Misc Observations from Explorer of the Seas Pacific Coastal (Sept 29 - Oct 6 2017)

We (my husband and I) just got off the Explorer, which we took for a 7 night Pacific Coastal itinerary. It was round trip Seattle, stopping in Astoria OR, San Francisco CA (overnight) and Victoria B.C. They only do this cruise 3 times a year (3 weeks in a row, with this being the third, after the Alaska season), and it is the only round trip Seattle cruise that doesn't go to Alaska that I know of. It was our 5th cruise, and our second on Royal.

We live in Seattle, so the low fare (under $2,000 all in for 2 of us in a balcony) and no airfare was too good of a deal to pass up, despite this being a slightly boring itinerary. All in all we really enjoyed it, and would very much consider this same exact cruise next year, as it is the cheapest option for us by far, and we hate the long flights to Florida or whatever.

We even lucked out with nice weather and relatively calm seas. We didn't book any actual excursions, but rented a car in Astoria (to drive to Cannon Beach & Seaside), visited with friends who met us in San Fran (it was awesome to have an overnight), and bar hopped & liquor shopped in Victoria (our third time, and our only daytime stop, as it is usually 6pm-midnight for Alaska cruises). We are really into picking up interesting alcohol when we travel, and came home with a ridiculous amount between the two of us shopping at the duty free shop and the ports (don't tell customs!). Glad we brought an extra bag. There was so much we didn't get around to doing on this cruise though, as we took it so easy this cruise (lots of sleep, and read an entire novel). I wish we had a second week to try everything (even on this older ship which is lacking a lot of the cool stuff of the newer ones), but it was nice to be home as well. 7 night is about perfect. I can't believe going on a 24 day cruise, like the next one after us (Seattle to Hawaii to Australia).

My favorites:

- Food was great, especially in the main dining room. It was surprisingly good quality, from the fruit always being perfectly ripe (no crunchy melon) to red meats being good cuts and cooked exactly to order. The menu options were pretty good, a mix of classic favorites and some more adventurous stuff. There was however a large section of the menu that was everyday / didn't change. They were also good about accommodating every request, from extra veggies to me wanting the kids mac & cheese two nights since I'm a picky eater and that sounded good (and it was!). The bread and baked goods were especially tasty, likely as they are all freshly made. My husband's favorite meal was prime rib (offered two nights, the first and the second formal night), and mine was a cheese tortellini on the second formal night. They had a chilled soup most nights. The menu was a bit odd at times, as sometimes it wouldn't say the soup was chilled, or wouldn't mark something vegetarian even though it was pretty obviously that. I also didn't really get the "themes" as many of the featured entrees didn't fit that. We only went to the buffet a few times.

It was pretty impossible to eat a warm meal in the buffet as it would be cold by the time we got to the table, even if we pre-saved a table with drinks & silverware, and only got 1 or 2 hot items. We really enjoyed the main dining room breakfast. Oddly enough it had a buffet in the center than had 90% of the items on the menu, but they would bring you anything you ordered fresh, like a cooked to order omelet or even just french toast (which was way better fresh than from the steam tray, really gooey and sugar coated). Even if you would just do the center buffet at the dining room for breakfast, it is much easier as you have a waiter getting you beverages and have a table. It is pretty much the same breakfast items as the buffet, as the buffet repeats everything at least 3x.

Even at its busiest, the buffet had enough seating (you may just have to sit at a table butted between two other occupied table), which was better than we've had on other cruises. We also enjoyed lunch in the dining room on sea days. They sat us even though we showed up right before the "closing time", and the salad they mixed & cut up for you was a nice addition to the menu. We never felt rushed, even when we were some of the last ones in the dining room for breakfast or lunch. We had my time dining for dinner, and found having reservations didn't save any time most of the time. There was only a significant wait on the first night (about 20 min), and I only saw people waiting for a table after checking in with the hostess a few times (presumably those without reservations). Everyone waited in the same lines to check in with the hostess. I found out they automatically try to seat you with the same waiter each night. We got a table for 2 every night even though I would have been willing to share (they rarely asked).

- Service was very nearly as good as our first (and only other Royal Caribbean) cruise, seven years ago. My husband is pretty dead set on only cruising Royal now, and definitely not NCL (which I love for the lower prices and included drink packages, but agree the service & food there isn't as good, and we gave them two tries). I had lowered my expectations for Royal Caribbean food and service based on reviews saying they had declined over the years, but I didn't really see that. Dinner service was very quick; I have no idea how they were able to get us appetizers sometimes only 5 minutes after ordering, but it was very cool, as I hate long drawn out dinners, especially if only at a table for 2.

