Mini-Review of Explorer 5-night Bermuda (October 4 to 9, 2014)

[SnappyNappi]

I have never done a review and I am going to try my best to give as much information as I can and be as objective as possible. Feel free to ask any questions – I will try to give whatever information anyone else may find helpful.

 

BACKGROUND:

DH and I booked the 5-night Bermuda itinerary on Explorer last October when we were on the 7-night Bermuda cruise (also on Explorer). This was our 6th cruise, and 4th cruise on Royal Caribbean (3 Explorer, 1 Oasis, and 2 on Carnival Miracle – but the Carnival cruises are another story for another day – LOL!). This was our 3rd trip on Explorer in the past 3 years, all of which departed from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ. This year and on this trip, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We live in Northern New Jersey, and like many other cruisers in the Northeast, we like the convenience of cruising from Bayonne (or NYC) instead of having to fly to a port.

 

We are ‘glass half-full’ people. We are pretty laid back and honestly, we don’t tend to ruffle easily. We love to cruise, we would much rather have a bad day at sea than a good day at the office. Having said that – we loved the cruise, we loved Explorer, we loved Bermuda, we had a wonderful time and would ABSOLUTELY do it all again!

 

EMBARKATION:

Like other times when we have planned to leave from Cape Liberty, we timed our trip to arrive at the pier at about 11:30 AM knowing that each time before this trip it takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes from the time we leave our house until we are sitting at a table by the pool on Deck 11, with lunch from the Windjammer and a drink from the Pool Bar in hand. The journey was typical UNTIL we turned off the main road into the pier/terminal area and we were promptly greeted by a traffic jam that was 2 lanes of cars stopped bumper-to-bumper. Over the next ¾ of a mile to – the distance to the drop-off area, we moved at a crawl and it took nearly 1.5 hours for us to drop the luggage and for DH to proceed to the parking area. Here is where he found the source of the delay – apparently the internet had gone down in the pier parking facilities and they couldn’t accept credit card payment for parking, only cash. Since there was no notice of this, no one had cash and there were many people roaming around between the parking area and the terminal drop-off looking for their loved ones and trying to find an ATM at the pier to get cash if they didn’t have enough to pay for parking. We seemed to hit the worst of this issue as we noticed that once the internet came back up, the traffic quickly cleared and there was no longer a line of cars waiting to get into the drop-off area or the parking lot. It took DH another 45 minutes to get back to the drop-off to meet me and proceed to check-in… The ‘bing’ of our seapass card, the click of the camera taking our embarkation photo and we were on the ship by 2:00. Once we got passed the chaos of drop-off and parking, check-in was easy-breezy and we were able to walk strait to our room.

 

It was raining on embarkation day, but as if on queue, the sun came out at about 3:30 when we were standing on Deck 4 for muster drill and we had beautiful weather – pretty much for the next 5 days of our trip. Our luggage was waiting for us when we returned to our stateroom after the drill and we headed up to Deck 12 in the front of the ship to take pictures as we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and made our way out to sea.

[SnappyNappi]

DINING & FOOD:

We did My Time Dining again on this trip and I made reservations for 6:00 PM each evening (except on our Anniversary when we ate at Portifino’s – get to that later). We have found that making our reservations in advance gives us the best chance to get the small table we wanted and enjoy our same wait staff each night at dinner. Our waiter was Sunil and our assistant waiter was Coco – and they were great! Big shout out to Coco, our assistant waiter, who was especially friendly and personable. We looked forward to seeing them each night at dinner – as well as running into Coco in the Windjammer when he was working lunch there on sea days. Food and tastes are subjective so this is just our opinion and experience of the food and venues… J

 

We are not ‘foodies’ but we enjoy eating. The food in the MDR was good, in some cases, very good. We had nothing in the dining room that we would call awful or even bad – as we have seen others state in recent reviews of food both on Explorer as well as across the RCCL fleet. DH said his favorite dish was the prime rib on night 1, which he said was cooked perfect and was just enough for him (after having 2 appetizers) and left him just enough room for a cup of coffee and dessert without feeling like he was the stuffed turkey on Thanksgiving.

 

Windjammer buffet food was good. We ate breakfast and lunch in the Windjammer on Embarkation day as well as the sea days. I enjoy the omlet stations at breakfast and was able to find something I liked and wanted to eat every time I went for a meal. We aren’t too critical of buffet food and got what we expected there.

 

The food at the late-night buffet by the pool was not great, but I was probably still a little full from our dinner and dessert just a couple hours earlier. There were some good desserts and they had popcorn (which was something that DH and I both really enjoyed), but it was more about going up and hearing some party music than it was about eating for us.

