Recent Explorer Cruisers-Questions

[GWP-OKC]

For those that have recently been on Explorer- did the ship port at all 3 ABC ports?  Some of the earlier cruises went to Grand Cayman instead of Bonaire and we booked 2 years ago (after cancellations, lift/shift, etc) to specifically go to the ABCs.  Is the ship well staffed?  Are the seapass cards chipped?  Or can they still get a "punch" so you can wear them on a lanyard?  Any issues with the card itself-ink smearing off, falling apart when wet?  Last question- did the ship depart from Miami port terminal G?  Thanks for any info. 🙂 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, GWP-OKC said:

Are the seapass cards chipped? 

Or can they still get a "punch" so you can wear them on a lanyard?

 Any issues with the card itself-ink smearing off, falling apart when wet? 

Last question- did the ship depart from Miami port terminal G?

No.

Usually, yes.

Not usually.

Yes.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, GWP-OKC said:

For those that have recently been on Explorer- did the ship port at all 3 ABC ports?  Some of the earlier cruises went to Grand Cayman instead of Bonaire and we booked 2 years ago (after cancellations, lift/shift, etc) to specifically go to the ABCs.  Is the ship well staffed?  Are the seapass cards chipped?  Or can they still get a "punch" so you can wear them on a lanyard?  Any issues with the card itself-ink smearing off, falling apart when wet?  Last question- did the ship depart from Miami port terminal G?  Thanks for any info. 🙂 

We did a B2B on the Explorer in March. Aruba, Bonaire and Curcio were on the itinerary for the second leg. Staff was at 100%. We didn't have any issues with less staff and guests. No chip. We don't wear lanyards anyway. No issues with our SeaPass cards. We left out of San Juan. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

We are looking forward to six nights on the Explorer in August.  Can anyone tell us what shows should be available?  There is only one Royal show that we don’t care for and always skip, hoping Invitation To Dance is not on the Explorer.  

[davekathy]

9 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We are looking forward to six nights on the Explorer in August.  Can anyone tell us what shows should be available?  There is only one Royal show that we don’t care for and always skip, hoping Invitation To Dance is not on the Explorer.  

Sorry, Invitation To Dance is one of the shows. The other production show was Wild Cool and Swingin'. The Ice show is  Spirts Of The Seasons. 

[davekathy]

30 minutes ago, davekathy said:

We did a B2B on the Explorer in March. Aruba, Bonaire and Curcio were on the itinerary for the second leg. Staff was at 100%. We didn't have any issues with less staff and guests. No chip. We don't wear lanyards anyway. No issues with our SeaPass cards. We left out of San Juan. 

Make that, staff wasn't at 100%. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

4 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Sorry, Invitation To Dance is one of the shows. The other production show was Wild Cool and Swingin'. The Ice show is  Spirts Of The Seasons. 

Thank you!  The other two will be new to us and we can easily find something else to do on Invitation to Dance night.

[The Scurvy Pirate]

I am going in October.  Does anyone know if they were offering the Deluxe Beverage Package at the BOGO 50 price?

[GWP-OKC]

16 minutes ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

I am going in October.  Does anyone know if they were offering the Deluxe Beverage Package at the BOGO 50 price?

We are on the Oct 1st sailing.  The DBP goes from $77.99 to $72.00 during the "Super Duper/Too Good To Be True/ WOW" BS sales.  When are you going?

 

Thanks all for info.

[GWP-OKC]

Just now, GWP-OKC said:

We are on the Oct 1st sailing.  The DBP goes from $77.99 to $72.00 during the "Super Duper/Too Good To Be True/ WOW" BS sales.  When are you going?

 

Thanks all for info.

typo- $72.99

[The Scurvy Pirate]

My actual question was do they offer the BOGO 50 once you actually board the cruise (not for a pre cruise planner purchase).  I know that once on board they have crew walking around trying to sell dining packages, etc. for vaious discounts.  Just wasn't sure about the deluxe beverage package.  Some friends are going with us and they can't make up their mind, so trying to convince them that purchasing before is better....

[RedIguana]

15 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We are looking forward to six nights on the Explorer in August.  Can anyone tell us what shows should be available?  There is only one Royal show that we don’t care for and always skip, hoping Invitation To Dance is not on the Explorer.  

If you go on the app, select choose a different sailing, then pick explorer from the list of ships the app supports (may have to scroll down to see this option), you can choose the next upcoming 6 night sailing with your same itinerary. Shows and dinner options menus should pretty much be the same.

[Russ Lomas]

19 hours ago, GWP-OKC said:

For those that have recently been on Explorer- did the ship port at all 3 ABC ports?  Some of the earlier cruises went to Grand Cayman instead of Bonaire and we booked 2 years ago (after cancellations, lift/shift, etc) to specifically go to the ABCs. 