- Super quick check-in and embarkation. For the first time we arrived very early, about 10:15 am (although I think they said not to show up until 11am). There were almost no lines at that time, for security or check in. We went through security, checked in, then waited in the seating area for maybe 5 minutes before they let us on at 10:45am. We had the two bottles of wine, but they didn't really care about checking we only had those, only handing us a notice about the $15 fee to have the bottle opened outside your cabin (we were able to ask for a corkscrew & glasses for one bottle and walk into the dining room with a full glass, and took the other bottle to Chops and paid the $15 fee for convenience).

I had thought we wouldn't get on the ship until 11am at the earliest, but it was definitely earlier than that. We still had to wait until 1pm for the cabin to be ready though. Also, for the first time, our luggage was waiting for us outside our stateroom at 1pm. We'd typically arrive at 11am, get onboard around 1pm, and receive our luggage around the time of the muster drill. Never again! We'll be 10am people from now on, even if it meant sitting and waiting to get on for a bit (better than standing in line for 2 hours!).

- Very large stateroom (9578). It seemed much bigger than any other of the 4 balcony cabins we've had, but maybe that was primarily because this is an older ship (17 years old), and they removed the coffee tables awhile back. It is only listed as 179 sq ft inside though. Tons of storage space (we didn't even use half of it) and a large desk area to spread things out. I imagine it could all be used if you had 3-4 in a cabin though. The balcony table was larger (and higher) than we'd seen on other cruises. The hallways even seemed wider.

- We met some really great people, such as at meals, as even at a table for 2, some tables were only 1 foot away from others. At one breakfast we chatted with a couple for two hours, and kept running into them the rest of the cruise, even among 4,000 passengers.

- Starting on day 3! they sold a drink punch card which covered 10 drinks (up to $12) for only $75, and that must have included the 18% gratuity, as it wasn't charged at time of purchase or redemption. I'm guessing that drink sales were quite low as there were a lot of older and high status folks on this cruise. We ended up only buying and using one card as we had some long port days and aren't huge drinkers, but it was a superb deal (as long as you use all 10 and don't lose it), as most of the drinks we liked were $10 + 18%. The bartender was very confused when I said I'd take it only 15 seconds into his spiel, before he fully explained it (as I had read about it here)!

- Hot tub in the fitness center. I think it was a hidden gem, as there was only one person in it the first time we tried it, and none the second. It is the only one indoors, is extra large, and was published to be open 2 hours later than the pool deck (10pm not 8pm closing time). However, they use a crazy amount of chlorine (I could still smell it after a full shower), even though they change the water very frequently (nightly?).

- Many places were open later/longer than the published hours, like the buffet or pool area.

- We were able to have lunch in the main dining room on embarkation day, despite the buffet being the only published option. I think it might have been only for continuing guests, but we were actually directed there by a crewmember (possibly due to how early we boarded, before 11am), and many people ended up eating there by the time we left. We weren't all that hungry at that time, but figured it would be better than the buffet at noon!

- Prices for specialty coffee drinks and Ben & Jerry's ice cream seemed no higher than on shore, although we didn't try either.

- Our stateroom attendant was the best we've had. We only ever had to ask for something once. For example, on the first day we asked for ice and towels to be switched out twice a day, and we got that every day (ice is only on request now, which makes sense as many don't use it - I think the melted ice makes the best drinking water). Previously we'd had some hiccups, like only replacing towels with morning service, not replacing soap or kleenex, or having a towel animal towel supposed to be used as a shower towel as well. We also had the most awesome towel animals ever, and every single night. They included an epic alligator that was probably 5 feet long and made of 5 towels, and one with towel "legs" hanging from the toilet, stuck inside shoes on the floor! I imagine the guy wanted to have some fun as he probably didn't have any kids in his set of rooms, and it was mostly older folks in our area, many with mobility scooters parked in the hall.

My least favorites:

- The bathroom had clean surfaces, but needed a deep clean and maintenance, as there was mold in every shower crevice, and visible rust in large spots near the floor.

- The ship has definitely had some updates, like big (32"?) flatscreen tvs in the stateroom and newish couches, carpet, bedding, & curtains (although our shears had some holes). However, the walls and doors are still late 90s peach ugliness. They literally patched holes in the walls with stickers of the same print, which looked horrible. The surfaces we'd touch in the stateroom were clean, but other surfaces like closet doors and ceilings had visible ickiness. It could use a good deep clean, wiping down every single surface, which I imagine the stateroom attendants just aren't given enough time to do, as they seem overworked to just get the rooms done daily (it seemed like the cleaning carts were out all the time, with only a couple hours off in the afternoon). I couldn't imagine working a long day every day for 6 months!