 

We ate at Portifino’s on our Anniversary. We have never eaten at this specialty restaurant before and it was certainly a treat for us. I had heard mixed reviews about it before we left on CC, so we just figured like everything else, we would try it and form our own opinions. The food was really good – I had the seafood skewer and DH had the Veal Saltimbocca and both of us felt that it was a great meal choice for us. It was as good a meal as we would get at a very nice Italian restaurant at home and the wait staff was courteous and helpful. We were not rushed through our meal and left alone to leisurely eat our dessert and enjoy each other’s company over our cappuccinos. We thoroughly enjoyed this dinner and would go back again on future cruises.

 

All in all, the food couldn’t have been too bad as I gained 5 pounds in 5 days and DH gained 6.

DRINK PACKAGES:

I don’t drink alcohol, so I purchased the Replenish Package for myself ($20 per day/non-alcoholic) and since DH enjoys drinking on vacation, I purchased the Premium Package for him ($55 per day/step down from the Ultimate Package). I will start by saying this – we both got our monies worth from our respective packages. I enjoyed the fresh-squeezed orange juice, my premium coffees from the Park Café, cappuccino after dinner every night and more than my share of frozen non-alcoholic lava flow, colada or daiquiris. RCCL lost money on my $20 package per day, for sure.

 

DH on the Premium Package was able to have pretty much anything alcoholic that he wanted – and knowing he would break even at the 5 to 6 drink mark each day – he also proved that you don’t need to be drunk for the entire cruise to get the monies worth out of the package. (Judgment free zone ahead…) He enjoyed what he wanted, never got out of control drunk and did more than break even. However, he did confess to me on day 3 or 4 of our trip that he found he was drinking more than he probably would have without the package and admitted that he had a couple of drinks to make sure that he hit that break-even mark each day (primarily on the port days). When we go on our next cruise in February 2015, he already told me that he wants to pay as he goes and he thinks it will work out just as well.

 

I have read in other reviews that people think that the bar service has gotten slower if you have a drink package. We did not find that to be the case, and when we were able to get a bartender or bar server, they were very helpful and quick about service --- HOWEVER, we did find that bar staff was hard to come by EVERYWHERE on the ship. I found this to be strange since the cruise line stands to make a LOT of money when people drink… if not from the drinks themselves (which is a HUGE revenue stream for them) but from people buying other stuff after they have had a couple of drinks. There were definitely fewer waiters by the pool to take drink orders. Our experience was that there were fewer bartenders at EVERY bar, even during the busy times. The Pool Bar and Sky Bar only had 2 bartenders making drinks when it was 85 and sunny and people were standing 5 deep waiting on line to order. It took a ridiculous amount of time to order a drink, package or no package. We never met our bar server in the main dining room until the last night when he swung by our table to see if we needed anything from the bar, of course, DH was sipping his 3rd Miller Lite (brought by our wonderful assistant waiter, Coco) when the actual bar server appeared and he promptly became invisible again. There was 1 or 2 bartenders at every bar, never more than that and people were getting restless with the wait times. One woman sitting next to me by the pool said that her husband had gone to the bar to get her a drink an hour before and still hadn’t come back yet… and there he was, still standing at the bar waiting for service.

 

Still not enough to ruin the trip, but an area that Royal Caribbean needs to focus on in order to guarantee their revenue streams into the future. If people feel that they can’t get service, they will find another line to travel. If they feel that they aren’t getting value from purchased drink packages, they will stop buying them. If people don’t drink on vacation, they don’t make as many impulse purchases. Not saying it is right or wrong… basic marketing 101.

Edited October 14, 2014 by SnappyNappi

[SnappyNappi]

CABIN:

We stayed in a Junior Suite on this cruise – our first in a JS, and we really liked this cabin. We were in cabin 9318/center hump and it was perfect in size and location for us. I liked the privacy of the closed in balcony and the bathroom was a little more spacious than the regular D2 balcony stateroom we had last year, with a tub/shower. We loved the walk-in closet, which easily was big enough to change in and plenty space for all of our hanging clothes for both of us. There were tons of drawers and storage in this room, we didn’t make use of half of the storage space available – maybe on a longer cruise we would have needed more space (however, I do pack for a month whether I am going away for overnight or for a week). We had a flat panel television and a sitting area with a small sofa, a glass table and 2 chairs.

