any news on explorer?

Hi Nic

Giovannis looks tempting but not sure even I could tackle four courses & dessert. How would go about buying someone a drink at dinner, would you be able to take it from your drinks package or do you just sign and have it added to your bar tab?

I've found the bar men very relaxed about drinks at dinner, so if you wanted to buy someone a drink covered by your package just ask for it yourself. For us the sea pass cards are taken towards the end of dinner service and drinks charged to the cards with suitable packages. I can't imagine the bar men have the time or interest to keep tabs on who ordered what drink at every round on every table. I'll probably get shot down for suggesting drink package 'sharing' now lol.

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Just thought I'd post a pic of the new area on top of the new panoramic cabins.

This is a warm, sunny sea day and it's very quiet compared to the other decks. This is probably due to there being no sun beds up here other than the few people have carried up the stairs over the course of the cruise. I wonder if a delivery of additional beds is yet to arrive for this?

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Thanks Nik for taking the time out of your holiday to answer my questions, really appreciate it.

hi 1st time cruiser here am going in august could someone please tell me which restaurants are free and which ones do you have to pay for please getting confused on what is included and what isn't many thanks :cool:

hi 1st time cruiser here am going in august could someone please tell me which restaurants are free and which ones do you have to pay for please getting confused on what is included and what isn't many thanks :cool:

Assuming you are asking about Explorer.

Included: Windjammer (buffet), Main Dining Room, Cafe Promenade.

All others are extra cost.

yes was asking about the explorer thanks for the info :)

Are the free drink machines for children or do they have to get them from Windjammer, cafe promenade. Thanks for all the helpful tips as this is my 1st cruise and there's so much to learn

Are the free drink machines for children or do they have to get them from Windjammer, cafe promenade. Thanks for all the helpful tips as this is my 1st cruise and there's so much to learn

I'm confused. Which free drink machines are you referring to?

If you are referring to water, iced tea, flavoured water, tea and coffee then you can get them from Windjammer and cafe promenade. I'm not sure if the teen areas have water fountain etc.

The kids club has water fountain and there is the coca cola machine in Optix if you have the package.

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Are the free drink machines for children or do they have to get them from Windjammer, cafe promenade. Thanks for all the helpful tips as this is my 1st cruise and there's so much to learn

The only "free" drinks are water and some flavoured waters... tea and coffee which you can get in the windjammer, park cafe on the promenade and in the gym. Apparently the youth club areas have water too.

If you are referring to the "freestyle" drink machines with coke etc.. they aren't free they are part of the drinks packages which you pay for unless you have it free with your cruise and they are currently available on the promenade next to park cafe and in the windjammer... i feel for anyone going on a cruise full of children as they are not restocked often enough. We had hardly any children on our cruise and it ran out often...

Thanks everyone, got a much better understanding of it now and think I'd better get drink packages for the children.

We got the package for our girls. They can fill up at the bars if the soda machine is empty.

We will just go with what's free - can't justify the spend on the alcohol. (Maybe have the odd beer)

Our cruise in August will most likely be heaving with kids 😨

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Our little boy 4 doesn't drink fizzy drinks and he coped with the apple/mango/pineapple/water that is free from the windjammer. We just filled up his water bottle in the room, we also purchased some cartons from a supermarket.

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Just wondered if anyone can comment on the new panoramic view cabins on explorer??

I read that some are not yet finished and still being worked on. Also wondered about noise from the sun deck above the cabins and from deck party nights.

Can get an upgrade to one of these and trying to decide whether to go for it. Many thanks

Now that I think about it, on cruises from Southampton the drinks pricing INCLUDES the gratuity. There fore a drink priced at $14 would really have a value of $11.85 + 18%, so should therefore fall within the pacakage limitations.

I thought this had changed again now and you just automatically had 18% added to your bill on top of the advertised price?

Can anyone confirm whether they do the "Cocktail of the Day" on the Explorer?

Thanks

I thought this had changed again now and you just automatically had 18% added to your bill on top of the advertised price?

