Reporting Live From The Explorer of the Seas - A Review

[karen armstrong]

Day 9 - Sardinia

 

We woke up in the port of Sardinia, we didn't have any shore excursions planned and it was very hot so the plan was to get off, find a souvenir shop for the compulsory fridge magnet then return to the ship. We got on the free shuttle bus as the port was a working port and it dropped us at the end of the pier. We found a lady who was offering a 40 min tour bus for €10 around the town so we headed off to find the bus. Unfortunately we couldn't find it and the area around the port looked really rough and had dodgy looking folk trying to pressure you into buying their stuff. We felt very uncomfortable so headed back for the ship. We got a space on the pool deck by the TV screen as back to the future II was going to be on at 1pm. We took a dip in the pool to cool off, however I soon got out when I saw a Dad let his son wee into the pool, ew! They definatly need to have a seperate kids only pool and the rest of the main pools be adults only. Also loads of little kids where playing in the hot tub, despite the adults only sign. For my next dip I thought I'd go into the solarium pool. We spent the morning sunbathing and watching what was on the big screen, top gear and total wipe out USA mainly, which was good fun. We nipped to the Windjammer for some lunch which we bought back out to the pool ready for the movie. I had bread, chips, cold meat and salad mmmm. We watched the movie which was great, I'd not watched it in a while but they never get old. After the movie I took a dip in the adults only pool in the solarium and met a lady who lives in the next village along to where I used to live and her neighbour was a lady I used to work with, spooky! I came back to the sunbed and saw a guy we previously saw at the quiz one night, verrryyy dreamy but I bet not single :-( he was here was a chap he was caring for called Carl, dreamy guy was called Steve. Mum decided she was going to go back to the room and watch American Sniper, so I went over and plucked up the courage to talk to Steve. We chatted for ages and have some shared interests, seems a really lovley guy (and single), as the ship was departing it got really windy so we headed inside to the Schooner bar where we had drinks and chatted more. When they had to go and get ready for their dinner I headed back up to the room where Mum was just finishing her movie. I got washed and changed and ready for dinner, we were going to the Windjammer as usual. Tonight they had fish pie on offer, mmmm my favourite! It wasn't as good as the ones I get from home though, too much veg, but still filled a gap :-) for afters I had a cheesecake and some ice cream. Had some good banter with a guy in the ice cream queue, I asked for three scoops and the guy said "Three!?" and his wife slapped him, so I waited for him to ask and he asked for two, so I shouted "two?! You greedy bugger!" and his wife said "go on girl give him as good as you get", do like folk with a good sense of humour. After dinner we headed for the Star Lounge for our usual quiz at 8pm, our friends joined us just in time, but tonight we didn't do so well, we only got 7! We headed for the theatre afterwards and got ourselves our usual seats and waited for the show to start, David Knight comedy hypnotist. I saw him last year on the adventure of the seas, and he was really good. The only thing this year was it was the same show as last year so I knew what was coming next, but he was really really good and it was a great laugh watching the participants doing funny things, though one girl was clearly faking it. After the show we went for a walk around the ship on deck 4, it was kind of earie as not many people were out on decks. We then went for a walk around the promenade and stopped in cafe promenade where I had a hot chocolate, was really nice! Afterwards we headed back upstairs and went to the land of nod.

 

 

Melissa your review is fantastic. I am on explorer in July and it's a first cruise for us and your info is really getting us excited

 

I have one quick question that you might be able to help me with. I am travelling with my fussy eating 14 year old. We would like to eat in the MDR as a family but she is worried there won't be any food she likes. She eats very little meat, although she isn't vegetarian. Does the MDR cater for kids meals. I know she can eat in the windjammer but we would prefer to eat together most nights.

 

Looking forward to more updates

Karen

[Gilpet]

Melissa your review is fantastic. I am on explorer in July and it's a first cruise for us and your info is really getting us excited

 

I have one quick question that you might be able to help me with. I am travelling with my fussy eating 14 year old. We would like to eat in the MDR as a family but she is worried there won't be any food she likes. She eats very little meat, although she isn't vegetarian. Does the MDR cater for kids meals. I know she can eat in the windjammer but we would prefer to eat together most nights.

 

Looking forward to more updates

Karen

 

Karen, the menu in the MDR changes every night but there are also things that are always there (the waiter should explain this to you on the first night) - usually some sort of steak, chicken breast, fish and a pasta dish so hopefully she will be covered - my daughter and I are also quite fussy and the "always there" items are often our saving grace lol. You can check the menu for the evening any time from lunchtime onwards but it doesn't show the "always there" selection until you actually get the menu once you're seated.

