Explorer Revitalized - Spain & Med Beaches, June 2015 - Great Times

[Jocko97]

Thank you for the review. Wonderful information. We're also booked on the Sept 2nd sailing from Southampton.

 

Would you be able to tell me if the helipad was open to passengers for the sail away from Southampton? Two years ago on Allure we were invited to the helipad as suite guests, and last year on Radiance the helipad was open to everyone. It's a great place to begin a journey!

[moshek]

Thank you for the review. Wonderful information. We're also booked on the Sept 2nd sailing from Southampton.

 

Would you be able to tell me if the helipad was open to passengers for the sail away from Southampton? Two years ago on Allure we were invited to the helipad as suite guests, and last year on Radiance the helipad was open to everyone. It's a great place to begin a journey!

 

Yes helipad is open for sailaway for all guests (unless it is too windy). It is my favourite spot for sailaway from Southampton.

[cymru cruiser]

Yes helipad is open for sailaway for all guests (unless it is too windy). It is my favourite spot for sailaway from Southampton.

 

Have the cruise blues kicked in yet?

[Newtoncruise]

[quote

 

Our waiter and assistant waiter were also quite good and eager to please. My only complaint was the length of time it took several evenings to get our cup of coffee. Several times it came after we had already finished eating dessert.

.

 

Coffee is normally served following desert in Europe and not with desert.....coffee petit fours and a brandy........heaven!

 

Maybe this is what the servers did. I would complain if coffee arrived with my desert.....

[Thoie]

 

Our waiter and assistant waiter were also quite good and eager to please. My only complaint was the length of time it took several evenings to get our cup of coffee. Several times it came after we had already finished eating dessert.

.

 

Coffee is normally served following desert in Europe and not with desert.....coffee petit fours and a brandy........heaven!

 

Maybe this is what the servers did. I would complain if coffee arrived with my desert.....

 

Yes, I'd expect coffee to come just as I was taking the last bite of dessert, or shortly after I'd finished. If it came at the start in a restaurant I'd think they were rudely trying to get rid of me. Coffee would usually be a course of its own.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Thoie

[Jocko97]

Yes helipad is open for sailaway for all guests (unless it is too windy). It is my favourite spot for sailaway from Southampton.

Thanks!

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[karen armstrong]

Lovely photos. We we were also on the 26th July cruise. Our favourite places were Malaga, Monaco Corsica and Cadiz. It was our first cruise and mostly we loved it, however we are used to quieter villa holidays so it was quite a shock to the system, seeing the amount of people.

Was the passenger on the tender from our boat....didn't hear about it on board

[cymru cruiser]

Lovely photos. We we were also on the 26th July cruise. Our favourite places were Malaga, Monaco Corsica and Cadiz. It was our first cruise and mostly we loved it, however we are used to quieter villa holidays so it was quite a shock to the system, seeing the amount of people.

Was the passenger on the tender from our boat....didn't hear about it on board

 

Hi Karen, glad you enjoyed I know you were slightly nervous with some of the negative reviews before you went. Will you cruise again?

[moshek]

Have the cruise blues kicked in yet?

 

Not yet thankfully, booked for next year on board so got another to begin countdown to.

 

You will be glad to know we successfully got train to Monaco, found our way to casino and up to palace and back to station, thank you for your tips. Next year's cruise we are at Villefranche again and plan to go to Nice by train.

 

Michelle x

[cymru cruiser]

Not yet thankfully, booked for next year on board so got another to begin countdown to.

 

You will be glad to know we successfully got train to Monaco, found our way to casino and up to palace and back to station, thank you for your tips. Next year's cruise we are at Villefranche again and plan to go to Nice by train.

 

Michelle x

 

Excellent

[karen armstrong]

Yes I was a bit nervous. Was fine once through the bay of biscay...didn't enjoy that bit much. It was my husband who wanted to cruise, but I think I enjoyed it more than him. He felt a bit trapped. Even though there was loads to do I think he felt a bit processed. I however was more than happy with my book. The food was great, the staff fantastic and the entertainment enjoyable. We will cruise again, but not for a few years. Preferably not in the school holidays and we would choose a cruise with more port days than sea days. My husband doesn't like the heat so if it was the med we would go earlier in the year, but keen to try Baltic, and Alaska, so you never know, we might do it again

[kccrzr]

I have been tied up with other things for a bit but hope to be able to finish off this long-running review in the next few days.

 

Palma de Mallorca: We were scheduled to be in port for approximately 11 hours, from 1:30pm on June 12 to all aboard at 12:30 am on June 13. It seems several people were initially confused by the itinerary and thought we would actually be in port for 1-1/2 days.

 

We were a bit disappointed in the port area in Palma. There was no free wifi and just one duty free shop. Additionally, it was a bit of a hike to the shuttles and taxi. It was not a problem for us but I felt badly for folks with mobility issues, especially because it was a bit of a crush getting off the ship since we arrived so late in the day.

