Explorer of the Seas 4/11-20 Review

[ontheopenseas]

Explorer of the Seas 4/11/08 Review- Part I

 

 

We just returned from a wonderful adventure aboard the Explorer of the Seas! Although I had high hopes for this trip, my actual experiences managed to greatly surpass my pre-trip daydreams!

 

Our group- Me (a 42 year old tour guide and museum educator), DH (a 42 year old CTO who was on his longest vacation EVER!), my brave SIL (an executive secretary who will turn 40 next month), DS (17 who loves to run and will be heading off to college next year) and DD (almost 15, a freshman in high school who just loves to socialize!).

 

Bayonne Port Parking and Check In- We arrived at the port at about 11:00 a.m. There was no problem with dropping off our luggage and DH quickly parking the car. we walked into the terminal and through security and then waited for about 5 minutes for DH to join us. Parking was $144 for the week. We paid by charge card. Check-in was very organized, friendly and simple. Buses started going to the ship at about 11:30. Once on board we split into two groups- DH and DS went to TRY and obtain a cybercabin and the girls went off to make our Savor Luncheon and Portofino reservation. We had to search for someone to make our reservations because they hadn’t even started taking them yet. Our quick ascent to the 11th floor was our first of many step workouts! Needless to say, we were successful in getting everything we asked for. DH wasn’t so lucky. He arrived with a deflated look on his face. ¡Qué Horror! He was told that ALL of the cybercabins were broken and wouldn’t be available for the entire nine day trip! Yikes, this might mean that he’d have to spend more time relaxing! In reality it did cause him some stress since there was something that he needed to take care of for work before he could start to relax. More on the cybercabin later.

 

Our staterooms- We had two connecting balconies in rooms 7106 and 7108. SIL and the two kids shared one room:eek: (see why I called SIL brave?!). The rooms were pretty tight but adequate. I had called shortly before the trip to check that they had on file that one room would have the beds together and the other the beds apart. When we arrived, both beds were together so I had to put in a request right away to have one set moved apart. There is only so much sacrifice that we could expect from my SIL! Our stateroom attendant was Nadine. It seemed she was having a bit of a rough week. We had to leave three notes and a couple requests before we finally had the refrigerators emptied. It also took a few days before my kids started to receive their Teen Compasses. We had asked for a third chair for the kids’ balcony and she kept telling us over and over how she was getting it for us without us even bringing it up, but as far as I know, it’s still not there! There were a few other things that either weren’t done or took a bit of prompting to have done. Actually though, none of these things were really a big deal and Nadine was so friendly and personable that it was impossible to get upset over these little things. Besides a few hours of sleep, there were never three people in the kids room to use the three chairs anyway, my kids were too busy out and about having a great time!

 

Cruise Critic and Roll Call- I received so much helpful information from these boards prior to our trip. There is no way that our trip would have been as successful without all the tips and insight that I received here. There were many options and activities that I would have missed. Thank you all so much! I was also very lucky to have an active Roll Call with a great group of enthusiastic, kind and fun loving people! It was so much fun to have a whole group of people to anticipate and plan with, my vacation was off to a great start before I even stepped foot on the ship! We participated in the following activities on board: 1. Sailaway Party strlboo had arranged for us to have a Sailaway Party in Dizzy's lounge. It was pretty cold and rainy outside so it was nice to be inside. It was great to meet lots of folks on the first day. What would prove to be even more important, my kids met other teens right away. This gave them motivation to later attend the Teen Meet and set them on the course for a fabulous, fun-filled vacation! 2. Meet and Mingle It’s great that Royal Caribbean helps to organize this activity! They provided us with some h’orderves (I never had a chance to see what they were). There were a few officers there but I can’t remember who they were. They gave out 2 or 3 raffle prizes. Each CC member also received a nice seapass holder that had a pen and pad with it. We had also organized a grab bag. Each participant was asked to provide a grab bag valued at $10-15 that contained something representative of their state or town. I received a wonderful grab bag with Heinz Ketchup items, syrup and lots of other goodies from the state of PA. I’m still wondering who ended up with our stuff. The grab bags were real imaginative and fun. We also played a mingle game. Sometimes at these things people show up (or don't show up) and after all of the on-line conversation don’t say two words to each other. The mingle game was an easy way to converse with each other. It was set up on a sheet of paper for each participant as a 6x6 box grid with things in each box such as Swam with a Dolphin or Stingray, Forgot to Pack Something, Plays an Instrument, etc. The object was to go around the room to find someone who fit one of the boxes and then write in their name. We also had some categories that pertained to things that were discussed on our roll call. At the end the person with the most filled boxes won a prize. It was an insulated backpack with a variety of items inside. 3. Cabin Crawl/Poker Run This was a lot of fun! Five people generously volunteered to share their home away from home with the rest of us. Although no one had an inside or promenade cabin, we did see a balcony handicap cabin, an E2, a jr. suite, a grand suite and an owner’s suite (I think I have that straight). It was quite interesting to see what clean cabins look like! With two teenagers there was no way that I would have been brave enough to volunteer our cabins, it would have taken me most of vacation to get them in order! While we toured, strlboo was nice enough to read the statistics for each category of stateroom that we were visiting. It was also great to have time to chat along the way. For the poker run, each group chipped in $5 at the start. srtlboo’s wife handed out one playing card to each group as we exited each room. At the end we had our full hand of cards! I’m happy to say that my fellow roll call members helped to pay off my sea pass account!:D My SIL and I won with a pair of Aces! 4. CC Luncheon This was held following the cabin crawl on the second to last sea day. SunnyAZGirl was nice enough to run all over the whole ship dropping off reminder notices (she had made a list of our staterooms ahead of time). We met at the dining room and they nicely set up tables for a group of about 30 of us. It was great to have a chance to discuss our vacations together. Besides the organized activities, it was wonderful to see so many familiar smiling faces all over the ship and in port. I truly enjoyed the many conversations and laughs with my new CC friends throughout the cruise!

 

Food I would say that the food was generally good to very good throughout the cruise.

