My Wonderful trip report on EXPLORER 4-12-12 to 4-21-12 - WITH PICS!

[MikeDaDog]

Can you say more about how the boarding process went with your MIL? We are traveling with my mother in June. She uses a walker and has some trouble with high/steep steps. I'm concerned about the shuttle bus and plan to take a small folding step stool in case the step is too high. Also, is the gangplank really steep for a walker?

The shuttles have the "kneeling" ability and there is always at least one employee/escort there to add a lending hand up onto and another one at the ship to help down. The ramp onto the Explorer is not steep at all in NJ, it is almost level in fact not much of a hill.

[puggylicious]

Enjoying your review. Looking forward to more :)

[Loralie]

nice photos

 

Thanks, my older son took almost all of the pics. He wanted me to make sure everyone knew they are HIS pics. LOL

 

Leave on May 5th to bermuda out of bayonne...sounds like a great ship!:D

 

I LOVED Bermuda and the ship is great. Have fun!

 

Very nice...7 of us will be doing the 10 day in December....

 

We had 7 1n our group. I think that is a nice size group, not too big or too small. You will love the 10 days!

 

Loralie

[Loralie]

Great trip report can't wait to read more. My husband and I are going with two other couples no kids. This is our first vacation without our kids my one daughter will be getting married in May and the other will be leaving to do the Disney college program. We are going out of Bayonne on July 19th looking forward to a much needed vacation after the wedding. It's nice to read your report because I heard there was a bad smell on the 8th and 9th floor and we are on the 9th floor but as you said it wasn't that bad. We really wanted to go on one of the newer ships but we didn't want to fly as we don't live far from Bayonne plus we wanted a 10 day cruise. So keep posting! Thanks :D

A trip without the kids, how fun! I have not done that yet. Maybe next time! LOL. Congrats on your daughter getting married and the Disney College program. That's so exciting. We are big Disney fans! The smell was not bad at all. I posted to another answer that I only smelled something once and it was for a quick second. I thought my son passed gas. LOL. It was gone as fast as it came. You will love having 10 days on the cruise. :-)

 

Love reading your review! We sail in a few months. Just wondering if you know the cost for a wine package? We are thinking about it but online it just asks if you want to prepurchase no price or what's included! I don't want to click and have it added without knowing what I'm adding. Thanks and I look forward to more!

 

I'm sorry I do not know the cost of the wine package. My BIL ordered the wine package but I don't know how much he paid for it. I am not a wine drinker but my DH enjoyed it.

 

Enjoying your review. Looking forward to more :)

I will post more today. Sorry I did not post last night. I had a crazy work day and I was exhausted. Thanks for reading along.

 

Loralie

[celebrity]

Leave on May 5th to bermuda out of bayonne...sounds like a great ship!:D

 

You'll love her and her crew. Bon Voyage!

[Loralie]

Today is day 2 and it is a sea day. We had to turn the clocks back 1 hour DH and I ordered room service for breakfast but we ordered it to come at 6:30 am because the plan was to eat a little then go for a walk then get ready to meet the rest of our group for breakfast in the dining room. Well, with turning the clocks back it was really 5:30 am for us! LOL. I really wanted to eat out on the balcony but it was still dark out!!!

 

Back in 2007 we went on a Carnival cruise and they do not have hot food for room service and I remember that my big complaint was that they always forgot to bring something. Almost every time! I have to say, RC room service was great. They always came at the time we requested and they never forgot anything. The food was good and hot and we really enjoyed it.

 

DH did not sleep well last night so I did not make him walk the track. His back was hurting him so after room service breakfast we just relaxed until it was time to meet the gang in the dining room for the real breakfast. I wanted to try to take advantage of eating in the dining room on sea days as much as possible. You have not seen pics of my BIL and DH's Aunt yet so here they are at the dining room breakfast

 

my BIL

 

DH's Aunt

 

Here are some pics we took on our balcony

 

 

 

 

After breakfast we went to get tickets for the ice show. The line was long but it moved quickly. Then I went to the gym. I have lost 40 pounds on weight watchers and I still have 10 more pounds to lose before I make it to my weight watcher goal weight. I am so afraid I am going to gain a lot of weight on the cruise so I have been taking the stairs as much as possible and I plan to go to the gym at least every other day. I am on vacation after all and I will eat what I want but if it is not something I really like I will not finish it. Before the cruise I did P90X. I am proud of myself for finishing all 90 days but during the last few workouts I hurt my knee. Now I can't workout like I used to. It is very frustrating but I made my way to the gym and went on the treadmill. Better than nothing.

