Reporting Live From The Explorer of the Seas - A Review

[Duggy1983]

The omboard wifi is pants to be honest and I can't find out how to log off on my phone so I can use my laptop, I have to leave it for two hours to automatically do it, so that's two hours I can't use it, then when I use my laptop and then want to use my phone I have to leave that for another two hours :-/ wifi also verrryyy slowwww

 

Should just be able to type logoff.com in your address bar and that should do it :)

[Melissa_Phillips]

That worked thankyou! Wish I'd known that 22 hours ago, now only have 2 hours left and have hardly used it, so slow, I don't think I'll bother getting another day, I'll use my Three At Home 3G ashore, wish I'd bought my dongle for my laptop now!

 

Hope these pictures below work, photos of our room and also some room service, I have photos of my lush salmon roll as well but they're on my phone so I'll need to move them across. The salmon roll is one of them occasions where it looks as good as the picture, I will miss them when I get off the ship :(

 

It's a very laborious and slow process this picture uploading, so will either do it when I get 3G ashore, and just use photos off my phone, or make a Flickr album and link to it when I get back. I'm not a very patient person!

 

http://s300.photobucket.com/user/melissa_phillips1/library/

[TheGinBoy]

Those pictures work fine, lovely looking stateroom and now I really want a RCCL breakfast!

[Melissa_Phillips]

Have added pictures of the salmon roll, original link should work and you may need to click recent uploads :-)

[Missus Makkem]

Mellisa go to Guest relations and explain about the logging off procedure or lack of it in your case and they will probably give you some complimentary time, they are usually pretty good on that score.

[OurFamilyCruise]

Hi

Really nice photos, my wife and I are onboard next week. Really looking forward to it.😊

 

What type of cabin is it you have or what is the cabin number it looks really nice.

[BarcoUK]

Thank you Melissa for taking the time and trouble to post whilst onboard.

 

What are current drinks prices like on the Explorer? Any special drink of the day offers or similar?

 

Thank you again.

[Shelley61]

Thanks for doing this Melissa. After somewhat "dodgy" reviews recently, I was beginning to get concerned, but your posts have cheered me up. Your enthusiasm and excitement at just being on holiday shines through.

[NatMark]

What a great review, thank you. We are sailing August 9th and have been a little worried by some other reviews. Looking forward to reading the rest!

[cymru cruiser]

Hi Melissa I wonder if you know if an ipad would fit into the safe? We are on explorer in a couple of weeks and my daughter wants to take her iPad but I've read conflicting info as to whether or not one would fit inside the cabin safe. Thanks.

[Melissa_Phillips]

Hi Melissa I wonder if you know if an ipad would fit into the safe? We are on explorer in a couple of weeks and my daughter wants to take her iPad but I've read conflicting info as to whether or not one would fit inside the cabin safe. Thanks.

 

Hi we've just tried and you could fit a small laptop on there. mums ipad air fits with room to spare :-)

[Melissa_Phillips]

Day 5 - Malaga

 