 

Windjammer I had lunch in the Windjammer twice. Both times I thought the selection was great. The hot food was hot and the cold food was cold. There were also choices to appease finicky eaters and choices for those who are a bit more adventurous. We did not have any trouble finding a seat. Don’t forget to take your silverware at the beginning of the buffet line. Also, if you’re going to need a spoon, they are not in the rolled up napkin so make sure you take one of those too (and make sure you have a big mouth, the spoons are LARGE!). Most mornings my SIL and I hit the Windjammer for breakfast after walking the track. I basically just had some fruit with a ½ bagel or yogurt. I tried the free “orange juice” and it is pretty terrible. We took our food back to the cabin to eat on the balcony. I did have the French Toast on the last day and it was good. The one thing that I missed that I enjoyed on my other cruises was grapefruit. The kids said that they had this in the dining room. I never made it there for breakfast. I would have liked to have tried the buffet at dinner, but we enjoyed the company of our tablemates so much, I wasn’t willing to give that up!

Promenade Café YUM!!!! This was one of my favorite places on the ship. They had great ice cold water here. The coconut ranger cookies were one of my favorite foods on the ship. The little sandwiches that they had there were also very fresh and tasty. The pizza was pretty good, not great. I didn’t realize until the second to last day that there was a sign with a specialty pizza on it. It was supposed to be pepper pizza. It wasn’t ready when I ordered it and after I waited for it, the girl apologized saying it wasn’t what was on the sign. I don’t remember what it ended up being but it contained my arch enemy-the onion! The next day it was something strange like chicken and potato so I never did taste any of the specialty pizza. Keep an eye out for the sign sitting on the counter or you probably won’t realize there is a third choice (they always had cheese and pepperoni). DH also bought a few Ben and Jerry Ice Creams here.

Dining Room We had Aran for our server and Rebecca as his assistant. Aran was very conscientious and professional. He seemed to sincerely want to make our dining experience as pleasant as possible. Rebecca was very quiet but made sure our bread plates and glasses were always full. DH loves bread and she picked up on this right away and just kept it coming! We asked to be seated at a large table. They only seated one other couple with us. When I first saw them approaching I was a bit apprehensive. The husband was retired and they were grandparents. I was worried that they would be unhappy to have to sit with my bunch. Well, I hope I’m accurate in saying that it worked out great. We really enjoyed their company and it was fun to compare notes from the day. I really do wonder how RCCL decides on tablemates though. If they were looking for other couples to hang around with during the cruise, surely a family of five including two teenagers wouldn’t be the best match for them! The food itself ranged from good to very good with a couple of misses thrown in. The shrimp cocktail was a bit watery but ok. The menus ended up getting switched around even from what was shown on the compass. Because of this, we missed Italian Night with the singing waiters since we were in Portofino that night (our waiter did have the warm chocolate cake made for us for the last night though). There was a “new” menu one night. I think the only difference was a change in the fish. DS and I had it and it wasn’t very good. It had no flavor at all and tasted like a bunch of bread crumbs had just been thrown on it. There is supposed to be another "new" menu this week but I think the only change will be the fish again. The other thing that was pretty awful was the wild mushroom and goat cheese pizza. I had been assured by the waiter that it didn’t contain onions. It had tons of onions! Also, the crust tasted like a microwaved Boboli, yuck! The spinach dip was pretty watery and not very tasty too. Thanks to advice here, I did order an entree as my appetizer a couple of times. Some of the things that I did enjoy were the eggplant tower, the crabcakes, the tilapia, the lobster tails (the “ butter” seemed a little strange though) and the mahi mahi tempura. Honestly, I could have had grilled cheese and been happy every night; it was just so great to have my whole family together for dinner for nine nights in a row. Actually, my daughter could honestly say she would be happy to have had chicken Caesar salad every night because I’m horrified to say that this is exactly what she ate EVERY SINGLE NIGHT:rolleyes: including the night we ate at Portofinos! Of course, one night they made the critical error of actually putting dressing on her salad, hence making the salad actual Caesar salad, so she wouldn’t eat it (I wish I was making this up!). Sometimes she ordered chicken strips with it and a couple of times a chicken dish (which she then wouldn’t eat). DS had fruit for dessert every night since he now tries to avoid sugar (the boy weighs about as much as a duck) and DD didn’t eat dessert at all since she was too anxious to get back to her friends. You can understand why I was concerned about our tablemates getting stuck with us!:o

Johnny Rockets We ate here on our first sea day and it was a lot of fun! DH and SIL had coupons from their C&A books. We also paid for a couple of milkshakes. Plan on rolling out of here-the fries and onion rings just keep coming and coming. It’s easy to convince yourself that you haven’t eaten much since the plate is always full. The burgers were very good but very messy! It was so much fun to have the waiters sing and dance every so often while you eat. We got there when it first opened and it was quite busy.

PortofinoThe food here was excellent! I must add though that DS, who is the most adventurous eater of the bunch, said that he liked the dining room better. I think DD found her Caesar salad pretty comparable in both venues (good grief!). I had the shrimp risotto-yummy! We also shared a fried calamari which was crisp and delicious. I ordered the penne alla caminetto to share at the table and this was great too. SIL had the salad with pears and walnuts and she said that it was great. I had the seafood skewer and everything was cooked perfectly. DD did order the chicken which she took one bite out of and wouldn’t eat because it had flavor, or something like that:rolleyes: . The other three had the tenderloin and really liked it. I’m not much of a beef eater, but I tried it and found it quite tasty! I also somehow forgot to mention the bread basket. There were a variety of breads as well as some spreads and a dipping oil. We finished off our meals with the dessert sampler. The waiter instructed us on the order to eat it, lightest to heaviest. The desserts were delicious! Although the service in here was good, I wouldn’t say that it was any better than the service that we received in the dining room. This is probably because we received such great service in the dining room. It was nice to eat in a more intimate setting for one night. Our dining room table was right near a serving station so it was pretty loud in there!

