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*Explorer of the Seas - Review 10/29-Bermuda* Finally!

raina*faith

By raina*faith,
in Royal Caribbean International

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raina*faith

raina*faith

Posted
Posted

*WELCOME*

I'm going to give my review of the EOS and try to give help to anyone else thinking about trying RCCL. If you have any questions about the trip itself feel free to ask. I wrote out what we were doing by time from memory so, I’ll do my best to remember. (maybe with notes)

About Us:

Family of 4 (2 teen girls)

Traveled with SIL and BIL (2 older daughters)

Reserved a 14 passenger van: Dial 7 Limo/Van Service Phone: 1-212-777-7777

Leaving from: Far Rockaway at 9:30 am (no traffic on Sunday!!)

8 people 14 bags of luggage (WOW!)

Reached the Port: 10:15 am

Moderate Traffic after 11:30 am

Our Itinerary:

October 29-November 3

Bermuda Bound 2 days (Tuesday and Wednesday)

I started planning this cruise a year ago for my family and hoped this would be a cruise my girls would always remember! Royal Caribbean did not let me down.

Embarkation~ We arrived at the pier and thought we would be the first to arrive. Not so, it was busy already and we saw a few people going through security. We gathered all our bags and did the same. Put your luggage tags on before you reach the pier. Enough said. Just do it. My sister in law waited until we got to the pier and her family waited for her. Mine (all bags all clearly tagged with “pom-poms” that my girls and I made and the luggage tags given by RCCL) were already done and we proceeded through security like a breeze. Security is not very big, so I assume with 1000 or more people arriving at peak time (12-3pm) you will be waiting outside. It was freezing with the wind blowing that day, so again, I’m glad we got there early. Once through security we went to a waiting room on the other side of the check in counters. Here is where you wait to get on board. They will have a sign that says Boarding bus # ___. A young lady dressed in RCCL attire will come and give you a number that lets you know what bus you are on. We were bus #1 of course. Oh, before I forget, they will not let you take pictures of the ship from the pier. So take pictures of the tear drop! Absolutely amazing and beautiful! From Russia to us. In remembrance of 911. Pick up your copy of the Bayonne paper while your there, it’s free! They do have orange juice and water available for free or 2 big vending machines on the other side of the restrooms. During our wait time, they called us over to the check-in counter a few people or a group at a time. Have your ONLINE check-in forms ready and a picture ID. (they punched my girls card with a hole to show they are teens). That’s all we had to do and within about 5 minutes we were getting our picture taken for our sea pass card and a family shot in front of the RCCL Explorer of the seas! At noon they start boarding. Wedding parties go first, so they can get married and guests not sailing, can get off the ship!! Around 12:10 we were called for our bus and on our way. As soon as we boarded the ship, we went in the elevators to the 11th deck for lunch. At the entrance, was were we purchased the soda card for the girls. (well a sticker that said coke). No fuss at all. And we then went to eat. Our table attendant, Marlon found us a table for 8 and we all relaxed and looked out of the window and enjoyed the view while eating. Not cold food and the lemonade was quite tasty. Our bags were at our door by the time we got back from the muster drill (promptly at 4:30pm). It was really too cold to stay out side for the show of going under the Verranzano Bridge, but I did it anyway! DO NOT MISS THIS!! It was truly amazing. My husband also made it on to the Cruise Video. Their photo/camera people are everywhere!! (Paparazzi)

Sunday:

Arrive at Ship 11:30 the latest

Arrive at Room 1:00 pm

Mel make reservations for Portifino’s for Thursday Evening

1:00 – 4:00 pm Adventure Ocean

1:30 pm Lunch at the Windjammer (if hungry)

4:30 pm Muster Drill

5:45 pm meet for dinner at the windjammer

8:50 pm Register at Teen Adventure Ocean (didn’t have to do, there weren’t that many teens)

9:30 pm Family Karaoke Night in the Maharajah Deck 5

10:45 pm Welcome Aboard Parade Deck 5

11:00 pm Teen bon voyage party

GRADE: A+ and 2 thumbs up!

1st Sea Day~

Monday: As we all were excited there was so much to do and it seemed so little time. Our room was 9640 (balcony) and 9641. The girls were directly across from us. Our stateroom attendant was Ernesto. Just really quick on the rooms. Everyday, our room was cleaned and vacuumed 3 times a day. I don’t know if it was because he was just that good or we were just that messy! It was so nice to see the room clean every time we returned. Excellent Job Ernesto. (no new bedding, but new sheets and covers, very comfy and new) You will have your cruise compass on the bed every day and coupons galore.

