Explorer of the Seas 21 Nov - 5 Dec 2021 Review — Post Cruise due to Terrible Internet Onboard

[Chauncey Picklepants]

Thank you for taking the time to write all this! We loved reading it.  After cancelling in November, we are looking forward to a sailing in April. 

[Merion_Mom]

On 12/5/2021 at 1:13 PM, dianajo67 said:

 

20 Nov: Flavors of Old San Juan Food Tour—Morning Classic

 

Went on a Flavors of Old San Juan Food Tour that started at 10 and went to about 1:30.  It ended up just being hubby and I along with our tour guide, Ricardo.  It was an excellent tour and I highly recommend it.  Our guide was a high school history teacher who was working on his masters.  He had specialized in the Caribbean region and we learned about so much more than just the local food specialties.  Of course we had pina coladas, mofongo, genuine PR coffee, local chocolate, and several other yummy foods in our 5 restaurant stops.  It started with a coffee/breakfast stop and worked through lunch stops and finally a dessert stop.  Five Stars and a great way to find some new favorite places to eat in OSJ that are not touristy.  It’s possible that Royal Caribbean has started to offer a tour from this company for port visits to San Juan as Ricardo mentioned he took a group from a Celebrity ship recently. We booked via Viator.

 

 

 

Pro Tip - you can book directly on their website:  https://sanjuanfoodtours.com/

[Merion_Mom]

1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Pro Tip - you can book directly on their website:  https://sanjuanfoodtours.com/

 

ETA:  I have sent them so many customers over the years, they owe me $$$$ in commissions.  😉

 

Lately, I have decided that I like this one even more:  https://thespoonexperience.com/

[suzk2275a]

I looked at the Travel safe form for entry to San Juan. It looks like they are asking for the last 4 digits of your social security number.  Does anyone know if that is a required field or if it is optional (there is no asterisk by the SSN field).  

Edited December 8, 2021 by suzk2275a
typo - grammar

[Sea Dog]

On 12/5/2021 at 12:13 PM, dianajo67 said:

 

 

 

Went on a Flavors of Old San Juan Food Tour

 

Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping and stopped for a pina colada at Barrachina’s.  

 

 

Thank you for the great review. I wanted to take this tour but Lind'a feet were giving her problems and couldn't do a lot of walking. How far do you think you walked?

 

The Pina Colada's at Barrachina were to die for. Best PC I've ever had.

 

 

 

On 12/5/2021 at 12:19 PM, dianajo67 said:

 

 

Internet was the worst I’ve ever experienced on a ship.  

 

  After that, it was off to the schooner bar for a Baton Rouge 2.0 recommended by @Sea Dog.  Nover is an excellent bartender with a great sense of humor.  

 

I don't know why it was so bad but it was horrible. I'm sorry you had the same frustration as me.

 

Thank you for seeing Nover and getting a Baton Rouge 2.0. He is the best. I kept going back to the Schooner Bar just to see him. He was a great bartender and like you said funny. He made my trip.

 

 

On 12/7/2021 at 6:55 AM, dianajo67 said:

Tom’s pic from the St Thomas excursion.

 

 

 

WOW ! Go Pro 10 looks great. I got the 9 and then less than a month later the 10 came out.

 

On 12/7/2021 at 7:48 AM, dianajo67 said:

 

Saw a show called Duo Quintessence in the Royal Theater.  It was a great show and featured a couple doing amazing aerial feats etc.  

 

Great show. I really enjoyed it. I found their story very interesting. I took some pics but they did not come out very well. Everyone need to see them in person.

 

 

 

I'm so glad you had a great cruise. I love the fact that the B2B on the second leg stopped at some different islands. I have taken some notes on the excursions you liked and will have to book those. Again thank you taking us along. It brought back many fond memories.

[dianajo67]

5 hours ago, MandyMooToo said:

 

We were on Explorer Nov 28-Dec 5 with the surf and stream package and had no issues connecting to websites, banking (I continuously check my credit cards while traveling), my husband's goofy game on his phone worked and I downloaded a couple of books without issue.  Not sure why the difference unless the OP had only the surf package?  

We had the surf and stream package.  There was a big discussion in the concierge lounge and it seemed that folks with Android phones had better connectivity than folks with apple products.  No idea why that would be the case.  We have apple everything.  I can tell you that I tried high, low, front and back on that ship and had a terrible time.  Basic email only and Facebook occasionally.  

[MandyMooToo]

6 minutes ago, dianajo67 said:

We had the surf and stream package.  There was a big discussion in the concierge lounge and it seemed that folks with Android phones had better connectivity than folks with apple products.  No idea why that would be the case.  We have apple everything.  I can tell you that I tried high, low, front and back on that ship and had a terrible time.  Basic email only and Facebook occasionally.  

That stinks!  We have iPhones so who knows what caused the difference? My mom even Wi-Fi called me and we talked while I sat in the Schooner bar so we had no issues but I hate to hear that you did. Sometimes it feels like the luck of the draw with ship internet. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by MandyMooToo

[dianajo67]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Thank you for the great review. I wanted to take this tour but Lind'a feet were giving her problems and couldn't do a lot of walking. How far do you think you walked?

