying to find their luggage and get through customs. We went to another area and had to stand some more.....then.....this was odd......they wanted us to hide!!! Finally after an hour and a half of being herded like cattle.....we see a customs agent. John and I were pulled aside by the head guy and he asked us how long our process had taken. He apologized and let us know that it wasn't their fault...that the Captain and some Officers came down and wanted to get everybody off at one time and it created a big back up. There appeared to be plenty of agents. Steve and Veronica were one of the first to get off and they said they waited in line for 45 minutes. The customs agent gave me his e-mail address and wanted me to let him know personally how our debarkation goes after the next cruise.

 

This was a procedure that should have taken about 15 minutes and it took over an hour and a half. I hope they improve on that. It could have been handled better, for sure.

[maxs mom]

Thanks for a great review Jane.

I have noticed that the pictures on many of your previous reviews have been deleted which is a shame because I could spend all day reading them.

Hope you enjoy the Anthem,

Joe

 

Thanks, Joe. Hmmmmmm.....that's interesting about the pictures. I recently had to delete some pictures off of Photobucket to make room for new pictures, but I didn't think I had deleted too many pertinent cruise pictures. I hate to hear that happened. I guess I wasn't very careful about the deletions.

 

We probably won't be going on the Anthem for many reasons. Trying to find something now to switch it to.

[maxs mom]

So we finally make the trip back onto the ship. It's about 11:45 by this time and new cruisers are already getting on board.

 

 

Here are John and Carlo trying to solve all the problems.

 

 

Since it was so late, we just went back to our cabin and unpacked and rested before going to lunch in the WJ. Judy, our new cabin steward, was very helpful today making sure our cabin was ready early. We really appreciated that.

 

 

We had lunch around 1:00. As we were leaving we saw our friends, Al and Phyllis, going in for lunch. We were looking forward to sharing this 5 night cruise with them. We usually try to cruise together whenever we can. We met on the Independence a couple of years ago in the Concierge Lounge......the rest is history!!

 

After lunch I went to the Solarium and Al and Phyllis joined me there. We had a good time catching up.

 

At 3 I went to the Sky Bar to meet up with some of the folks on our roll call. There was a good turn out and it was nice to meet everyone.

 

 

Muster was at 5. Outside again, but our station was close by.

 

 

The sun was setting when it was time for sail away and it was just beautiful.