Just off Explorer some thoughts........

[Qstrom]

Just a quick note about our four night Explorer cruise. We joined our son, his girlfriend and her parents on this cruise for family connecting time. All had interior cabins and everyone was happy with them. Arriving at the ship around 10;30am we were aboard by eleven....they get you off early when leaving but that also allows early embarkation too. This was our fifth cruise with RCI having sailed on Oasis, Radiance and Vision class ships. I will say RCI does some things right like having brewed coffee in the cafe free all day long, something Princess charges for and you need to wait in line for it. What I think RCI needs to improve in is their beds. They were changing out the bed foundations during our cruise and you'd see them stacking up in the hallways. They use metal frames and put the mattress into it. This results in a very FIRM bed you hear everyone complain about. Our backs weren't too sure if they liked it. Princess "dream beds" are so much better that is one thing they do right. The food in the dining room was just OK with nothing standing out. We tried to get the same table as we liked the staff and got it for two nights the third and final night we were assigned another area and that did not turn out so well. We ordered wine by the glass and were charged bottles so had to fix that the next morning. We had the beverage package and highly recommend it. Getting a drink was super easy anywhere unless I was trying to BUY a drink for my son.....they had no idea how to do that. We enjoyed the solarium pools as it was cool and water was heated even in the flowrider steam was coming up in the mornings. Overall it was a great cruise but we're going to stick with Princess if only for the beds.

[mikaula]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We have cruised on Princess, Holland, Celebrity, NCL, Carnival & Royal, they all have good and bad points. Sometimes the same ship can be totally different the next time you sail.