Savor Luncheon I’m so glad that this was offered during our cruise. As mentioned, my SIL signed up for this upon boarding the ship. It was limited to 30 people. What they didn’t tell us when we signed up and we didn’t find out until the day before is that “elegant dress and closed shoes” are required. Well, by this time most of my clothes were shoved in a suitcase with a ton of DS’s dirty smelly running clothes! It was too late to even send something out to be laundered. I ended up wearing a pair of DD’s white capris (which I didn’t tell her about until after) and a decent top. Many people had sneakers on as these were their only closed shoes. Some also looked more “elegant” than others so I wouldn’t worry too much about the dress code, the staff didn’t seem to. The tour was great! The broke us down into two groups and we toured the galley. It is a bit slippery in there and very busy so be cautious. At times it was hard to hear our guide (I believe he was the head chef) since there was so much activity going on around us and the space was limited. He had a lot of great information and it was wonderful to hear about what goes on behind the scenes. The meal itself was fabulous too!!!! As we entered the room we were each given a Margarita, there was lots of alcohol to follow. The tables were set up in a giant rectangle with a lovely ice sculpture in the cent. Each place was set with our very own chef hat and place card (they did seat parties together). About every fifth seat there was an empty chair. These were filled with staff from the ship. What a great idea, it was wonderful to have a chance to ask questions about RCCL, the ship, the staff and their families throughout the meal. We sat with Otto Lock who is the Marketing and Revenue Manager. He was so hospitable and interesting. He told us on the new ship the promenade will have the theme of Central Park (of course, most of you probably already knew this!). He also talked about what it is like to live on the ship, some of the challenges of satisfying guests of different cultures and considerations in the timing of planning a variety of activities among other things. Throughout the meal, one of the other staff members would stand to discuss the wine, food, etc. It was like being on a wonderful tour while being able to sit and stuff our faces at the same time! We started out with breads, then sushi, followed by white wine and a scallop and lobster appetizer, then red wine and beef tenderloin with potatoes and crisp sweet potato chips made to look like rabbit ears (at least I think this was the intention, the whole dish looked like a rabbit to us) and finally finished with milk and white chocolate covered strawberries, chocolates, vanilla roasted sweet pineapple, white chocolate parfait and a glass of champagne!!!! Did I make you hungry??!!! The food was fantastic. With the exception of the sushi, all of the recipes are in the cookbook that we were given. Everyone signed the book for us at the end. We later had our waitstaff and stateroom attendant (she gave us chocolates so I guess she fits in here) sign it too. Try not to miss this special event!!!!!! It was indicated that if it’s successful, it may be brought to other ships.

 

Well, I’ve given you a bunch of the potato, salad, fish and meat. I’ll try to get to more of the substance soon including ports, on board activities, shows, etc. I know this was all pretty long and drawn out. I tried to highlight the different categories so that you could skip to what you are interested in. It is amazing how much fun we were able to pack into a nine night cruise!!!!!:D

[CedarburgCruiser]

Thanks for the great review. I am looking forward to reading more because we are considering the same cruise for the summer 2009.:D

[esbie11]

Thanks for the review! I can't wait to do this same cruise next year!!!:D

[grandsix]

Great review thus far. We had a great time on the cruise before you and find this to be a well managed ship.

[akcruz]

Thanks for the great review, can't wait to read the rest. We have a little less than 2 months until our turn (although on the 5 day) and just can't wait. Gobbling up any and all info I can.

 

Interesting that yours is the second positive review for the same cruise, while there were 2 others just today that weren't so positive. I do believe its all in the attitude and yours seems great.

 

Thanks!

[I<3Sea&Sun]

I'm heading out on the Explorer on May 9 - just wondering where you go to sign up for this - it sounds like a great time!

[ontheopenseas]

Head straight to Portofino on deck 11 to sign up for the Savor Luncheon. It's right past where everyone will be heading to the Windjammer. Don't be shy about walking in to find someone if there isn't anyone standing at the podium. It is $55.00 plus tip if desired and includes the cookbook. I also forgot to mention that Portofino was $20. each. Here are some other prices:

A glass of Beringer White Zinfandel was $9.20:confused:, Ben & Jerry Ice Cream-$2.65, 9 night gratuity each-$87.75, 8x10 photo-$19.95, Virgin Strawberry Daquiri-$7.32, Coke-$2.24, Virgin Labadoozie- $5.98:eek:, Same day silk dress press because we receivd our luggage so late- $7.12, Next day non-silk dress press-$3.00, 9 night cruise vacation with my family- Priceless:D (bet you never saw that coming!;)).

[pach]

Head straight to Portofino on deck 11 to sign up for the Savor Luncheon. It's right past where everyone will be heading to the Windjammer. Don't be shy about walking in to find someone if there isn't anyone standing at the podium. It is $55.00 plus tip if desired and includes the cookbook. I also forgot to mention that Portofino was $20. each. Here are some other prices:

A glass of Beringer White Zinfandel was $9.20:confused:, Ben & Jerry Ice Cream-$2.65, 9 night gratuity each-$87.75, 8x10 photo-$19.95, Virgin Strawberry Daquiri-$7.32, Coke-$2.24, Virgin Labadoozie- $5.98:eek:, Same day silk dress press because we receivd our luggage so late- $7.12, Next day non-silk dress press-$3.00, 9 night cruise vacation with my family- Priceless:D (bet you never saw that coming!;)).

 

 

I am just wondering if the luncheon could be reserved by phone? Usually we head straight to our room and I call ahead to make our reservations at the specialty restaurants. It is something I don't want to miss!

[pmfan]

Great, informative review. Loved reading about your cruise. Thanks also for posting the prices for some items; I'm sure there are others looking for this info. :)

[paylady]

Great review, and I learned something new! I had never heard of the Savor Luncheon before. Thanks for all the info on that.

 

I got a kick out of your review concerning the kids eating habits. It sounded cute. :)

My youngest is in college so of course I think all that is cute NOW. Anyone who has raised teenagers can relate.

[ontheopenseas]

Thanks for the nice comments, it really was a fantastic trip!:) I'm not sure if you can make the Savor Luncheon reservation by phone but you could try. When we made our reservation, the man who took it actually had to call someone else to make it.

 

I'll try to get to the rest of the review soon. I don't want everyone to think that all we were doing was eating, eating and eating (although there is a bit of truth to this!:D). It's been so hard to get back on track here and my house still looks like a cyclone went through. The suitcases have started creeping closer to the attic now though!

[alwayshappytocruise]

I've never heard of the Savor Luncheon before but it sounds right up our alley!! Does anyone know if they offer this on the Mariner???