We sailed from Gib at 7 knots as Malaga was only 50 something nautical miles away. We arrived at about 7am. I headed down to the theatre for 7:30 to wait for my shore excursion which was to visit the Nerja Caves. Once my number was called I headed out the exit on deck 4 and made my way through the port following others who were on my trip. We got on a nice coach (the air con however was faulty so wasn't all that cool!) and our guide introduced himself and talked us through the history of Malaga as we journeyed through the countryside to the town of Nerja, as the caves were not open till later. Being a Sunday and fairly early in the morning there wasn't a lot open, we had just over an hour to explore. After walking around for a bit I found a little cafe with wifi, I got myself an apple pastry dessert and attempted to use wifi though it was verrryyy slowwww. Once I had finished my pastry I made my way back to the meeting point, I hadn't strayed too far as I have a rubbish sense of direction and rely on Sat Nav most of the time to get around. We met our guide and he led us back to the bus, almost forgot I bought the compulsory fridge magnet. Once we were back on the bus we headed to the caves and had a little bit of history en route. It was really interesting as the caves were only discovered in the 50s by a group of children. We got to the caves and descended down some steps, wow! It was loads bigger than I imagined! There were several chambers and there were stairs to each chamber, I think we descended 150mt below the surface, it was nice and cool down there. Unfortunately no flash photography was allowed so I got the best photos I could with my dslr with the flash off. I'd say we were in the caves a good 40 mins and had time to take photos as we went along. Spotted one couple with a selfie stick and their phone precariously held over a chasm, definitely not for me! Once we were finished at the caves we went into the gift shop and had about 20-30 mins to buy things and go to the loo before making our way back to the coach. The coach was boiling and the air con not helping :-( I enjoyed the scenery for the rest of the journey before we arrived back at ship about 50mins later. I headed back up to the room where I ordered room service, salmon again mmmm! Once I'd finished lunch I headed down to deck 12 where I found a lovley spot where my head would be in the shade but the rest of me in the sun, perfect!! From here I found out how to use my Three at home on my phone so I could get free Internet, bonus!! I spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing as we sailed off to our next destination, Ville Franche, which we would get to the day after tomorrow. After sun bathing I returned to the room to freshen up and we watched top gear for an hour to pass some time before dinner. We went to the Windjammer for dinner, I wasn't very hungry though so just had some salad. After dinner we headed down to the Star Lounge for the quiz at 8pm, we got 9/15 today, an improvement!! After the quiz we then went to wait for the headliner show which was x factor finalist Ben Mills, I went and got a Ben and Jerry's ice cream from the promenade, mmmmmmm. Ben Mills was great, a real funny guy and what an amazing voice, very much the style of Rod Stewart. He sang some great classics and finished up with Hey Jude which was awesome. After the show we headed to the casino to see if Mum had won anything on her lotto ticket, she won nothing, and neither did I, boo :-( we headed back up to our room and placed our order for breakfast on the balcony in the morning as the weather was lovley. I ordered toast and jam and Mum ordered some scrambled eggs and toast. We caught up with a bit of reading and then went to bed.

 

Day 6 - At Sea

 

We started the day with breakfast room service, Mmm. Sadly it was a bit too windy to have it on the balcony so we bought the table and chairs inside. One thing I notice our room is missing is a coffee table by the sofa, it'd be really handy to put room service and drinks on. Breakfast was lovley, Im a bit bored of fry ups now so just had toast. Food was nice and warm when it got to us and they rang us about five minutes before hand to say it was on its way, really cannot fault the service. I had a nice shower and freshen up before brekky then got changed into shorts and t shirts as it was going to be another scorcher! Once we put the furniture back to where it belonged we set out to track down some sunbeds. It was quite blowey at this time so I got myself positioned in a sheltered area. The day soon warmed up though and I moved around to the side where Mum was on deck 12. I had a break mid morning to check some stuff on my laptop and use the painfully slow wifi (won't be buying again now I know how to use Three At Home Internet when I'm ashore). I returned to the deck just in time for a poolside bbq. It was great had some nice potato wedges and some chicken smothered in bbq sauce, yummy! We then watched the internationally acclaimed mens belly flop competition which was around the pools on deck 11, we watched from deck 12. A real great atmosphere and everyone gathered round to watch and cheer. I sunbathed for the next few hours and once I got a bit too hot I went back to the room to freshen up. I returned to the deck just in time to watch American sniper, well pleased as it's a fairly new film! On Adventure last year it was all old fashioned black and white films, apart from the Monuments Men, which loads of people turned out for. Unfortunately for some reason American Sniper got cut off a short way in, I think someone complained about the content of the film? Mum has gone to guest services to find out why the film has been stopped and why it can't be seen in the theatre by people that want to watch it, watch this space! Mums now got back and they received ONE complaint from a concerned parent, all the kids on board are tiny and don't have the attention span to even watch a movie longer than 15 minutes. We were told we could watch it in our stateroom but would have to pay the $12, what they should do is offer that movie for free so that the people who wanted to watch it for free around the poolside could do so. Why should we have to pay for the over sensitivities of one parent? Oh well, such is life, the guy that my Mum spoke to said to put it in writing at the end of the cruise and we may get something back, worth a go. We headed back to the stateroom as our "next cruise" appointment was in an hour, so we wanted to grab a drink and freshen up and whatnot, we were on the right floor and the right end so didn't have far to go so that's good. Hopefully the next paragraph I write will detail an amazing cruise we've booked that had a good discount! Watch this space! Ps gutted I'm only one night off being platinum member, reckon I can wrangle it?

