PHOTO REVIEW: Explorer of The Seas (2nd Oct 2015)

[TheGinBoy]

Hi Guys,

 

So I've not really done a review before. So bear with me on this one. Despite being an editor/writer for my main job I find writing personal reviews etc a struggle, I'd rather let the photos do the talking.

 

My main focus here will be on the ship herself, as this was a repositioning cruise, and it's unlikely Explorer will be doing this route again anytime soon. That said I may touch on some of the ports etc.

 

So, who are we? I'm Tom, I'm 30 and I'm from the UK. This cruise was to celebrate/mourn me turning 30 - I've cruised five times before, all with RCCL. I was travelling with my fiancé, Tommy - 29, who I proposed to last year on our previous cruise.

[TheGinBoy]

We were originally booked to stay in a Deck 3, Oceanview cabin. But I decided that for my 30th Birthday I wanted something a bit more special - I also knew that Tommy would kill me for spending more money.

 

What a conundrum. So I upgraded us without telling him. EEK. I went for one of the new Deck 12 balconies, the ones they added to the ship in Cadiz earlier this year.

 

Keeping it a secret so long was a nightmare. I'm RUBBISH with secrets, and RCCL were trying to ruin it at every turn sending out paperwork with the new cabin on etc. But I managed it until we boarded.

 

We were in the lift and he went to press 'Deck 3' and I stopped him and pressed 'Deck 12' he said "What have you done?" but rapidly changed his tune when he saw the balcony.

 

Here's a shot of the room as we arrived. The beds were separate despite us asking for them together, but the stateroom attendant fixed that for us.

 

 

Here's a shot of the TV in the room. It was a lovely huge flatscreen which was a nice surprise. It pans and tilts so you can watch it from various parts of the room. The only issue we had with it, and it's a biggie, none of the interactive services seem to work on these new TVs. We could watch the channels but not check bills, or order movies / room service. We didn't try any of the HDMI ports etc.

 

 

A shot back into the room. The sofa was huge, but there was no coffee table. So we didn't sit on it once in the cruise. Mostly used it as a dumping area for bags etc. A real shame. There was tonnes and tonnes of storage in these new cabins. Everywhere you looked was another cupboard or shelf.

 

 

The bathroom was nice and sparkling new. I like the nice neutral coloured fittings and fixtures. It had a hard-plastic shower screen, not the all-too-friendly shower curtains. The storage in here was plentiful but open shelves, as opposed to the cupboards of older cabins.

 

 

The only problem with this bathroom was the toilet. It rarely flushed on the first, or even the second try. I know these toilets work on a central vacuum system, so I can only assume that because they've added more cabins on Deck 12 and Deck 3 that the vacuum system is now over subscribed and you need to wait for a gap in the queue. Annoying, but it worked if you were patient.

 

 

Finally we have the balcony. Oh the balcony. The main reason I chose a Deck 12 balcony over one of the other decks was the fact that these ones were all glass balconies. The view was beautiful wherever you were, the furniture was new and decent. The chairs reclined slightly. Wonderful.

 

 

People asked me about how much movement you could feel up on Deck 12. We did experience some rough seas (enough for them to provide sick bags on stairwells) but it didn't feel any worse up on Deck 12 to when we were on the Promenade.

 

Our main issue with this cabin is that you can hear the sunloungers, on Deck 13 above you, moving around in the winds, and pool attendants moving them around at 6am. Other than that loved the cabin.

Edited October 14, 2015 by TheGinBoy

[TheGinBoy]

Then we went for a mooch around the ship before getting something to eat.

 

It's fair to say she's in absolutely spectacular condition for a 15 year old vessel that sees 3500pax on her every week. The revitalisation in Cadiz did her a world of good.

 

As soon as we walked down the Royal Promenade we felt like we were home again, and that it hadn't been a whole year since we were on a cruise ship. Everything was the same, but subtly different, from our last cruise aboard Liberty. The favourites were all there Café Promenade, the pub, the stores...

 

 

It's fair to say that this old gal was looking good for her age. Everything was spotless and sparkling. We didn't see a single spot of rust, or piece of trash anywhere. They really are looking after her.

 

 

But with the old favourites comes two new additions since I last cruised.

 

First up is the 'R Bar'. A martini bar. I like martinis, and I like bars. What's not to like. The R Bar had a great team of mixologists. Led by Lee we tried some amazing cocktails I'd never heard of before - and even took part in a cocktail masterclass where we got to go behind the bar and shake up some drinks. Well worth the $16 fee. I may have been a bit squiffy by the end of it.

 

The R Bar has a relaxed, but stylish feel about it. I really enjoyed just chilling there with a gin martini in hand.

 

 

 

Also new on Explorer is 'The Tavern'. The Tavern was described to me as a sports bar, but we very rarely saw any sports on the screens - which was fine with us. Across from the Art Gallery (pointless use of space IMHO) The Tavern was a really cosy space. The seating was really comfy, there were bean bags to lounge on, and the staff were really friendly - special shout out to Nikolai :)

 

[TheGinBoy]

When we first booked the cruise, about nine months before she sailed, we had been stuck with My Time Dining as both the early seating and late seating had been fully booked. Booooooooo.

