Just off Explorer... Questions??

[kfleck76]

I just got off the 9-night Bermuda/Eastern Caribbean cruise that sailed May 22 from Cape Liberty. Any questions? I will say one thing... CD Leigh and the Activities Manager, Erky, are fabulous and make the best team!

[luvscruising2007]

Okay, I'll be the first.

 

Have read some poor reviews on food and service. What are your thoughts?

I do understand both are somewhat subjective but if you give some reasons for your thoughts it would be most beneficial.

[kruzerci]

Did the ship look pretty good overall? Pictures? Where was the nightly Diamond Event held?

[kfleck76]

Okay, I'll be the first.

 

Have read some poor reviews on food and service. What are your thoughts?

I do understand both are somewhat subjective but if you give some reasons for your thoughts it would be most beneficial.

 

Food has become mediocre at best IMHO in the Windjammer for breakfast and lunch. I think the quality and variety have changed so much since I first cruised in 2005. I will say that dinner is a different story there. We did it one night, and the food was excellent. The create your own stir fry and create your own pizza were great. Service was excellent for all meals there. They cleaned up quickly, took dirty plates quickly, and were there to get drinks almost immediately after you sat down.

 

In the Main Dining Room, our service was great. The food is for the most part good, but again, I think quality has diminished. And some nights it was hard to find something on the menu. I am really not a picky eater, but they have some strange items some nights IMHO.

 

Service in general on the cruise, I would actually say was high and I never felt like I was being shorted or not treated excellently. We were fortunate to have a great stateroom attendant and waiters.

 

Hope this helps :)

[Clarea]

What time did the self-assist people start getting off the ship.

[kfleck76]

Did the ship look pretty good overall? Pictures? Where was the nightly Diamond Event held?

 

Yes, overall the ship is very nice. There are some updates needed, and a few places in our stateroom that needed fixed, like carpet pulling up one place, a little rust on the balcony, etc., but nothing that affected the quality of the cruise. I think she is a beautiful ship :)

 

The diamond event was held in Cloud Nine on Deck 14. We only went the first night, because it was disappointing compared to previous cruises. No appetizers and the only free drinks now are wine, champagne and soda. You get 25% off liquor and beer.

 

I don't have pictures uploaded yet, but I will post some ship pictures ASAP. :)

[CruizinTigers]

Sounds like you had a great trip! Thanks for posting and fielding our questions.

 

My DW and DD will be making this same trip in July. This is actually a repeat of the same trip we took three years ago (it was that good!)

 

Any chance you could post the cruise compasses from your trip. Would be fun to have a peek at the activities we can expect in a month or so.

 

Thanks!

[kfleck76]

What time did the self-assist people start getting off the ship.

 

Approximately 8:45.

[kfleck76]

Sounds like you had a great trip! Thanks for posting and fielding our questions.

 

My DW and DD will be making this same trip in July. This is actually a repeat of the same trip we took three years ago (it was that good!)

 

Any chance you could post the cruise compasses from your trip. Would be fun to have a peek at the activities we can expect in a month or so.

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, it was a great trip! So many great memories!

 

I will see if I can scan and post the compasses once I get back to work. The scanner is better there than mine :)

[Clarea]

Approximately 8:45.

Thanks. That's about an hour later than our two Bermuda cruises last year.

[CruizinTigers]

That would be so HUGELY appreciated if you are able to do that.

 

 

 

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[kfleck76]

Thanks. That's about an hour later than our two Bermuda cruises last year.

 

You're welcome! Yes, I was surprised that we didn't dock until around 8:00.

[kfleck76]

That would be so HUGELY appreciated if you are able to do that.

 

 

 

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I would be happy to do it! I love talking cruising and sharing information!

[Guest maddycat]

Yes, overall the ship is very nice. There are some updates needed, and a few places in our stateroom that needed fixed, like carpet pulling up one place, a little rust on the balcony, etc., but nothing that affected the quality of the cruise. I think she is a beautiful ship :)

 

The diamond event was held in Cloud Nine on Deck 14. We only went the first night, because it was disappointing compared to previous cruises. No appetizers and the only free drinks now are wine, champagne and soda. You get 25% off liquor and beer.

 

I don't have pictures uploaded yet, but I will post some ship pictures ASAP. :)

 

The free drinks at the diamond event are always only wine, champagne and soda and there are never any appetizers. If the ship has a diamond lounge then mixed drinks and beer are included and appetizers are served.