 

Gill

[karen armstrong]

Karen, the menu in the MDR changes every night but there are also things that are always there (the waiter should explain this to you on the first night) - usually some sort of steak, chicken breast, fish and a pasta dish so hopefully she will be covered - my daughter and I are also quite fussy and the "always there" items are often our saving grace lol. You can check the menu for the evening any time from lunchtime onwards but it doesn't show the "always there" selection until you actually get the menu once you're seated.

 

Gill

 

Thanks Gill

 

I don't know what she will eat as she reLly only eats pizza sausages lasagne slag Bol or to to pasta. Could be interesting. And stressful as my husband gets annoyed with her

 

What do young children eat in the MDR ....is it the same as the grown ups

 

Karen

[Clarea]

Thanks Gill

 

I don't know what she will eat as she reLly only eats pizza sausages lasagne slag Bol or to to pasta. Could be interesting. And stressful as my husband gets annoyed with her

 

What do young children eat in the MDR ....is it the same as the grown ups

 

Karen

Kids can choose from the adult menu, or the kids menu:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45620154#post45620154

Edited June 13, 2015 by clarea

[JM-1972]

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

 

I can't see a salmon roll on the room service menu on the RCCL website, is there a new menu? Would you mind posting or taking a picture of the menu?

 

Great live review BTW! Thanks for doing it.

[cymru cruiser]

Thanks Gill

 

I don't know what she will eat as she reLly only eats pizza sausages lasagne slag Bol or to to pasta. Could be interesting. And stressful as my husband gets annoyed with her

 

What do young children eat in the MDR ....is it the same as the grown ups

 

Karen

 

There is pizza pasta chips on the kids menu. They won't automatically bring it out for her age so just ask your waiter for it. On our first cruise three years ago we didn't know about the kids menu but our veggie fussy teenager managed. She ordered pasta one night and panicked when it came in a cheese sauce the waiter saw the panic in her face and whipped it away returning with plain pasta.

Last year we were sat with a family who's teenagers asked for the kids menu so our daughter ordered from that happily every night.

She will be fine x

[karen armstrong]

There is pizza pasta chips on the kids menu. They won't automatically bring it out for her age so just ask your waiter for it. On our first cruise three years ago we didn't know about the kids menu but our veggie fussy teenager managed. She ordered pasta one night and panicked when it came in a cheese sauce the waiter saw the panic in her face and whipped it away returning with plain pasta.

Last year we were sat with a family who's teenagers asked for the kids menu so our daughter ordered from that happily every night.

She will be fine x

 

That's really helpful. Thank you. It's put my mind at rest. We can all dine in peace now. No hungry teen and no grumpy husband cos she won't stay stuff. :)

[Melissa_Phillips]

Day 10 - Palma

 

We were due to arrive in Palma at 1pm, so the plan was to have breakfast and lunch on board then get off the ship and go ashore. The ship would be there till 1am. We went to the Windjammer for breakfast, we went seperate as I had a lay in. I had cereal for breakfast which was nice. The weather outside was a bit grim, cloudy and a bit chilly so we stayed in the room first thing then headed to the royal promenade. There was a 80% sale on certain watches and a raffle. We didn't win the raffle but mum did buy a watch for herself and also her neighbour who is house sitting. I decided Mum should experience room service so we went up and ordered the salmon baguette for me and mum ordered the flounder and vegetables. She said the vegetables were a bit eldente but otherwise it was really nice. Once we had had lunch we packed our things and went ashore, we caught a shuttle bus which dropped us into the town for €5 return. From there we got on the hop on hop off bus for €17 which took us an hour and a half around palma. We did one trip, then checked out some shops and did another trip. The hop on hop off bus dropped us back at the port which was great so we then got straight back on the boat and headed for our room to unpack our things. We then headed up to the pool deck where I met with Steve and Craig. We chilled by the pool for a bit then went to the Windjammer, though I wasn't hungry for anything. After the Windjammer we went back out to the pool deck for the party under the stars. It was good fun but was quite loud so we couldn't hear each other speak so we headed back inside to the Schooner bar. We spent the rest of the night in the Schooner bar listening to the piano player who was amazing, could listen to him all night, so upbeat and talented, and he takes requests :-) I finally got back up to the room at half one! Way past my bedtime! Certainly slept well that night, was Hungry though!

 

Day 11 - At Sea

 

Today was a sea day as we sailed from Palma to our final port of call which is Cadiz.