RCCL has cancelled all the stops in Bonaire for the Explorer and cut out the entire morning in Curaçao for all summer sailings on the Explorer (and added Grand Cayman).  We, too, booked specifically for the THREE ABC islands, but RCCL messed us up.  They offered to let us switch to the ABC sailing on the Mariner, which they did not change, but they said we had to pay "prevailing rates" which were triple what we booked the cruise at.

[RedIguana]

11 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

RCCL has cancelled all the stops in Bonaire for the Explorer and cut out the entire morning in Curaçao for all summer sailings on the Explorer (and added Grand Cayman).  We, too, booked specifically for the THREE ABC islands, but RCCL messed us up.  They offered to let us switch to the ABC sailing on the Mariner, which they did not change, but they said we had to pay "prevailing rates" which were triple what we booked the cruise at.

We had booked Explorer instead of Mariner because the itinerary was better, even though it is an additional 3 hour drive time. After the switch...Mariner is better. I wish I had done mariner. On the August 6th sailing.

[Surfguyxxx]

2 hours ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

My actual question was do they offer the BOGO 50 once you actually board the cruise

I've personally never seen this price point onboard.

[retired dude]

4 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

RCCL has cancelled all the stops in Bonaire for the Explorer and cut out the entire morning in Curaçao for all summer sailings on the Explorer (and added Grand Cayman).  We, too, booked specifically for the THREE ABC islands, but RCCL messed us up.  They offered to let us switch to the ABC sailing on the Mariner, which they did not change, but they said we had to pay "prevailing rates" which were triple what we booked the cruise at.

we are booked on the explorer in oct of 22' and we cant find out if the explorer is going to stop in bonaire or do like it did in may and take us to grand cayman and a half a day in curacao. We asked the TA if the ship was going to do bonaire and she said that rccl told her that they had not cancelled that port....I dont know whether to believe rccl or not....

[Russ Lomas]

6 hours ago, retired dude said:

we are booked on the explorer in oct of 22' and we cant find out if the explorer is going to stop in bonaire or do like it did in may and take us to grand cayman and a half a day in curacao. We asked the TA if the ship was going to do bonaire and she said that rccl told her that they had not cancelled that port....I dont know whether to believe rccl or not....

Thus far, RCCL just screwed those of us who booked the Explorer to specifically go to Bonaire in June, July, and August.  September and October are still listed as going to Bonaire.  RCCL told us they decided to move the Explorer to Grand Cayman instead of Bonaire to "offer more choices to their guests".  The Mariner is still doing the ABC route through the summer, but they would not let anyone switch to the Mariner unless they paid more money.

 

The Mariner is doing 8-day itineraries September through October, stopping in Bermuda for 3 days from Florida, so I assume that the Explorer will port in Bonaire in those months since the Mariner will not be.  Looks like offering the Mariner from Florida to Bermuda was a dumb business decision on RCCL's part.  They are offering most of those 8-day cruises for $400 Canadian, so obviously, they are not selling well.

[GWP-OKC]

If RCL doesn't do ALL 3 ABC ports, I will be the guy having such a loud hissy fit they will probably make me walk the plank.  GRRRRRR 

[retired dude]

my "big box TA" just called me and said that according to her contact at rccl that the explorer will still stop at bonaire for our oct sailing ......I told her that i would check back with her in sept 22' because i know that rccl can speak with a forked tongue on many occasions....I have no desire to go to gr caiman for the 10th time and i sure dont want to cut my time in curacao in half......i guess patience is a virtue. we just could not pass up the deal that we got on this cruise, it was unreal......take care everybody...B&B in clearwater.

[debonaire1998]

On 7/28/2022 at 10:40 AM, GWP-OKC said:

If RCL doesn't do ALL 3 ABC ports, I will be the guy having such a loud hissy fit they will probably make me walk the plank.  GRRRRRR 

I will be standing right next to you!!!   I’m really hoping that we will be following the exact itinerary that we signed up for! 

[JAFM]

On the November 26, 2022 cruise to the ABC's, we stopped at each island as expected.  Departed Miami, Terminal G.

[poocher]

Bonaire was our least favorite stop of the ABCs last month.  A passing weather system cancelled out snorkeling trip and, as far as I could tell, there is nothing else to do there.  We got talked into a bus tour of the island that was a nightmare.  Crowded, stuffy, driver prattled on and on about I don’t know what.  After 3 hours, we begged to be returned to the ship.  He said anyone who wanted to stay on could go to a beach.  I don’t think anyone took him up on it.