[kfleck76]

The free drinks at the diamond event are always only wine, champagne and soda and there are never any appetizers. If the ship has a diamond lounge then mixed drinks and beer are included and appetizers are served.

 

I guess I'm forgetting this, because I've only been on ships with Diamond lounges since becoming Diamond. Thanks for clarifying :)

[kruzerci]

Yes, overall the ship is very nice. There are some updates needed, and a few places in our stateroom that needed fixed, like carpet pulling up one place, a little rust on the balcony, etc., but nothing that affected the quality of the cruise. I think she is a beautiful ship :)

 

The diamond event was held in Cloud Nine on Deck 14. We only went the first night, because it was disappointing compared to previous cruises. No appetizers and the only free drinks now are wine, champagne and soda. You get 25% off liquor and beer.

 

I don't have pictures uploaded yet, but I will post some ship pictures ASAP. :)

 

Thanks. Sounds like you had a nice trip. Welcome back ;)!

[kfleck76]

Thanks. Sounds like you had a nice trip. Welcome back ;)!

 

Thank you! Wish I could say I'm glad to be back! :rolleyes: haha

[kruzerci]

Thank you! Wish I could say I'm glad to be back! :rolleyes: haha

 

I know the feeling. I'm still not keen on being back to reality and we got off the Allure 3 weeks ago.

[luvscruising2007]

Food has become mediocre at best IMHO in the Windjammer for breakfast and lunch. I think the quality and variety have changed so much since I first cruised in 2005. I will say that dinner is a different story there. We did it one night, and the food was excellent. The create your own stir fry and create your own pizza were great. Service was excellent for all meals there. They cleaned up quickly, took dirty plates quickly, and were there to get drinks almost immediately after you sat down.

 

In the Main Dining Room, our service was great. The food is for the most part good, but again, I think quality has diminished. And some nights it was hard to find something on the menu. I am really not a picky eater, but they have some strange items some nights IMHO.

 

Service in general on the cruise, I would actually say was high and I never felt like I was being shorted or not treated excellently. We were fortunate to have a great stateroom attendant and waiters.

 

Hope this helps :)

 

Thanks for your perspective. We have always had excellent dining room servers and cabin attendants. But we are easy to please. We are definitely looking forward to our Sept cruise.

[CruizinTigers]

What did you do at your different ports of call? If you took any ship excursions, how were they?

 

 

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[kfleck76]

I know the feeling. I'm still not keen on being back to reality and we got off the Allure 3 weeks ago.

 

Oh, that's even tougher!! It took me forever to get over the withdrawal from Allure! But really, I think a cruise is the toughest vacation to re-adjust to reality from!

[kfleck76]

Thanks for your perspective. We have always had excellent dining room servers and cabin attendants. But we are easy to please. We are definitely looking forward to our Sept cruise.

 

You're welcome! We are pretty easy to please, too! Enjoy your Sept cruise! I think you'll love it! :)

[kfleck76]

What did you do at your different ports of call? If you took any ship excursions, how were they?

 

 

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We've only ever done the ship's excursions. Here are the ones from this cruise:

 

Bermuda- Bermuda Island Tour. It's a longer excursion- around 5 hours. But, you see the entire island! We had some photo stops along the way, including Gibb's Hill Lighthouse. Our tour guide was great and very informative! Very beautiful place!

 

St. Maarten- See and Sea Tour. This tour included a bus drive to the French Side where we had time to walk around, shop, etc. and then we took a ride in a semi-submersible boat where we could see underwater . We saw coral, different fish, sea turtles, starfish and stingrays. We then had the option to be dropped off in the shopping areas of downtown Philipsburg. Very nice "variety" excursion.

 

San Juan- Old and New San Juan Tour. This was a bus tour that takes you around the old and new areas of the city. Again, very beautiful! We had stops at a beach/park area to walk around and take pictures and we stopped at the fort to look around and take pictures.

 

Labadee- no tour. This was our third time there, so we didn't do an excursion. We just walked around and ate the picnic lunch. The last time we did the Zip Line. It was great and offered beautiful, scenic views, with an adrenaline rush! :)

[juanrod]

By chance would you have menus from the Main Dining Room? Doing a 9 nighter for the first time and wondered about the menu rotation. How about formal nights too (I know the wife will want to get dressed up as much as possible)?

[heziggy]

doing this same trip in the fall, can't wait to see the pictures!!