Explorer of the Seas – 9 Night Bermuda/Caribbean Cruise (31 Jul -9 Aug) Review

[Annefran]

A little background; I was traveling with my DD, Julie (21) and her friend, Ros (20). This was our 6th cruise on Explorer of the Seas and we wanted to sail one more time on the ship before it left NJ. We are Diamond Plus C&A members. We have some wonderful cruise memories from the Explorer and this cruise was no different. Plus we were excited to see our old friend, Leigh Xuereb who was the current cruise director. The ship was sold out and there were tons of large families traveling together.

31 Jul – (Boarding Day) We left our house around noon time for the 40 minute drive to Cape Liberty. No traffic until we got to the pier area and had to wait about an additional 10 minutes to park and give luggage to the porters. The line was pretty short to enter the building and once inside it took all of maybe 10 minutes to get our sea passes, ride the bus over to the ship and board. Very quick process. Since we didn’t board until 1:30ish, our cabin was open. I surprised the girls with a Junior Suite, although my DD is hard to surprise. She usually expects JS on our cruises, can you say spoiled? LOL

A little about our cabin, we were in 9284 (mid-ship). The cabin was clean and very comfortable. The balcony was a little worn and had rusted areas. Poor Explorer does need her refurbishment soon. We proceeded to do our usual boarding day things; make spa appointments, see where our dining table was and walk around the ship until Muster Drill. After Muster Drill, a few of us from our CC thread met on Deck 12 Sky Bar for sail away. Our CC thread was very quiet for this cruise. With tropical drinks in hand, we enjoyed the thrill of going under the bridge…there’s always that feeling will it make it??? And of course we do every time. After sail way, our luggage arrived and we got ready for our dinner, early seating.

We stopped in the Concierge to meet Denzil. He would become a very dear friend to us for the week. We had a couple drinks and proceeded to dinner We had a table for 8. A family, Tina, Joe & their son, Matt were our tablemates, for the first night (more on that later). Lovely people and we would spend majority of the cruise seeing shows with them. They were traveling with another couple but they weren’t placed at our table. We were hoping they would just be moved to our table the next night because there were 2 empty seats. Easy right? Uh, no…that’s for tomorrow night.

We opted to sit in the Promenade after dinner, people watch and have a drink. This became our ritual every night after dinner until the show. We had seen the welcome aboard production show in the past and opted not to go.

1 Aug – (sea day) - Our M&M was very early in the morning, 9:15. RCI provided no beverages or pastries. No one really got up to “mingle” at all. When people won prizes the assistant cruise director, Titi didn’t ask their CC username. It wasn’t my favorite M&M at all. I found out later that Titi was new to the ship and the process.

The girls were sleeping in, I proceeded to my usual spot up on deck 12 to enjoy the sunshine. We hit a couple passing showers but the weather was beautiful all in all. I met more CC friends from PA and we became fast friends for the week. Shout out to Cathy and Debbie! The girls joined me for the day. There were the usual pool activities for the day; line dancing, reggae music, etc. I had a hot stone massage that afternoon and it was worth every penny. Now I was relaxed for the rest of the week.

Tonight was our first formal night. I love seeing everyone all dressed up; ladies in sparkly dresses and men in their suits or tuxedos. OK dinner debacle; when we arrived at our table our new friends were gone. They had been moved to a new table with their travel friends. Moving 2 people to our table made no sense RCI??? Anyway, another family of 6 was there. OK you remember it was a table for 8 NOT 9 right? They put another chair at the table, fine whatever. It was a husband/wife, twin sons (23) and their respective significant others. In all my years of cruising, these were by far the strangest group I’ve met in a long time. They ordered 2 of everything, brought their own plastic containers of some brown drink concoction they made in their rooms. When the waiter inquired about what was in the plastic containers, one son proceeded to tell him! OK, I’m all for bringing your own liquor on board but there is a sort of etiquette about how to act with it on board right? You bring your own glass with you not the drink containers. Too funny….anyway, the girls were uncomfortable by the twin’s strange eating habits and even stranger questions. One guy liked ketchup on his salad and another dipped ALL his food in tons of ranch dressing. Then they all drank themselves into a drunkin stupor from their “concoction”. Needless to say we asked Denzil to switch us to a new table too. More on that tomorrow.