 

9:00 am walk a mile (sky bar-deck 12)

1:00 – 2:00pm Planet Ice tickets available (deck 3)

1:30 pm meet Cruise Critic gang at sky bar (family)

 

3:00 pm Scrapbook workshop (Jazz lounge deck 14) (I’m a “scrapper” so I had a lot of these things already- it really was for beginners)

3:15 pm learn to play piano (Jazz lounge deck 14) (fun)

SHOPPING

6:00 pm meet for formal dinner

10:45 – midnight Adult Karaoke (Maharajas Lounge Deck 5)

12:15 pm Adult Comedy Show

GRADE: A- (There was just more I wanted to do and I didn’t get enough sleep I think)

1st day in Bermuda~

Tuesday: (Bermuda)

Took our own cab ride into Hamilton after getting on the ferry. If you want an excellent/educational cab ride in Bermuda, see Ivan!! He was awesome! We went to the following places and spent ½ the day with him!

Elbow Bay – and had lunch (very expensive – $15 for a burger)

Michael Douglas’ child hood home – Ariel Sands

The mouth of the volcano

The Premieres home

The Governors mansion

The botanical gardens

Fort Hamilton (cute button trees!)

6:00 meet for dinner

10:30 pm Love and Marriage Show (the place theater) decks 3 & 4

11:15 pm pool-side buffet (not to be missed)

GRADE: A+ Wonderful day!

2nd day in Bermuda~

Wednesday: (Bermuda) (time was shortened due to the ship leaving early)

Our excursion was snorkeling. It was going to be on the catamaran, but due to the ship leaving early, we had to choose another one. Unfortunately, we booked this 2 months ahead of time and didn’t know they cancelled our first one. We had 20 minutes to get ready for this excursion (we did it and it was amazing) It was run by Fantasea and the captain was the best!!

6:00 meet for dinner

9:00 pm Fast forward show in the Palace Theater (very good)

10:00 pm Dancing through the decades (Maharajas Lounge) (not that hot)

GRADE: B+ Wonderful day! (didn’t like the excursion mix up – or the boat having to leave early)

2nd Sea Day~

I was glad today was another sea day. I think the salt water drained me some. My girls were again tied up with AO. Today they had a pool party in the adult solarium (Teens Only)

3:00 pm Planet Ice Show

9:00 pm Farewell show (very good- don’t miss)

Dinner at Portifino’s (very upscale, but honestly thought the dining room was just as elegant) the had a $30,000 cappuccino machine!!

SHOPPING

I think this was the night for the Gala Buffet for seeing and then for eating

GRADE: A+ (great day)

 

Disembarkation~

 

Not my favorite part of the cruise. 7:30 am I woke up family to get ready for breakfast and get ready to leave the ship, they didn’t want to, of course, so this was the hard part for me. They just didn’t want to leave. We kept hearing people’s names being called and didn’t know what it was for until someone told us. They wont let you off the boat if someone hasn’t paid their bill!! With that in mind, we basically we stayed in the Windjammer and ate breakfast until 9:30 or so and they finally began to call colors (lavendar, pink, white) none of which were ours. It just seemed to take a long time. All the lower decks had people sitting on the stairs, in the hallways, it was way too crowded. We stayed on the 11th deck and hung out by the elevators where there were some chairs from people who had just left. When they called our color, which was by 10:00 we were really glad. Not just because it was our color, but because the elevators were coming from the top decks down, we got on an empty elevator to the 1st deck and by the time we reached the 5th deck the elevator was packed with people. If we were on the 5th deck we wouldn’t have gotten a ride. We were down to deck 1 in like 2 minutes. (helpful too because of my husband’s hip problems) The line to get out was cramed like cattle and smelled just as bad. I guess it was Jersey chemicals or something, but ewww!

We got back on the bus (that was waiting for us) that brought us back to the main terminal and went to the place where our luggage was. (not far at all) Everything was arranged by color (and the number on your tag). All of our bags were together. There were plenty of porters to help carry your luggage through customs and Customs??? What a cinch!! We gave them our sheet and showed him our liquor box and he let us through, no fuss again! The worst part was waiting for the people who didn’t pay their bill so they could start calling colors!!

