Just back from Explorer of the Seas

[stephluva]

Got back Saturday afternoon from a TERRIFIC 9 night Bermuda/E. Caribbean cruise onboard EOS :D

 

This was my 10th cruise, 3rd on RCI. It was my boyfriends 5th cruise, 1st on RCI. We cruised with my parents (both seasoned cruisers) and very good family friends (also seasoned). Overall, this cruise met my expectations from previous RCI cruises, I knew it was a great product, and we were not disappointed.

 

The service was outstanding everywhere, from the cabin steward to the MDR waitstaff, and the Cruise Director Staff were all amazing. Entertainment was great, food was good, and the live music everywhere was probably the best I've ever heard compared to previous cruises.

 

I will be posting a review soon, but if anyone has any questions in the meantime, I will be happy to answer :D

[GGBNJ130]

Could you tell if it was a full ship? Or were their possibly empty rooms. I'm going in -17 days, and it looks like the ship is pretty empty, which was expected from what we were told on the phone when we booked.

[#1JetsFan]

Glad you had a good time! We are leaving soon, and I would like to know if you noticed any scheduled ZUMBA classes in the fitness center?

Thanks

;)

[smeck]

Could you tell if it was a full ship? Or were their possibly empty rooms. I'm going in -17 days, and it looks like the ship is pretty empty, which was expected from what we were told on the phone when we booked.

 

Very rare a ship will sail with many empty staterooms. We cruised on the Explorer in April/May on a full ship. The only time you'll notice a big crowd is on embarkation day at the Windjammer and when they distribute ice skating tickets.

[stephluva]

Could you tell if it was a full ship? Or were their possibly empty rooms. I'm going in -17 days, and it looks like the ship is pretty empty, which was expected from what we were told on the phone when we booked.

 

It was a full ship, they usually don't sail with an "empty" ship, especially in the summertime. You should check where you got that information from.

[stephluva]

Glad you had a good time! We are leaving soon, and I would like to know if you noticed any scheduled ZUMBA classes in the fitness center?

Thanks

;)

 

Didn't use the fitness center, but I will check the cruise compasses later on tonight to see if they had anything. I did notice that they had Pilate and yoga classes, all for an additional fee

[buck17]

did they have the beer cooler bags or just the bucket of beers?

[stephluva]

did they have the beer cooler bags or just the bucket of beers?

 

I saw a lot of people with the buckets, didn't notice any bags, but that's not to say they weren't available.

[wolfcathorse]

who was your captain, was it Capt Henrik Loy?

[stephluva]

who was your captain, was it Capt Henrik Loy?

 

Yes, he was our captain...you saw him all over the ship, he took pictures on 2 nights with the guests and he was involved with the walk for the Make A Wish foundation. Not many captains interact with the guests anymore, let alone show their faces, so this was a nice touch on his part.

[scooterpej]

Stephanie,

Thanks for the great report. We go 8/2. 19 year old daughter and myself. Where was your cabin? Any special theme nights we should bring outfits for? What did you enjoy most in the ports? Was it rough at all leaving from New Jersey?

Thanks,

Donna

[pbay]

We were on that cruise too. Except for lunch the first day and when we all got on from Puerto Rico- the ship never seemed that crowded. I thought the food was just okay- wish they had something by the pool at lunch. Many of the dinners seemed the same. Thought all the staff was excellent. Check out the Silent Party in the Chamber ( and Morgan Freeman- a waiter there lol) Didn't like the times in St. Maartan or Puerto Rico a lot of wasted time in my opinion, especially Puerto Rico. We had bad weather going to Bermuda the was ship was rocking!! Through this site I was under the impression Leigh was to be cruise director and Richard was on vacation. But Richard was back and Leigh was "activities director" does anyone know why that was?

[bighairtexan]

Because Leigh just took over while Richard was on vacation and Richard came back from vacation.

[stephluva]

Stephanie,

Thanks for the great report. We go 8/2. 19 year old daughter and myself. Where was your cabin? Any special theme nights we should bring outfits for? What did you enjoy most in the ports? Was it rough at all leaving from New Jersey?

Thanks,

Donna

 

You're welcome, starting to put my "official" review together, hope to get it done by next week! We had a Promenade cabin (7277)...it was cool being able to just people watch, and it was a totally different experience from any other cabin we've had on previous cruises.

They had a few theme nights...70's disco night and the Island deck party were the big ones, along with some other nights where they would play 80's and 90's music in the Chamber night club.

The ports were great, especially Labadee....it was beautiful there. It's pretty hard to find a ship that sails from up here (Tri-State area) all the way to St. Maarten, so we jumped on that.

It was only "rough" the first Sea Day after we left Bayonne, but even that wasn't so bad....definitely had rougher waters in the past.

Hopefully I helped you out with some answers :D

 

We were on that cruise too. Except for lunch the first day and when we all got on from Puerto Rico- the ship never seemed that crowded. I thought the food was just okay- wish they had something by the pool at lunch. Many of the dinners seemed the same. Thought all the staff was excellent. Check out the Silent Party in the Chamber ( and Morgan Freeman- a waiter there lol) Didn't like the times in St. Maartan or Puerto Rico a lot of wasted time in my opinion, especially Puerto Rico. We had bad weather going to Bermuda the was ship was rocking!! Through this site I was under the impression Leigh was to be cruise director and Richard was on vacation. But Richard was back and Leigh was "activities director" does anyone know why that was?

 

I agree about the food, it was good...but not great. I had higher expectations, especially about eating at Portofino's, but I'll wait to open that can of worms for my review :rolleyes:

The only thing I didn't like about San Juan was the fact that we docked at 7am and the stores didn't open until 10am...we then had to be back on the ship at 12:30 pm!! :eek: Didn't quite see the point in that.

