Explorer - Aug 13th - Greece and Croatia

[Billy Baltic]

We sailed on Explorer on August 13^th for a 7 night Greece and Croatia cruise. Itinerary was Split, Athens, Santorini and Katakolon. We stayed one night pre-cruise in Ravenna and a couple of nights in Venice after the cruise.

 

General thoughts as follows in no particular order:

 

Ravenna is a lovely place to get into holiday mode. It’s a very relaxed town which is easily walkable with lots of good dining options. Boarding was very straightforward. There was a small queue around noon when we reached the port, but it cleared quickly and there was shade while waiting.

 

The bar staff in general were good, especially at the Tavern Bar where we found they engaged more with the customers.

 

We enjoyed the gameshows laid on by the entertainment staff. The nighttime parties on top deck were a particular hit.

 

The ice show is excellent.

 

Overall, the staff were efficient and mostly friendly. I say mostly because I’ve never noticed so many RC staff doing their job but without a smile. It was like they were coldly efficient.

 

We only ate in one speciality restaurant – Giovannis – and that was excellent. The windjammer quality was good, but the selection was limited. In the past I recall the salad counter at lunch being very impressive. I struggled to find it on this cruise.  The food in the main dining room was good but sometimes cold and had to be sent back. When you were eating the starter, you could see the main courses coming out and being kept with plastic lids a short distance away. Why?? This particularly bugged us. Its obvious food will get cold when it leaves the kitchen so early. When the head waiter called to our table, we told him of our observations. His response was that a high rating on the survey was very important to him and his staff. He was more concerned with the survey, than why they might get poor ratings.

 

Explorer is showing her age and our stateroom was showing the signs. Some of the drawers wouldn’t stay closed if items were placed in them, hinges on some doors were lose or wobbly, the fittings around the bathroom mirror had rust, etc. When we boarded, we had to get the air-con in the room looked at as it was very hot. Maintenance came and repaired one unit but said the other did not work. As it turned out one was enough to keep the room cool, thankfully. The water in the shower was initially too cold. Another call to maintenance resulted in the water being way too hot, with no way to adjust it. When they called again, they were able to get the shower temperature adjustable, but the sink taps never had fully cold water. This was a bugbear of mine as I dislike brushing my teeth in warm water.

 

When Explorer entered dry dock earlier in the year, the only significant change was the addition of water slides. The two water slides were only working for the first day of the cruise. After that one of them was shutdown due to a leak from the slide. As a result, the queue for the remaining water slide was crazy. IMO the money would have been much better spent improving the overall appearance of the ship. In particular, the toilets around the ship need some attention. There always seemed to cubicles or urinals out of order and the associated smell which goes with that.

 

The once-a-day room service was a big deal for us. This was a family holiday and my daughter slept on the sofa bed. With once-a-day service it was constantly out. Our stateroom attendant was clear on day 1 that he could only do morning or evening. If we choose morning, he would make the bed but leave it out as he wouldn’t be able to make it that evening. If we choose evening, it would obviously be out all day too. We talked with the deck supervisor to ask if they could be more flexible, but they wouldn’t budge on that. We also found that the bin was frequently overflowing with rubbish, especially empty water bottles. If it was just myself and my wife, one room service a day would probably not be an issue. When the sofa bed is in use , IMO it’s not practical.

 

We’ve been to Santorini before and it is fabulous but the day we were there with Explorer there were 4 other cruise ships the same day. The tendering process was very efficient, but it was chaotic at the harbour. An elderly couple arrived on the same tender as us and were immediately intimidated by the crowds and jostling to get in the queue for the cable car. They got on the next tender back to the ship. We got the boat to Oia and the bus back to Fira. It worked quite well for us, but it was still uncomfortably busy in Fira. We took the steps back down to the harbour. We didn’t even bother looking at the queue for the cable car. Quite a few people seemed to take the steps down. If you are relatively mobile it is a good option.

 

The post cruise transfer with RC from Ravenna to Venice Troncetto was very efficient. The bus was comfortable and had good air con.

 

Venice is fabulous and surprisingly inexpensive for food and drink, even 5 mins walk from St Marks. Watch out for the mosquitos. They dined out on me and my wife and its taken a week for some of them to heal.

 

Overall, we had a very good holiday, but the RC part of the holiday was a long way off WOW. I know people will say they love Explorer, or this isn’t our experience. That’s fine. All I can relay is our experience. YMMV.

In general, we would probably use Ravenna in the future if we spotted a ship/itinerary that particularly interested us but only if travelling through Bologna. For us, Venice (Marco Polo) is too far from Ravenna. Our private transfer from Bologna to Ravenna was approx. 1 hour. The transfer from Ravenna to Venice is 2.5 hours.

We are already booked on Odyssey for next Summer. We’ve looking at MSC as an alternative for other cruises. We booked Odyssey at approx. 5K Euro for a JS for 2 adults and 2 kids. The current pricing is over 11K for the same room. The price point of RC no longer makes sense for us, even with Diamond benefits the cost is just gone far beyond anything related to inflation. Good luck to them while they can get those prices but it won’t be from us.

[FionaMG]

Interesting and helpful review. Thanks for sharing. ☺️

[Tin can]

Interesting report and we were on 20th August Explorer sailing - Greece and Montenegro.

 

We also had problems with our shower (cold then hot) and we were in one of the new cabins on deck 12 at the front but our experience was we have never seen such happy staff and the food was a hundred times better than our Anthem cruise at Easter from Cape Liberty. This was the overwhelming opinion of our FB group as well so strange how experiences change one week apart.