[ontheopenseas]

Currently the Savor Luncheon is only offered on the Explorer. Our guide said that it may spread to other ships depending on how is seems to be working out. Considering that our luncheon was sold out and wonderful, it seems that hopefully there is a good chance that it will be expanded!

 

BTW, I noticed I wrote down the wrong numbers for our staterooms. We were midship right past (or was it before:o :confused:) the hump in rooms 7606 and 7608.

[mom8386]

"BTW, I noticed I wrote down the wrong numbers for our staterooms. We were midship right past (or was it before ) the hump in rooms 7606 and 7608."

 

How did you like the location of those rooms? We'll have similar rooms one deck up when we cruise Explorer in June. I've got a balcony and the kids have a promenade room across from us.

[isujim]

Thanks for the review. I hope it is as nice in October when we sail her for the first time.

[irismike]

Tari: Your review was GREAT. It makes me want to do it all over again and this time go to Portofino's.

 

We really enjoyed meeting you and your entire familing including Sue. It was a pleasure.

 

It was nice to walk around and have people know who you were because of Cruise Critic.

 

Take care. Iris

[VernRDH]

Thanks for the great review. We are headed out in a mere 2 weeks and now are considering the Savor Luncheon. Can't wait!!!

[Buccaneergirl]

Thanks for the wonderful review and I hope the Savor luncheon catches on to other ships because I would love to do it!

It is also a great idea to have your CC group meet for lunch in the dining room one day!

It is great to read such a positive review and it made me want to be there w/you!:)

[grandsix]

The best advise we can give anyone is to register for the savor lunch as soon as you board as it sells out real fast. We have attended the savor luncheon in Portofinos on 2 separate in occasions and they have been a major highlight of our cruises. Food and beverage Tusi does a very professional job putting this event together.

[ontheopenseas]

How did you like the location of those rooms? We'll have similar rooms one deck up when we cruise Explorer in June. I've got a balcony and the kids have a promenade room across from us.

 

We loved our location. Being midship, we didn't feel a lot of movement here. You could definitely feel a difference all the way forward or aft. It was also convenient to the stairs and elevators.

 

Tari: Your review was GREAT. It makes me want to do it all over again and this time go to Portofino's.

 

We really enjoyed meeting you and your entire familing including Sue. It was a pleasure.

 

It was nice to walk around and have people know who you were because of Cruise Critic.

 

Take care. Iris

We enjoyed seeing you both and our many conversations! With so many cruise critic friends on board, it was like going on a great big extended family vacation! Sue kept saying that she felt so popular since someone would be waving or saying hello to us around every turn!:D

 

For those of you who are traveling soon- I'm so jealous!!! I hope you have a wonderful trip!:) Just look for the joy in each day and you will easily find it. With so many hardships in the world (of which you will get a first hand glimpse of while traveling), it's hard not to feel truly fortunate to be on a fantastic vacation. If you have a problem, I would recommend addressing it right away so that you can move on from there. Also, for those things that don't go so well, hopefully they'll make a good story that you can share and laugh about later!;)

[ontheopenseas]

Trip Report Part II- Room Service and Teen Program

 

Room Service- I can’t believe there was another food venue that I forgot! As you can see, there was no way to go hungry on this cruise!:rolleyes: We never did order breakfast room service. We had planned to on our San Juan day. We were docked there from 7-2 and had an 8:00 a.m. excursion planned. Unfortunately, the earliest that room service could be ordered was a 7-7:30 block of time. This was kind of strange considering the early exit time. Since we were getting off the ship at 7:30 and you don’t know when in the block of time your food would come, this didn’t work for us. Our tablemates ordered breakfast a couple of times and did say at least once it was a little late. We ordered off the regular menu a few times. All of the food was very good. We had the chili and chips (yummy!), the cheese platter, fruit platter, and DS had a turkey sandwich. When my son ordered about one hour before first seating, it took a lot longer than they had said it would. Usually it took about 20 minutes. All of the other times, it came when indicated. We tipped a couple of dollars each time. There is a menu in the book in the stateroom and I think it was on the tv also.

As far as night time buffets, there was only one that I know of. That night the adults in our group were exhausted and we decided to go to bed early. The kids went and said the food was pretty good and the dancing and music were fun.

 

 

Teen Program- Since I finally pinned my kids down for some information about Teen Program, I thought I’d write about that next while it’s fresh. As I mentioned, the best thing for my kids was meeting other teens right away at the Sailaway. One of the girls asked them if they were going to the teen club that night and they all made plans to meet there. My kids really liked the teen counselors. They said that the counselors did a great job of trying to get the kids involved and they interacted a lot with the kids. They said there were 0-25 kids at the clubs at different times depending on what activities were taking place. The teen program gave out a bunch of prizes and the kids were able to make a picture frame too.

 

Here are some of the activities that they mentioned: Dodge Ball- this was one of their favorite activities and they played about 5 times, Assasins and Scavenger Hunts- they had a lot of fun with these activities too. Unfortunately, these were some of the activities that were probably causing some of the guests grief since they kids would have to race around the ship to play. My kids said that they didn’t see anyone being disrespectful or bumping into anyone while playing the games. I think a lot of the trouble came from kids who weren’t participating in organized activities and were simply running around the ship out of control. One night they had a Movie Night in the conference room. Other activities were: Glo Night- they were given loads of glow necklaces, Dances- there were 2 or 3 dances. The kids were very excited because one of their dances was supposed to take place in the Chamber. Unfortunately, while we were at the show that night an announcement was made that due to the fact that it was sprinkling outside, the adult party was being moved to the Chamber. :( I guess a bunch of the adults at the venue asked that the kids be allowed to stay there too. The kids were still kicked out though and sent to another location. For those of you who have teens, you might want to warn them that this can happen. Arcade Day- there was one free arcade day where the kids could play for free in the arcade for about an hour. My kids never asked to play there any other time so I don’t know how much the games were. Actually, I can’t believe my husband never made it in there to play!:D There was always so much to do, you just couldn’t fit everything in! Labadee- On Labadee there were a few activities too. Since we still weren’t receiving the teen compass at this point, it was lucky that the kids found some of their friends after our excursion. They played volleyball, swam and all had lunch together at the buffet.

