EOS The Good & Bad 2/13 - 2/22 Cruise with the Bad Propeller!

[RaMar]

I will write a lengthy review about this cruise which happened to be our 18th (3rd with RCI). I am exhausted today and I am not able to concentrate completely. Not teasing anybody; all I can say is that I will not sail out of Bayonne, N.J. again. Calling all RCI cheerleaders and be kind in my upcoming review, after all it is my humble opinion! To those in future sailings, the Explorer will sail even at slower speed but they will modify the itinerary somewhat. Hang in there because I will write in detail.

[mkg]

Looking forward to your review

[RaMar]

Promise that I will write one. I am a teacher and I have to be up early, but I will write a fair review!

[megr1125]

:Dhorrors!! to tease us like that!!!!:p;)

 

will await your review (like work is an excuse???)

[sandune]

I will write a lengthy review about this cruise which happened to be our 18th (3rd with RCI). I am exhausted today and I am not able to concentrate completely. Not teasing anybody; all I can say is that I will not sail out of Bayonne, N.J. again. Calling all RCI cheerleaders and be kind in my upcoming review, after all it is my humble opinion! To those in future sailings, the Explorer will sail even at slower speed but they will modify the itinerary somewhat. Hang in there because I will write in detail.

Can't wait to read it!!!! Hope in spite of all that is going on, you will have a good time! At last you are headed to where it is warm and hopefully sunny as opposed to being here in the freezing cold and snow!!!! Have fun!!!!

[Jimbo]

To those in future sailings, the Explorer will sail even at slower speed but they will modify the itinerary somewhat.

 

Would hate to be on one of those upcoming 5 day sailings to Bermuda. If they slash any of that 5 day itinerary there will be nothing left, Can you say cruise to nowhere?:mad:

 

I can't believe that Royal Caribbean will not do a complete fix before those sailings. The real question is when and just what sailing it will really effect:eek:

 

Jimbo:)

[Bruins14]

I'll be waiting to read this review

[RaMar]

Let's try again because I just lost what I had written. I guess that my brain is still in the high seas!. This was our 3rd cruise with RCI, we had previously sailed on AOS and Enchantment three years ago. This was an anniversary cruise and it was booked kind of late in January. We usually like to book well in advance and it was a surprise until the end of the month in Jan. We had never sailed out of Bayonne, and went back and forth whether to drive to the pier or take a taxi, finally the taxi won. The cab picked us up at 9:00 a.m., and by 10:05, we were unloading our bags at the pier. We proceeded into the chilly terminal and were given a tag with number 6, and were told to go to the waiting room because they were not ready to start the check in yet. They had coffee, juice and cookies for everyone to enjoy while waiting. At about 10:30, they began to call numbers to proceed to the check in counters. As we approached the line we were asked what type of cabin we were in, and when I told the lady that we were in a junior suite, she told us to go into a separate area. There were not many people in front of us , so this process was relatively quick and we were sent to another waiting area. As time went by, the room began to get very crowded and there weren't enough seats but at around noon, they announced that we could proceed to the buses. I don't quite understand this business with the buses as the ship was docked within walking distance so I guess this is the procedure. Upon entering the ship we were told that the cabins would not be ready until 1:30, and were told that lunch was served in the Windjammer. On our way to the Windjammer, we stopped on deck 5, and signed up for My Time Dining. This was the first time for MTD on this ship, and we signed up because we didn't want to be locked in a set time to dine.

 

To be continued.

[RaMar]

After registering for MTD, we went up to the Windjammer to have something to eat. It was already crowded as people were going straight there upon entering the ship. After lunch, we went down to the Promenade Deck, checked out the shops and the casino. At 1:25, we sneaked into our cabin. We were on deck 10, Cabin 1644. All I can say is Wow! What a nice cabin. It is the most spacious cabin that we've had, it is even larger than the mini suites on Princess. There was so much storage space that we had empty drawers and we always over pack. A walk in closet with plenty of metal shelves, nice bathroom with a tub, and the room was nicely decorated. The balcony was nice and very private with floor to ceiling walls on either side. We never saw our neighbors. Initially we were concerned to be right under the Windjammer but we never heard any noise from above. We had more noise in the hallway with kids running like wild horses at times. I expected to have a large number of kids on this cruise as this was winter break from schools. There were so many kids that you could fill an entire high school, elementary and middle school. I certainly do not mind kids because I am in the education field but I had never seen such rowdy, disrespectful, and misbehaved groups in public. At times their rudeness and lack of control were unbelievable. It wasn't just the boys, because the girls were worse. This was just one bad aspect of the cruise and I wonder where were these parents? Anyway, after checking out the cabin, we went to explore the rest of the ship. The Explorer is very similar if not identical to the Adventurer. Upon returning to the cabin, we found our luggage waiting for us and began to unpack until it was time for the famous muster drill. Thank God that our muster station met in the dining room because it was cold and windy outside. The drill was quick and painless and we sailed pretty much on time sailing slowly.