 

I will post more about day 2 in the next post.

 

Thanks for reading along,

 

Loralie

[Loralie]

we went back to the room to relax a bit and then I heard a knock on the door. It was my older son. He took some of the money he had and bought presents for DH and I. He bought me a coffee mug that says Explorer of the seas and he bought a glass for soda for DH that also says Explorer of the Seas. He is such a good kid. He wanted to give us the gifts as a thank you for taking him on the trip. He kept saying he felt rich being on the ship. I told him he better get a good job when he gets older! LOL.

 

After he gave us the gifts my older son and I went looking around the ship. We tried to go to the heliport in the front of the ship but it was closed because it was too windy. We saw people in the pool and hot tubs but I was too cold. We checked out the rock climbing wall and the inline skating and mini golf. We did not play, we just looked. We looked at Dizzy's lounge and the chapel. We ran into my younger son and they showed me the teen area and the arcade. The ship is beautiful and you can do everything or you can do nothing.

 

We ate lunch in the dining room and it was pretty good. They had the famous salad bar and the service was wonderful. For desert they had a chocolate hazelnut desert that was really good. I think it was my favorite desert of the whole cruise. I wish I took a picture of it.

 

Tonight was formal night and I wanted to take my time getting ready. I even spent time on my hair and put makeup on!!! Something I hardly do in my real life. LOL I really wanted professional pics taken of all of us but for some reason it did not work out. Here are some formal night pics we took ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a yummy dinner where most of us ate the Filet of Beef, we went to a game show called "Finish the Lyric". It was a lot of fun. Frankie the activities director was a great host. Richard Spacey the Cruise Director was really good during the week too but he was not at this game. DH and his brother went to the Casino where he won 100.00 playing craps! Yay! The boys had teen parties tonight. My younger son's party went from 11:00 pm to !2:00 am and my older son's party went from Midnight to 1:00 am. I was so tired but of course I had to stay up and make sure they got back OK. When I came back to the room I found this:

 

 

It had been a great sea day and tomorrow we will be in Bermuda.

 

Loralie

[family cruisers]

What a great son you have !!! That was so nice of him.

[mommaof 3]

Enjoying a vicarious vacation with your family! We are going on enchantment (alone -20th anniversary) in August, but would like to go on Explorer with our kids soon too.

 

What a sweet gesture from your son! I have a teenaged boy too, and I doubt he'd do that, lol.

 

Thx for writing - Julie

[Poorplaya]

Great rewiew so far, great pics, seems like you guys had a wonderful time.

[boaterette]

Nice review. Congats on the weight loss. What a wonderful son that you have.

[Wdwfanatic]

Congrats on the weight loss. It's tough to stay on a diet when your on a criuse. I'm going to have breakfast in the room every day just so I don't get tempted at the windjammer with all the food.

[Susie51]

Great photo review. We will be on EOS June 2, so it is great to read your thread. I'm looking forward to more.

[Loralie]

Enjoying a vicarious vacation with your family! We are going on enchantment (alone -20th anniversary) in August, but would like to go on Explorer with our kids soon too.

 

What a sweet gesture from your son! I have a teenaged boy too, and I doubt he'd do that, lol.

 

Thx for writing - Julie

 

Happy 20th Anniversary! We will be married 19 years in June. Maybe we should plan an alone trip for our 20th...hmmm, something to consider. LOL

 

Great rewiew so far, great pics, seems like you guys had a wonderful time.

We did have a wonderful time. I so wish I was back on the ship right now. Thanks for reading along.

 

What a great son you have !!! That was so nice of him.