It was sunny but windy, we found a sheltered spot up on deck 12, but I then moved back down to deck 11. I wasn't really sunbathing, just sitting reading and listening to music and also watching what was on the big screen. They did a paella demonstration at lunch with people allowed to take a portion away to eat, was quite amusing watching people battling the wind and bits of paella flying everywhere! The movie today was Katy Perry Live in Concert so wasn't too fussed about waiting around for that. I took myself to the Windjammer for my lunch. I had sweet and sour pork and some wedges, was really nice!! Mum took herself to the Windjammer as well but I didn't know so I must have missed her. We met back up as the ice show was at 2pm and you could go in from 1:30pm. The ice shows were being shown as per your muster station, so everyone had the chance to see it, which was a lot fairer than dishing out tickets. We went over to the ice show and it was amazing, it was called The Spirit of the Seasons, lots of colour and songs, such talent, by far the best entertainment we've seen I think! Would highly recommend people see this show. After the ice show we nipped back to the room and mum wanted to stay on the balcony for a bit, I went off in search of Steve and Carl and found them by the pool, so went and sat with them and we had a nice catch up. We headed into the Schooner bar when the sun disappeared, my Mum found us and we sat and had drinks together, dinner time was approaching so we thought it'd be nice if all four of us had dinner together. Steve needed to take Carl back to the room to get him changed and what not before dinner so we met them there. We easily found a table in the Windjammer and set about getting some food. Carl and Steve have been eating in the posh dining room so lots of banter going around as to them having to eat with the peasants on plastic plates because we can't be trusted with China ones. It was a good dinner, I had some chicken and mash (I'm a bit plain) and then ice cream for dessert. Afterwards we all headed down to the show which was a violinist from Britain's got talent. I wasn't really thrilled with her to be honest, she was talented don't get me wrong, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Loads of people walked out but I don't think I'd have the balls to do that, I'd feel a bit rude!! After the show was over we headed to the Schooner bar, but had lost Carl and Steve, we spent the night till half eleven, sat round the piano taking in the music, really love this guy, I could enjoy the music all night :-) afterwards we went to the cabin and checked out on the TV where we were exactly. We were hoping to go past the Gibraltar straits in daylight so we could see dolphins but Sods law we would be passing it at night. I didn't sleep all that great so took myself onto the balcony to catch some shut eye but was then cold, there's no pleasing some people!

[sky0000547]

we caught a shuttle bus which dropped us into the town for €5 return.

 

 

Is it cash for the shuttle or from onboard account?

[Ecuador]

Melissa

which dock did you use in Palma? The reason I ask is that sometimes the ships will use the container dock which is closer to the cathedral rather than the dock across the bay which involves about a 20 minute transfer by shuttle.

[buchhalm]

Re days 10 and 11.

I still find it difficult to understand how they can list both days as Palma de Mallorca in their itineraries.

:rolleyes:

[sky0000547]

which dock did you use in Palma? The reason I ask is that sometimes the ships will use the container dock which is closer to the cathedral rather than the dock across the bay which involves about a 20 minute transfer by shuttle.

 

 

I tracked the ship on marine traffic and it was docked across the bay so it will need a shuttle transfer to Cathedral.

[sky0000547]

Was there a buffet on pool deck for 'party under the stars'?

[sky0000547]

which dock did you use in Palma?

 

Let's see if the photo works. This was on Friday 12 June 2015.

 

 

[Ecuador]

sky0000547

 

Thanks.Photo worked fine.

[quinnthetic]

Does anyone take an iron on board. I understand they are prohibited but how strict Is this enforced?

[Clarea]

Does anyone take an iron on board. I understand they are prohibited but how strict Is this enforced?

Very strictly enforced. If they see it, they will take it until the end of the cruise.

[quinnthetic]

I presume they would detect it via the scanner? What's the solution to the creases then???

[Clarea]

I presume they would detect it via the scanner? What's the solution to the creases then???

Yes, it would normally be caught from the x-ray scanner.

 

Some people use Downy Wrinkle Releaser. Some use the ship's pressing service. Some pack everything in plastic bags to minimize the creases. Some hang up clothes in the bathroom and steam them when taking a shower. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

[quinnthetic]

Ok, thanks for that. I get why they don't want fire hazards but it's inevitable that after a lengthy journey to the ship your clothes are going to be incredibly creased! Is it the same rules for the girls and their hair straighteners?

[tillygrant]

We have taken hair straighteners before no problem

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Clarea]

Ok, thanks for that. I get why they don't want fire hazards but it's inevitable that after a lengthy journey to the ship your clothes are going to be incredibly creased! Is it the same rules for the girls and their hair straighteners?

I think there would be a riot if any hair appliances were prohibited. Hair straighteners, dryers, and curlers are allowed.

[quinnthetic]

Has anyone been able to take an iron or a steam brush on board to your knowledge despite its prohibition. I don't personally see the difference in terms of fire risk between an iron and hair straighteners?!

[buchhalm]

More people will want to iron their clothes (forcing them to spend £££ for the cruise line to fo the ironing ) than streighten their hair?

 

What's Downy Wrinkle release? Havent seen that here in the Gulf or Oz, i think.

[Clarea]

We have had very good luck with packing clothes in plastic bags to minimize wrinkling.

Edited June 16, 2015 by clarea