 

To be continued.

[wrp96]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I was just reading another review that mentioned rudeness on the part of both kids and adults which is very sad.

[aloha43]

After registering for MTD, we went up to the Windjammer to have something to eat. It was already crowded as people were going straight there upon entering the ship. After lunch, we went down to the Promenade Deck, checked out the shops and the casino. At 1:25, we sneaked into our cabin. We were on deck 10, Cabin 1644. All I can say is Wow! What a nice cabin. It is the most spacious cabin that we've had, it is even larger than the mini suites on Princess. There was so much storage space that we had empty drawers and we always over pack. A walk in closet with plenty of metal shelves, nice bathroom with a tub, and the room was nicely decorated. The balcony was nice and very private with floor to ceiling walls on either side. We never saw our neighbors. Initially we were concerned to be right under the Windjammer but we never heard any noise from above. We had more noise in the hallway with kids running like wild horses at times. I expected to have a large number of kids on this cruise as this was winter break from schools. There were so many kids that you could fill an entire high school, elementary and middle school. I certainly do not mind kids because I am in the education field but I had never seen such rowdy, disrespectful, and misbehaved groups in public. At times their rudeness and lack of control were unbelievable. It wasn't just the boys, because the girls were worse. This was just one bad aspect of the cruise and I wonder where were these parents? Anyway, after checking out the cabin, we went to explore the rest of the ship. The Explorer is very similar if not identical to the Adventurer. Upon returning to the cabin, we found our luggage waiting for us and began to unpack until it was time for the famous muster drill. Thank God that our muster station met in the dining room because it was cold and windy outside. The drill was quick and painless and we sailed pretty much on time sailing slowly.

 

To be continued.

 

Thank you so much for your review....I can't wait for the rest! :):D

 

Do you know....or anyone else.....

 

Are there that many kids on the President's week cruise every year? Are they usually that rambunctious and rude? Yours was a 9 nighter, and ours will be a 12 nighter. Will this make a difference since people will have to take kids out of school for more time?

 

We are getting somewhat scared of this. The last one we had teenage boys ringing the doorbells on deck 10, on Royal, grand and junior suites. Luckily I caught them and it quit....but we like our peace and quiet.

 

Our last cruise was during Easter break. (Our 20th anniversary) And when we booked this one, we didn't think of Presidents week next time. (50th birthday)

 

Hopefully it won't be that bad. :mad:

[geegee1]

....all I can say is that I will not sail out of Bayonne, N.J. again. Calling all RCI cheerleaders and be kind in my upcoming review, after all it is my humble opinion!

 

just got off as well. i agree, i doubt i will sail out of Bayonne again. Sailing last year from NYC was MUCH MUCH easier.

 

i will be posting a lengthy review later on as well.

[davrap222]

I have not experienced a problem with it on a 7 day cruise, but there are always "extra" kids cruising over any holiday week, especially in the northeast over Presidents' week. I am not not sure how many would actually be on a 12 night. One would think less but I am sure there are families that would pull their kids out of school for a few days. Just my guess. I have heard horror stories on this issue on several cruise lines. It must be hard to control this kids when there are so many of them! Not to get off the subject of this thread, but parents need to reign in on out of control kids! :o

 

You mention ringing of bells of suites. Does anyone know if there are doorbells in a JS? Never thought about it and am traveling in one very soon...

 

Looking forward too the rest of the review. Very interesting reading! ;)

[Shar27]

You mention ringing of bells of suites. Does anyone know if there are doorbells in a JS? Never thought about it and am traveling in one very soon...

 

Looking forward too the rest of the review. Very interesting reading! ;)

 

 

I can't remember if there are doorbells on the JS or not, but you can have them turned off if it gets to be a problem.