 

Thank you so much. We are very blessed to have 2 wonderful son's. We hear horror stories about teens and we thank God everyday that we do not have any problems with our boys. We are very lucky.

 

Loralie

[Loralie]

Nice review. Congats on the weight loss. What a wonderful son that you have.

 

Thank you, I did gain 2 pounds but I really enjoyed myself. LOL.

 

Congrats on the weight loss. It's tough to stay on a diet when your on a criuse. I'm going to have breakfast in the room every day just so I don't get tempted at the windjammer with all the food.

 

See, that's where I went wrong. I had room service breakfast and then went to either the dining room or the Windjammer. Ha Ha Ha. The raspberry danish was sooooo good! Enjoy your vacation. Everything in moderation.

 

Great photo review. We will be on EOS June 2, so it is great to read your thread. I'm looking forward to more.

 

It will be here before you know it. Can't wait to read about your trip when you come back.

 

Thanks for reading along,

 

Loralie

[Loralie]

Before I start writing about Bermuda, I forgot to mention how great our room steward was. His name was Heathcliff and he was also the room steward for the boys room. We prepaid the tips and gave him extra at the end. I asked him if he could get me a bathrobe and at first he said they were just for suite guests but I told him that I had read that if they had extra they could sometimes get one for people who are not in a suite and he said he would check and he got me one on the first day. He emptied the mini bar for both rooms and he had ice for us everyday. We had towel animals every other day. He was always there to help if we needed it.

I realized that when they clean the room they do not move your clothes so I had an extra key for the boys room and every so often I would go in and tidy up a little because the boys were leaving their clothes all over their little room. LOL on the bathroom floor, the couches in their room, the floor by their bed. I told them to put the dirty clothes in the suit case in their closet but they did not always make it there. Boys will be boys!!!

Day 3 is our day in Bermuda. We woke up and had our room service breakfast. It was a nice little alone time for DH and I every morning. Just the 2 of us. I would basically have tea and danish. I LOVED the raspberry danish. I looked out the balcony and saw land. Beautiful Bermuda! Here is what I saw

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I had read before we left that the beach to go to is Horseshoe Bay. I knew the water would be a little cold but I really wanted to see this beautiful beach with the pink sand. Coming from the New York area I really wanted to show the boys what a beautiful beach looks like! My DH and MIL decided to stay on the ship and my BIL decided to go and explorer Bermuda on his own. So the Boys and I and DH's Aunt decided to go to the beach together. I had read that the public transportation is really easy in Bermuda but since I was going with DH's Aunt, who is over 70 years old, I thought a cab would be better.

We got a cab and it cost $30.00 including tip for the 15 to 20 min ride to Horseshoe Bay Beach. I can't say it enough, Bermuda is beautiful. The water was so blue and everything looked so nice and clean. So many colors. It really looked like a place you want to come back and just stay at for a vacation. The driver was nice and he drops you off right at the beach. Well worth the money. We rented some beach chairs for $11.00 each. They requested a $5.00 deposit that you get back when you return the chairs. Make sure you keep your receipt.

The beach was beautiful and not too crowded. We were the only ship in Bermuda that day so that helped. The sand is pink but not all pink. More like some pink mixed in. My younger son loved swimming in the water even though it was cold. He went right in! At one point I think he was the only person in the water! LOL. My older son went in a little but it was too cold for him. I put my feet in the water. If it was warmer out it would have been a perfect beach day. Here are some pics of our day at Horseshoe Bay Beach.

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My son, the only one in the water!
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DH's aunt and I enjoying the sun, (notice the sweatshirts are still on)
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I will post some more Bermuda pics in the next post

Loralie

[Loralie]

Here are some more pics of Horseshoe Bay

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We had a wonderful day at the beach. My younger son even had the courage to go up to 2 girls who were also on our cruise and talk to them on the beach. He told my DH later in the day that the girls were "hot". LOL. I could have stayed at the beach all day but my older son was getting bored. If the water was warmer we would have stayed longer.