 

The kids could go to the teen room at any time although there weren’t activities scheduled for all times. It was supposed to end at 1:00, but sometimes they extended it. My kids were supposed to be back by 1:00 and they had to call us when they returned each night. Of course, my SIL was in bed already each night when they came barging into the room. Although I think they thought they were being quiet, I don’t think that teens can be truly successful at quiet! :rolleyes: One night my DD still hadn’t returned by 1:30 and DH had to go out looking for her. She was at the Promenade Café as expected. Her new rule became that she had to return to the cabin with her brother each night by one or earlier if that’s what he wanted to do. She also lost ½ hour of time the night after her late return. Besides this, the kids were very good about following the rules and getting back to get ready for dinner each night.:) We also had a wipe board in the room so that we could leave each other notes.

 

Although they had dinner with us each night, most days they had breakfast with their new friends. They also had lunch with their friends on a couple of sea days. Happily, they met a very nice group of teenagers while on board. Most of them were children of Cruise Critic members.:) Most of the problems that I observed with loitering on the stairs or kids running into people were with kids who looked to be about 11-13 years old. My kids said that there weren’t any problems at the teen club. I think meeting such nice friends really made the trip for my kids. It was nice that we were able to spend some great family time together and they were also able to spend some time with their peers having wholesome fun!

[ontheopenseas]

Trip Report Part III- The Very Boring Technical Part of the Report on Cyber Cabin and Wi-Fi Wireless Access. Feel Free to Skip this Section!

 

Computer Use on Board/Guest Services- As previously mentioned, my DH had the disturbing news that Cyber Cabin would not be available on board our trip since they were ALL broken.:confused: On Saturday he took his laptop to the library to use the wireless service. The library is directly below the I-café and one of eight hot spots on board. It would not work in our stateroom which was very close to the library. Internet is charged at a rate of $.55 per minute. You can also buy packages of 60 minutes for $28, 90 minutes for $38, or 150 minutes for $55. He signed up for the 150 minute package. He was able to do this right on his laptop after opening up his browser. It is VERY slow. DH estimates that he spent about 20 minutes on line. The next day there were two charges on our bill for internet- the $55 and an additional charge of $17.60. Although he may have lost track of time a little, even my computer obsessed DH would notice the difference between 20 minutes on line and two hours. We never did find out what the additional $17.60 was for.

 

Sunday evening we headed to Guest Services to try and find out what the charge was for. For the most part, each time we had to interact with Guest Services, we found the people there to be pleasant. However, there did seem to be a noticeable language barrier. Having been a Spanish minor who was never able to fully grasp the language and a Literacy Volunteer, I have nothing but respect for those who try and succeed at learning other languages. Although I feel that total mastery of English is not necessary for many positions throughout the ship, Guest Service positions should be reserved for those who have an advanced knowledge of the use of the language and vocabulary. By phone and in person it was sometimes difficult to get an answer to the question we were asking without a lot of repetition and rephrasing. It was frustrating on our end and I’m sure on their end too since the GS personnel usually seemed as though they wanted to be of assistance.

 

Anyway…we asked about our internet charges. After a fashion, we were told that the $17.60 would be removed from our bill. My DH also stated that he didn’t think it was fair that we couldn’t receive unlimited internet for $125.00 since the Cyber Cabin wasn’t available. She came back and said that there was a notice that they had fixed the Cyber Cabins and they were now available. DH had been on a waiting list but no one had notified him, maybe they had been very recently fixed though. She also told us that the wireless charges would be removed and we would receive a prorated price on the Cyber Cabin since it wasn’t available from the start of the trip. Well, you would think that DH had won the lottery!:rolleyes: He started grinning from ear to ear as he enthusiastically swaddled his Cyber Cabin all the way back to our room. It was so funny, he was actually giddy!:D I think not only was he excited that he would be able to use the labtop in the room, but he also had a new toy to try out. Unfortunately, things were about to go awry with the Cyber Cabin once again. In order to set up the Cyber Cabin you have to plug into the modem port not the ethernet port on your laptop. You also have to unplug the other phone in the room. The Cyber Cabin phone will set up on the vanity with a short white cable. This is a pain since you no longer have use of the phone next to the bed (especially a pain when you’re waiting for those 1:00 a.m. phone calls from the kids!). The Cyber Cabin phone also does not have all the buttons marked (i.e. wake up call, room service) like the regular room phone. All of your messages must be cleared from your phone before you start the set up process. To see if it is working you have to pick up the handset and hit #60, if you don’t hear fax or modem tones, it’s not working. Well, try as he might, DH just couldn’t summon those annoying little sounds! It was time to leave his hopes of key clacking behind and head off to the evening’s show. When we returned he called Guest Services and after a fashion they said that they would send someone to our cabin to try and resolve the problem. It was about 10:30 at night!!! In walked an IT guy and he spent about a ½ hour trying to revive our poor little Cyber Cabin. Unfortunately, he achieved as much (or more accurately, as little) success as DH previously had. He told us to call again in the morning! We were headed to Labadee in the morning so everything would have to wait until we returned!

 

The next afternoon TWO more IT guys came to our room. The neighbors must have been wondering what the heck was going on in our stateroom!:eek: After a fashion, they said they were changing the CPU and finally our little Cyber Cabin was revived!:) The speed was just as slow as it was using the wireless in the library. I was going to send a couple of e-mails and tried to look at the Cruise Critic site but I just didn’t have enough patience to use it. DH said it wasn’t too bad for low content sites.

 

Also, we weren’t able to use Skype to make ship to shore calls and DH couldn’t connect to his work VPN. He doesn’t know if the reason for these things was a port or bandwidth problem.

 

I’m happy to report that DH did not get carried away with doing work on vacation. :) It was a stress relief for him to be able to check on things every now and again. He made a few calls with his cell phone and reception was generally good. He also used the laptop to download pictures from our camera.

 

Glad to be done with this part of the report! The next sections will contain information about the many fun activities on board!

