Explorer 3/5/2013 - 3/15/2013 Review

[cemor66]

Finally I decide that I can't handle it anymore and head down to medical. They were closed, but the crew member that brought me down called the doctor on duty. Long story short (TOO LATE) they gave me an injection of something and some Xanax to calm me down, it was that bad. So bottom line, the ship was doing fine but I was a hot mess. They take me back in a wheelchair back to me room... how embarrasing!!

 

 

 

I was in 9310...and I had a supply of Xanax, unused. If only I knew. But mine are more for a recreational use, not for seasickness.

[cemor66]

I'm liking this review. Great pics, very accurate report so far. Will there be more? I'll throw in some stuff as you go along.

[fungirl76]

I was in 9310...and I had a supply of Xanax, unused. If only I knew. But mine are more for a recreational use, not for seasickness.

 

I hope that was a joke.

[SidneyOfEaston]

110 knot winds...........OMG. Must have been a bad hair day...........wow.

[johnlcruise]

So far a great review. I was on this ship this past Oct. when we sailed out just as Hurricane Sandy was hitting N.J. What a ride! I enjoyed it. Though some people did not. ;)

[Jenn31708]

Ok so onto day 3. We wake up at about 8 and meet up with the family. The boat is stil moving a lot, but its a HUGE improvement from the day before. We're dying to get to the dining room because I had heard they serve eggs benedict, a favorite of my sister in law and I. We head down to deck 3, and the dining room is closed. A worker tells us there was a few broken windows on the port side during the storm and they were still cleaning it up. We had to go to 4 for breakfast.... no big deal. I found out a few days later from a fellow passenger that the windows broke at about 10:15 or so the night before. He said they had finished eating and they were just hanging out and the captain was still at his table too. There was a huge wave, 4 windows smashed in and water and glass flew everywhere. Luckily there was no one sitting anywhere near it at the time so there were no injuries.

 

After breakfast we're talking about what to do. The teens want to check out the teen area, so off they go. The little one wants to go to the adventure ocean and meet other kids her age. So now its just the adults, 6 of us. We get to really explore the ship. And we're finally allowed outside, which is nice. It's still bouncy, so I take another Xanax. I didn't realize they would make me drowsy so I head back to the cabin and sleep until 6!! I was NOT happy about that. But I really hadn't slept in 2 days and I needed it. I missed the sexiest man contest, which I heard was hysterical.

 

Dinner in the dining room again, which we did most nights. I didn't get pictures of the menus which I meant to, but there realy weren't any stand outs in my opinion. I ended up having the steak most nights, and it was pretty good.

 

After dinner was the battle of the sexes game, hosted by the very funny Richard Spacey. Sadly, the men won this.... I was heartbroken for my fellow women, but they put forth a great effort. So after we head to the casino to give our daily donation and then its bedtime.

 

Unfortunately I didnt take any pictures over the previous 2 days, it was all I could do to keep myself upright. :D

[Jenn31708]

Day 4

 

This is supposed the day we arrived at Labadee, but instead its an extra day at sea. And even though we were REALLY disappointed, we ended up having a great day. The pools were filled and the hot tubs were bubbling... time for a day in the sun. The kids had a blast, the 5 year old thought she was the coolest kid in town playing in the hot tub. We set up our loungers and soaked up some sun. Out came the bar waiters and I had a really yummy mango colada something or other. those fellas are VERY generous with the rum. :D

 

I never noticed any chair hogging at all, although oone grumpy man did yell at me and my brother in law. We had chairs in two rows right near one of the hot tubs. I got up and grabbed my bag and walked about 20 feet away to the ashtray to have a smoke. This guy walked up to my brother in law and asked if anyone was sitting there and he said "Yeah, sorry. She will be right back." This guy snapped back "Maybe you should put something on it so people know its taken." So of course I can hear him, because I'm right there. So yeah, I yelled back at him to calm down and that I just walked away for a minute. I walked over, picked up a shoe and put it on the chair. He kept grumbling. There's no reason to be nasty. I had no problem with him asking, yes it was an empty chair. But don't get nasty and snap at me. Besides, there were dozens and dozens of empty chairs right near where we were sitting. I don't know why he wanted to sit right in the middle of the row with me family on either side of him. :rolleyes: Whatever!

 

So now hubby, brother in law and I decide we're going to head to movie tune trivia. We're all big movie lovers, and figure we stood a chance. It was hosted by Chris Hopkins, the activities manager. Side note about Richard and Chris.... I thought they were hysterical. They made a great team and played so well off of each other. The morning show every day was always great. Richard said this was the first time Chris was his activities manager, and I thought he did very well. They were constantly teacing each other, and Richard was just brutal to poor Chris. :D

 

Well we didn't win movie trivia... oh well. Now its on to the ice show, Blades Challenge. That was really entertaining. I'm amazed at what a great show it is on such a small stage. And the guy that did the back flips? WOW!!

 

Then the kids try the rock wall, that was fun. Kudos to the staff up there, they are fantastic. The kids disappear for teen activities, I think a scavenger hunt and we go off to dinner. We ended up skipping the Majority Rules game that night, though I heard it was good. We get an early night for Puerto Rico in the morning.

[momphoto]

110 knot winds...........OMG. Must have been a bad hair day...........wow.

 

 

They closed all the outside decks so our hair was safe that day!!

[momphoto]

 

 

 

 

After dinner was the battle of the sexes game, hosted by the very funny Richard Spacey. Sadly, the men won this.... I was heartbroken for my fellow women, but they put forth a great effort. So after we head to the casino to give our daily donation and then its bedtime.