 

Can anyone confirm whether they do the "Cocktail of the Day" on the Explorer?

 

Thanks

Got off Explorer yesterday, and yes, there was always a cocktail of the day.

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Got off Explorer yesterday, and yes, there was always a cocktail of the day.

 

 

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Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

Got off Explorer yesterday, and yes, there was always a cocktail of the day.

 

 

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Sorry to mix up questions on forums but....I have been reading some very negative reviews following the refit on Explorer and whilst I usually take with a giant pinch of salt would be interested to hear your views on the comments. Specifically on seating in the bars / public areas? Still looking forward to it (29 June sailing) but a little concerned nevertheless...

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Sorry to mix up questions on forums but....I have been reading some very negative reviews following the refit on Explorer and whilst I usually take with a giant pinch of salt would be interested to hear your views on the comments. Specifically on seating in the bars / public areas? Still looking forward to it (29 June sailing) but a little concerned nevertheless...

 

 

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We are sailing 29 June as well. I'm sure it will all be ok well we might have to sit on people's laps lol. I've never had a problem before finding a seat.

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Sorry to mix up questions on forums but....I have been reading some very negative reviews following the refit on Explorer and whilst I usually take with a giant pinch of salt would be interested to hear your views on the comments. Specifically on seating in the bars / public areas? Still looking forward to it (29 June sailing) but a little concerned nevertheless...

 

 

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Most of the negative reviews including mine were due to the ship being rushed back into service. I'd hope that these teething problems had been sorted by now so I wouldn't worry. The seating did seem an issue for many but could have been down to the fact that people changed their dining due to the delays etc and went to the bars? I also think that due to the wind and weather on the 24th April sailing that not many people were outside after 19:00 meaning inside took the weight of more footfall.

Maybe those who have been on Explorer this time around may have a different take on things.

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We are sailing 29 June as well. I'm sure it will all be ok well we might have to sit on people's laps lol. I've never had a problem before finding a seat.

 

 

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I am sure it will be fine....at least it will be sunny with the possibility of cocktails which does make up for most things lol!

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Sorry to mix up questions on forums but....I have been reading some very negative reviews following the refit on Explorer and whilst I usually take with a giant pinch of salt would be interested to hear your views on the comments. Specifically on seating in the bars / public areas? Still looking forward to it (29 June sailing) but a little concerned nevertheless...

The number of reviews are very limited at the moment and indeed there are a lot of negative reviews from recent cruises after dry dock. Would like to hear yours after your June sailing if you wouldn't mind providing some comments.

Most of the negative reviews including mine were due to the ship being rushed back into service. I'd hope that these teething problems had been sorted by now so I wouldn't worry. The seating did seem an issue for many but could have been down to the fact that people changed their dining due to the delays etc and went to the bars? I also think that due to the wind and weather on the 24th April sailing that not many people were outside after 19:00 meaning inside took the weight of more footfall.

Maybe those who have been on Explorer this time around may have a different take on things.

 

 

 

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Thanks daveyp1471, appreciate the reply. Hopefully all down to the weather. Still looking forward to it.

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The number of reviews are very limited at the moment and indeed there are a lot of negative reviews from recent cruises after dry dock. Would like to hear yours after your June sailing if you wouldn't mind providing some comments.

Will do. Never really done a review before....just like reading everyone else's but they are helpful.

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Sorry to mix up questions on forums but....I have been reading some very negative reviews following the refit on Explorer and whilst I usually take with a giant pinch of salt would be interested to hear your views on the comments. Specifically on seating in the bars / public areas? Still looking forward to it (29 June sailing) but a little concerned nevertheless...

 

 

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Personally, we had a fantastic cruise. Never had a problem in public areas with seating, and we were confined to lower decks across the Bay of Biscay due to the weather and rough seas, so there were a lot of people in public areas.

Diamond Lounge and Concierge lounge became very very crowded and seating in there was difficult to find- but that was the only problem we occasionally encountered.

Of course everyone's experience is different, but for us we didn't find one thing to complain about.

I hope you have a wonderful time.