 

Luckily we were cruising with Thoie, who is a Diamond C&A member and managed to get us linked to her table - along with Lauriel.

 

We were known as "The Naughty Table" for the rest of the cruise. Our waiting staff were lovely, if a little forgetful. We got chardonnay instead of champagne, and vodka tonic instead of gin and tonic etc. But it was his first cruise bless him.

 

 

On all previous ships I've sailed the dining rooms have all had separate names for Decks 3, 4 and 5. But on the newly revitalised Explorer it's all just 'The Sapphire Dining Room' which I think made things a little simpler.

 

The updated décor is lovely. It's much simpler, bolder, fresher. It just looks like a modern elegant dining room.

 

[Hazydavo]

Cool thanks for sharing.

[TheGinBoy]

I'm not going to post photos of EVERYTHING we ate because that'd be mad, and quite frankly with CruiseCritic's 6 photos per page rule it would take me all week.

 

I'll post some of the highlights here.

 

We didn't eat at any of the speciality restaurants on board, as I was having too much fun at the Naughty Table. But we did order a couple of things from the Chops Menu to be eaten in the Main Dining Room.

 

Here's the Chop's Maine Lobster which I had for my birthday dinner. It was AMAAAAAZING. So juicy, so tender. I could have eaten it over and over again.

 

 

Tommy had the Filet Mignon from Chops in the Main Dining Room also, which he ordered rare - and got just as he likes.

 

 

Another favourite has to be the Prime Rib, right? I think about Prime Rib Night non-stop on the lead up to the next cruise. This year didn't disappoint.

 

 

I really enjoyed these scallops with a crispy pancetta crumb. They were huge and perfectly cooked.

 

 

I can report that Escargot were plentiful on this cruise, and I had them (along with other starters - oink oink) for pretty much every meal.

 

NOTE: I didn't have a single bad meal in the MDR. Not one. Our food came out correct, piping hot, and cooked to order (even fussy requests from the OH were met).

 

We took breakfast on our balcony most days, which is a rare treat. Make the most of that balcony people!

 

Edited October 14, 2015 by TheGinBoy

[LovesCruising]

Can;t wait to read more - thanks!

[markandallan]

Wow, thanks for the great pictures and review, we will be on Explorer for xmas New Years cruise and we are very excited. It's good to hear positive reviews about Explorer as I feel some reviews have been fairly negative. Thanks again

Mark and Allan

[TheGinBoy]

So, what with me turning 30 on this cruise I thought I should challenge myself in a few ways. One of which is tackling a fear of heights. Now you're wondering why on earth I booked myself a Deck 12 cabin....

 

To take on this fear I decided to tackle the Rock Climbing Wall. EEK. I was petrified. I could have quite happily run all the way back to the R Bar and climbed into a Tanqueray 10 Martini (dry, stirred, twist).

 

I did the green side of the wall, the beginners side, and got about 3/4 of the way up before I couldn't go any further. The view was pretty impressive mind you. I'm annoyed I couldn't make it all the way up, but also pleased that I did it at all.

 

 

Tommy, who can't swim - bless him, decided he'd tackle the Flow Rider. He did it a few times and slowly got better, but never quite got to his feet. He really enjoyed the experience though.

 

Unfortunately on the second time around the water, which is super strong, pulled his engagement ring off his finger. Cue much flapping. The Flow Rider guys turned off the water and managed to find the ring however. Day Saved. Thanks guys.

 

[chawkjewel]

Great review. Tom & Tommy. I bet that gets confusing at times. Anyway, looking forward to the rest of your review!!

[TheGinBoy]

Now, some of you may or may not know, our cruise was shared with a large group booking - Ru Paul's Drag Race at Sea.

 

Being a conscientious gay man I'm aware of the show but haven't really watched it. But this meant that there were an extra 350 (I'm guessing) or so gay men on our ship who needed entertaining.

 

With the latest revitalisation in Cadiz unfortunately Royal Caribbean did something that upset me - and a lot of other people. They turned the Deck 3 nightclub in to interior cabins.

 

One of our favourite things about cruising the bigger RCCL ships was the nightclubs. Now they've crammed the nightclub function up into the Viking Crown and it simply DOES NOT WORK.

 

You've got the older cruisers who are up there to dance to a bit of a swing and big band, plus all the younger cruisers who want to jump around to Taylor Swift and Rihanna. Whatever the DJ plays half the crowd gets the hump, and it was crammed tighter than a can of sardines.

 

Please RCCL stop taking away the nightclubs, it doesn't work. And for the ships you've already done the damage to, please host a separate nightclub on the wooden floors in Studio B. You've got the flooring, you've got two bars in there - it would work SO MUCH BETTER.

 

Anyway. Here's a photo of a super cramped Viking Crown "nightclub".

 

 

...and some slightly disgruntled older cruisers wondering what the heck is going on.

 

 

I spoke to some of the staff and fellow cruisers. Not a single one of them, not even the staff, said they liked the new arrangements.