We attended the Captain’s welcome back party in the Promenade. The Captain was American and a pretty funny guy. We went to see the show that night, Fast Forward. We had seen that too on a previous cruise. The production crew was leaving our ship mid cruise and a new production staff was boarding in Puerto Rico. Tomorrow is Bermuda day!

[Annefran]

2 Aug - Bermuda

I had looked up our weather forecast before we left. Bertha was hitting Puerto Rico on Sunday and I knew we would hit some rough seas on our way down to the Caribbean. We did the Horseshoe Beach Bay excursion, left the ship at 9am and spent the day on the beach. The weather was sunny and gorgeous. Getting there that early, we had plenty of space and the beach wasn’t that crowded. We rented 3 chairs but because of the high winds, we couldn’t get an umbrella. They only accept cash no debit or credit cards. Keep your receipt for when you return the chairs and you get your deposit back, I think it was like $12.00. Most of the people on the beach were from RCI. The water was warm and had a bit of an under toe. We were there until 1230. Once back at Kings Wharf Pier, we walked around the shops and ate outside to enjoy the weather. We left Bermuda around 4pm. We stopped at the Concierge for drinks pre-dinner and were just thinking about skipping the MDR since our table hadn’t been switched at this point in time. Denzil was having that; he contacted the dining room and they created our own little table on deck 4 overlooking deck 3. Sure it was sort of stuffed in a small corner but we were so grateful that they went out of their way to ensure we could have dinner every night in the MDR. Our waiter ( Sherwin) and assistant waiter (Rohan) were so gracious and accommodating. One for RCI and staff on that one! Each night there’s a different theme for dinner; palmetto etc. The food was good and there were always alternatives if you didn’t like what was being served that night.

After dinner it was off to the Pub and people watching. We had a comedian/magician that night. He was pretty good and had audience interaction. We loved going to trivia each night at the Schooner Bar. It was a different theme each time. Oh I forgot to mention, we did take advantage of the 3 free drinks a night that you got on your sea pass card. You could go to any bar and get pretty much whatever you want. I think it just excluded frozen drinks and some higher priced liquor. Perfect for me since I’m not a big drinker.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[scooter90]

Enjoying the report -- taking this same cruise on the Liberty next summer with our family.

[Tony O]

I am sure glad Beth packed her magical ponchos to keep tbe rain away .

We had a lot of kids on the cruise but from what I saw there were many adults who should have taken lessons from them on proper behavior.

[cruisinfanatic]

Anne, don't stop now

[island lady]

Thanks Ann! Looking forward to our first time on EX just two weeks

from today. :) Shame about your second night table guests. yuck!

[KMVigs]

Did you guys have Erky from Turkey?

[cruzinlady1947]

Anne, enjoying your review. Thanks for your time and effort in doing this.

 

Do you know if the D+ free internet is for an hour instead of the 45 min.? I heard from someone on our August 28th cruise that the Enchantment now has an hour free internet for D+. Hope it is on the Explorer as well.

 

Thanks again....Only 2 more wks till we are on our last cruise on the Explorer. Sure will miss her.:(

 

Gwen :)

[Annefran]

This is a photo of us from sail away.

 

 

Going under the bridge always exciting!

[Annefran]

Did you guys have Erky from Turkey?

 

No he had left the ship before our cruise. Titi was actually his brother and a very nice man. I hear he wasn't as good as Erky though. :D

 

Anne, enjoying your review. Thanks for your time and effort in doing this.

 

Do you know if the D+ free internet is for an hour instead of the 45 min.? I heard from someone on our August 28th cruise that the Enchantment now has an hour free internet for D+. Hope it is on the Explorer as well.

 

Thanks again....Only 2 more wks till we are on our last cruise on the Explorer. Sure will miss her.:(

 

Gwen :)

 

Gwen, the free internet for D+ is 60 minutes.

