sisocialworker

5 hours ago, Andy C said:

Barry, hope you had a nice time.  I would not sail on this ship for free. 

 

Our cruise was nice.  Crew was cold and nowhere near as nice, warm and friendly as Harmony.  
Genie was nice.  We are home now.  

Looking forward to it.... we are on our last day of this cruise.... hope to sail with you guys next year 12/13/2020 oasis

Glad you could join me on this cruise, albeit vicariously 

Yesterday was good day. Dinner at chops was not great, the filet minion was chewy,  had a real night at schooner bar, piano player was entertaining  another fun sea day tomorrow.... doing a galley tour, ping pong, dinner at Giovanni and comedy show.... sadly packing too

You’re welcome, thanks for coming along

2 hours ago, TinkBellaMom said:

I know that many have been reporting that the food in MDR is terrible.  We appreciate good food and we are not picky eaters.  On all of our cruises we have always found the food to be good, sometimes excellent.

We are cruising on Explorer in Jan.  I am wondering if since food is subjective, is it really that bad.  Maybe someone could describe the reasons.

Also, we have been looking forward to the Chefs Table.  I am wondering if anyone has done that lately on the Explorer?

Deb

Sorry OP, I didn't mean to hijack your thread, I thought since you are on the ship now you could answer.

No problem, anyone feel free to respond.... we do eat in the MDR or windjammer because food never is hot, always lukewarm...

the MDR is too crowded and noisy to enjoy a meal

2 hours ago, Andy C said:

It’s been a rocky voyage literally and figuratively. Overall a disappointing cruise compared to our multiple experiences on Harmony. 

Sorry to hear it.... same here as n explorer, our harmony cruise much better.... maybe next year on oasis will be better.... can’t be worse

Sorry to hear this... hope the weather clears soon

11 minutes ago, retired dude said:

thanks so much for the reply. I was blessed to  have a dad that opened for Mr. Sinatra back in the day and i grew up in a house that appreciated nice music..If the music is good, we will be blessed...We are lowly diamond members and have found the shows to be so-so as are the comics....On the recent cruise Louis R was a great comic and the other comic that they featured put numerous folks to sleep.....I miss the days when we were fortunate to see acts like the drifters, the platter, coasters, charo, john pinnette, and the list goes on and on. Nowadays the budget for entertainment has shrunk and so has the talent pool ..Too many ships, not enough good entertainers and limited budgets ....it is what ii is. Thus our liking of the live music that is offered every night..thanks again for the good info, we appreciate it a bunch.

You’re welcome thanks for coming along on our trip 

1 hour ago, LadyLion_AP said:

Has there consistently been live music?

Yes

1 hour ago, sharonlacey said:

Also, are the shows the same? or do they have a different show every night?  Usually they have at least 2 or 3 game shows, murder mystery, comics and or music.  How about dance clubs?  We also have the same cruise booked but after the refit or dry dock.

 

 

Yes dance clubs exist shows are different, we loved the comedian, most other shows were Vegas style, we like the broadway type, shame they are not on smaller ships... not rock trivia for us so far, sadly... the only trivia we like.... we have done ping pong tournament, pickle ball, shuffle board, golf and archery.... lots of great fun.... just wish evening entertainment was better.... we are not into “disco”, or bars/drinking or gambling 

38 minutes ago, berbician said:

Thanks for the honest reviews .Was the drink card offered so far?  

Haven’t seen the drink card offered, but we have maybe one/two drinks a day, and don’t hang out in the bars

33 minutes ago, retired dude said:

we too would like to know if there is any live music onboard, i.e dance music in a lounge. We just got off of the brilliance and were blessed to have two great bands onboard, locomotion and the M band. They drew nice crowds whenever they played in the R bar and it was fun using our diamond drink cards to have a libation and watch all of the arthur murray grads go through their gyrations...great people watching  and the drinks were great....I have heard no mention of live music onboard this ship and since we sail on her in a couple of weeks, thus the question. thanks in advance for any info.