 

RaMar, looking forward to the rest of your review!!:D

[geegee1]

 

You mention ringing of bells of suites. Does anyone know if there are doorbells in a JS? Never thought about it and am traveling in one very soon...

 

 

there are no doorbells on the JS's. i saw them ringing and running on the Royal Suite

[RaMar]

I'm back! There are no bells on the JS, but we had kids knocking on our door and taking off, they would also insert the "make up my room tags' in the key slot to drive the cabin attendants nuts. There were soooo.. many kids on this cruise as the result of the winter school's winter break in this region.

 

I forgot to mention that at the cruise terminal we were given a piece of paper informing us that the itinerary was slightly changed and we would be in San Juan from 6 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Aside from sailing slowly and the itinerary change, there was very little information provided other than the Captain's weather/location updates. Our ports of call were:

 

Labadee, Haiti

Samana, Dominican Republic

St. Thomas

Puerto Rico

 

This brings me to the tendering issue at Labadee and Samana. This was our 18th cruise and I have to say that it was the worse tendering experience ever. We were told not to go down to the tenders during "peak hours" (8:30 - 10:30) to avoid the crowds. We waited until 10:40 to go down only to find a line extending all the way to the 3rd floor. The stairs and hallways were mobbed with people and it took over 45 minutes to get to the tender. During this long wait standing in the stairs, there was no staff around to keep this under control. People were getting off the elevators and cutting in front of others because they had no idea as to where the line ended.

 

Will be back shortly.

[RaMar]

Back again! So the tendering was pretty messy. What a shame that they cannot organize this better. It took almost an hour to tender on to the beach. The weather was nice and hot, and Labadee is beautiful as a picture on a postcard. There are vendors in one section of the beach and they are aggressive and pushy. The only place to shop without being harrassed is a place called "Carlos" right on the beach. They had nice souveniers and they left you alone. I hate when they chase you around trying to sell you everything under their tent. I stayed on the beach until 1 p.m., and headed back to the ship early in an effort to avoid further crowds and long waits for the tender. They had a nice barbecue consisting of chicken, ribs, hambuergers, etc., but I didn't want to take anymore sun.

 

Samana: We purchased an excursion to Cayo Levantado and thought that with the tour the tendering would be easier. Wrong! Similar to the previous day and this time the waiting was all the way down in the bowels of the ship where the crew lives. Long winding lines that seemed to go on forever with some adults acting worse than the kids. It just takes away the pleasure of going ashore. Cayo Levantado can be seen from the ship, it is a small island with a beautiful private resort. As you walk down to the beach, there are vendors to one side selling crafts, Dominican rum, Cuban cigars and all kinds of other trinkets. There are lounge chairs provided but the majority were filthy with mold. Bring two towels to cover them up and enjoy the beautiful view. The first tender back to the ship doesn't start until 1:30, and we made sure to catch that first one back for obvious reasons.

 

St. Thomas: We docked in Charlotte Amalie right by the Havensight Mall. There were two other ships docked already, Carnival Triumph and a Disney ship. We were going to go to Coki Beach but it was overcast and very windy so we decided to go downtown. We have been to St. Thomas several times before and decided to just do some shopping. My significant other bought another watch and another camera! They probably know him by name in the stores. We were in St. Thomas for a long time and after hitting the stores and the open air flea market, we went back to the ship. What a view to sail from St. Thomas at night, it was gorgeous to see all the lights!

 

Puerto Rico: We were there a very short time and went into town to walk around. As we were getting back to the ship it started to rain and the sea looked rough. We had to be back on the ship by 11 a.m., and sailed at around noon. Rocking and rolling for several hours and several people were sick from the motion.

 

I have not spoken about the food until I do my next segment. I know that food is a super subjective subject and this is just my opinion based on comparison with other cruises on RCI and other lines. I will try to write more later today.

[aloha43]

I have not experienced a problem with it on a 7 day cruise, but there are always "extra" kids cruising over any holiday week, especially in the northeast over Presidents' week. I am not not sure how many would actually be on a 12 night. One would think less but I am sure there are families that would pull their kids out of school for a few days. Just my guess. I have heard horror stories on this issue on several cruise lines. It must be hard to control this kids when there are so many of them! Not to get off the subject of this thread, but parents need to reign in on out of control kids! :o

 

You mention ringing of bells of suites. Does anyone know if there are doorbells in a JS? Never thought about it and am traveling in one very soon...