 

I promise more photos later in my review. Most of the photos are on my camera and I haven't had a chance to download them yet. Still in the process of writing more. Stay tuned........let me know if you have more questions.

 

TonyO! So glad that we met you and your lovely wife, Beth. YES those magical ponchos worked well and we had great weather.

[Annefran]

3 Aug – Sea Day

Greatest sea day ever and you all know why…..Sexy Man Contest, woo hooo!!! Eight very sexy men, ok sort of for some participated in the contest and five females judges. Most of the men were from NJ/NY area. They gyrated, danced and kissed a few hands trying to become the sexiest man on the Explorer. Titi was the host and did a decent job in keeping the ladies happy and the men off of the ladies laps. A man from our great state of NJ won. The weather was (again) sunny and hot all day. The seas were calm, no storm remnants yet from Betha, whew.

Because the ship was sold out the Promenade area was crowded every night with people. I usually like to get a cookie before heading to bed every night but the lines were excessively long. No big deal, I had a staff of snacks in my cabin that I just ate instead. The crew was especially helpful and gracious to all. I did encounter a few people up at the Internet Café that was quite upset with their internet packages. I guess they were told that they could use the Wi-Fi anywhere on the ship when that really wasn’t the case. You could only access it in a few spots on the ship. I was glad I didn’t bother to purchase it and just use RCI’s computers to check email etc. once a night. One man and his wife were quite belligerent toward a crew member about it. I felt so bad for the crew member because it really wasn’t his fault. They shouldn’t have taken it out on him and gone to Customer Service on deck 5. They walked away vowing NEVER EVER to sail on Royal again. OK cya, we won’t miss ya was my feeling, LOL. Other than that most people were very nice. Lots of large extended family groups were cruising together. We met several different families during the cruise. Tonight’s entertainment was Two Funny Guys, a brother team from Argentina. I thought they were hilarious with their banter back and forth and their jokes about every ethnic group imaginable.

The outdoor Caribbean buffet was tonight. The buffet had both hot and cold choices, with wonderful desserts. The presentation was beautiful and everyone seemed to enjoy the food. I just looked since I was still stuffed from dinner. The DJ was spinning great tunes, they gave out glow in the dark necklaces and a great time was had by all. The seas were super calm and no winds at all that night. But overnight the seas were stirring up and we were lulled to sleep by some rocking. St Maarten tomorrow and Orient Beach!

Edited August 14, 2014 by Annefran

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your report.

 

Keith

[BugsyCruiser]

Great review Anne! Following along :)

[Marleycruiser]

Awesome review- I can see the Explorer outside my office window (I assume she just did a short 5 day to Bermuda). Keep the review coming!

[Annefran]

Enjoying your report.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith

 

Great review Anne! Following along :)

 

Chris, thanks not as good as your live reviews but I try. ;) I promise to upload more photos tonight or tomorrow from the cruise too. I know I always like to see photos.

[InsideCruiser]

I guess they were told that they could use the Wi-Fi anywhere on the ship when that really wasn’t the case. You could only access it in a few spots on the ship. I was glad I didn’t bother to purchase it and just use RCI’s computers to check email etc. once a night.

 

You still need to pay to use RCL's computers correct? Or are you referring to using your free D+ minutes?

[bamboozled]

Hi - I'm glad you had such a good cruise - we were on the same one and if we'd met up with you guys we may have had a better time! We could have been on a different boat from your positive experience as ours wasn't. Just shows, everyone has a very personal take on it and it can be very different for each of us. I guess it depends on previous experiences, expectations and a few "incidents" on board to build up and taint things.

Who was your room attendant, as a matter of interest?