[ontheopenseas]

I'm not sure if anyone else is reading all of this, but when I read it back I realized I forgot some important information about the teen club. DD is 14 years old and technically was supposed to be in the 12-14 year old group. She was very concerned about this before the cruise since she did not want to have to be in the group with middle school kids now that she is in high school:cool:. Besides this, she has always been very tall for her age and I know she would have felt even more self conscious in a group with the younger kids. Anyway, the first day she asked if she could be in the 15-17 year old group (which is where her big brother of course was;)) and they told her that she could move up since her birthday was in June. I don't know exactly how her brother felt about it, but I was glad that she would have him to watch out for her. I'm not sure if this is always allowed, but I just wanted to share the outcome that she had.

 

Also on this cruise was a lovely young lady who was eighteen. She wanted to participate in the teen club. She was told that as long as she had her card marked revoking her eighteen year old privileges (i.e. casino, adult dance clubs) she could participate in the club. Again, I don't know if this would always be the case, but this is what happened on our cruise.

[ontheopenseas]

Trip Report Part IV- The Wonderful Explorer and the Many On Board Activities!

 

Condition and Décor of the Ship/Promenade/Shopping I’ve read reports of the ship being somewhat run down in places but with the exception of the mini golf course, I really did not witness this. I did notice a little bit of rust on our balcony but before the middle of the trip it had been painted over. There was a constant presence of painters on the ship so it seems that there is a very good maintenance routine in place. As far as the décor, I wasn’t overly impressed, but it was adequate. I love interior design and I must say that nothing really stood out for me. The rooms themselves were fairly bland, none of the imaginative touches that you see on the Disney ships.

 

I did love the concept of the Promenade though; it really created a fun atmosphere and made it hard to believe that you were moving through the ocean while standing in what looked somewhat like a local shopping mall! The parades were nice and colorful but pretty short. I’m not sure if I would bother to go see them on another cruise but it was pretty cool to see a parade down the center of a cruise ship! The Promenade is also where the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Reception was. It was nice that they handed out champagne when we entered the roped off area. I saw the captain speaking up on the platform I never could understand what anyone was saying when they were up there. For that matter, I never could understand any of the announcements that they made around the ship. I figured if anything really important was ever said I was in big trouble. Anyway, until I saw some of the photos in the lab, I thought that the Captain photos meant you could take his picture while he was up there. I of course later realized that we could have had an opportunity to have our picture taken with him.

 

Speaking of a shopping mall, I was not too impressed by the shopping options or selection. The clothes that they offered weren’t too great. My son did buy a t-shirt that he liked. I wear a ladies small for tops and the smalls that they had on board were more like men’s smalls. I did find a nice Christmas ornament and a necklace and earrings. Since unfortunately I’m not an expert in the least when it comes to jewelry, I don’t know if the jewelry prices were good or not. My pieces were not very expensive but I liked them. I didn’t see any other items for sale that were very unique or interesting. As far as shopping for photos, the photos were set up much the same as you see them on all cruise ships and were unreasonably expensive as on all cruise ships. There were at least two kiosks available where you could swipe your card and your pictures would be available. You could crop your pictures here before ordering them. The guy in the photo lab said in the next year or so this would be the only way that pictures would be available; they will no longer be printing them out. This is kind of too bad since the printed photos were much nicer than the pictures seemed on the screen so you might pass up some nice photos (of course, this isn't necessarily bad). As far as the photographers, they weren’t so great. We had a whole series of pictures were my DH’s head was tilted way back. In other pictures suit jackets were unbuttoned, etc. Really good photographers will pick up on these things and correct them before the picture is taken. I guess we can’t expect too much without a sitting fee. Unfortunately our only really good group picture was our embarkation photo. I wanted one nice family picture too to replace our old one. The only one that came out great had my SIL in it (which is probably why it looked great, she always takes a perfect picture). In order to have a nice family picture, we used that one and cropped her out!:eek:

 

Smoking I am very sensitive to smoke and must say that I did not notice a big problem with smoke on the ship. We did have to walk through the casino a couple of times and it was very smoky in there. I believe they had smoke free nights in there on both of the formal nights. One night the Maharajas Lounge was quite smoky where we were sitting but we simply moved our seat and it wasn’t so bad. Also, probably do to the solid divider walls, we did not have a problem with the smell of smoke near our balcony. A couple of times I caught a slight drift of smoke but nothing terrible. We were able to leave our door open at night (love this!) without any smells lurking in too. One cruise that we took I wasn’t able to use the balcony at all since the smell was always so bad out there so this was a pleasure for me! The Champagne Bar, Deck 5 (includes Royal Promenade), the Aquarium Bar, Deck 4 (including Schooner Bar) were all non-smoking!:)

 

On-Board Activities Our cruise director was Mike Hunnerup. He wasn’t hilarious but he was pretty funny and entertaining. There were so many on board activities available, there was no way that we would have been able to participate in them all. Actually one activity that I thought I would be doing more often-Relaxing- hardly took place! Here is a list of some of the things we participated in:

 

Crown and Anchor Reception- DH and my SIL were both invited to this. Traveling mates are not allowed to attend with them. They both enjoyed it. They said that they were offered drinks and there were some finger foods available. Our stateroom attendant gave all of us a RCCL cap as the C&A gift.

 

Exercise- Stair climbing was a frequent on board form of exercise and the first thing we did when we arrived on board! The elevator’s were busy and slow and this was a great way to help work off all that food!

 

My DH and kids are runners. DS had a strict running schedule that he wanted to stick to on board. The kids did a little running on the top deck. Five laps= one mile. If you got up there before 8:30 it wasn’t too crowded. After that it was pretty hard to run. Not only were there too many people on the track, but by this time people would also start to push some of the lounge chairs onto the track although this wasn’t necessary. My SIL and I walked up there each morning around 8:45 for the walk-a-mile (we did at least two miles but you get a coin for the mile). The first morning was the most fun! It was so windy one part of the track was extreme resistance walking. On another turn of the track we had to run and the wind totally propelled us forward like some kind of ride. We were laughing our heads off. :D Be careful about wearing a hat when it’s windy, there is no possible way that you will be able to keep it on your head! We received our coins for doing the walk-a-mile but never tried to redeem them. Since this was the only Vitality Reward activity that we did we probably wouldn’t have had enough to redeem for anything anyway.