 

On previous trips, we have found our stateroom attendants to be extremely available to us, very visible and tripping over themselves to ensure we knew them and they knew us. However, this time, our attendant, Debbie, was pretty ‘stealthy’. She kept our room very clean and towels were plentiful. Everything was neat and tidy all the time, but we never really saw her at all. While it was not what we expected or what we have typically experienced, we kinda liked it, especially since we were cruising for our anniversary and appreciated the privacy and alone time without interuption.

 

We did have towel animals 4 out of the 5 nights when we came back to our cabin after dinner… an elephant, a monkey, a dog (wearing DH’s sunglasses) and a bat. It seems corny, but it is something that I look forward to when we cruise.

 

…and, of course, back to food – LOL! Room service was quick on the 2 occasions we wanted some snacks and stuff brought to us. We ordered some warm and cold snacks and everything that we received was accounted for and delivered at the proper temperature during off-hours. We didn’t get any meals through room service, so I can’t really speak to delivery times or temperature of meals when they are busier.

 

PORT OF BERMUDA:

We docked in Kings Wharf and DH and I rented a scooter for our 2 days in Bermuda. We did sightseeing on our own. We drove up to St. George’s, which is historic Bermuda and then had lunch in the original Swizzle Inn location (which we can now say that we have been to both locations on the island). We planned to stop for a couple hours at Horseshoe Beach and enjoy a gorgeous beach day in Bermuda, but wound up going to one of the state parks to stroll for a bit. We walked from our scooter through the area and found that we were at a beautiful beach that was deserted! We pulled out our towels and relaxed on our private beach for the afternoon with a couple of locals that came by for a swim and left. The beach was actually only a ½ mile up the road from Horseshoe Beach, which was packed with vacationers – but not this place… I think it was called Warick. There was rocks that we climbed over the ocean and a small rocky cove where there were some snorklers that seemed to be on an excursion. But other than the few that came and went during the time we were there, it was like our own personal paradise. Sometimes it is just best to go with the flow and let things be what they will be… It was a perfect day at a perfect beach!

 

The second day in Bermuda, we took the scooter out again and stopped at a nearby beach to walk in the sand at the surf line and relax before returning the scooter. Then we made the rounds when we got back to the dock. We enjoy the local stores in the Clocktower Mall as well as the indoor craft bizarre area in the back of the pier area. We couldn’t miss the Glassworks or the Rum Cake Factory and picked up a few souvenirs while we walked around the dock before getting back on the ship and enjoying the afternoon at the pool as we prepared to sail away.

 

DISEMBARKATION:

We signed up for self-assisted/walk-off disembarkation on Day 3 of our cruise. Since we have done it this way before, we knew that we would go to the 4th floor dining area and carry our luggage off. We have done this twice before on Explorer and the process takes about 20 minutes from the time you get to your waiting area, until you are off the bus/tram and walking to the car. As many things go, this was not a typical disembarkation… it took nearly 3 HOURS just to walk out the first floor exit door and see the light of day.

 

We went down to the dining area on deck 4 at 8:15. We were told at 8:30 that we could begin to make our way off the ship by the one person who was assigned to our waiting area. There were no elevators available, so everyone was sent to the stairs and only 1 stairway was open for passengers to utilize for exiting the ship. We stood with our bags on stairs with thousands of passengers until we were able to make our way from the 4th floor, down the stairs to the 1st floor and off the ship. We were off the ship and on the shuttle bus back to the main terminal at 11:20 AM. It was the most dangerous (if there was a fire, we were all dead), disorganized and miscommunicated disembarkation I have ever experienced. No staff or crew was present or communicating to passengers the reason for the hold up or delay – which as far as we know, even today, there was no reason for it other than just disorganization. It was a horrible way to leave and have our vacation come to an end.

 

Thankfully, once we were off the ship, things did move at a normal pace and we were through customs and in our car in about 15 minutes.

 

For what it is worth, and I hope that this is the case, I believe that the Explorer crew is being ‘turned over’ – there was noticeably less crew members on board working. When we asked, we were told that some of the ‘regular’ Explorer crew had left to be deployed to other ships or if they were to stay in this market, they were already training for their work on Quantum. We were told that some of the crew that we traveled with would be staying on Explorer to Miami and beyond but that they would have new crew members joining for the relocation or when the ship arrived in Miami in November. Our general feeling was that there were less crew and the crew that was on the ship was very inexperienced and disorganized.

