Just off Explorer Today

[phish tales]

Yes; they had both. I do not know the answer to your second question, though.

 

Teddie

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

 

welcome back in the theater

 

high tier in Maharaja's

 

4 Pinnacle

[phish tales]

I believe you can go to Guest Services and request different tickets.

 

there are no tickets of any kind for the ice show. i believe family can all go in together under one muster station #, but other must wait in the wait line. (the line of folks that will be allowed in after all who have proper muster station #s are seated)...

[luv-2-cruise]

Hello, all,

 

We are home after an 11-night Southern Caribbean cruise. A few highlights:

 

Priority check-in (Emerald), and on board by noon.

 

Our JS had fresh carpeting, new upholstery and draperies. Also finally, we get a cabin with a flatscreen TV! The bedding was excellent: soft and plush. Our balcony was repainted during a port day later in the week.

 

Brought on a case of springwater and a powerstrip; no difficulty.

 

Cabin Steward Jose Rodrigues from Goa, India kept our cabin immaculate! Full ice bucket, clean coffee mugs, and fresh wine glasses twice a day.

 

My Time dining went smoothly for our 7:30 reservation; requested and was given the same table for two each night.

 

We brought our own ground coffee, cone/filters. Kettle in the room was a great addition. Not everyone would be bothered with this, but we loved having a great cup of coffee in the morning.

 

Wrote-in items on the room service menu for breakfast; all of which were provided.

 

Non-dairy creamer, which we dislike, was the norm; however, we ordered a cup of half and half with our room service breakfasts, and stored it in the minibar.

 

Dining room food was very good to excellent! Same for Portofino's. Excellent service in all venues.

 

After 8 cruises, 6 of which were on the Explorer, crew friendliness and service was absolutely outstanding.

 

Labadee: we had a Nellies over the water cabana for the day. It DID include the Barefoot Beach buffet. Buffet offerings were great, including steak, shrimp, ribs, etc.

 

San Juan: Walked Old San Juan, bought some sterling silver jewelry, and hit the CVS for minor essentials (read: potato chips).

 

St Maarten: We enjoyed an empty ship for Solarium/pool day, after the downpours subsided :)

 

Antigua: Purchased day passes for Coconut Beach resort--all inclusive for beach, loungers, palapas for shade, pool, changing rooms, open bar, and lunch buffet. Cab was $6 pp each way, and the driver returned punctually to take us back to ship. Well-worth it--no vendors on the beach, quiet, and off the beaten path.

 

St Kitt's: Toured the island with an excellent driver, visited batik factory, botanical gardens, and a fabulous fort up in the mountains.

 

Great weather, except for the final sea day--50 mph winds, pouring rain, and wild seas. The outside decks were closed for most of the day. Spent alot of time in Viking Crown, for great views of the ship's movement, a number of rainbows, and quiet time for reading..

 

This was our longest cruise so far. A bit older demographic amongst passengers, with many nationalities represented. Probably not more than 40-50 children on board.

 

The Explorer is in need of a dry dock, but overall, is in pretty good shape. She is a beautiful ship!

 

That's it, but feel free to ask any questions.

 

Teddie

 

Hi Teddie,

 

Glad to hear ExOS was still a great experience. We sailed together a few years ago (we brought my parents with us) and sat with you, your son and his friend.

 

Just saw you were in 9598. When we were on last year, our cabin 9318 (the same one we have in two weeks) smelled terribly of cigarette smoke and the beds were horrible. I hope they are updating all of them!

 

Debbie

Edited November 17, 2013 by luv-2-cruise

[teddie]

Hi Teddie,

 

Glad to hear ExOS was still a great experience. We sailed together a few years ago (we brought my parents with us) and sat with you, your son and his friend.

 

Which Jr. Suite were you in? When we were on last year, our cabin 9318 (the same one we have in two weeks) smelled terribly of cigarette smoke and the beds were horrible. I hope they are updating all of them!

 

Debbie

 

Hi Debbie! I remember you and your family! That was a nice cruise :)

 

This was our first JS in a long time--we were so happy with all of the storage space, walk-in closet, the full bath, and the use of a kettle for our coffee. And the double points brought us up to Diamond :)

 

We were in JS 9598. DH Lee is a smoker, but, of course, only smoked on the balcony; we know that that will soon be a thing of the past, and he will deal. We did notice, though, that keeping the slider closed while he smoked out there was a must, to avoid any lingering smell inside the cabin. It wasn't until we sailed this last time that we noticed this, so he was extra careful.

 

As far as the bed--when I first sat on it on Day 1, I said, "Wow! This is a hard bed." Then, I never gave it a thought it going forward. Maybe asking for an egg crate will help you.

 

Thanks for writing!

 

Teddie

[DKNYC]

I agree about that tea!! The packaging looked kinda cool, but you needed two teabags for one cup! We do like it on the cold side, so that wasn't an issue for us. I hope to sail the Explorer one more time before she goes into drydock....

 

Teddie

 

Hi Teddie

Don't know when the drydock is, but assumed it would be after she leaves for Florida. May I suggest the Explorer repositioning cruise Nov 1, 2014. A little different itinerary and 14 nights. Prices were not too bad either (although I booked back in September). May require some air travel though.

