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Reporting Live From The Explorer of the Seas - A Review

Melissa_Phillips
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Melissa_Phillips

Melissa_Phillips

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Day 12 - Cadiz

 

We woke up to a downpour of rain in Cadiz, lovley! It was also cold. We headed to the Windjammer for breakfast, I had some toast and jam. We returned to the room and got our passports and wallets sorted ready to get off the boat in cadiz. I wrapped up in a hoody and some jeans to keep warm. We got off the boat on deck 1, and walked through a short port area and then headed outside. We crossed the road and found ourselves in a square which had a central statue and some ornamental gardens surrounding it. There were parakeets flying from tree to tree which was quite cool to see. We headed down some streets that had shops but as it was Sunday they were closed and not opening till later. Mum found a cafe and she had a drink and some donut chocolate dessert thing. It then started to pee it down with rain, I was a bit fed up at this point and just wanted to head back to the ship but nevertheless we carried on and ended up snapping some pictures of the cathedral and Mum wanted to visit some souvenir shops. We headed back to the ship and went to our room, Mum then headed back to shore as there was free WiFi. I took myself to the Windjammer for some lunch. I was also trying to track down Steve as well, but he had no phone signal so I didn't know if he was on shore or not. I decided I hadn't taken any shots of the ship yet so headed down to the promenade and other public areas to capture some photos to add to my blog when I'm back on land with decent Internet. I heard from Steve, they were getting back on the ship and would be heading up to pool deck so I headed up there to meet them. I sat and wrote in my book for a bit while I waited for them and spotted them on the other side of the ship, I didn't have long before I had to go to a quiz with Mum though so was only with them for about ten mins or so. I went down to the Schooner bar where the quiz was about cities of the world, we didn't do too badly, I think we got like six right or something. I headed back out to the pool deck, to sit with Steve and Carl again until the next quiz at 5pm which was female singers. This was again at the Schooner bar. Me and Steve managed to catch some alone time before the start of the quiz, but it kinda turned into the whole quiz, Oops! :embarassedface: we stayed in the Schooner bar until about 6pm, then headed to the room to get ready for dinner. We went to the Windjammer for dinner, and then afterwards went to the show which was a Beatles tribute. Not my cup of tea but everyone else enjoyed it and I'm told it was a good comparison between the two. After the show we headed to the Star Lounge where there was a battle of the sexes show on followed by Horizon the rock band. Horizon was OK but they played quite a lot of old stuff, nothing really up to date. We stayed there for the rest of the night really, me and Steve managed to sneak away a few times and we had our first proper kiss omg! A really good way to finish the night :-)

 

Day 13- At Sea

 

Today was a sea day, you can definitly tell were on the home stretch now as the temperature as dropped considerably. I started the day as usual with a shower, then breakfast at the Windjammer. I had toast, I don't think I can face another fry up for a while. We headed to the captains question and answer session in the theatre, it was so interesting I learnt loads, my question was how big are the propellers on the back of the ship and the answer was 17ft per blade, ouch! After this we went to the Schooner bar where there was a Harry Potter quiz due to start, if we can't win this one well give up! Guess what?! We finally won! Well drew with another team with 20/21 points, we won the much coveted RCI highlighter woohoo! There was another quiz later on that'll well go to as well, it was a Beatles vs Queen one, I should be find with Queen but not so much Beatles. We headed back to the pool deck and met Car and Steve in the lift so that's good timing! We all headed out together and found somewhere to sit, the weather was a little chilly initially but as the day went on it did warm up. We were out on pool deck until just before 5pm, then headed to the Schooner bar to do the Beatles vs Queen quiz, where we got a respectable 9, not enough to win though. We stayed in the Schooner bar for a bit, the plan for tonight was to do the show at 7pm, then go for dinner after, then go to the rock brit Street party. So at just before 7pm we headed upstairs to get changed, it was a formal night so wore some black trousers, a nice top and a coral coloured jacket, Steve was wearing a smart suit and waist coat in pinstripe, it was lush. We met outside the theatre and started to watch a bit of the show, but then headed outside for some time together which was nice. After the show we headed for deck 6, which is where my room was, and we got seated on the bit that overlooks the royal promenade. Me and Steve headed off for some formal photos to be taken outside the main dining room. I'm against paying an extortionate amount of money for photos but it'll be nice just to have one. We also headed outside to where the sun was setting and got some selfies on steves phone and also got a lady to take some photos of us. We returned to where my Mum and Car were on deck 6 and the street party started, I headed down to the promenade to get some videos and pictures, amazing atmosphere, everyone was singing and dancing, and again, you wouldn't think you were on board a ship it's unreal. They played some great classics that everyone knew the words to and Rob our cruise director was dressed head to toe in a union jack suit complete with union jack flat cap. After the party we headed for the Schooner bar for an hour or so before Carl asked to be taken to bed. Steve asked if it was OK for him to come meet with me afterwards, so I stayed in the bar and Mum went up to bed. Steve came back down about half hr later after he had put Carl to bed and got him sorted. We got some drinks and headed out to the solarium area and grabbed a couple of sunbeds and literally layed out there all night talking. We did get some looks as it looked like wed had one too many and just collapsed where we were haha! We eventually departed to our rooms at 6:30am, I have literally never stayed out that late before! I snuck back into the room and Mum was like 'you're back late!' and I was said 'I know' and I ended up just collapsing in a heap and staying there.