[SnappyNappi]

NEW TERMINAL IN CAPE LIBERTY/BAYONNE, NJ:

Not to make excuses but the only other thing that MAY have been contributing to the delay could have been the construction activity at the new terminal that is being built right where you exit the ship and get the shuttle. We noticed there was a lot of activity when we left on Saturday, even in the rain on the weekend, and also the machinery was already going and there was a lot of hustle and bustle around in the construction area when we got back and docked at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning. There was visibly progress in the work done to the drop-off area and the new terminal (which appears to be being brought to the site in large pre-constructed pieces and assembled on site) between the time we left and when we got back 5 days later. I know that they are committed to getting the new terminal operational before Quantum gets to Cape Liberty, so they appear to be working around the clock. Perhaps that was part of the reason that we had such an awful disembarkation.

 

THE LAST WORD:

As I said before… IT WAS A GREAT CRUISE! A few minor (even major) inconveniences are not enough for us to swear off cruising or Royal Caribbean. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had a great vacation! While there is always going to be a little of the ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ – there was nothing that ruined it for us.

[cathykb]

Great review. We did the same cruise in early Sept and really enjoyed it. Hopefully all the traffic issues will be worked out when the new cruise terminal opens.

 

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[exarkkun]

So happy for this review. Bermuda is on my bucket list and I've had my eye on Explorer for a while. When is she scheduled to repo to Miami?

 

 

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[Silverhues]

Nice Review! We were getting off the Explorer (the 9 night Bermuda/ Eastern Caribbean Itinerary), the day you were boarding her! This was our second time on the Explorer, and thought she was still in great shape!

[SnappyNappi]

So happy for this review. Bermuda is on my bucket list and I've had my eye on Explorer for a while. When is she scheduled to repo to Miami?

Explorer is scheduled to do a 14 night repositioning that leaves Cape Liberty on November 1st and arrives in Miami for it's stint there on November 14th.

 

Unfortunately, if you want to do Bermuda from the Northeast in 2015, it will have to be on

- Liberty of the Seas 5-night Bermuda itinerary from Cape Liberty, Bayonne, NJ starting in May 2015 through October.

- Or you can choose the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, MD, doing a 7-night Bermuda itinerary May 2015 through August or a 6-night Bermuda itinerary from the end of August through October of 2015.

 

The Liberty from Bayonne will make one-day stops on the 9-night Bermuda/Caribbean itineraries out of Cape Liberty but they are not focused on Bermuda, like the other itineraries that I listed above where you will get more than just a 1-day stop on Bermuda.

 

Good luck to you and I highly recommend Bermuda. It is a beautiful island country. It is clean, the beaches are amazing and the people are so friendly. I don't think you would be disappointed. :)

[SnappyNappi]

Nice Review! We were getting off the Explorer (the 9 night Bermuda/ Eastern Caribbean Itinerary), the day you were boarding her! This was our second time on the Explorer, and thought she was still in great shape!

I didn't really touch on this, but I felt the same way... she is holding up great and the crew keeps her in tip-top shape. I had read so many reviews about the condition of Explorer over the past few months that I was expecting her to look beat up since we were on her last year. Sure she has some chips and scrapes from normal wear and tear, but I was pleasantly surprised to find her in beautiful shape.

[lovelife]

Just to claify: The November 1 Explorer repositioning cruise ends on November 15 in Port Canaveral. :)

[SnappyNappi]

Just to claify: The November 1 Explorer repositioning cruise ends on November 15 in Port Canaveral. :)

Sorry... yes, you are right... November 1st 14-night cruise arrives in Miami on November 15th. Silly me... thinking I could count out days without looking at the calendar. That will teach me. :) LOL!

 

[lovelife]

Sorry... yes, you are right... November 1st 14-night cruise arrives in Miami on November 15th. Silly me... thinking I could count out days without looking at the calendar. That will teach me. :) LOL!

 

 

Actually it arrives in Port Canaveral but you were close! Thanks for your candid review - it is much appreciated since I'll be on her for two weeks soon. I'll probably gain 14 pounds!!:eek:

[gaylemh]

I was on the same cruise. Sorry I didn't get to meet you. I have been reading about what bad shape Explorer is in for the last 4 years. I don't even pay attention to it anymore. You really have to be looking for something wrong to find it. Yeah there is some rust on the balconies, but the ship is at sea in salt water 365 days a year. I was a few cabins down from you on deck 9 in 9336 and my cabin attendant Carlton was wonderful and always around. I'm going to miss Explorer, but I'm looking forward to the new ships coming to Bayonne.

 

Did you get to the Crown and Kettle, Jimmy Blakemore was wonderful, and a lot of fun.

 

You should have gotten a luggage tag for getting off the ship. I was in the palace theater, and once they called my number (3) was off the ship and through customs in 20 minutes. I was home at the shore before 11.