I am always cold so I always carry a sweater or something on a ship.

 

Denise

[teddie]

Hi Teddie

Don't know when the drydock is, but assumed it would be after she leaves for Florida. May I suggest the Explorer repositioning cruise Nov 1, 2014. A little different itinerary and 14 nights. Prices were not too bad either (although I booked back in September). May require some air travel though.

I am always cold so I always carry a sweater or something on a ship.

 

Denise

 

Thanks, Denise! We've actually been eying that one...

 

Teddie

[OnTopOfTheSeas]

We were on the same cruise, our 8th on the Explorer. The ship is in great shape. The crew is excellent. We had a good time. There were only three things that were negatives.

 

1. The casino is no longer non-smoking on formal nights.

 

2. The tea onboard (First Tea) is absolutely awful. It's weak and has a

strange taste. I'll be bringing my own tea on our next RCI cruise.

 

3. The ship was kept very cold. Many of the crew wore heavy sweat shirts when working in the Promenade shops. Many passengers were wearing sweaters and jackets inside the ship. Complaining to guest services didn't help.

 

Just curious about the tea. Are you talking about the tea that is available in Cafe Promenade. Big tea drinker here and I always enjoyed the Lipton selections available in the past.

[Clarea]

Just curious about the tea. Are you talking about the tea that is available in Cafe Promenade. Big tea drinker here and I always enjoyed the Lipton selections available in the past.

Lipton seems to be being phased out in favor of First Tea. I agree, bring your own tea.

[teddie]

Just curious about the tea. Are you talking about the tea that is available in Cafe Promenade. Big tea drinker here and I always enjoyed the Lipton selections available in the past.

 

Yes...the black teas/breakfast teas were the "First Tea" brand. Very weak!!! Might want to BYO.

 

Teddie

[Guest maddycat]

Just curious about the tea. Are you talking about the tea that is available in Cafe Promenade. Big tea drinker here and I always enjoyed the Lipton selections available in the past.

 

First Tea is now served through out the ship. No more Lipton. They did have Twinings Green Tea and Camomile. My guess is that the Twinings is old stock or it could be a case that First Tea doesn't have those flavors.

 

At home I drink Twinings, Stash, Bromley or Lipton tea. First Tea is awful.

[OnTopOfTheSeas]

First Tea is now served through out the ship. No more Lipton. They did have Twinings Green Tea and Camomile. My guess is that the Twinings is old stock or it could be a case that First Tea doesn't have those flavors.

 

At home I drink Twinings, Stash, Bromley or Lipton tea. First Tea is awful.

 

Well, that is a little disappointing but I appreciate the heads-up so I can prepare and bring my own teas. I like a lot of brands but my favorite black tea is Typhoo.

 

Is there a variety of flavors of First Tea at least?

[Guest maddycat]

Well, that is a little disappointing but I appreciate the heads-up so I can prepare and bring my own teas. I like a lot of brands but my favorite black tea is Typhoo.

 

Is there a variety of flavors of First Tea at least?

 

If I remember correctly, First tea flavors were: black, orange, lemon, mint and decaf black tea. I tried the mint and decaf black tea and then drank Twinings camomile and green tea for the rest of the cruise.

[Clarea]

Well, that is a little disappointing but I appreciate the heads-up so I can prepare and bring my own teas. I like a lot of brands but my favorite black tea is Typhoo.

 

Is there a variety of flavors of First Tea at least?

Yes, there are a few varieties of First Tea. All I can recall offhand are Green and Black, but there are more than just those two.

[crisndeefromde]

Yes, there are a few varieties of First Tea. All I can recall offhand are Green and Black, but there are more than just those two.

 

got to remember to bring some tea on the adventure

[cruisenanny]

Nice review! We are sailing on The Explorer in March, a bit nervous, we are Celebrity and Princess cruisers. My question is about MTD and a table for 2. Are the tables really close together so you may as well be seated with others? We definitely don't want that. Thanks!

Marguerite

 

We are on the same sailing!!:D

 

Thanks Teddie, for such a great review!

[Cigar King]

We are on the same sailing!!:D

 

 

Hey...so are we...see ya aboard.

[BonTexasNY]

Will I be frowned upon if I bring my own Starbuck's Via instant coffee packages to the MDR? I've brought my own crystal light sugar free pink lemonade packets in the past and the waiters always looked at me strangely since they didn't see me put the packet in the water but saw my clear water magically turn pink.

 

Is there still only one welcome and farewell show for everyone?

 

Thanks for all the advice!

[Clarea]

Will I be frowned upon if I bring my own Starbuck's Via instant coffee packages to the MDR? I've brought my own crystal light sugar free pink lemonade packets in the past and the waiters always looked at me strangely since they didn't see me put the packet in the water but saw my clear water magically turn pink.

 

Is there still only one welcome and farewell show for everyone?

 

Thanks for all the advice!

I don't think it would be strange to bring your own instant coffee. I bring our own tea, and the waiters are happy to bring hot water for the tea.