 

We also thought this port map provided by RCI was a bit deceiving:

 

 

Where we were docked was actually off the map. Shuttles were provided to the spot marked with a star for 5 Euro roundtrip. Although all aboard was 12:30 am, the last shuttle was scheduled to head back to the ship at 10:30 pm. The line for the shuttles grew quite quickly.

 

We headed directly to the Cathedral and it was a sight to behold, both inside and out. Really breathtaking! The entrance fee was 7 Euro each, which included use of a recorded multi-lingual audio tour. No candles can be lit in the cathedral. One bit of dissonance was walking out the exit through a gift shop - very Disneyesque. However, this is a "must do" in Palma, in my opinion. The architecture and workmanship is just amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

[kccrzr]

One plus to the Cathedral souvenir shop was the ability to buy cold bottled water for 1 Euro. We found that almost every gift shop we went into sold cold water, which was welcome since the day was a bit muggy.

 

After exiting the Cathedral, we went to the Palacio Read de la Alumudaina across the lane from the Cathedral. It also cost 7 Euro each but was not nearly as interesting as the Cathedral. In fact, it was quite minimal in furnishings and historical information.

 

Palma is a lovely town. We spent hours wandering through the narrow, winding streets of old town, including the Banys Arabs area.

 

 

 

We spent the whole day on foot, but did notice there were carriages on the lane between the Palace and the Cathedral:

 

 

There are many squares ringed by cafes with outdoor seating, including the Placa de Cort, where the picture below was taken. We noticed that some of the cafes charge more for food and drink served on the patios than they did inside the restaurant. Roaming musicians and entertainers stopped at the squares to perform for tips.

 

 

 

There are also tons of shops, cafes, bakeries, and Gelateria. The prices in the bakeries were very reasonable. Ca Na Cati, patisserie, shown in the background above had great pastries.

 

 

Palma has some very interesting and beautiful architecture.

 

 

 

 

Paseo de Born is a great pedestrian street lined with upscale shops and cafes. We ate a late dinner on a lovely patio, enjoying the tapas, cooler weather and a bottle of good wine. Life doesn't get much better than that!

 

After dinner and a side trip to a crafts market set up on the parallel street to the NW of the Paseo es Born and then headed back to the shuttle.

 

Pulling out of port was magical. The cathedral was brilliantly lit and after a bit was the only thing visible. I sat on our balcony and watched it for miles. Unfortunately, there was too much ship movement to get a good photo. But if you have a chance, definitely look for the cathedral as you pull out of port - you will not be disappointed.

[kccrzr]

Yes, I'd expect coffee to come just as I was taking the last bite of dessert, or shortly after I'd finished. If it came at the start in a restaurant I'd think they were rudely trying to get rid of me. Coffee would usually be a course of its own.

 

Interesting! We have been to Europe quite a few times on both cruises and land trips and have never noticed that before. Maybe all the other waiters were trying to get rid of us. :eek:

[sky0000547]

I'm currently onboard the Explorer. The Bay of Biscay yesterday was considered favourable by the Captain but you can feel the movement. Personally it is not such a big deal to me but others in my party cruising first time says a little worse for them.

 

Just stopped by the coast of Vigo to do a medical evacuation, it is another sea day today towards our first port in Malaga. This morning it is very foggy, the ship's horn is constantly sounding.

[cymru cruiser]

Which gate did you dock at in palma? Rci use gate 1 and 4. We docked at 4 last month. There were no shops but there was Wifi the map is of palma bay not the port. I picked up a more detailed map showing the port inside the port building at the tourist info desk where the wifi was.

[js4rq]

What a wonderful photo review, thanks for posting! :D

[kccrzr]

Which gate did you dock at in palma? Rci use gate 1 and 4. We docked at 4 last month. There were no shops but there was Wifi the map is of palma bay not the port. I picked up a more detailed map showing the port inside the port building at the tourist info desk where the wifi was.

 

I do not know at which gate we docked, it is not in my notes nor mentioned in the Cruise Compass.

[kccrzr]

What a wonderful photo review, thanks for posting! :D

 

 

Thank you - I'm glad you are enjoying the review.

 

 

I'm currently onboard the Explorer. The Bay of Biscay yesterday was considered favourable by the Captain but you can feel the movement. Personally it is not such a big deal to me but others in my party cruising first time says a little worse for them.

 

Just stopped by the coast of Vigo to do a medical evacuation, it is another sea day today towards our first port in Malaga. This morning it is very foggy, the ship's horn is constantly sounding.

 

I hope the weather clears and you have smooth sailing ahead. Enjoy your cruise.

[bjksgk]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post such a wonderful review! We are considering a similar itinerary for next summer on the Independence and now I'm almost positive we are going to book it :)

[kccrzr]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post such a wonderful review! We are considering a similar itinerary for next summer on the Independence and now I'm almost positive we are going to book it :)

 

 

Many thanks. We enjoyed the "walkability" of the ports on this itinerary and the fact that all but one were new to us (and that one is a favorite) was a definite plus. I think it would be hard to go wrong choosing a similar itinerary!