Yes there is music every night... we liked the acoustic guitar and piano player in schooner bar.... not into loud crowded dance music, but it is available 

Great day in Curacao, meet our tour guide for private journey, Jewish heritage tour... we had a private van, driver and guide... went to two Jewish cemeteries, art museum tour, synagogue, Jewish history museum and distillery to taste Curacao alcohol... the entire tour was fully narrated... not rushed in anyway, no crowds... highly recommend 

back on the around 2pm for our nap

out for dinner at 6:30 at chops, good meal and service.... not much going on this evening, as has been the case for most of this cruise.   So off to watch the democratic debate  and post game show. 
tomorrow is a sea day

3 hours ago, ptf2009 said:

We just got off Explorer on Dec. 8 and there were many windows like that. More disappointing was the entertainment and lack of things to do. Whoever is in charge of the schedule needs to learn how to spread things out, not cramp most activities in the last two days. Most of the crew appeared new and were trying to do their best. We'll stick with the newer, larger ships in the future.

Fully agree, not much to do during the day 

Rough sailing seas getting to Aruba.... had banana pancakes at Giovanni, alway good and great staff.... spoke with loyalty ambassador about my good and not so good experiences.... she seemed less than interested in what I had to say, IMO

walked off the ship and toured the downtown area.  I guess I needed to do more research as I was hoping to find a big Dutch/German influence... in fact not one Dutch or German  restaurant anywhere, mostly Columbia’s and Venezuela food and language spoken?  I guess Aruba had a big immigration flow from those countries and all the Dutch want back to the Netherlands.  We even asked some policemen where are the authentic Dutch restaurants, he said there aren’t any.... WTH....did family soft archery competition, we came in 3rd, bronze medal, but it was fun... dinner at Izumi, good fish, service was ok..... tomorrow is Curacao and private journey, Jewish heritage tour.... afterwards we’ll walk around town, maybe it’s more Dutch ...love to have authentic lunch.... dinner at chops tomorrow night 

Good point, I haven’t asked if Rey were new

1 hour ago, LadyLion_AP said:

We’re booked on this tour for our cruise as well,  but not through RCCL. So I should bring coins. 😝

I did read that’s the waters are pretty rough. Sorry.
 

Wishing you an enjoyable day today!

If you are two people fine if not find a friend who needs to go they don’t have change 

Good morning from Aruba.... great weather and blue waters.... sailing was rough last night... very windy and bouncing seas.....no plans, just a leisurely breakfast at Giovanni, banana  pancakes, and walk around.  We are in port until 9:30pm.... not what and where to go once it gets dark.... my risk tolerance is -1😳

Today we were in Bonaire.... the waves were very rough from labadee, lots of sick people.... but the weather is perfect 

bagel and lox for breakfast and off the ship by 9am.... rci excursion both and south.... about 35 of us on a small bus, with seats built for small thin people.... the bus should also have a clear dome so everyone can really see sights.... the driver did a great narration job... went to a museum of sorts and had some complementary- meaning prepaid-cactus liquor.... very tasty, also charging 50 cents to use the bathroom? , WTH is with that RCI

next stop slave huts, next salt piles, a good overall tour

went to test the pizza when we got back... no serrentos, so pizza choices very limited, I wanted a mushroom and pepperoni pie, not possible... either plain pepperoni or mixed vegetables ... RCI, really, instead went to johnnie rockets .... regular fast food

dinner was at Giovanni, ordered the branzino, after 15 minutes they come out and say they are out of it and only have halibut.... servers should know this and have a note in the menus 

tomorrow is Aruba, no excursion planned, just go out and walk around

Relaxing sea day. Had about 10 people for room crawl, great time, Izumi lunch, again the server says unlimited dining package is $30pp.... I had to train them.... thinking of speaking to loyalty ambassador?  After went to ice show... ok, not as good as show on harmony.... the story line was the four seasons..... really no story at all.... dinner at Giovanni, service is great, food good.... went to comedy show, very funny.... spent some time in schooner bar, a few drinks and some music.... good time.... tomorrow is Bonaire, breakfast in Giovanni, as suite guests, off the ship by 9ish.... doing rci excursion, best of north and south, 3 hours, than just probably walk around town.... dinner at Giovanni again, headline show is mark Preston, former member of letterman music group

47 minutes ago, Andy C said:

They are bringing Filipino food to the suite this evening. CK only for breakfast this cruise. Both CK and SL are ghost towns on this cruise. 

I guess with all the specialty restaurants available to you, the ship is yours

How is the SL and CK... is the chef asking dishes not on the menu..... have a great time

Can’t wait to hear the details