[Annefran]

4 Aug – St Maarten

We weren’t due to arrive in St Maarten until 1:30pm. Sleeping late was definitely on our agenda and we did. J We were scheduled for a 2pm Orient Beach Excursion, Orient Beach Rendezvous I believe it was called. We love Orient Beach and we were looking forward to a relaxing day at the beach followed by some shopping in town. We had lunch with some friends in the Windjammer before heading to our meeting point at 1:45pm. It was an extremely windy day, but hot bright sun. We had 3 busses going on this particular excursion. It included transportation in an air conditioned bus, lounge chairs and all the rum punch one could drink. Umbrella rental was $3, not bad. No lunch this time because it was so late in the day. On the way to Orient Beach, we had asked our bus attendant if they could drop us off in town on the way back. The stores were only open until 6pm that day. We have always done this in the past without any issue. She said no, that they had to take us back to the pier area and that we had to take a taxi back to town. What?, that would definitely mess up our shopping expedition for sure. Orient Beach was horribly windy, rough ocean and you had to keep cleaning your sunglasses off because of the mist. Now I’ve been to Orient Beach at least 6 times and we have had calm sea days and this type of weather too. I like to take a walk along the ocean down to the Nude Beach but the ocean had chopped off the beach area. It made it difficult to walk because you were walking at a slant. Got halfway down, gave up and walked back to my lounge chair to enjoy the view. There were some jet skiers and wind-sailors (I think that’s what they are called) in the ocean. We just sat in our loungers reading and taking it easy. I still wasn’t taking that answer about not being able to drop us in town…..we boarded a different bus on the way back and YES this attendant told us no problem to drop us in town. I got the feeling that a lot of people were complaining and they relented. Great news!

We got dropped off in Phillipsburg around 5:15ish. Most of the stores were already closed when we got there. My daughter wanted to get guava rum and luckily they were open. So much for my jewelry shopping this cruise. We ventured over the Blue Bitch Bar for appetizers and drinks. My girls wanted to buy t-shirts from there because they loved mine and all proceeds went to helping homeless dogs. If you have never been there, it is well worth stopping by for the food which is excellent and the help are so friendly. We didn’t have to board until 7:30. After we ate, we browsed a few of the shops that were open near their boardwalk area. Daughter and her friend bought one Cuban cigar each, yuck. We were back on the ship by 7pm, skipped dinner that night. We opted to take our time getting ready for that night, having some drinks in the Concierge and of course some people watching. I will say it was very entertaining this cruise. Big shout out to all that cruised this time with us, tehehehe.

Tonight we went to some trivia in Schooner Bar and later on it was the Love and Marriage show. A older couple that was sitting behind us in the theater was selected as the older wiser longer married couple. The newlywed couple had been married on the ship and won. Always a fun event! I went to bed and the girls went to the helicopter pad to watch the stars. Oh forgot to mention, when we got back from shopping, there was a voicemail on our phone cancelling the girls excursion to El Yunke Rainforest. They were supposed to do a 2 hour hike but because of all the rain PR had on Sunday, all excursions were cancelled. Old San Juan tomorrow, yippee, love it there. Maybe I’ll go jewelry shopping?

[Annefran]

You still need to pay to use RCL's computers correct? Or are you referring to using your free D+ minutes?

 

Yes if you don't have a coupon for free minutes you do have to pay. There are several different plans you can chose from.

 

Hi - I'm glad you had such a good cruise - we were on the same one and if we'd met up with you guys we may have had a better time! We could have been on a different boat from your positive experience as ours wasn't. Just shows, everyone has a very personal take on it and it can be very different for each of us. I guess it depends on previous experiences, expectations and a few "incidents" on board to build up and taint things.

Who was your room attendant, as a matter of interest?

 

So sorry to hear that you guys didn't have a good experience. YES, wish we had met you too. Our room attendant was Henry, wonderful man.