GRADE: C-(didn’t’ want to leave!!) [/b]Heavy Traffic at this time

Misc. Ramblings:

Casino~ Smoky and full of the same people for hours at a time!

Deck 5 Shopping~ Wonderful. Lots of RCCL stuff to buy and shopping is always a great excursion.

Bermuda Shopping~ My niece brought a tiffany bracelet for about $175 with no tax! I brought a table cloth from the Irish Linen shop.

Fast food in Bermuda~ KFC is the only fast food restaurant in Bermuda (so our guide told us)

Adventure Ocean~ Can’t say enough about it. Not once did I have to worry about my girls and what they were up to. They had their own “teen” club and the counselors were young and full of energy!

They did:

Rock wall climbing (2x)

Ice skating (3x)

Toga Party

Teen Only – dinners, lunches, pool parties

Scavenger hunts

Meet & greets in the lounge

Johnny rockets (1x)

Had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

In-line skating

Battle of the sexes

Note: we also gave them a spending limit of $50. Happy to say they did not go over it!

Overall, I have no complaints (well major ones). It was a fantastic trip and we would definitely do the Explorer again. Sorry this was so long, I have a lot more to say, but didn’t want to bore anyone!!

A Big Plus: Cruise Critic Friends!! I wouldn't have had such a great time with out my friends on Cruise Critic!! (any you know who you are!!) Use all the tips you can from them. That's how I got my RCCL robe!! :D

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rsscaptain

rsscaptain

Posted
Posted

Thanks! Great review and I like the way your wrote it in terms of the bullet points. I never care about embarkation or debarkation, so I tend to skim. When someone blends it all together I tend to loose interest. With your's I felt like I could read what interested me. Then I went back and read the rest! LOL :D

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Sue L

Sue L

Posted
Posted
Great review, MotherHen!! Thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

Now, only 11 more months to go.....wahhhh!!!! :( :p

 

Oh, and how exactly did you get your robe? Just by asking??

 

 

Christie, we got robes also. On the first day we just told the steward we forgot ours and gave him a tip. Later that night they magically appeared. I plan to do it on our cruise in March also.:D

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KarinaGW

KarinaGW

Posted
Posted
Great review, MotherHen!! Thanks for taking the time to write it!

Now, only 11 more months to go.....wahhhh!!!! :( :p

 

Oh, and how exactly did you get your robe? Just by asking??

Christie -

 

When in October... I'm doing the Oct. 7 Bermuda.

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aqhacruiser

aqhacruiser

Posted
Posted

*WELCOME*

 

I'm going to give my review of the EOS and try to give help to anyone else thinking about trying RCCL. If you have any questions about the trip itself feel free to ask. I wrote out what we were doing by time from memory so, I’ll do my best to remember. (maybe with notes)

 

About Us:

Family of 4 (2 teen girls)

Traveled with SIL and BIL (2 older daughters)

Reserved a 14 passenger van: Dial 7 Limo/Van Service Phone: 1-212-777-7777

Leaving from: Far Rockaway at 9:30 am (no traffic on Sunday!!)

8 people 14 bags of luggage (WOW!)

Reached the Port: 10:15 am

Moderate Traffic after 11:30 am

 

Our Itinerary:

October 29-November 3

Bermuda Bound 2 days (Tuesday and Wednesday)

 

I started planning this cruise a year ago for my family and hoped this would be a cruise my girls would always remember! Royal Caribbean did not let me down.

 