I was under the impression that Richard Spacey was going on "vacation" until August, but I had heard that Leigh was terrific as Acting Cruise Director, so I didn't really mind. The fact that Richard and Leigh were both there was terrific.....they made a great team, and played well off of each other IMO. Leigh's official role is Activities Director, but I believe that he is training to be a Cruise Director, which is why you saw him a lot more than Richard

[Shades of Turquoise]

Thanks so much for posting, Stephanie! Were there 2 formal nights? Was there also a "smart casual" night? Did you happen to notice what teen girls were wearing on those evenings?

[tikif6]

Thanks so much for posting, Stephanie! Were there 2 formal nights? Was there also a "smart casual" night? Did you happen to notice what teen girls were wearing on those evenings?

 

I can't speak for this op's particular cruise, but on our 9-nighter on Explorer in May there were 3 formal nights. The 3rd formal night you saw less people dressed up. So even though it is called "formal night" on the compass, you can reall say it's more like "smart casual".

 

I for one after dressing up for 2 nights and then partying every night, early wake up for shore excursions, etc etc.... I just wasn't in the mood to dress up for the 3rd night. I just did smart casual and it was fine.

[Justme2]

Hello

 

Can you tell us anything about the parking situation at Cape Liberty

 

any ideas to beat the high prices

 

thank you

[luvfamvaca]

I saw a lot of people with the buckets, didn't notice any bags, but that's not to say they weren't available.

 

I'm here actually laughing at myself because...:rolleyes:

I didn't even know this existed lol What do they charge for bags/buckets and how much/what kind of beer does it include?

 

Do you know if Richard will still be Cruise Director for next summer? How long do they normally stay on each ship?

Thanks:D

[sept10dsm]

Thanks for the report. We leave mid Sept and are looking forward to going!

[stephluva]

Thanks so much for posting, Stephanie! Were there 2 formal nights? Was there also a "smart casual" night? Did you happen to notice what teen girls were wearing on those evenings?

 

Before we left for our cruise, we were getting conflicting reports re:Formal nights...were there 2? were there 3? On our cruise, there were 2 formal nights, and one of the nights was named Smart Casual...IMO you couldn't really tell the difference between the "casual" and "smart casual" evenings. The only time you noticed people dressing differently was on Formal nights, where most everyone followed the rules.

We definitely noticed what kind of dresses (or lack thereof) the teenage girls were wearing on formal nights. I was not allowed to dress like that (nor would I have ever even thought about it) and if I had a teen daughter, she would NOT be wearing what some of those girls were wearing. But this is just my own personal opinion....there were some teenagers dressed appropriately for all evenings.

[#1JetsFan]

Didn't use the fitness center, but I will check the cruise compasses later on tonight to see if they had anything. I did notice that they had Pilate and yoga classes, all for an additional fee

 

Thanks for your answer. I also contacted a friend who was on EOS recently. There was definitely no ZUMBA classes. I've downloaded a video onto my iPad so that I can work out in my cabin.:)

[stephluva]

Hello

 

Can you tell us anything about the parking situation at Cape Liberty

 

any ideas to beat the high prices

 

thank you

 

We took a car service to and from the pier, so I can't help you with prices for parking. I've heard many people talk about parking at Cape Liberty, and you don't hear too many negative things about it....try doing a search for it in the forums, you may find better info

 

I'm here actually laughing at myself because...:rolleyes:

I didn't even know this existed lol What do they charge for bags/buckets and how much/what kind of beer does it include?

 

Do you know if Richard will still be Cruise Director for next summer? How long do they normally stay on each ship?

Thanks:D

 

We saw many people carrying the buckets around, they usually were filled with either Budweiser or Bud lite. Not sure of the price...pretty sure it comes out to "buy 5 get 1 free" kind of deal....but don't take my word for it :rolleyes:

Not sure of Richard Spacey's plans for next year, there are multiple threads on the forum's re:Cruise Director's....there are people that follow what the CD's do throughout the year, they may have some info on there for you

 

Thanks for the report. We leave mid Sept and are looking forward to going!

 

Hope you have a great cruise :D

[luvfamvaca]

Thank you!:)

[DonnaK]

Do you know if Richard will still be Cruise Director for next summer? How long do they normally stay on each ship?

Thanks:D

 

I maintain the current cruise director's thread. We don't have info for Explorer beyond Richard's current contract (which just started on July 19)

 

As far as how long they stay on the ship, it's widely variable so it's nearly impossible to predict. Usually a CD's contract is 4 months on and 2 months off, but some contracts are only two months long and some are up to 9 months long. Sometimes a CD will have a contract that's divided between 2-3 ships, so they only spend a few weeks on each ship before they jump over to the next. It seems that they stay with one ship for a maximum of 3 years, but I suppose that could vary too.

 

Both Richard and activities manager Leigh Xuereb (who fills in as CD during Richard's breaks) have requested to be placed on Explorer, so it is very likely that they will be around next summer. We though that Leigh was every bit as good as Richard, even though he doesn't get the same recognition. it's a blast when the two of them are on the ship together because they play off of each other so well, but I'd be thrilled to sail again with either one of them.

 

Keep a eye on the current CD thread - I update it frequently whenever I have credible information.

[Jimnbigd]

Thanks for the review. I'm really hooked on the voyager class ships. I'd probably like the freedom class too. Not sure about oasis class -- might be too big. MDR food is generally 3-star (out of 5) for me, with some really good items like the fillet of beef (1st formal night). Did you go to the ice show? That is usually one of the highlights.