Explorer of Seas NE/Canada Cruises - How cold is it on deck?

[kcrowdis]

I will be on the 10/12/07 sailing and I am trying to decide if I need to pack my winter coat and hat for being on deck. I assume it will be cold out on the ocean.

 

Also...any idea how high the rock climbing wall is? My hubby is driving me crazy with this one! Was it crowded or will he be the only one on it EVERY DAY!

 

Thanks!

[jzerocsk]

I will be on the 10/12/07 sailing and I am trying to decide if I need to pack my winter coat and hat for being on deck. I assume it will be cold out on the ocean.

 

Also...any idea how high the rock climbing wall is? My hubby is driving me crazy with this one! Was it crowded or will he be the only one on it EVERY DAY!

 

Thanks!

I just came back from there. It gets chilly when underway. I don't know how much colder it will be 2 weeks from now, but it was not so cold that I thought I needed a heavy coat/hat. A sweatshirt and a bucket hat was fine. It was also very comfortable on the more enclosed deck 11.

 

THe rock wall...well it's 200' above the water surface :) but it's pretty short. 30' might be overestimating it. If you are an experienced climber you will likely be unimpressed. The cold air is more challenging then the routes :)

 

According to my experience and discussions with some of the staff members (in particular a Jamaican guy named Levi who can be found shivering in the skate shop - his island blood is NOT cut out for New England weather), this itinerary is pretty much a seniors cruise. The rock wall saw little use all week...we walked right on when we went. I would not expect long lines.

 

Although even though no one else was waiting, they did not offer to belay us a 2nd time when we finished. They were just like "Come back later!" I considered asking them to just let us belay each other, but there's no way they'd allow that kind of liability. So instead I asked if I could boulder if no one was on the wall. They told me they do bouldering competitions - look in the Cruise Compass. But they did not offer to let me continue climbing even thought no one was waiting.

 

Anyway, all week long I watched the Compass. Finally on Friday there was one listed. At 8PM?! I had 8:30 dinner. The next day, same time! On formal night! I was tempted to show up at the rock wall in my tux just to see their reaction. Finally on Saturday (at sea) they ran one at noon which was, of course, cancelled due to predictably wet and foggy conditions at sea. I never did get to boulder. I don't think they actually want to conduct those competitions.

[kcrowdis]

Thanks for the input...any idea if they let you bring your own harness and climbing shoes?

 

Thanks!

[Ocean Boy]

Thanks for the input...any idea if they let you bring your own harness and climbing shoes?

 

Thanks!

 

I am pretty sure they won't for liability reasons.

 

I was surprised that they did not offer to let the poster above go up the wall again after finishing a climb. I've never gone climbing on one of the ships where I didn't go up at least three times during a session. And I usually go to two different sessions. I've been up Explorer's wall six times.

[jzerocsk]

I am pretty sure they won't for liability reasons.

 

I was surprised that they did not offer to let the poster above go up the wall again after finishing a climb. I've never gone climbing on one of the ships where I didn't go up at least three times during a session. And I usually go to two different sessions. I've been up Explorer's wall six times.

 

Maybe not a harness, but I bet they'd let you use your own shoes if you wanted. Although the shoes were decent 5.10 Spire and seemed to be in pretty good shape. Only drawback is you have to wear socks. Shoes/harness don't take up a whole lot of space so it might not hurt to bring them along in case they say it's ok.

 

Not sure why they didn't let me go up again...maybe the staff were feeling lazy, maybe I just didn't push enough. I climb regularly so I didn't really flat-out ask to go up again, but they certainly didn't say "How about another try?" The tone seemed more like "You're done. Come back another time."

 

Fun time either way. Didn't they used to give you a shipshape dollar for open climbing?