Embarkation~ We arrived at the pier and thought we would be the first to arrive. Not so, it was busy already and we saw a few people going through security. We gathered all our bags and did the same. Put your luggage tags on before you reach the pier. Enough said. Just do it. My sister in law waited until we got to the pier and her family waited for her. Mine (all bags all clearly tagged with “pom-poms” that my girls and I made and the luggage tags given by RCCL) were already done and we proceeded through security like a breeze. Security is not very big, so I assume with 1000 or more people arriving at peak time (12-3pm) you will be waiting outside. It was freezing with the wind blowing that day, so again, I’m glad we got there early. Once through security we went to a waiting room on the other side of the check in counters. Here is where you wait to get on board. They will have a sign that says Boarding bus # ___. A young lady dressed in RCCL attire will come and give you a number that lets you know what bus you are on. We were bus #1 of course. Oh, before I forget, they will not let you take pictures of the ship from the pier. So take pictures of the tear drop! Absolutely amazing and beautiful! From Russia to us. In remembrance of 911. Pick up your copy of the Bayonne paper while your there, it’s free! They do have orange juice and water available for free or 2 big vending machines on the other side of the restrooms. During our wait time, they called us over to the check-in counter a few people or a group at a time. Have your ONLINE check-in forms ready and a picture ID. (they punched my girls card with a hole to show they are teens). That’s all we had to do and within about 5 minutes we were getting our picture taken for our sea pass card and a family shot in front of the RCCL Explorer of the seas! At noon they start boarding. Wedding parties go first, so they can get married and guests not sailing, can get off the ship!! Around 12:10 we were called for our bus and on our way. As soon as we boarded the ship, we went in the elevators to the 11th deck for lunch. At the entrance, was were we purchased the soda card for the girls. (well a sticker that said coke). No fuss at all. And we then went to eat. Our table attendant, Marlon found us a table for 8 and we all relaxed and looked out of the window and enjoyed the view while eating. Not cold food and the lemonade was quite tasty. Our bags were at our door by the time we got back from the muster drill (promptly at 4:30pm). It was really too cold to stay out side for the show of going under the Verranzano Bridge, but I did it anyway! DO NOT MISS THIS!! It was truly amazing. My husband also made it on to the Cruise Video. Their photo/camera people are everywhere!! (Paparazzi)

Sunday:

Arrive at Ship 11:30 the latest

Arrive at Room 1:00 pm

Mel make reservations for Portifino’s for Thursday Evening

1:00 – 4:00 pm Adventure Ocean

1:30 pm Lunch at the Windjammer (if hungry)

4:30 pm Muster Drill

5:45 pm meet for dinner at the windjammer

8:50 pm Register at Teen Adventure Ocean (didn’t have to do, there weren’t that many teens)

9:30 pm Family Karaoke Night in the Maharajah Deck 5

10:45 pm Welcome Aboard Parade Deck 5

11:00 pm Teen bon voyage party

GRADE: A+ and 2 thumbs up!

 

1st Sea Day~

Monday: As we all were excited there was so much to do and it seemed so little time. Our room was 9640 (balcony) and 9641. The girls were directly across from us. Our stateroom attendant was Ernesto. Just really quick on the rooms. Everyday, our room was cleaned and vacuumed 3 times a day. I don’t know if it was because he was just that good or we were just that messy! It was so nice to see the room clean every time we returned. Excellent Job Ernesto. (no new bedding, but new sheets and covers, very comfy and new) You will have your cruise compass on the bed every day and coupons galore.

 

 

9:00 am walk a mile (sky bar-deck 12)

1:00 – 2:00pm Planet Ice tickets available (deck 3)

1:30 pm meet Cruise Critic gang at sky bar (family)

 

3:00 pm Scrapbook workshop (Jazz lounge deck 14) (I’m a “scrapper” so I had a lot of these things already- it really was for beginners)

3:15 pm learn to play piano (Jazz lounge deck 14) (fun)

SHOPPING

6:00 pm meet for formal dinner

10:45 – midnight Adult Karaoke (Maharajas Lounge Deck 5)

12:15 pm Adult Comedy Show

GRADE: A- (There was just more I wanted to do and I didn’t get enough sleep I think)

 

1st day in Bermuda~

Tuesday: (Bermuda)

Took our own cab ride into Hamilton after getting on the ferry. If you want an excellent/educational cab ride in Bermuda, see Ivan!! He was awesome! We went to the following places and spent ½ the day with him!

Elbow Bay – and had lunch (very expensive – $15 for a burger)

Michael Douglas’ child hood home – Ariel Sands

The mouth of the volcano

The Premieres home

The Governors mansion

The botanical gardens

Fort Hamilton (cute button trees!)

6:00 meet for dinner

10:30 pm Love and Marriage Show (the place theater) decks 3 & 4

11:15 pm pool-side buffet (not to be missed)

GRADE: A+ Wonderful day!

 

2nd day in Bermuda~

Wednesday: (Bermuda) (time was shortened due to the ship leaving early)

Our excursion was snorkeling. It was going to be on the catamaran, but due to the ship leaving early, we had to choose another one. Unfortunately, we booked this 2 months ahead of time and didn’t know they cancelled our first one. We had 20 minutes to get ready for this excursion (we did it and it was amazing) It was run by Fantasea and the captain was the best!!