- Our mattress was very firm and uncomfortable, but didn't keep us awake (likely as we wore ourselves out in port, walking 5-10 miles each day). Sheets were thin and scratchy, and towels were the typical hotel type - small, thin, and rough. I would totally pay a few hundred extra per week for a comfy bed, nice linens & towels, and a more updated bathroom! (as I don't see the value in upgrading to a suite as we don't need exta space or service, and I'm not sure those items are even better in suites)

The in between:

- Morning room service for continental breakfast items is still free. However, items were often cold or wrong/missing. Also beware they may come a bit before or after you specify. I imagine they have greatly cut back on the staff in that area due to the decrease in orders with the newish $8 charge (we never got around to testing out the upcharge room service option). There was an option for blueberry muffins, but I never once saw one on the ship or got one when I checked that box on the doorhanger (only weird ones like spiced cranberry, spiced chocolate, and bran).

- I liked that the cafe in the Promenade was open 24 hours, as many ships we've been on had no option like that (especially when you come back from shore in the afternoon and are starving and the buffet is closed until dinner). It always had cookies (after breakfast), which are my favorite afternoon cruise snack. However, the oatmeal coconut cookies were by far the best, but nowhere to be seen after the first couple of days. Also, they only had two cookie options there daily, and one was sugar free. Silly complaint though, I know.

- Ice skating was only available on the second sea day, two sessions of 2.5 hours each. It seemed way underutilized (likely due to the older demographic), and they didn't enforce the 30 minute sessions that the Compass described (my husband skated for over an hour during each session). They also made you wear the helmet, even after signing a two page waiver (I guess someone must have sued?).

- A lot of the coolest sounding shows (like comedy) were only quite late at night, like 10:30pm, which was too late for us. Most of the shows didn't interest us, like musicals or 70s/80s. Also, several nights only had a single show at 7:15pm (instead of around 6pm & 8:30pm), which wasn't a great option as we liked dinner around 6pm. We actually never ended up going to any nighttime show, only a daytime ice show.

- The first two (of four) ice skating shows were while we were in port in Astoria. Thankfully the one for our cabin / evacuation number was on a sea day. I guess this was in case they had to delay some due to rough seas, but I imagine a lot of folks had a tough choice in between staying in port the max time vs. seeing the ice show.

- Most of the published activities were either an extra cost (like cupcake, sushi, or alcohol tasting classes), focused on having you spend money (like an art auction, port talk, or bingo), or didn't sound interesting (like trivia or kareoke). Often the interesting stuff was all at the same time or around a meal time. However, we were never bored. We enjoyed just relaxing with the view and a book on a sea day, and eating all three meals in the restaurant and sleeping extra took up a lot of our time!

- The published time for ports was 30 minutes later than I had expected from the online information, as they listed that time (such as 8am) as arriving, and a later time (such as 8:30am) as being cleared for disembarkation. Add that to the 30 min you lose between all aboard time and departure, and you've lost an hour in each port. Something to be aware of, especially if booking early morning independent excursions.

- They were often pedalling the specialty restaurants (most often, Izumi), but just held up signs and walked around, and never approaching you (which I would have not liked at all).

I think that is enough notes. Anyone have any questions?

Nice review, thank you. We have sailed Explorer three times now. The one thing that has bothered us each and every time was the cigarette smoke that drifts out of the casino and up the stairs to the Royal Promenade. It was, quite simply, awful. Seriously, toward the end of the cruise my eyes were stinging and it was really uncomfortable. I wish they would do something about it but they never will. :(

Glad you enjoyed. :D

and bar hopped & liquor shopped in Victoria (our third time, and our only daytime stop, as it is usually 6pm-midnight for Alaska cruises).

The Celebrity Eclipse does that - the Explorer has a regular day time hours stop in Victoria on her Alaska runs.

... The one thing that has bothered us each and every time was the cigarette smoke that drifts out of the casino and up the stairs to the Royal Promenade. It was, quite simply, awful. Seriously, toward the end of the cruise my eyes were stinging and it was really uncomfortable. I wish they would do something about it but they never will. :(

 

...

We noticed the same thing last year, pretty bad.

