Just Returned - Explorer of the Seas

[Lee-Ann]

Dear All

 

We have just returned from our very first cruise which was onboard The Explorer of the Seas.

 

We had a fantastic time and cant wait to go on our next Cruise.

 

The staff and ship were just wonderful and armed with all the tips and advice from Cruise Crittic made a wonderful holiday.

 

We can understand why there are so many posts regarding the tipping on board. We opted for the tips to be added to our sea-pass account and were then given pre-paid vouchers to hand to our Stateroom Attendant, Head Waiter, Assitant Waiter and Waiter which we felt worked best for us.

 

A number of guests had opted to pre-pay within their holiday booking and this caused a number of issues.

 

Cant wait to start booking our next trip with Royal Caribbean.

 

Lee-Ann & Patrcia Sallis

London, UK

[grandsix]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your first cruise. You picked a great ship to start with.

[LBumb]

that bad news is it sounds like you're hooked.

[cruiseapril]

Thanks for your comments.

 

Did you visit the Solarium?

 

How was the food?

 

We'll be on the Explorer in 2 months- looking forward to cruise.

[sandian]

Thank you, we will be boarding in 7 days time and are so looking forward to our first RC cruise.

 

Any info you can give me will be so helpful, I read everything I can and am on C C every day. You can see I am hooked already.

[cruiseapril]

sandian- Have a great cruise and let us know all about it. We read CC every day too!

[sandian]

sandian- Have a great cruise and let us know all about it. We read CC every day too!

Thanks

 

Will let you know how we got on when we get back.

 

Sandra

[crewchief482]

Dear All

 

We have just returned from our very first cruise which was onboard The Explorer of the Seas.

 

We had a fantastic time and cant wait to go on our next Cruise.

 

The staff and ship were just wonderful and armed with all the tips and advice from Cruise Crittic made a wonderful holiday.

 

We can understand why there are so many posts regarding the tipping on board. We opted for the tips to be added to our sea-pass account and were then given pre-paid vouchers to hand to our Stateroom Attendant, Head Waiter, Assitant Waiter and Waiter which we felt worked best for us.

 

A number of guests had opted to pre-pay within their holiday booking and this caused a number of issues.

 

Cant wait to start booking our next trip with Royal Caribbean.

 

Lee-Ann & Patrcia Sallis

London, UK

 

Glad you had a wonderful time , we are leaving next Sunday for the 12 day ( it's my retirement cruise ) from full time work- bags are packed ,and

everything set to go -- as you can see in my signature WE Love the EX and sail as often as possible - this cruise moves us into Diamond Status and we're ready to start enjoying all that comes with it.. Hopefully we'll meet more "cruise pals " and stay in touch with them -- our last cruise in November was with 3 other couples that we met on the EX in Aug.

hope you caught the cruise bug as we find it an enjoyable way to have a vacation.:)

[tony0104]

hello again its tony from the casino.

how long did it take to get home with the bad weather?

[Theresa522]

So glad you had a wonderful time.

[Addict]

A number of guests had opted to pre-pay within their holiday booking and this caused a number of issues.

 

Lee-Ann & Patrcia Sallis

London, UK

 

Hi Lee-Ann

 

Glad to hear you had a good cruise.

 

Can you elaborate on what the issues were with pre-paying gratuities? We have done this for our next two cruises - on AOS and EOS. Now I am wondering if we have done the right thing.

 

Thanks for any info you can give.

 

Sue

[houlacruiser]

Thanks for your comments.

 

Did you visit the Solarium?

 

How was the food?

 

We'll be on the Explorer in 2 months- looking forward to cruise.

 

Having just returned, I can say that the food is great on this ship, but I've also never really encountered a problem and have always enjoyed the food provided. I love the salad bar for lunch!

The solarium is great with new loungers/cushions. On our 12 day it was always crowded, but the "deck patrol" was out and trying to keep the chair hogs away.

Have a great time!

[Mary1951]

Last year I prepaid and got the voucher to give to staff last night of cruise . I am planning to do the same the next cruise as it is one thing less to think about .

[Lee-Ann]

Hello Tony,

 

A lovely surprise to hear from you. I have added you as a contact, but couldnt locate my contacts to message you directly.

 

Our lift wasnt at the port! however we went in a shared taxi to the airport. We were lucky and only had a 3 hour delay with our flight. One plus point was we got to see Bruce Springsteen as he was on our flight to London.

 

Feel free to email me directly leeannsallis@live.com

 

Take Care,

 

Lee-Ann

 

[Lee-Ann]

Hello Sue,

 

The main issue appeared if people had paid tips via their holiday packages. People were saying they thought staff were being paid, others found they had to pay / tip again on board and then reclaim money already paid.

 

I only heard 3 complaints, but we were pleased to be able to pay via the seapass and be given vouchers to present to the staff.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Lee-Ann

 

 

Hi Lee-Ann

 

Glad to hear you had a good cruise.

 

Can you elaborate on what the issues were with pre-paying gratuities? We have done this for our next two cruises - on AOS and EOS. Now I am wondering if we have done the right thing.

 

Thanks for any info you can give.

 

Sue

[Lee-Ann]

Tony

 

Apologies if you get this message twice, not replied like this before.

 

Our ride from the Port to Newark Airport never turned up but the staff were really helpful and got Mum and I into a shared taxi. Despite the bad weather and lots of flights been delayed or cancelled, we only had a 3 hr delay. It gave us a chance to meet up with a few more that had been on EOS and we chatted in the airport bar - No casino available.

 

One plus point, we got to see Bruce Springsteen as he was on our flight to London.

 

Do email me directly - leeannsallis@live.com

 

Take Care,

 

Lee-Ann

 

 

hello again its tony from the casino.

how long did it take to get home with the bad weather?

[Addict]

Hello Sue,

 

The main issue appeared if people had paid tips via their holiday packages. People were saying they thought staff were being paid, others found they had to pay / tip again on board and then reclaim money already paid.

 

I only heard 3 complaints, but we were pleased to be able to pay via the seapass and be given vouchers to present to the staff.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Lee-Ann

 

Thanks for that Lee-Ann. We certainly won't be tipping again (unless we choose to give extra) - I have the invoice which shows the gratuities were paid with final payment. We have prepaid on Celebrity and it worked out well - although they don't give you vouchers, you can pick up envelopes to put a little extra in. I wonder what went wrong with the guys on your cruise?