 

The Pina Colada's at Barrachina were to die for. Best PC I've ever had.

 

There was a lot of walking.  Linda would have been miserable I suspect.  Hard to say how far, but it felt like it was all uphill!  Felt like we walked all over town.  Then Tom insisted we visit all the other places that Ricardo suggested!  Was nice to climb in bed at the end if the day for sure!

 

We tried at least 4 different PCs.  I agree Barrachina’s was the best.

 

Have to say that your review really inspired me to do this one!  I basically focused on the stuff that was different as you did such an awesome job covering the ship etc.  Nover may be checking this out…..told him he was a social media star now.  He just laughed!

[SoDonewithitAll]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:50 AM, dianajo67 said:

 

3 Dec: Bonaire

 

This was our first time in Bonaire as the stop kept getting cancelled on us in previous cruises.  We had the absolute best shore excursion there through Woodwind Bonaire.  It’s a snorkeling trip over to Klein Bonaire with 3 stops, full bar, big lunch and impressive service.  They had everything from full body wet suits to prescription masks that folks could use at no charge.  They also cleaned and defogged personal masks and they broke us up into small groups with a guide who was extremely patient.  Can’t say enough about this tour.  Before Covid-19, you would have to book this tour at least 6 months out to get a spot.  Most of our group were 2-3 time repeat customers!  Tour ran from 9-2.

 

 

Hi There - Thanks for your update! I'm wondering if you can tell me about the requirements to get off the ship in Bonaire. The infobonaire.com website says they are requiring a negative PCR test within 24 hours of boarding the cruise for all vaccinated cruise passengers arriving in Bonaire. What documentation was required for you to be able to leave the ship? Did they ask to see vaccination cards? Negative test results? If so, did it matter what kind of test, antigen or PCR? Sounds like you had a wonderful time, and I"m really looking forward to this stop. I don't want to miss it because I didn't have the right test and I can't seem to find any confirmation of this new requirement. 

[dianajo67]

2 hours ago, SoDonewithitAll said:

Hi There - Thanks for your update! I'm wondering if you can tell me about the requirements to get off the ship in Bonaire. The infobonaire.com website says they are requiring a negative PCR test within 24 hours of boarding the cruise for all vaccinated cruise passengers arriving in Bonaire. What documentation was required for you to be able to leave the ship? Did they ask to see vaccination cards? Negative test results? If so, did it matter what kind of test, antigen or PCR? Sounds like you had a wonderful time, and I"m really looking forward to this stop. I don't want to miss it because I didn't have the right test and I can't seem to find any confirmation of this new requirement. 

On our cruise, you had to have a vaccination card to get off the ship and keep it with you.  You had to actually show it to leave the ship. Vaccinated individuals can basically do what they want once on the island.  Ship bubble tours required for unvaccinated.  No additional tests required for cruise ship passengers. Of course, things can change.

Edited December 9, 2021 by dianajo67

[clearlake_cruiser]

Thanks for an entertaining and detailed review of your cruise! Sorry to hear about the crappy internet onboard.

[dianajo67]

17 hours ago, MandyMooToo said:

That stinks!  We have iPhones so who knows what caused the difference? My mom even Wi-Fi called me and we talked while I sat in the Schooner bar so we had no issues but I hate to hear that you did. Sometimes it feels like the luck of the draw with ship internet. 

Interesting.  One night the ship doctor was standing by the elevator near the schooner lounge for like an hour on his phone.  I made a comment to him about standing in the magic internet spot!  He said the spot he was in was the only place he could connect with his family and hear music at the same time.  I actually tried to connect there later, but no great luck!  It was a sea day and everyone onboard was connected via app etc, so that may have been a factor.  Your cabin was in a Goldilocks zone for sure!

[beshears]

Enjoyed your review and pictures, as the 8 of us are to be doing this cruise the first part of January. You may or may not know, as it looks like you did a tour, etc. through RCL in St. Lucia. We are hoping to do Cosol Tours (I have done it twice before), but I was wondering if you know if we have to do RCL tour in that port?

[beshears]

Hello, I found out after I posted to you that we will be able to do the Cosol Tour in St. Lucia, as it is Government approved.  I do have a question about the pictures, that is, if you purchased any?  What was the cost for the 8 x 10's?  If you did purchase any pictures, did you check them out on the computer, or were they put out on display to pick up and look at?

[dianajo67]

1 hour ago, beshears said:

Hello, I found out after I posted to you that we will be able to do the Cosol Tour in St. Lucia, as it is Government approved.  I do have a question about the pictures, that is, if you purchased any?  What was the cost for the 8 x 10's?  If you did purchase any pictures, did you check them out on the computer, or were they put out on display to pick up and look at?

You had to look on computer terminals.  We didn’t buy any this trip.  I usually buy a full package once every other year.  Cosol tours is great….used them on a previous stop in st Lucia.  Recommend motion sickness meds if anyone is prone to it.  I didn’t think I was….until that day!  The roads are really winding.  I had to sit in the front seat to keep from hurling on the trek back to the ship.  

[beshears]

Thank you for your reply to me of how I go about looking/seeing the pictures that will be taken, as I know each cruise line is different. Yes, I'll try to mention again about someone taking/wearing something for sea sickness too.