 

Just out of interest did you have a really large majority of Italian and Spanish passengers. Sailing from Italy we expected a large number of 'locals' but Brits and folks from the US were massively in the minority and we absolutely loved sailing with the Italians, so much fun they just never stopped.

 

Dress code was something else as well, Casual nights was very Casual (I have no issue with that) but formal nights wow..... it was like a Gucci, Prada, Versace fashion show. 

 

Like you we enjoyed a stay in Ravenna, we organised though our own Venice and Bologna transfers ourselves on the train.

 

I note your comment about the cost for next year, its small margins I think as all the boxes were ticked for us (perhaps more luck than judgement) and we got a real bang for our buck. This wasn't the case at all on Anthem from New York though at Easter so I know exactly where you are coming from and if this one hadn't already been booked I don't think we would have taken it.

 

[Billy Baltic]

10 minutes ago, Tin can said:

the food was a hundred times better than our Anthem cruise at Easter from Cape Liberty. This was the overwhelming opinion of our FB group as well so strange how experiences change one week apart.

 

Just out of interest did you have a really large majority of Italian and Spanish passengers. Sailing from Italy we expected a large number of 'locals' but Brits and folks from the US were massively in the minority and we absolutely loved sailing with the Italians, so much fun they just never stopped.

 

The food would have been fine if it was consistently hot. We were on early dining and it seemed quiet in the dining room (deck 5). 

 

Yes, we had a very large and colourful Italian and Spanish contingent. There was also a relativly large number of British and Irish. 

 

 

[irishgal432]

We head out soon!  We are doing the Oia on your own to avoid the choas.  We get off first and get to oia quickly. hopefully.  Our plan is to walk along the cost versus using the bus to return.  Does the public bus stop at multiple places in case we do not want to do the whole six mile trek. Also do you have to have euros or can you use apple pay?

Edited August 28, 2023 by irishgal432

[Billy Baltic]

40 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

We head out soon!  We are doing the Oia on your own to avoid the choas.  We get off first and get to oia quickly. hopefully.  Our plan is to walk along the cost versus using the bus to return.  Does the public bus stop at multiple places in case we do not want to do the whole six mile trek. Also do you have to have euros or can you use apple pay?

 

We got off and bought the ticket at the harbour for Oia. That cost 30Euro (payable in cash or card) for an adult and covered the boat to Oia and a direct bus back to Fira. We didn't use or investigate the public bus. There was no queue for the boat to Oia or the bus to Fira.

 

The coast walk sounds incredible but the day we were there it would have been too hot for us.to do that. The boat journey from the harbour to Oia harbour is approx 20mins. That probably translates to a 2 - 3 hour walk.

 

You most likely considered this but you can factor getting off your ship first but the other ships in port could have thousands of people already disembarked.

[irishgal432]

16 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

 

We got off and bought the ticket at the harbour for Oia. That cost 30Euro (payable in cash or card) for an adult and covered the boat to Oia and a direct bus back to Fira. We didn't use or investigate the public bus. There was no queue for the boat to Oia or the bus to Fira.

 

The coast walk sounds incredible but the day we were there it would have been too hot for us.to do that. The boat journey from the harbour to Oia harbour is approx 20mins. That probably translates to a 2 - 3 hour walk.

 

You most likely considered this but you can factor getting off your ship first but the other ships in port could have thousands of people already disembarked.

I had checked. We have 4 ships in port. UGH!  We get in with msc at 7,so that is why we went with the RC excursion to get us off first and tickets already bought for the cable car.  We are late September so for sure will have to factor the weather.  We can  catch the bus back to Fira and do a shorter roundtrip walk.  Have to look at things to do in Fira as far as resturants and sites.

[little britain]

@irishgal432

 

 

[sgmn]

Just been speaking to my neighbour who just did explorer 20th Aug. She was a first time cruiser travelling with multiple family members 

She enjoyed it and thought the food in MTD was good but got fed up with the constant demands for 10 in the surveys .

The kids enjoyed the kids club and water slides but she said the ship was packed and the one small swim pool was not enough.

She did say it's unlikely they will cruise again in the near future as she preferred a hotel or villa based holiday 

[sgmn]

3 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

Does the public bus stop at multiple places in case we do not want to do the whole six mile trek. Also do you have to have euros or can you use apple pay?

I don't recall the bus ever stopping, it is a hot and dusty trek with little shade. Take plenty of water 

[mapleleaves]

2 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

I had checked. We have 4 ships in port. UGH!  We get in with msc at 7,so that is why we went with the RC excursion to get us off first and tickets already bought for the cable car.  We are late September so for sure will have to factor the weather.  We can  catch the bus back to Fira and do a shorter roundtrip walk.  Have to look at things to do in Fira as far as resturants and sites.

Unfortunately there is only one line at the cable car entrance so having a prepaid ticket won't get you in any sooner.  The bus from Oia to Fira only makes one stop, in Imerovigli.  A taxi is around 30E but they are pretty scarce so best to have a reservation.

[little britain]

Sorry looks like my pics wouldn’t load! 

[akb5k]

12 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

We head out soon!  We are doing the Oia on your own to avoid the choas.  We get off first and get to oia quickly. hopefully.  Our plan is to walk along the cost versus using the bus to return.  Does the public bus stop at multiple places in case we do not want to do the whole six mile trek. Also do you have to have euros or can you use apple pay?

Yes stops in multiple places. You will see designated bus stops but also you can flag it down if you're in an area the bus can stop safely. You need cash (Euros) for the fare. In Fira or Oia you pay as you board, otherwise just get on and a fare collector will find you on board and ask your destination. To get off before the final destination you need to yell out for the driver to stop, otherwise he will keep going.