 

DH and the kids used the Fitness Center. Here’s where I’ll probably get into trouble even though it wasn’t my doing. Anyway, DD is only 14 and she followed DS into the fitness area on the first sea day after they had been running on the track and a couple of times after that. I had told her that it was for age sixteen and older, but I guess in her mind if her brother could go, she was going too. I am 5’6” and she has been taller than me since the end of 5th grade so that is probably why she wasn’t questioned at all. They used some of the workout equipment that they use as part of their training routine at school. DS and DH also used the treadmills quite a few times and were very happy with them. They said that there were always some available and it was nice to look out over the water while they were running. The kids never used the hot tub in the fitness center but my SIL and I did. It was nice (except for the band aid that was floating in it when we entered:eek: ) but it seemed strange that there was nowhere to sit inside it. I’m about as much of a hot tub expert as I am a jewelry expert, but I’ve never been in one without a seat.

 

Swimming Pools I never did go in the swimming pools. DD went in for a short time but she says all that she can remember is that her eyes hurt when she opened them.??? They didn’t look too over crowded and I didn’t notice any babies in them (of course I also didn’t notice a lot of the things that people were saying were going on on board so who knows??). As can be expected there was a definite problem with people saving lounge chairs that they weren’t using. It was nearly impossible to find chairs to sit together on sea days. Even when we would walk before 9:00, we could look at the pool areas and see all the chairs covered with stuff but few bodies. Since I’m really not supposed to be out in the sun, it was particularly distressing to me to see a long line of loungers in the shade with stuff on them and no one in them for at least the 45 minutes that I was checking them. I didn’t notice any staff removing things from unbodied chairs. It wasn't much better on the higher decks and of course, the higher you went the windier it got. We did try to sit on the top deck the first sea day but it was so windy that you couldn’t even talk without hair flying in your face. Maybe the wind was trying to tell me that I shouldn’t be up there in the sun! There did seem to be quite a few regular sitting chairs on the side of the pool area if you wanted to use one of those. The live band near the pool was good and created a fun atmosphere. I also tried the frozen yogurt near the pool once and it was pretty good!

 

At one point at the beginning of the trip we walked by the Solarium pool and it was roped over. Earlier in the day I had seen a man by the pool who was covered in what looked like open sores and frankly it was a bit discomforting. From what I was told, this man later went in the pool and as he did, a slimy residue coated the top of the water. Someone reported this and the pool was drained. I have no idea if he was asked not to enter the water again throughout the trip. With so many reports of MRSA lately and no idea as to what caused the man’s condition, I can understand why people would not want to be swimming in the same water.

 

With all the stress of trying to find a pool chaise, I much preferred to steal a few moments on my balcony. It was much less windy there and I don’t relax well anyway! There were too many fun things to do on board to spend a lot of time lying around!

 

Wine Tasting- This took place on the second sea day. I used DH’s C&A coupon with no questions asked and my SIL used her. I would guess that there were at least 200 people there but I could be wrong. We were able to try two white wines, one blush, two reds and one sparkling wine. There was also cheese, crackers and fruit on the table to accompany the wines. The presentation started at 3:10 and ended at 4:15 (close to its 3-4 scheduled time). Although the presentation was fairly dry and I prefer mine light and a bit fruity:D, for free (and perhaps even for the $9.95 fee, even though free is better J ) it was still worth the time. We also enjoyed chatting with the other folks at the table before it started. It was really nice having my SIL along on the trip to do things with that DH doesn’t really like to do. On my last cruise, I went to the wine tasting by myself and just met up with people in the room.

 

Rock Climbing Wall- This was fun but after doing it once, I didn’t feel compelled to do it again during the cruise. Maybe it will be like having a baby and after some time passes, I might want to do it again. The kids never did get around to trying it, only us old people who should know better! We went pretty early on the second sea day and the wait wasn’t very long. You do have to sign your life away and wear socks. There really isn’t much instruction involved but it is somewhat self intuitive. You are given a helmet and a harness. It required a lot of body strength or at least that is my Betty Spaghetti impression. The leg part isn’t so bad because you are given special shoes to wear that grip well. I had a really hard time with the hand part though. The small grips that you hold onto as you climb up the wall are very smooth and hard to grasp. Between being nervous and it being hot out, my hands were pretty sweaty which of course did not help. I made it to the second bell and it took all the courage I could muster to let go and ring that bell but I was determined to do it! I’m not sure if anyone actually could hear the bell ring because I couldn’t wait to get my hand back on that smooth protrusion! After that, I signaled that I was ready to come down and the guy on the ground let me down while I hung from the air. My legs were jiggling like Jello when I reached the ground. This was in part from the physical use of them and in part from my mental semi-terror! SIL had pretty much the same experience as I did. DH on the other hand put us both to shame by quickly ascending to the top bell and ringing it out for all to hear!

 

Mini Golf- We tried this on a sea day returning home. As was the case most of the time we were on the ship, the kids weren’t with us but they had played earlier in the trip. The carpet was in bad shape but we still had a lot fun. A lot of other folks were there having fun too. When we arrived the course was full and there weren’t any clubs left. We didn’t have long to wait and by the time we started the last group finished and we had their clubs. Everything is outside including the balls, scoring paper and pencils so that you can play at any time. Even with a full course, everyone moved right along. Since the course was a bit lumpy and it was extremely windy, sometimes it was hard to get your ball to stay where you wanted it to, this just added a bit of challenge and a lot of laughs though. I’d love to know if anyone ever got a hole in one because it seems like it would be really difficult!

 

Ice Skating Rink- DD was the only one who did this. She said that although the rink looked really crowded, once she was on it there was plenty of room and she enjoyed it. She also said the skates were comfortable. We did love the ice show here! Tickets were available the first night on a table in the Promenade. When we first went to pick them up the line was really long so we decided to come back later. Well, the pick up ended at 10:00 and we remembered at 10:15. We went to guest relations and they were laid out there. There were still tickets available for 2 of the 4 time slots. The ice show was very colorful and imaginative. It incorporated many different styles and skills and it was a lot of fun. We arrived at 8:45 for a 9:00 show and it was already pretty packed, so be sure to arrive early if you want good seats! The ice skating rink was also where Quest was held. I know we’re not supposed to give much away, but just be careful what you throw out, you may not get it back. I threw something out that didn’t land quite right and even with two trips to guest relations, it was never to be found again!