6:00 meet for dinner

9:00 pm Fast forward show in the Palace Theater (very good)

10:00 pm Dancing through the decades (Maharajas Lounge) (not that hot)

GRADE: B+ Wonderful day! (didn’t like the excursion mix up – or the boat having to leave early)

 

2nd Sea Day~

I was glad today was another sea day. I think the salt water drained me some. My girls were again tied up with AO. Today they had a pool party in the adult solarium (Teens Only)

3:00 pm Planet Ice Show

9:00 pm Farewell show (very good- don’t miss)

Dinner at Portifino’s (very upscale, but honestly thought the dining room was just as elegant) the had a $30,000 cappuccino machine!!

SHOPPING

I think this was the night for the Gala Buffet for seeing and then for eating

GRADE: A+ (great day)

 

 

Disembarkation~

 

Not my favorite part of the cruise. 7:30 am I woke up family to get ready for breakfast and get ready to leave the ship, they didn’t want to, of course, so this was the hard part for me. They just didn’t want to leave. We kept hearing people’s names being called and didn’t know what it was for until someone told us. They wont let you off the boat if someone hasn’t paid their bill!! With that in mind, we basically we stayed in the Windjammer and ate breakfast until 9:30 or so and they finally began to call colors (lavendar, pink, white) none of which were ours. It just seemed to take a long time. All the lower decks had people sitting on the stairs, in the hallways, it was way too crowded. We stayed on the 11th deck and hung out by the elevators where there were some chairs from people who had just left. When they called our color, which was by 10:00 we were really glad. Not just because it was our color, but because the elevators were coming from the top decks down, we got on an empty elevator to the 1st deck and by the time we reached the 5th deck the elevator was packed with people. If we were on the 5th deck we wouldn’t have gotten a ride. We were down to deck 1 in like 2 minutes. (helpful too because of my husband’s hip problems) The line to get out was cramed like cattle and smelled just as bad. I guess it was Jersey chemicals or something, but ewww!

 

We got back on the bus (that was waiting for us) that brought us back to the main terminal and went to the place where our luggage was. (not far at all) Everything was arranged by color (and the number on your tag). All of our bags were together. There were plenty of porters to help carry your luggage through customs and Customs??? What a cinch!! We gave them our sheet and showed him our liquor box and he let us through, no fuss again! The worst part was waiting for the people who didn’t pay their bill so they could start calling colors!!

GRADE: C-(didn’t’ want to leave!!)[/b]Heavy Traffic at this time

 

Misc. Ramblings:

Casino~ Smoky and full of the same people for hours at a time!

 

Deck 5 Shopping~ Wonderful. Lots of RCCL stuff to buy and shopping is always a great excursion.

 

Bermuda Shopping~ My niece brought a tiffany bracelet for about $175 with no tax! I brought a table cloth from the Irish Linen shop.

 

Fast food in Bermuda~ KFC is the only fast food restaurant in Bermuda (so our guide told us)

 

Adventure Ocean~ Can’t say enough about it. Not once did I have to worry about my girls and what they were up to. They had their own “teen” club and the counselors were young and full of energy!

 

They did:

Rock wall climbing (2x)

Ice skating (3x)

Toga Party

Teen Only – dinners, lunches, pool parties

Scavenger hunts

Meet & greets in the lounge

Johnny rockets (1x)

Had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

In-line skating

Battle of the sexes

Note: we also gave them a spending limit of $50. Happy to say they did not go over it!

 

Overall, I have no complaints (well major ones). It was a fantastic trip and we would definitely do the Explorer again. Sorry this was so long, I have a lot more to say, but didn’t want to bore anyone!!

 

A Big Plus: Cruise Critic Friends!! I wouldn't have had such a great time with out my friends on Cruise Critic!! (any you know who you are!!) Use all the tips you can from them. That's how I got my RCCL robe!! :D

 

 

Motherhen, Great review! It was a great cruise wasn't it?! I loved every second of it and we were so fortunate we had perfect weather in Bermuda. We did see the KFC while we were walking around Hamilton! I have to say that I enjoyed the Dockyard area more but I did enjoy the ferry ride to Hamilton and seeing the islands and the beautiful homes. Still in major withdrawal! May have to jump on NCL in Jan. just to make it to June! :D

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