Explorer OTS Live review and Q&A

[Naomigruis]

The cabin is very comfortable.

 

The bed is on the firm side (but i like that) and the pillows are not to thick that they hurt my neck so winning on the beds. The only thing about the bed was that when they where together there was no room to walk beside then as the couch on one side and the tv on the other almost touch it. As a result we asked for them to bed moved apart, much more room but does mean any fun time will need a crossing of the divide ;)

 

There is a good amount of draws and hanging room and all our bags fix under the the bed.

 

The bathroom has the round shower screen and although compact does not feel to small.

 

For the ladies there is a hair dryer that will do job in a pinch but if you have long or thick hair i would think you will struggle. I have short fine curly hair so mostly let it air dry, but do have my hair straightener (also doubles as a iron for my clothes)

 

If you like a bathroom robe ask for one on the first day, they will be delivered to your room

Edited October 11, 2016 by Naomigruis

[Naomigruis]

There is no self serve laundry on this ship and unlike some other lines you cant ask for a iron and ironing board to do it yourself.

 

We had 3 shirts, one suite, two polo shirts and a dress pressed the first day and it cost about $US33.

 

Today there was a "special" in our room for a fold and wash bag of $US35, fill the bag with t-shirts, underwear, socks ect.

 

I have brought along with me a "scrubber Bag" this is a laundry bag made in Australia and sold at mountain designs or online for $AU65 and you can hand wash your clothes in this, works great.

[Naomigruis]

The Lady that organised the Slot Pull for our roll call had to cancel her cruise two days before sailing so i volunteered to take over for her. Never having even done one before this was a adventure :eek:

 

We had 65 people so we used two machines or i think we would still be going :D

 

cost $21 each and we got back $15 each and had a great time. it took about 2 hours in the end but everyone had a great time. if you are thinking of joining one do.

 

The Casino Host gave us the two dinners for two at Giovanni's and some casino packs as prizes so that was a bonus.

[Naomigruis]

If you like Trivia this is the cruise for you.

 

There is about 6 different Trivia's throughout the day and night. They are fun, not to serious with a large range of topics.

 

Hint have a girl in their twenties on your team for the Disney Trivia. :D

 

Highest we have got is 12 out of 15 so far but no win's :(

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the updates, the hair straightener being doubled as an iron is a good tip.

[bonniesmum]

I am currently on the 24 day Transpacific and will be doing a Semi Live review.

 

I am also happy to answer any questions that you have.

 

We are currently on Day 3 (2nd Sea Day) and its been a busy first few days.

 

Embarkment was very easy, lines where long, it was about a 30 minute wait in line to check in but once checked in we could board right away.

All Lines where the same, normal, gold, diamond and suite.

 

Once on board we went to the windjammer, very busy but was able to find a seat within a few minutes, just after we have finished our meal (about 1pm) our room where ready.

 

We are a inside room. Our luggage was at our rooms by 5pm. First night dinner was in the main dinning room and then an early night. It had been a big few days in Seattle and we where all very tired.

 

Thanks very much for the posts! Do you have any idea of the price and or availability of the "buckets of beer" ? We are trying to weigh up options for DH, who only drinks beer.

Continue having a wonderful relaxing cruise and thanks again!

 

Cheers Kris :D

[Naomigruis]

Thanks very much for the posts! Do you have any idea of the price and or availability of the "buckets of beer" ? We are trying to weigh up options for DH, who only drinks beer.

Continue having a wonderful relaxing cruise and thanks again!

 

Cheers Kris :D

 

A bucket of beer is the price of the 4 beers with the 5th free. So different for different beers. I hope this helps.

[Essence08]

Thanks so much for doing this review and answering questions. I will beon Explorer in December and having never cruised with RCCI I'm finding this a very valuable thread.

 

Hope you continue to enjoy your cruise and I look forward to reading more hints, tips and tricks. (And now i'm desperate to play Disney Trivia!!!! )

[critterchick]

There is no self serve laundry on this ship and unlike some other lines you cant ask for a iron and ironing board to do it yourself.

 

We had 3 shirts, one suite, two polo shirts and a dress pressed the first day and it cost about $US33.