 

Oh dear, well, checking out prices turned into booking a cruise for next year, Oops!!! With 30% off and on board spend of $300 for the next cruise (we could have used it on this one) it was too good a deal to pass up! So Independence Of The Seas here we come June 2016! Omg!! Best get saving, eek! We're going on a 14 night Italian/Med cruise, and will revisit some places we've seen on this cruise which will be good as we can do things we didn't get a chance to do on this cruise. We've moved up to deck 8 on the Independence (were on deck 6 currently) and we've got a Deluxe Balcony Stateroom and looking at the specs it looks like the balcony and room are bigger than what we have now, bonus! They're also on the humpy part of the ship, not sure if this is good or bad?? It was the only room left on that floor. We made nearly a grand in savings, plus on the onboard spend as extra, well use it for shore excursions, particularly to get to Rome and Florence which are a fair way away from the port.

 

We headed back to our room and got changed for dinner, we went to the Windjammer, I had duck breast which was so tender it was lovley, I had mash to go with it and ice cream for dessert, yummy!

 

I then fancied heading to the casino, last year I had great fun on Blackjack, we found a $1 table so it was a good bit of fun, this year the smallest table was $5, so if you were only withdrawing $20 and had a run of bad luck you were buggered, so I don't think I'll be having fun in the casino this year which is a real shame :-( :-(

 

We headed to the quiz at 8pm and another couple joined our team, we still only scored 8! We seem to be stuck on that number, oh well there's always tomorrow night!!

 

We went outside afterwards, the boat was moving at a fair pace and the weather was still really hot, it was lovley.

 

We then headed to the theatre ready for the show at 9pm, it was a comedy variety act, the guy was amazing! So funny, he mainly juggled but did a lot of comedy as well and really involved the audience. One lady got up to go to the loo and he chased her and told her not to go, and she ran away from him! He then said that when she came back she should get a standing ovation which she got, she was so embarrassed! The audience was loving it and he also got participants up on stage as well to help which was really funny. Really enjoyed tonight's act, would be happy to see him again next year for sure.

 

Once wed finished in the theatre we headed back to our room and placed our order for tomorrow's breakfast, were due into Ville Franche at 9am so should be warm and not too windy to sit on the balcony, so that'll be nice, we then need to head to our tender boat to take us ashore. I visited Ville Franche last year and it was beautiful, so happy to go back.

 

Night night for now!

Edited June 9, 2015 by Melissa_Phillips

[Melissa_Phillips]

Thank you Melissa for taking the time and trouble to post whilst onboard.

 

What are current drinks prices like on the Explorer? Any special drink of the day offers or similar?

 

Thank you again.

 

Hi, they have a cocktail of the day which is $8.50 and you get to keep the glass, normal cocktails $14/15 and a spirit with a mixer eg Peace snapps and lemonade is $9. I'll try and get a photo of a menu for you :-)

[Melissa_Phillips]

Hi

Really nice photos, my wife and I are onboard next week. Really looking forward to it.😊

 

What type of cabin is it you have or what is the cabin number it looks really nice.

 

Hi, were on deck 6 and its a superior balcony stateroom portside, number 6632 :-)

[cinnamon]

How much is the ship's Wifi please? Do you have an unlimited package?

[Melissa_Phillips]

I only bought a day for while we were at sea and that was $39, they have other packages available, I want to say it was $200 for one device for the whole cruise and a lot higher for two devices, but I'll pick up a leaflet when I pass guest services and check for you :-)

[cinnamon]

Thanks Melissa. Don't worry, that is too much for me. We will get 24 hours each as Diamond C&A anyway. We set off tomorrow. Rhapsody on Friday. Would have loved to do another Live from thread, but not at those prices!