 

Day 14 - At Sea

 

I woke up at about 8am and felt and looked like rubbish, we headed down to the Windjammer for breakfast where I had my usual toast and jam. Afterwards I headed down to the photo gallery and bought two photos, one for me and one for Steve, they turned out really well. I also headed to 'The Shop' and bought a hoody, it's a shame they didn't do ones that had the ships name on, but they only had t shirts for that. Being a crown and anchor member, I had some offers I could use, I used the buy one get one half price on photos and used the 10% RCI clothing. I headed out on the pool deck for a while but it was freezing cold and I felt really rough, evidently long nights are not for me! I headed back to the room and ended up sleeping on the bed until about 2pm! I finally emerged and went to the pool deck where I saw Steve and Carl. Steve was worried when he saw my mum earlier as he thought he was gunna be in trouble but she said she was quite impressed with him for keeping me awake that long and that it's about time I had an all nighter! I headed down to the photo gallery to collect our photos which turned out really nice, I then headed to the Windjammer and got some chips and a drink, food fixes everything! I ate around the pool and we chilled for a few hours, the weather wasn't too bad, it did warm up as the afternoon progressed. I headed back to the room just before 6pm, and got changed ready for Giovaniis Restaurant. I wasn't really all that hungry for Italian and felt a bit sick, but had the chicken wrapped in bacon with mash and mushrooms and it was lovley, but I just couldn't eat it all. After Giovaniis we headed back to the room to continue packing, we had to leave our bags outside by 11pm, packing was actually really easy, it didn't seem that we had that much to be honest! I nipped across and helped Steve with his packing before we headed down to the show in the theatre which was the farewell show, unfortunately we missed the beginning which was a preview of the cruise in review dvd, but I think they're showing a preview in the photo gallery so may pop down and have a look. The show ended with all staff members coming out on stage, room attendants, the Windjammer washy washy lady, captain and senior officers etc, and a nice explosion of parry streamers afterwards. We were about in time to see the sunset tonight so got some great shots of it. Me and Steve had a few minutes alone time outside which was nice. After the theatre we headed to the Schooner bar to listen to the guy play the piano. Mum headed up to bed a bit earlier so me and Steve got another hour or so together on our own before we had to say goodbye. Its been a great cruise and I hope we can meet up in the future, he doesn't live too far away. All in all its been a great holiday but I am looking forward to getting home and getting my own space and bed back, two weeks can seem an awful long time sometimes. I'll miss the entertainment each night though and the movies on the big screen, not to mention to the food and the Ben and Jerry's bar! Plus all the staff, we've not encountered a moody one yet!

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Melissa_Phillips

Melissa_Phillips

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Melissa

which dock did you use in Palma? The reason I ask is that sometimes the ships will use the container dock which is closer to the cathedral rather than the dock across the bay which involves about a 20 minute transfer by shuttle.

 

We used the dock around the bay, which was about a 20min bus journey on the shuttle

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Melissa_Phillips

Melissa_Phillips

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After reading reviews on CC we were quite anxious about the holiday but honestly couldn't fault it. The room was spotless and we always without fail found somewhere to sit in the bars (We mainly sat in the Schooner), Windjammer, speciality restaurants on the pool decks. The staff were always friendly without fail, there was plenty going on, we didn't need to watch any of the DVD's I bought with me and there was barely time to read the million books I downloaded.

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moshek

moshek

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Thanks for a great review Melissa, glad you had a good time. I am really looking forward to doing same trip on 26th July. I love the Schooner bar too although have a habit of missing the start of the quiz.

 

Michelle x

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Topbuzzer

Topbuzzer

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Melissa, thank you so much for this review. We are on the 29th June sailing and I was nervous after seeing some of the reviews straight after the refit. Sounds like some of the main problems eg seating have been sorted.

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