 

Today there was a "special" in our room for a fold and wash bag of $US35, fill the bag with t-shirts, underwear, socks ect.

 

I have brought along with me a "scrubber Bag" this is a laundry bag made in Australia and sold at mountain designs or online for $AU65 and you can hand wash your clothes in this, works great.

 

I love the Scrubba bag! I got one in the US from Amazon on the recommendation of a fellow CCer and it always comes with us now.

 

I found the hairdryer to be fine for my long, thick, curly hair. Not as good as my own, but better than lugging one with me.:)

[Naomigruis]

We are My Time Dinning as we find the first sitting to early to eat and the end way to late.

 

We are in the dinning room for dinner at about 6:30 and up to now it takes about 45 minutes to compete the meal (sometimes a little longer if we are chatting with our table mates)

 

Lunch is 11:30 to 1pm and takes about 30 minutes but service can be a bit slow due to larger numbers arriving all at once.

 

The food has been very good, i have not had anything i would send back because it was not cooked well (i have tried a few dishes i would not order again but it was about my personal taste not he quality of the meal)

 

The wait staff has been great, so far i cant fault them. There is a new menu being rolled out so lots of dishes i have not seen before. Another positive that unlike some other Cruise Lines the lunch menu does change day to day.

 

The bread rolls are really good, actually the bread on a whole has been very tasty, this may seem like a minor thing but i don't like american bread as a rule i find it very sweet so after no eating bread or toast for the last five weeks a bread roll with butter (and vegemite in the mornings) has been bliss.

[Naomigruis]

This is a very large area at the back of the ship that does all the buffet style dinning.

 

We have had breakfest her most days (although the last two i have missed as i have enjoyed a few sleep ins :D). The food on the whole is ok for this style of dinning, the usual options and mostly hot and fresh.

 

Something i did notice is that they now have a Gluten Free Section, i have sailed with Gluten intolerant friends before so i know this can be a problem for them.

 

The lunch is good with lots of different foods each day, i have enjoyed the salads and fruits on offer and i have to say the chicken wings where good.

 

Compared to other Cruise lines this Windjammer has been above the average.

 

The only issue is during the peak times finding a seat despite how big it is.

[Naomigruis]

This is the first day that the sun was out although he wind was as well it was still nice enough to enjoy the great outdoors.

 

I went up and back of the ship to see the Flow Ridder, Wow that thing looks fun, i may work up the courage to have a go but being at the beginning of the cruise its still pretty busy.

 

There are two main pool areas, the Adult only Solarium (no roof on this one) and the main Pool area (this is the only pool that the kids can use as the kids pool was removed it fit in the flow rider).

 

There are also six hot tubs between them and another large indoor one in the gym - this is great for bad weather days.

 

There was only one pool open today and it could have been the flow rider the waves where moving the water so much but i still managed to spend a good hour in there, the water was warm (about 26 degree so it must be heated).

 

Saving of chairs was not really a issue as there were a large amount vacant around the pool, i found one next to the pool in the shade in less the 30 seconds. Im sure this will change as more people realise that the weather has warmed up.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the update, glad the food is good, for me that is one of the main aspects of cruising.:D

[Cruising Martina]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[bonniesmum]

This is the first day that the sun was out although he wind was as well it was still nice enough to enjoy the great outdoors.

 

I went up and back of the ship to see the Flow Ridder, Wow that thing looks fun, i may work up the courage to have a go but being at the beginning of the cruise its still pretty busy.

 

There are two main pool areas, the Adult only Solarium (no roof on this one) and the main Pool area (this is the only pool that the kids can use as the kids pool was removed it fit in the flow rider).

 

There are also six hot tubs between them and another large indoor one in the gym - this is great for bad weather days.

 

There was only one pool open today and it could have been the flow rider the waves where moving the water so much but i still managed to spend a good hour in there, the water was warm (about 26 degree so it must be heated).

 

Saving of chairs was not really a issue as there were a large amount vacant around the pool, i found one next to the pool in the shade in less the 30 seconds. Im sure this will change as more people realise that the weather has warmed up.

 

Thanks a million...your a champion xx

 

Cheers Kris:D

[Jasperdo]

Thanks for this "live" review. My wife and I were on the sailing just before yours, and I'm enjoying following along with you and reliving our cruise.