 

Trivia- We went to a couple of these and they were a lot of fun. You work in teams and have a piece of paper for each group to fill in their answers. This is great since this way everyone can participate! At the end you switch papers with another group to correct the answers. What made it so much fun was the guy running it was hilarious! After going a couple of times and having a blast, we convinced our tablemates to go with us. Unfortunately we quickly found out how wonderful the guy running it really was (sadly I don’t remember his name). This time there was a lady running it who apparently thought trivia should be very serious business. She was obviously channeling a very strict schoolmarm. If it had been our first time going, I would have never gone back. It was somewhat amusing since it was so bad, but it was also embarrassing since we had told our tablemates how much fun it was. Oh well, at least we had their company!

 

Love and Marriage Game Show- Having traveled on four different cruise lines now, it is amazing to me that practically the exact same questions are asked each time. I’m sure these cruise directors are pretty creative guys and gals and could come up with some other questions, but anyway… The typical newlywed, longest married couple and somewhere in between couple were chosen. The longest married couple was very sweet and adorably funny. The newlyweds, especially the bride, hardly spoke English. The bride was a good sport about the whole thing but since she didn’t understand the questions she had a hard time answering. If I were her I would have left the stage in tears, so I give her a lot of credit. The middle couple guy was a bit of a show off. Anyway, it wasn’t the best Love and Marriage Show I’ve ever seen but there were still some funny moments.

 

Scrapbook Class- This was for adults only. My daughter is the one in my family who likes to scrapbook. I haven’t even put pictures in an album from our last cruise three years ago. Nor have I ordered the pictures yet from my last two vacations. I went thinking maybe I could make something for DD. It’s kind of hard when I didn’t even have any pictures with me. None of the handouts were specific to Royal Caribbean but there were some cute ocean themed cut outs. I just ended up bringing the pieces back to the cabin for DD to work with later.

 

Palace Theater Shows- I’m going to start by stating that besides my regular job I am a tour guide and a Front of House volunteer for a beautiful performing arts center in Hartford, CT. As such, I see a great variety of wonderful shows. However, I am also very easily amused so it doesn’t take much to entertain me. With this being said, I’m sorry to say that the production shows didn’t do much for me. I did like the band a lot but the singers and dancers just didn’t seem very good. There was one dancer from Russia, who I believe had recently joined the others, who seemed like a marionette on speed! He was both amusing and uncomfortable to watch! The little bit they did the first night was ok, but the first full show “Wild, Cool & Swingin” was the first show I have ever fallen asleep at in my life. My DH will never let me live this down since I’m always giving him a hard time about falling asleep during nearly every show we see. The next show they did, “Fast Forward” was a little better but not great. They were also a big part of the “Invitation to Dance” show which wasn’t too wonderful either. I also thought it was pretty cheesy that both cruise guest competitors didn’t win a prize. I did enjoy the other headliners though for the most part.

 

The other entertainers included Max Docelli who did both the Welcome Aboard Show and the late night (12:00) comedy show. He was pretty funny. His late night show included jokes about The Christmas Tree Shop, which is pretty near and dear to my heart, so he easily scored points with me. The late show only lasted a ½ hour. On Day 3 it was Judy Kolba. She was very funny and a great entertainer. She did a wonderful job of getting the audience involved. Day 6 was comedian and composer Billy Fellows. He wasn’t a favorite for me or DH (we both thought a lot of his material was quite dated) but my SIL and DS thought he was very funny. I thought his impersonation of Redd Foxx and some of his other humor would be lost on DS but he said he knew all that stuff and liked it. Go figure!? Day 8 was singer Kenny James who had been a Star Search winner. Honestly I didn’t expect much from this show and thought it might be a little boring just to watch a Star Search winner stand there singing for about an hour. I was quite mistaken. I really enjoyed his performance especially since he was quite the performer. He seemed to through his whole heart into it and put on a great show! Day 9 was juggler and comedian Chuck Gunter. The kids had breakfast with him earlier in the cruise and really enjoyed his company (the man eats a lot of hard boiled eggs and was spending the day in the Dominican Republic with the Ice Show guest performer from Canada, in case inquiring minds want to know J ). Although he had a few misses while juggling, he was pretty fun and put on a fun show. They also played part of the cruise in review video the last night and of course the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers had to take the stage one more time. Many of the cruise ship staff from all different jobs also took the stage. This was bittersweet since we knew this signaled that our wonderful vacation would soon be coming to a close. There was also a not as late as the first late night comedian who performed at 11:00 for a ½ hour. He was pretty good. Of course, these are only my impressions. I'm sure some really enjoyed shows that I didn't and were as impressed with some of the shows that I liked.

 

Live Music and Dancing- We heard a bit of the live music as we made our way around the ship and it seemed pretty good. We also went to the Chamber a couple of times and they were playing music that suited our 40 something sensibilities. We were so tired at night that I must admit we were usually back at the cabin by around 11:00!

 

Television- I have to list this here because DH spent a bit of time watching TV. Many of the same things were played over and over including the movies and tv shows. DH watched parts of Wild Hogs at least 6 times, including twice en Español. As you can see, the movies weren’t too current and DH will watch just about anything 6 times! :D You could also check your seapass account on the tv, check the ships location, watch some of the activities that had taken place on the ship and view the day’s menu among other things.

 

With all that we did, we still missed quite a bit. We never played BINGO, attended an art auction, gambled, attended the dance parties, went to a movie, tried the in-line skating, took any dance classes, went to the spa and lots and lots of other activities. If someone complains that there is nothing to do on the ship, it’s their own fault for sure!

 

I will try to wrap up this trip report soon with our fantastic days in port and anything else I can think of that I’ve missed. I know that this has been really long but I hope that 1. some of you are actually reading all this dribble and 2. maybe there is something in here somewhere that will be helpful to others. As I mentioned, I learned so much on this site and enjoyed reading other trip reports so much, I would like to return the favor in any way that I can. I apologize for any errors, but it's too long and I'm too tired to proofread it all!

[woof22]

Read (almost) the whole thing. I skipped the part about the teen center, but otherwise read every word. Even copied some and e-mailed my DW. Thanks for the great report. Can't wait for our cruise this summer.