 

Looking forward too the rest of the review. Very interesting reading! ;)

 

I can't answer whether or not there are doorbells on the JS on the Explorer.

 

My problem was when we were on deck 10 on the Radiance. Yes there were bells because when I caught the kid he was running down the hallway ringing every bell along the way. I caught him....and which room he was staying in when he turned and went into his room after ringing the bells. I yelled at him, and then told the Concierge, and he called security.

 

It didn't happen again....maybe I scared him, then security, but thankfully it stopped.

 

They can be real brats.

[booze brothers]

I have not experienced a problem with it on a 7 day cruise, but there are always "extra" kids cruising over any holiday week, especially in the northeast over Presidents' week. I am not not sure how many would actually be on a 12 night. One would think less but I am sure there are families that would pull their kids out of school for a few days. Just my guess. I have heard horror stories on this issue on several cruise lines. It must be hard to control this kids when there are so many of them! Not to get off the subject of this thread, but parents need to reign in on out of control kids! :o

 

You mention ringing of bells of suites. Does anyone know if there are doorbells in a JS? Never thought about it and am traveling in one very soon...

 

Looking forward too the rest of the review. Very interesting reading! ;)

 

 

My DH disconnected our doorbell. Problem solved!

[aloha43]

My DH disconnected our doorbell. Problem solved!

 

I wish we had known that disconnecting it was possible. It would have saved some stress.

 

But, since I did catch him, and got the chance to yell at him.....I think in the long run it helped more rooms than just mine, so it was worth it.:)

[Lushpuppy]

I wish we had known that disconnecting it was possible. It would have saved some stress.

 

But, since I did catch him, and got the chance to yell at him.....I think in the long run it helped more rooms than just mine, so it was worth it.:)

 

 

WELL done youLOL:D

The RS has a brilliant "naughty room"! The Butlers Pantry, perfect little cell for those little darlings:D

[grayesun]

Please...sorry to hear of your disappointing experience with EOS out of Bayonne, we sailed a 12 nighter out of there last winter and everything (except fuel surcharge snafu at check-in) went flawlessly...we consider this our favorite cruise to date & would do it again in a heartbeat...unless???

[Stripiest]

I wish we had known that disconnecting it was possible. It would have saved some stress.

 

But, since I did catch him, and got the chance to yell at him.....I think in the long run it helped more rooms than just mine, so it was worth it.:)

 

 

Hi there, didn't you speak to his parents. I have two sons and whilst I have brought them up to know what is right and wrong you never really know what they are up to but in their teens you have to give them some freedom. We are on the Explorer in April and I hope if my children are caught being rude or annoying that someone will tell me. I will soon hang them up by their short and curlies!LOL

 

Gail

[RaMar]

As I mentioned before, food is subjective and generally in previous cruises I found that the lunches were better than dinners. Not on this cruise and I noticed it the first day. Breakfast is breakfast and you can't go wrong with the selection of foods. Lunch on the other hand I found it to be bland, unappetizing and not a great variety of dishes. Some of the dishes I had to read the tags above them because I could not recognize what they were. The food lacked presentation and some dishes looked plain nasty particularly a cubed pork stew with a congealed sauce that resembled cement. There was pasta everyday with the same sauces and I pretty much ate pasta everyday. The beverages consisted of iced water, tea, and lemonade already served in glasses and ready for you to take. The problem was that sometimes the ice had melted after sitting around so long. I did not find an ice dispenser anywhere on the ship. Coffee was consistently good in the Windjammer. Of all the ships that I've been on this is the only ship where the Windjammer closes at 9:00 p.m. sharply and if you want a glass of water or a cup of coffee you need to go to the Promenade Deck to get one. They do not reopen until 7:00 a.m. for breakfast. On sea days, the Windjammer as on any other ship resembles Grand Central Station at rush hour. Picture everyone holding two plates at once and bumping into each other in a desperate attempt to find a table.

 

We signed up for My Time Dining and loved it. We ended up eating at 8:00 p.m. every night at the same table (#600, table for 2). Our waiter Rama from India and assistant waiter Jing were fabulous. The best that we've ever had. The appetizers, entrees and desserts were very good; the food was warm, great presentation and good portions.

 

To be continued.

[4merlurker]

Great review so far! ....keep waiting to find out what was so bad about leaving out of Bayonne? :confused:

 

~Connie