[4774Papa]

We are booked on the TP on Explorer April 2018, so will follow this thread.

[Naomigruis]

Hi everyone

 

Well is been a very busy few day with three port days in Hawaii.

 

I will be doing my review on these tomorrow when I have a bit of down time

 

 

Sylva

[Hazydavo]

Hi everyone

 

Well is been a very busy few day with three port days in Hawaii.

 

I will be doing my review on these tomorrow when I have a bit of down time

 

 

Sylva

 

Cool, looking forward to it! :)

[Nickerz90]

Cant wait to see the next update. [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Naomigruis]

We had one day in Honolulu are i really wanted to visit the Pearl Harbour Memorial. I am not one to book Shore excursions with the Cruise Lines but i was confused over the ticketing for Perl Harbour and due to a tight time frame (we had the one day here only) i decided to go with the ships do it yourself guided tour that included the USS Missouri.

 

We were docked and it took no time to disembark, we meet our group in the terminal area and was on the bus on our way within about 10 minutes. The Company was Grey Lines and they where great.

 

Our tour guide gave us a running commentary about the area on the drive there which was nice. Once we where at the Visitors Centre he went right to the Booth for the tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial and got ticket for that as well for the whole bus, he timed it so that we could go our Missouri tour, come back have a look around for about an hour then go to the Arizona tour with everyone in the same group so getting everyone back on the bus at the end was easy and on time.

 

We asked him about going into Waikiki after and he recommended to go back to the ship and get either one of the free shuttles offered by the shopping centres or a taxi (we went with he taxi it was about $20 each way)

 

Although not the cheapest option for seeing Perl Harbour (about Au$100 each) it was time effective and easy to use. would highly recommend.

[Naomigruis]

What a beautiful Beach. although very crowded.

As i said we got a taxi for ease of use from the Ship to Waikiki Beach and had a bit of a sit and people watch.

 

I also did a little bit of shopping but not much as we had already done a lot and i had been told our next port was a better place to shop. My sisters who are also on this cruise spent the day here having a wonder around and a nice lunch overlooking the water.

 

This was a good port if you didn't want to do a lot but i do know quite a few people ventured but further than us and had a great day. For us the combo of Pearl Harbour and a look around Waikiki was a busy enough day.

[kandj05]

It sounds like you had a good excursion. Pearl Harbor is on my bucket list

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[Naomigruis]

We had two days here with a overnight port.

 

The first thing i will mention is that this is a Tender Port and THEY DID NOT RUN THE TENDERS ALL NIGHT.[/color] The last tender was about 1:30am and the first the next day was 6am. This was a issue for those with private sunrise tours and some fishing tours that wanted people to meet them at 4am. not sure what happened with this in the end but i would say that the tours would have to be cancelled.

 

This Port day was great with so many options for things to do. The ship tenders right at Front Street a great area for local tourist shops and restaurants. We enjoyed Bubba Gumps the first day and stopped in for a drink at Mick Fleatwoods Bar the Second day in the afternoon.

 

There is a coffee shop called Mr W(something) just a little way down on front street on the left hand side that has what my sister says (i don't drink coffee) the best coffee since they left Australia. The ship has a starbucks which she won't drink as they only use long life milk not fresh.

 

There is a shuttle service offered by a Hawaiian shop that will take you to the far end of the shopping area where the outlet mall is and then its a easy walk back to the ship or you can take the shuttle back. we got some great buys :D

 

The second day we decided to hire a taxi for a few hours (there is four of us) and have them do a mini tour around. It cost us US$150 for the two hours and ended at Whalers Village. Our Taxi drive was very good and had bottle water on board for us and took us to some great places with amazing views.

 

After a beautiful lunch in Whalers Village of local fish we had a swim and a relax on the beach for a few hours (i wish i had taken my snorkel) then a short taxi ride ($16) back Front street.

 

All up a relative inexpensive way to see and do lots in maximum comfort.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Naomigruis

[bikes&boats]

Your commentary is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, next Oct's itinerary is only one day on Lahaina, no overnight

Keep enjoying and keep sharing, you rock