Dr. Cocktail

I'm completely going to side with Stickman1990 here .... Danny: I'm sorry that it's not working for you but you really are making some pretty big generalizations. You really can't say "most cruisers enjoy" - we're all very different in what we look for in a cruise. 1) no music at the pool? Great! I really don't like live music poolside and the playlists that they use on Explora are all good in that they let you chat or read 2) no entertainment? Piano players, vocalists and a great band actually qualify as entertainment and as a real show too! I've suffered through far many click-tracked, theme park "shows" to keep count of 3) the pools are an ABSOLUTE selling point - different views and vibes, all beautifully furnished with their own "feel" 4) I know that the lack of a pool grill has been an issue for some but again, not something that I require 5) a computer room? Now really ..... 6) LOVE the smaller venues - a nice atmosphere that leads to conversations with people around you 7) So funny - I'm 60 and my partner is in his late 50's and we both commented on how FABULOUS the vibe was onboard. I just hate the faux enthusiasm whipped up by hyperactive CD's and loved how we were treated as adults and the wonderful conversations that we struck up. I think that the fault here lies with you or your travel agent .... they are basically delivering what they promised. The deck plans, pools and lack of a show lounge were all known. But .... that's the beauty of there being so many choices out there - it may be better for you to stick with a more "traditional" choice. Thanks for taking time out of your vaycay to comment!

It was a jealous and disgruntled Seabourn shill on a drunken rampage two weeks ago .... Actually, I'm pretty sure it did actually happen on our sailing. I was wondering if it was a stress fracture but my partner wondered if the wind had thrown a chaise lounge chair on a particularly windy day. The outer decks were closed for a few hours until Heike and the Captain gave the "all clear". Oooops .... I just saw that uktog beat me to the punch! The initial "new" Viking ships (also built by Fincantieri) had more than their fair share of shower stall glass enclosures also spontaneously shatter.

I had a fantastic time on Explora and have a much more positive outlook on the entertainment even though I was less than satisfied. These are all "software" issues that are easily correctable and are being addressed. It's much simpler than changing interior design! The concept of no show lounge and associated (generally) awful production shows is excellent - the execution is presently lacking but can be fixed. The piano players around the ship are excellent and ... there are players, (including one who sings too) not just one! The house band is excellent but is hampered by the unfortunately not particularly good singers. They just need to hire some more seasoned performers. But - again, the show concepts are good - they just need to be done better. I think that they will need a slightly more "heavy handed" CD than what they have now to introduce evenings and such but I'm not worried. The overall pro's far outweigh the cons. On top of my next one in a few months, I booked three more!

I've only been sailing for 34 years (?)(!) and the only time on any of my cruises that people took it seriously was the old days of HAL. During the drills, they would actually lower a couple of the lifeboats to show you "this is what would happen". While a picture is worth a thousand words, the actual presentation of a situation is even more striking!

We were really not impressed at the over reliance of the less than ideal performers on iPads and iPhones for lyrics. They really should have hired singers who actually had a repertoire or could use their very extensive down time to learn the songs!

It actually appears that they were filming the commercial!!!

It's my understanding that on our shared sailing, the Cruise Director (or whatever they're called) literally packed up and walked off the ship on embarkation day in Barbados! We said hello to her on boarding, chatted about which part of Toronto she was from and never saw her again! That most certainly would have affected the general programming and schedules. The male singer was actually witnessed by our friends having a micro-meltdown on stage at the end of his set ....

100% TOTALLY agree! I felt very much as home as we are parking in a similar fashion with our new car!

We’re in Canada. Cold winters and nonstops daily to Miami and Barbados. San Juan nonstop on weekends and one change otherwise. What’s not to like?!

We'll see where life takes us but one done, boarding passes printed for the next and three more bookings!

They were turning away scores of people around 8 pm on the night that we went for walk-ins at Marble and Co. We were able to get one additional "official" booking at each but there was less flexibility than we thought. Our sailing (which was uktog's) was PACKED with travel agents and they were most certainly given preferential reservations.

Whaaaaaaaa? YOU'RE GOING BACK SO SOON????? Is that even allowed? I hope you have a great time! I got my check in notice for my next one three days before the finale of my last one! But .... I'm still jealous!

We won't return to the Seaside Class ships as we generally felt that there was NO shade. The layout of Deck 12 on Explora 1 generally meant that there were a fair amount of loungers available on wherever the "shady side" was. It changed from port to starboard (or vice versa) as the sun moved. There is a fairly pronounced soot issue on either side of the smoke stack that the crew are finding particularly vexing - it did affect many of the chairs and complimentary cabanas. Granted there weren't a lot of passengers on board but finding shade wasn't a problem.

I was literally lying 6 feet to the right when this was taken! (I was the one making the “sssssss” sound when the sun first hit the water and the water draining “slurp” sound as it finally disappeared! I remain a classy guy!

I tried to dive bomb you based on your photo and spoke to a LOT of UK people but failed! Soooooooo mysterious!

My partner thinks it was feedback from his own click track, not engine noise….

The humming noise was loud and ridiculous and I marched up to the host who was dismissive. We left.

It’s a plunge pool - there are three other pools.

OBC also can’t be used at Cartier, Rolex and such…

I’ve just learned that the bars only open at 10 am - the humanity of it all! You’re welcome - had I gone on the whale watching, you would have been lucky to see a minnow! They always stay away from us…. Feel free to say hello to the guy in the Star Wars themed shirt 👕!

So funny .... our personal itinerary has MANY more "days at sea" than the Explora website! You're frankly scaring me about the entertainment ..... we will follow your advice and decamp to the Explora Lounge.

Many thanks .....

I'm intrigued .... did they actually allow you to use the "Exclusive Sale Discount" AND your 25% Future Cruise Credit (because of cancellation) discount? Much appreciated!

I’m counting down the days!

Thanks for continuing to take the time, trouble and effort to post. You're apparently much too saucy for some of the posters here!