[Annefran]

5 Aug – San Juan, PR

Most people don’t like Old San Juan, not me. I find it both charming and beautiful with all the colorful architecture. My ex was from PR and we spent almost every vacation there. I’ve been all over the island, (Ponce, Fajardo) but still love Old San Juan the most. We were only there from 7:30-1:30 a very short port day. We were off the boat by 10am. We walked the streets and were deciding whether to take the walk to El Morro Castle or not. The girls decided they didn’t feel that energetic. I had been there before so I was find with that decision. We browsed some stores, my daughter got a cool pair of hot pink gauzy flowy paints for 70s night and a vest in Ralph Lauren. We found the bakery we love, La Mayorca on San Francisco Street. Daughter loves the guava pastries there or in Spanish they are called pastelillos de guayaba" . If you ever get the opportunity to stop there, definitely do it. It’s a small Cafeteria/Bakery with yummy pastries, sandwiches and great coffees. We walked around for about 2 hours, taking photos and running into several people we knew from the ship. And nope didn’t buy one piece of jewelry, darn. I like to stop at the local CVS for anything that I may need or forgotten at that point in time too. We were back on board by 12:15pm and up laying in our loungers on deck 12 for sail away.

 

I took a lot of great photos of El Morro Castle for sail away. It’s such a beautiful pristine place. It was extremely hot and we really couldn’t sit in the sun too long that afternoon. They had the men’s belly flop contest later that afternoon. Very large men jumping off a box spread eagle landing on their stomachs to win a gold medal….yup all in good fun. 

 

Tonight more trivia after dinner. Then a rock show. Sorry I’m not good with names so I forget who they were but they were excellent. Lots of Bon Jovi, Guns & Roses, that type of music. They brought a few people on stage to enjoy the show with them too. We ran into the band here/there along the rest of the cruise too. My girls had photos taken with the lead singer, yes will post with my other photos. So sorry I promise photos will follow my review, duh me!

 

Tomorrow is Labadee Day and our over the water cabana, yippeee!!!

Edited August 14, 2014 by Annefran

[Annefran]

6 Aug – Labadee, Haiti ( RCI Private Island)

We were up and off the ship by 9:15am. I wanted to enjoy the entire day in our cabana. When I booked this cruise (June) there weren’t any cabanas available online. I emailed the Concierge, Denzil about a month out requesting to put our names on a waiting list. We were able to snatch up an over the water cabana. This is our favorite thing to do in Labadee since we have already done the zipline and parasailing in the past. We had met a very nice family from Long Island and asked the four of them to join us for the day. They had 2 older sons that had become friends with my girls. We floated on our mats majority of the time or sat in the cabana’s shade most of the day because it was so hot. It was a sunny (89 degrees) with a slight wind and a bit of humidity. Usual Haitian weather I’m sure. The buffet was very good, grilled chicken, shrimp on a stick, steak, burgers, salads, cookies and fruits. We stayed until around 3:15 because boarding was at 3:30pm. Always a wonderful day.

More trivia after dinner, followed by people watching and a comedian that night too. I had seen him before and I think it was the same routine. We were supposed to see the ice show earlier in the week but didn’t get there. They now go by your muster station number to schedule your allocated time for the show. We ended up going later in the week without any incident. More about that on the sea day we went.

The 70’s parade/show was at 10:30 tonight too. The girls enjoyed the festivities on deck 5/Promenade. I watched from above on deck 8. Leigh & Titi were dressed in Saturday Night attire and then switched to Austin Powers and Mini-me garb later. The girls had photos taken with them and the activities crew. Leigh shot a t-shirt directly to my daughter….yes it’s a bingo one of course! I went to bed after that due to being exhausted from our day in the Haitian sunshine. The girls went on to the Chamber for the Silent Disco and hung with Leigh and his crew. Needless to say they didn’t get back to the cabin until 3am, dirty stay-outs!!!

Forgot to mention we ordered a couple after dinner shots; mudslide and some kind of coconut concoction. It was mostly to get the pretty shot glasses. There was a different color glass each night. Our friends went home with a complete set of 12 or 16. Tomorrow is sea day.

[Annefran]

A photo of the bakery in Old San Juan we love.

A couple photos of Horseshoe Beach.

[Annefran]

Orient Beach.

 

 

This guy was amazing. He walked around with all these cups on his head. He would pour you a cup of coffee and not drop anything.

[Annefran]

 

One of the views from our cabana in Labadee.

 

 

70s night, Leigh and crew with my girls.