Thank you for the review! Our family of four will be bringing the ship back Sydney to Seattle.... first time on Explorer with only one RCCL cruise previously... so I appreciate your review in anticipation of our long TransPacific cruise :)

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Thank you for the review- will be on her in November 😎

The one thing that has bothered us each and every time was the cigarette smoke that drifts out of the casino and up the stairs to the Royal Promenade. It was, quite simply, awful. Seriously, toward the end of the cruise my eyes were stinging and it was really uncomfortable. I wish they would do something about it but they never will.

I forgot about that! Yes, it was quite bad, and we both get the itchy eyes and headache from it. Due to that we didn't spend any specific time in the Promenade, just walked through it and picked up anything we needed (like a soda refill or a snack). I think if they had something to close off those stairs between the casino and Promenade (or even have an intense downward airflow) it would have been better. The bar outside of the casino was also unusable for us due to smoke. The area on the side of the pool with the frozen yogurt machine was also always smokey as it was allowed there. And, obviously, the casino itself. Unfortunately this has been pretty typical on most of our cruises. At least we didn't have any people smoking on nearby balconies this time.

The Celebrity Eclipse does that - the Explorer has a regular day time hours stop in Victoria on her Alaska runs.

Thanks! I guess I should have said we had never had a daytime stop in Victoria.

Nice review. We were on the 9/22 itinerary. Really enjoyed. Booked Explorer for September 2018 to Alaska

I was on this sailing also. I bought the 10 drink card and my receipt shows the cost was $63.56 so that with the gratuity ($11.44) the total cost was $75.00. I bought it on Day 3 and it wasn't advertised as being available. So ask any bartender if you want one. And you could buy another one once you used it up. But I did notice that the drinks were very weak, even watching the bartender measure the alcohol in (I never saw a free pour), you couldn't convince me there was anything in my drink. There are 3 tiers of drinks $14, $12, and $9.50. Drinks in the $14 category were the premium drinks like Bloody Mary (Ultimate Cosmo made with Grey Goose was $13). In the $12 bracket was stuff like the Appletini, Manhattan, Sexy Beach. The $9.50 bracket has the Cuba Libre, Pina Colada, Whiskey Sour, Strawberry Daiquiri. Beers were $6.50, pop is $3.25. Drinks are listed by liquor so there's a page in the menu for stuff made with Vodka, Tequila, Rum, Whiskey (Bourbon), and Gin.

But I did notice that the drinks were very weak, even watching the bartender measure the alcohol in (I never saw a free pour), you couldn't convince me there was anything in my drink.

I too found the drinks weak, but I'd say that about pretty any drink I order anywhere, with only a few exceptions. For example, fancy restaurants with expensive drinks tend to make them stronger, so its actually a better deal. For example, I had a Mai Tai while we were in San Francisco that was $13, but in a tall glass and crazy strong. A couple bars we went to on Explorer were better than others though, like the Solarium and Windjammer (I saw the guy make some really strong drinks first thing in the morning where he kept pouring after measuring the shot!). I have heard some cruiselines (and bars) hold the bartenders accountable for any overages over what was ordered (put into the computer), so it makes sense.

I did Sydney to Seattle this year and it was fabulous. Thanks to Australian law as the cruise originated in Australia - no indoor smoking!

I did Sydney to Seattle this year and it was fabulous. Thanks to Australian law as the cruise originated in Australia - no indoor smoking!

The entire cruise all the way to Seattle had no indoor smoking?

I did Sydney to Seattle this year and it was fabulous. Thanks to Australian law as the cruise originated in Australia - no indoor smoking!

Oh wow!! We have P&O for a roundtrip Brisbane cruise before doing RCCL Sydney Seattle

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Wife and I were on the same cruise and agree with most of your review. This was our 25th RCL cruise and 3rd on Explorer. Lots of Diamond and above, the cocktail hour had to be moved to the lounge in the evening and it was still hard to find a seat at times. The Casino was the busiest I have seen on any cruise. This was our first 7 night cruise in several years (usually 10 nights or more) so I thought it would seem really short , but it was great. Overall a great cruise. Thanks for your review

I traveled solo on the Sept 15th cruise. I agree that it was wonderful sailing from my home port. I took advantage of great liquor prices onboard and purchased 4 liters. I filled out a customs form (you don't need to anymore, if you are within limits), but he just waved me through.

I had purchased the Deluxe beverage package when it dropped to $44+18% gratuity. I never noticed the drink card being sold, but I really wasn't looking for it. Since I am turning Diamond on my Allure cruise in Dec., and won't be able to enjoy the nightly event yet, I will probably keep an eye open for it, for my daughter and I to share.

I will be back on the Explorer in 2019, sailing Sydney back to Seattle. I enjoyed the ship and looking forward to sailing her again.