Enjoy the rest of your cruise. :)

[Melissa_Phillips]

Thanks Melissa. Don't worry, that is too much for me. We will get 24 hours each as Diamond C&A anyway. We set off tomorrow. Rhapsody on Friday. Would have loved to do another Live from thread, but not at those prices!

Enjoy the rest of your cruise. :)

 

Yeah I wouldn't bother with wifi again, it was soo slow! I'm just using my free Internet in Port which I get with Three :-) its faster and costs nowt :-)

[cymru cruiser]

Hi we've just tried and you could fit a small laptop on there. mums ipad air fits with room to spare :-)

 

Thankyou so much she will he very happy.

I dont know if theres a way to find this out and its very cheeky. Weve been offered an upgade but not our grown up kids in adjoining cabins. Is there any way to find out what muster station cabin 7589 promenade stateroom and 7550 balcony stateroom have. I dont want to muster different part of the ship to the kids even if they are 16 and 20. Thanks x

[Melissa_Phillips]

Thankyou so much she will he very happy.

I dont know if theres a way to find this out and its very cheeky. Weve been offered an upgade but not our grown up kids in adjoining cabins. Is there any way to find out what muster station cabin 7589 promenade stateroom and 7550 balcony stateroom have. I dont want to muster different part of the ship to the kids even if they are 16 and 20. Thanks x

 

Oo I'm not sure how I can find that out but I'll certainly try for you! :-)

[sky0000547]

Yeah I wouldn't bother with wifi again, it was soo slow! I'm just using my free Internet in Port which I get with Three :-) its faster and costs nowt :-)

 

 

Yes it is good considering 'Feel at Home' covers most of the ports visited by RCI out of Southampton.

[cymru cruiser]

Hi Melissa

I wondered if you could explain a bit more about the 30 per cent off your future booking? There are some threads saying that's an offer in the states at the moment but it's not on offer for U.K bookings on royal caribbean website so that sounds good.

 

We've sailed on Indy twice she's a beautiful ship. A hump balcony cabin is a great place to be and her cabins on slightly larger than explorers. Indy is a stretched version of explorer.

 

Glad you enjoyed nerja it's a lovely place. I've not been for 20 years so I bet it's changed a bit.

Funny to think of the ship meandering along at 7 nots.

I got excited about American sniper as I'd like to see that, shame they can't show it as a late night open air viewing.

 

Looking forward to hearing about villefranche and the tender process. We are hoping to go to Monaco when we are there in a few weeks. X

[sky0000547]

Funny to think of the ship meandering along at 7 knots.

 

 

I was on Indy once and we had to miss the last port at La Coruna due to bad weather. Therefore we had an extra sea day to cruise back to Southampton. Indy was going so slow about 10 knots on the Bay of Biscay that we were overtaken by numerous container ships.

[EvertonCJ]

Hi Melissa

Really enjoying your review. We are doing the same cruise on July 26th. Is it possible for you to give us some information about show times?

We are booked in for traditional dining at 8.30 each evening, but still want to watch the shows. Do they have 2 shows each night?

Also, we have friends who have booked to stay in one of the new cabins at the front of the ship on deck 12. These are not on any of the deck plans that we have seen. What do these new cabins look like?

Thanks for all your help. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Best Wishes

Chris and Hayley

[markj23]

Hi Melissa

Really enjoying your review. We are doing the same cruise on July 26th. Is it possible for you to give us some information about show times?

We are booked in for traditional dining at 8.30 each evening, but still want to watch the shows. Do they have 2 shows each night?

Also, we have friends who have booked to stay in one of the new cabins at the front of the ship on deck 12. These are not on any of the deck plans that we have seen. What do these new cabins look like?

Thanks for all your help. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Best Wishes

Chris and Hayley

 

This should take you to the Deck plan for 12

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com.au/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=12&shipCode=EX&shipProfile=1676&sailDate=1150617&hasNavigation=false

 

I am following Explorer closely as i am in 1864 (deck 12) in 658 days - not that i am counting