Explorer Spring Break Review - special diet edition

[FunkyMumNJ]

More ice show pictures:

 

 

 

 

[FunkyMumNJ]

After the ice show, more packing and then dinner. It is so hard to pack up!!

 

Before dinner there was a Caribbean parade in the Promenade. Very neat.

 

 

At dinner, the captain walked through and said hello - I think to every table. And then recognized the crew:

 

 

Oh, dinner was turkey dinner with all the fixins! I loved it. There were other options, but I love turkey!

 

One last sunset:

 

 

After dinner we said goodbye to the Adventure Ocean staff:

 

 

Then we put our bags out in the hallway (except one!) and we watched a movie in our cabin, looked out at sea once or twice more and arranged an early morning wakeup call. Oh and we made sure to fill out our satisfaction surveys and give everyone EXCELLENT marks!! Don't forget to turn those in!

 

6:30 am, heading back into Bayonne:

 

 

 

During that rainy sea day, we had also taken care of a few things - paid some extra gratuities to the crew and kids club, and arranged to get off the ship fairly early since my son does not do well with waiting in the common areas. We asked for 9 am checkout time. Made sure to get in for one last breakfast in the MDR (closes at 8:30 on the last port day) and had a big family breakfast before walking off the ship at 9:15. We were home by 10:30 and trying to figure out how in the world we let them put us off the ship!

 

 

It was a great cruise, we really relaxed and got spoiled. Any questions, please ask!

[FunkyMumNJ]

:p That's all folks! :p

 

[Pug Mom]

Wendy thank you for taking the time to review! I enjoyed remembering alot of the same things from last week. It was great!

[LOVEMYMO]

That was a fantastic review - not to long, done all in one shot plus all your stories had photos to match - loved it...thank you for taking the time. You have a beautiful family and so glad you all enjoyed yourselves! :)

[FunkyMumNJ]

Thanks guys! I need pictures to remember things and I knew if I didn't post it all in one shot, I never would get it done, LOL.

 

Really wishing someone else would make dinner tonight ... :rolleyes:

[bigbny1]

well done Wendy!!! made my mouth water......B

[bearbear2]

Wendy, I missed the picture cause I guess the sun kicked my butt the day before. I couldn't get out of bed. So tired.

I'm glad they had good options for your son for his meals. We didn't have that for my son. The first day I went to the MDR to discuss his allergies and didn't get too far. He eats beans and we brought cans and were told they couldn't tell us if they could open them or not. I forgot my can opener. He is only 2 so it is difficult to tell him to just eat something. Noone came to speak to us the first night but when I told our waiter the second night he made sure someone from the kitchen came out and from then on it was fine. He had a baked potato each night and a bowl of raisins for dessert. They also had grapes waiting for him when we got there each night.

I loved your review. My two middle kids did the adventure ocean also. My son did the talent show and did a science experiment. It was very cute. I liked watching all the acts and awarding " first prize" to everyone.

All in all it was a great cruise minus the kids that were too crazy running up and and down the halls on deck 7.

Thanks for your review

Cindy

[ERIE 13]

Thanks. That was one of the best reviews I have seen in awhile. My wife and I love the Explorer and hope to be back on her in Oct.

[narrow56]

We missed the M&M picture because we were at the Captain's Corner! What kind of camera do you have? I'm in the market for a new one, and your pictures are beautiful!!

[TPCRUISER2]

Great Review! Was on explorer last september. Thanks for the fond memories of Janet. Met her a few years back.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Great review Wendy!!! Loved it!! I love the pictures you capture of your kids, they are wonderful!! Love the one of them looking out of the window at breakfast in the MDR, but they are all great!!~Stacey

[shelpt]

Thanks for the great review and awesome pics! We're on Explorer in Nov in an aft JS. Ive seen other people hang the hammocks and wanted to know what type of hammock should I bring? I saw one with circular loops on each end. Do I need to bring something else to get it to hang? Thanks!!

[FunkyMumNJ]

Wendy, I missed the picture cause I guess the sun kicked my butt the day before. I couldn't get out of bed. So tired.

I'm glad they had good options for your son for his meals. We didn't have that for my son. The first day I went to the MDR to discuss his allergies and didn't get too far. He eats beans and we brought cans and were told they couldn't tell us if they could open them or not. I forgot my can opener. He is only 2 so it is difficult to tell him to just eat something. Noone came to speak to us the first night but when I told our waiter the second night he made sure someone from the kitchen came out and from then on it was fine. He had a baked potato each night and a bowl of raisins for dessert. They also had grapes waiting for him when we got there each night.

I loved your review. My two middle kids did the adventure ocean also. My son did the talent show and did a science experiment. It was very cute. I liked watching all the acts and awarding " first prize" to everyone.

All in all it was a great cruise minus the kids that were too crazy running up and and down the halls on deck 7.

Thanks for your review

Cindy

 

Oh wow, that is tough! I know they say that they will not cook anything that you bring from home. So, while I would love for my son to have some GF pasta, I don't know if theirs has corn, so we skip it. I always wish I could bring a few things from home for them to cook. Instead I bring a full suitcase full of snacks just in case and for that first day when we don't know what we are going to get.

 

And I remember your son's experiment, very cute! We had to sit in back by the windows because we got there too late for seats up close. Marielle was just in with the other 3-5's singing a little song.