 

I think the problem is most people that carry off their luggage can't handle it, and then it takes so much time for the shuttles, because half the room is taken up by luggage instead of people.

 

Getting to the ship was a mess. It's the first time in 7 cruises I ran into that at Port Liberty. I actually saw people getting out of cars/taxis and walking to the ship wheeling their luggage.

[Guest maddycat]

Explorer is scheduled to do a 14 night repositioning that leaves Cape Liberty on November 1st and arrives in Miami for it's stint there on November 14th.

 

Unfortunately, if you want to do Bermuda from the Northeast in 2015, it will have to be on

- Liberty of the Seas 5-night Bermuda itinerary from Cape Liberty, Bayonne, NJ starting in May 2015 through October.

- Or you can choose the Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, MD, doing a 7-night Bermuda itinerary May 2015 through August or a 6-night Bermuda itinerary from the end of August through October of 2015.

 

The Liberty from Bayonne will make one-day stops on the 9-night Bermuda/Caribbean itineraries out of Cape Liberty but they are not focused on Bermuda, like the other itineraries that I listed above where you will get more than just a 1-day stop on Bermuda.

 

Good luck to you and I highly recommend Bermuda. It is a beautiful island country. It is clean, the beaches are amazing and the people are so friendly. I don't think you would be disappointed. :)

 

Celebrity Summit also cruises from Bayonne to Bermuda spring through fall. The Summit's Bermuda cruises are 7 nights.

[gaylemh]

Celebrity Summit also cruises from Bayonne to Bermuda spring through fall. The Summit's Bermuda cruises are 7 nights.

 

I wish Celebrity sailed to Bermuda in the fall, but they end their Bermuda cruises in August and then start the New England/Canada cruises for the fall before they leave for the winter.

[SnappyNappi]

I was on the same cruise. Sorry I didn't get to meet you. I have been reading about what bad shape Explorer is in for the last 4 years. I don't even pay attention to it anymore. You really have to be looking for something wrong to find it. Yeah there is some rust on the balconies, but the ship is at sea in salt water 365 days a year. I was a few cabins down from you on deck 9 in 9336 and my cabin attendant Carlton was wonderful and always around. I'm going to miss Explorer, but I'm looking forward to the new ships coming to Bayonne.

 

Did you get to the Crown and Kettle, Jimmy Blakemore was wonderful, and a lot of fun.

 

You should have gotten a luggage tag for getting off the ship. I was in the palace theater, and once they called my number (3) was off the ship and through customs in 20 minutes. I was home at the shore before 11.

 

I think the problem is most people that carry off their luggage can't handle it, and then it takes so much time for the shuttles, because half the room is taken up by luggage instead of people.

 

Getting to the ship was a mess. It's the first time in 7 cruises I ran into that at Port Liberty. I actually saw people getting out of cars/taxis and walking to the ship wheeling their luggage.

Hi Gayle - I had every intention to get up to the Sky Bar and say hello to everyone from our roll-call thread, but by the time we got onboard and made it through the muster drill, Andy and I were whipped. So we took some pictures at sail-away and just grabbed a drink, went back to our cabin and relaxed on our balcony and watched the world go by for a bit before dinner.

 

I think you are right about the self-assisted/walk-off disembarkation and people thinking that they can handle their luggage as they leave the ship. We have always done walk-off (except on Oasis where we were flying and did Luggage Valet, which worked the most smoothly) - and never had any issue as we had on this cruise getting off the ship. Next time I think we will plan to pack the night before and leave our luggage out to get checked through customs and do a standard, numbered disembarkation process, picking up our luggage at the spaces in the customs areas of the terminal. That might work smoother for us if we can manage to pack up efficiently the night before we arrive home.

 

DH and I will be cruising Quantum in February to Florida & Bahamas, and then we will be taking our 3 kids (taking 2 connecting balcony staterooms) and cruising the 9-night on Liberty next July. So we will have opportunity to see how the flow and process changes with the new terminal and the new ships out of Cape Liberty.

 

We did go to the Crown & Kettle in the evenings, we also just strolled the Promenade in the evenings and enjoyed the music coming from the pub. We caught some of the production shows in the theater, but for the most part, had a very relaxing vacation this time.

[maureencruiser]

Thanks for the review, I'm thinking of Explorer for December.

[SnappyNappi]

Thanks for the review, I'm thinking of Explorer for December.

No problem, maureencruiser. I know that when I am preparing for a cruise, I like to read as as much as possible. We have been on Explorer 3 times and loved her. If you decide to take the Explorer in December, I am sure you will not be disappointed. Enjoy!