:D

 

My daughter played in the battle of the sexes game.....she was the one that hip checked the bride to be trying to break the balloon!! lol

[momphoto]

Day 4

 

 

 

 

So now hubby, brother in law and I decide we're going to head to movie tune trivia. We're all big movie lovers, and figure we stood a chance. It was hosted by Chris Hopkins, the activities manager. Side note about Richard and Chris.... I thought they were hysterical. They made a great team and played so well off of each other. The morning show every day was always great. Richard said this was the first time Chris was his activities manager, and I thought he did very well. They were constantly teacing each other, and Richard was just brutal to poor Chris. :D

 

Well we didn't win movie trivia... oh well. Now its on to the ice show, Blades Challenge. That was really entertaining. I'm amazed at what a great show it is on such a small stage. And the guy that did the back flips? WOW!!

 

.

 

I agree that Richard and Chris made a great team!! You never would know it was Chris's first week on the ship!! We too played the movie tunes trivia......we were the winning team!!

[welikepalms]

Thanks for the great review so far. Looking forward to more.

Our turn on the explorer in less then 7 weeks:D

 

Happy and smooth cruising

[Grandma Gail]

There were 6 of us in our group on this cruise and we had a very wild ride. It was very scary. The three windows that were blown out in the dining room on deck 3 where not too far from where our table was. Fortunately, this happened after the dining room was clear of passengers. Captain Olav keep us up to date on what was happening. I don't think anyone really got their "Sea Legs" under them the whole cruise. It was rocky on the way back also. CD, Richard, and AD, Chris, were fantastic. Their morning show is something not to be missed.

 

Jenn31708, your review is great. I will publish my review in a few days -- still unpacking.

[silygirl77]

I am sorry about your day 2. I was on antibiotics, which on it's own made me queasy, and in rough waters on Princess once. It was a horrible feeling. I completely empathize. Don't be embarrassed that you needed meds or a wheelchair either. It happens. I have a prescription for xanax. We all have scary moments.

[BellaAurora]

I am really enjoying your review. We sail, in June, aboard the Explorer - cannot wait!

[Nvadav]

Thank you so much for a great review so far. We will be on EOS in just 33 days. :D Will be my first time with Royal.

[Ned11]

[quote name='Nvadav']Thank you so much for a great review so far. We will be on EOS in just 33 days. :D Will be my first time with Royal.[/QUOTE]

Are you on our Roll Call and joined the Meet and Mingle? See you on the ship! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jenn31708]

[quote name='momphoto']I agree that Richard and Chris made a great team!! You never would know it was Chris's first week on the ship!! We too played the movie tunes trivia......we were the winning team!![/quote]


Good for you!! I was the one up front that yelled at Chris to do the TV tune trivia again because I missed it... he told me to stop yelling at him :D :D

[Nvadav]

[quote name='Ned11']Are you on our Roll Call and joined the Meet and Mingle? See you on the ship! :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

I am, and I have. Looking forward to it. :D

[silygirl77]

Thanks for your review. I appreciate it.

[joyful1nh]

Looking forward to reading more of your review. We were on EOS 2/24 - 3/5 so we just missed you. It was a bit rough for us coming home, but nothing like what you experienced! I've been on a cruise with 20 - 25 ft seas, but not with that kind of wind.

A friend of a friend was also on your cruise - I had heard the highlights from her and have been looking for a detailed report.

[Curly locks]

[quote name='Jenn31708']We didn't take off our own luggage either. We got green tags, 18. That meant we were leaving between 10:15 and 10:30 and our meeting place was studio B. We got there at about 10, and 20 minutes later they called us and we walked right off the ship. I thought the disembarkation and luggage claim was very organized and smooth. .[/quote]
Thank you! Can I just check that you didn't have any delay at customs? Great review. Thanks.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[funNsun4me]

I was also on this cruise. It was my 4th sailing on Explorer and the rockiest sailing so far but still had a blast. Absolutely loved Chris.

Jen31708, sorry you were so sick and scared. I am enjoying your review. Grandma Gail look forward to your review as well. It's always fun to see the cruise though other peoples perspectives.

[Jenn31708]

[quote name='Curly locks']Thank you! Can I just check that you didn't have any delay at customs? Great review. Thanks.[/quote]


No delay at customs at all!! I think disembarking and luggage claim and customs in Bayonne was SOOO much smoother than at Ft. Lauderdale.

[Jenn31708]

Day 5 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

The night before we arrived in San Juan we went to the excursions desk. We hadn't booked anything because of the odd hours, we were supposed to be in port from 2pm to 10pm. Now we were considering the rainforest or maybe the caves. The woman I spoke to said she couldn't suggest anything because they are never in port this early. We were to be in port from 9 am to 9:30 pm. I then asked her if she could suggest any nice beaches where we could go and she said she didn't know any. Not very helpful...

Anyways, we woke up as we were coming into port and I could see the waves crashing on the shore, it was beautiful.

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And this is the view when we were docked... gotta love it!!

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We head down to the dining room for breakfast and we get a surprise... it's chocolate breakfast day. :D The kids LOVED being allowed to have milkshakes for breakfast.

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We head ff the boat and its a beautiful day. There are vendors set up all around the end of the pier and taxis and tours looking for business. We wandered a bit and then decided to take one of the tours. It was $10 per person in a nice air-conditioned bus, the 5 year old was free. It was an hour tour of the city, old and new San Juan and then he would drop us off at a nice beach for the rest of the day. Sounded good to us. Our driver, Jose, was awesome. He brought us all over and really knew his stuff. We learned so much about the history of Puerto Rico, the architecture, all kinds of stuff. And I got some amazng pictures.

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More later......