 

And yes, there were some naughty kids - did you hear the captain's announcement about it? I have never been on a cruise where the captain made an announcement like that - apparently some were kicking/throwing books in the library and blocking the stairs. :eek: My teens said they were not involved in any of that and thought they knew who he was talking about. I did have one of the Adventure Ocean members tell me that my teens were very well behaved, so I am pretty sure it wasn't them. :D

 

We missed the M&M picture because we were at the Captain's Corner! What kind of camera do you have? I'm in the market for a new one, and your pictures are beautiful!!

 

I just got a new Nikon D600 - it is a full frame camera and I am a serious hobbyist trying to go semi-pro so I was happy to have a place to practice! I thought my photos were actually not as good as usual since I was wrangling the kids more than anything, but thank you for the compliment!

Edited April 10, 2013 by FunkyMumNJ

[FunkyMumNJ]

Thanks for the great review and awesome pics! We're on Explorer in Nov in an aft JS. Ive seen other people hang the hammocks and wanted to know what type of hammock should I bring? I saw one with circular loops on each end. Do I need to bring something else to get it to hang? Thanks!!

 

I did my research here on Cruise Critic before we went - I got a hammock from Amazon, just a basic model - but then the trick was to get some tree straps - they wrap around the metal poles and they have a ring to hang the hammock from. I got those on Amazon too, and bonus, I think I can use it in my back yard this summer! :D

[FunkyMumNJ]

Great review Wendy!!! Loved it!! I love the pictures you capture of your kids, they are wonderful!! Love the one of them looking out of the window at breakfast in the MDR, but they are all great!!~Stacey

 

Thank you Stacey! :D

[janern]

Thank you for your wonderful review and pics! Our first two cruises were on the Explorer of the Seas, reminds me of all the fun we had on that beautiful ship! :)

[Mewissy]

Great review!

 

You have a beautiful family!

[luvscruising2007]

Wonderful review of one of our favorite ships. We were on her in December and I was looking for familiar faces in the crew pics. Didn't recognize a soul and even the production shows looked different.

So glad you and your family had such a great cruise.

[lovetocruiserccl]

I was wondering how you got a picture of my friends.We were on the same cruise. We didn't show up for the picture.

Here's another shot of the 70's party, taken from the library I think:

 

 

Friday at sea - it was cloudy and rainy but after 3 days of sun, that was fine! After breakfast the kids went to kids club for a bit and we met with our Cruise Critic group for a picture. Not many showed up. Where were you guys?? LOL. Here's our little group:

 

 

We also did some shopping, I believe this was the day they had $10 tee shirts and some Pandora style bracelets for $24.99, picked up some souvenirs and gifts and then it was lunch time.

 

More Tutti salad bar, and my daughter's crush in the middle, she loved this waiter and smiled and giggled every time he came near her.

 

 

And we had a singing waiter too!

 

The afternoon was REALLY pouring down rain. It was warmish but just too rainy to do anything outside. I enjoyed some time in the cabin, watched Life Of Pi (excellent) and my daughter took a nap. Hubby took my son to Kids Club for a little while and then it was time for our 2nd formal night.

 

We made sure to go a bit early so we could get a formal family photo. They came out OK. We bought a few before we left. Then it was dinner - our favorite, the night they have the fisherman's platter (AKA - lobster!)

 

Here's hubby with the awesome Maitre'D:

 

 

Lobster dinner - the lobster on this trip was much more generous than the lobster on Enchantment last year. They made THREE special ones for my son with dietary issues - and he ate them ALL.

 

 

OK, have to take my oldest to tennis, I'll finish up later!

[FunkyMumNJ]

I was wondering how you got a picture of my friends.We were on the same cruise. We didn't show up for the picture.

 

Haha, yeah, I have been waiting to see if anyone else shared a photo from that big meet up, lol.

 

We actually had a big turnout for the Meet & Mingle, we should have just snapped a picture then. :rolleyes:

[PattyG12]

Thanks for the great review Wendy ... Taking the family on the EOS next March and I was really interested in the weather for your trip! So hoping we can get away with hoodies and not heavy coats!:D

[FunkyMumNJ]

Thanks for the great review Wendy ... Taking the family on the EOS next March and I was really interested in the weather for your trip! So hoping we can get away with hoodies and not heavy coats!:D

 

I think it will vary but we were fine with layers the first day - hoodie and light jacket on top for sailaway and then just the hoody or a sweater the second day. Obviously, you could have a snowstorm, or you could have an 80 degree surprise!

[JaneStarr]

Thanks for the great review Wendy ... Taking the family on the EOS next March and I was really interested in the weather for your trip! So hoping we can get away with hoodies and not heavy coats!:D

You may get lucky, but don't count on it for March 11th. That's my DD's birthday, so I remember having a wide range of weather near NJ on that date.

Here a photo I shot returning to Cape Liberty aboard Explorer OTS on 2/26/10.

Not great quality, but note the ice built-up on balcony and the snow. The teardrop 9/11 memorial is what I was trying to shoot.

Jane

 

[Fisherlady48]

what a great review, thanks for posting the link to this on that other site!!

 

Its also great to know how crowded it is with families, as I would love at some point to be able to take my granchildren when they get older.

 

K

 

:)