We took a taxi back to the ship and when we went through security they questioned the water bottles I had in my beach bag. I brought water with us thinking we would need them on the beach but we never drank them. I showed security that they were still sealed and they gave them back to me. I had water with me in St. Marten and St. Thomas but this was the only time they questioned it.

We came back to the ship to get out of our bathing suits and have lunch. Our room steward told us that my DH and my MIL just went to the Windjammer for lunch so we surprised them and met them for lunch. After lunch DH's Aunt and I and my older son decided to go back and visit the Clock tower mall and do some shopping. My younger son was tired from swimming and shopping is not his thing. I told my older son that this mall is not going to be like the mall at home but he heard the word mall and wanted to go. He was a little disappointed. LOL.

They have a free shuttle outside that takes you to the shopping areas and we saw the clock tower mall, the glass works and the clay works shopping area. Nice stuff but we did not buy anything. We tried rum cakes which were pretty good. We ran into my BIL who was on a moped. He loved riding the moped and now wants to buy a motorcycle. LOL. He said he went all over Bermuda and loved it.

After shopping we came back to the ship. We had a great time in Bermuda. I will post more about day 3 in the next post.

Loralie

[fish6]

[quote name='Loralie']
We ran into my BIL who was on a moped. He loved riding the moped and now wants to buy a motorcycle. LOL. He said he went all over Bermuda and loved it.

[/quote]

Do you know how much the moped rental was and where he went to get it?

[lovinthevaca]

[quote name='Loralie']My MIL rented the scooter and if I remember correctly she got the biggest one, the one that held the most weight and it was a little under $300.00 for the 10 days. It was better then she thought it would be. She thought it was going to be around $500.00.

I don't know about it fitting in the room you have but I did see someone down the hall had a scooter and they kept it in the hall every day. I don't know how they charged it. I believe they have the dimensions on the Royal Caribbean website and I am sure when you rent the scooter it will say how wide it is and I would think it would fit. I am sure everything will work out. We saw quite a few people in scooters.

Have fun on your trip.

Loralie[/quote]

Thank you so much! Your review is terrific!

[celebrity]

[quote name='fish6']Do you know how much the moped rental was and where he went to get it?[/QUOTE]

I'm sure someone else can help with the cost but you can rent them at Oleander right at King's Wharf. Just remember that you drive on the opposite side of the road and there are lots of rotaries so it can be a bit treacherous. The up side is that you can see the whole island at your leisure.

[Loralie]

[quote name='fish6']Do you know how much the moped rental was and where he went to get it?[/QUOTE]

I do not know how much the moped rental was but I did see that they had mopeds for rent right when you get off the ship. You can't miss it. I was too nervous to drive a moped but my BIL said it was great.

have fun,

loralie

[hansolosmom]

What a great review. Dh & I went on a 5 day to Bermuda for our anniversary a few years ago. I'm thinking about taking my mom and my sister toward the end of the summer so it's nice to see how everything is now.

BTW congrats on the weight loss.
Also your sons sound wonderful!

[hansolosmom]

Forgot to ask. Do they have umbrella rentals on the beach? My mom had a couple bouts of skin cancer but still loves to sit out - but only under an umbrella now

[sept10dsm]

[quote name='hansolosmom']What a great review. Dh & I went on a 5 day to Bermuda for our anniversary a few years ago. I'm thinking about taking my mom and my sister toward the end of the summer so it's nice to see how everything is now.

BTW congrats on the weight loss.
Also your sons sound wonderful![/QUOTE]

Well if you are thinking to go you really should check out the prices now. We just booked the 7 day for 789 pp plus there is a savings cert from RC out there for an addl 125 off all but inside. Many other EOS have great prices and cert as well. Esp good if one is over 55. The sr discount saved us 250pp. Just so you know!:)

[hansolosmom]

[quote name='LilJohnGK']Great job so far!!!!! To see all the pics, feel free to visit [url]www.jmadigan.com[/url]

Thanks!

-John Madigan[/QUOTE]

I looked through them - you took some really great pictures. I also appreciated the teen room pix as my sons are almost 14 & 16 so if this trip becomes an 'everyone is going' I know they'll have fun