[TheGinBoy]

One of the biggest draws to cruising for myself and Tommy is the ability to just stop and do nothing. A large part of which is sunbathing and chilling by the pool.

 

We didn't really use the main pool area - too noisy, too many children.

 

We tend to use the Solarium area. No kids, pretty quiet, has it's own bar - bliss.

 

It was a smaller Solarium than we were used to on Liberty, but it was nice nonetheless.

 

The only problem, and it was a problem, was that people were aggressively reserving loungers with towels and shorts etc - and then buggering off. NOT ONCE in the whole week did we see a staff member removing items from reserved loungers as per the signs, not once.

 

At the beginning of the week we just waited around until loungers became free, but by the end of the week we learnt how to identify lounger hogs and after 30 mins picked up towels and dropped them in at the towel desk and took the loungers back for ourselves.

 

Mercenary? Perhaps. But necessary. Don't be a pool lounger douche.

 

That aside the Solarium is a lovely quiet area, and manages to avoid a lot of the wind the main pool deck and Deck 12 get at sea.

 

When we were in port, and the wind was low, we could head up to the Deck 13 area to get some more sun. It's a very odd space. It was created with the addition of the Deck 12 Cabins.

 

It's just a giant empty space, with great views, and a few loungers. Why they didn't put another bar up here I don't know. It would make an awesome bar and sunbathing area. Seeing as RCCL like milking space for every $$$ they can, it seems an odd omission...

 

[TheGinBoy]

I don't have many photos for this section I'm afraid as theatre/show photography rarely turns out well - and by the evening I was a bit squiffy.

 

The Ice Show - Seasons of The Ice (I think) was spectacular. They did this show on one of our rougher nights at sea and the performance was flawless. Lasted about an hour, with more costume changes than Eurovision. I really enjoyed the ice show and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. Tickets are done by your muster station (i.e. Stations B5, B6, B7, B8, B9 - go to the Tuesday 7pm showing).

 

We didn't see the stage productions as we're not really a fan of variety shows. I guess we're spoilt after seeing things like 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Mamma Mia' on bigger ships.

 

 

The Crown & Anchor welcome back party had more ice dancing for us as a thank you, a really nice touch - they did a mash up of popular and current songs. It worked really well - and we got to meet the dancers afterwards.

 

The Top Tier Event. Well well well. I'd heard of 'The Singing Captain', but I had no idea it was our Captain - Rick Sullivan. He's quite an incredible man. He sang the song 'Margaritaville' before singing a beautiful song in Tagalog (language of the Philippines) in honour of his staff. Standing ovation all around.

 

Edited October 14, 2015 by TheGinBoy

[TheGinBoy]

This cruise had simply the best Cruise Director and staff on out of any ship I've sailed. Hands down.

 

Our Cruise Director was Graham Seymour. He's British too, and has a filthy sense of humour. Every single 'Morning show' had us in stitches, even his PA announcements were funny. We got to have a bit of banter via the comments box. I became the 'Glass Bandit' holding some sunglasses for ransom.

 

Gordon, from Scotland, was the Assistant Cruise Director. He did our Meet & Mingle, and we saw him all over the ship. He was just as funny, if a little more sarcastic - but I like that. At the Meet & Mingle a woman looked so miserable to have won a bottle of champagne - he didn't let that go!

 

Then we had Kevin and Kitty who were our entertainment staff. Kevin is American and had anything that involved singing sorted out. We even had him singing Rudolf the Reindeer in The Tavern at one point. Kitty, from the UK, was great too - she always had a put down for Kevin but was so full of smiles and energy. I know she'll kill me for this but... MEOW.

 

 

And finally, I know the Captain isn't technically the Cruise Director's Staff but he was so funny he deserves a mention. His announcements each morning and afternoon were hilarious.

 

"Good aaaaaaaffffternoooooooon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard the beautiful.... .... .... *someone whispers explorer* Explorer of the seas!"

 

"This is the captain talking to you from the bridge. Where else would I be?"

 

"I'm not actually on the bridge I'm in my cabin wearing slippers, but you don't know that.... oh"

[TheGinBoy]

Whilst I think if there's anything else to add, have some shots of the beautiful lady herself...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ImpulsivePuppy]

Love the pics... and the 'Britishisms' :p , Thanks for posting!

[TheGinBoy]

Here's one of the portraits we had done.

 

 

Watch out for the hot ginger photographer with the nice beard. Oooph.

[Thoie]

We were known as "The Naughty Table" for the rest of the cruise. Our waiting staff were lovely, if a little forgetful. We got chardonnay instead of champagne, and vodka tonic instead of gin and tonic etc. But it was his first cruise bless him.

 

Bookmarked this review so I can keep reliving the holiday :)

 

For those playing at home, the waiter pictured wasn't the forgetful one (in case anyone recognises him for their next cruise). A San Pellegrino also turned into a Sauvignon Blanc - I tried walking on water after that, but just ended up wallowing in the pool instead.

[mike x ftc]

The beds were separate despite us asking for them together, but the stateroom attendant fixed that for us.

 

 

This happens to us EVERY TIME on all different lines, we ALWAYS ask for a double and always get singles, I think they see Mr and Mr and just assume, it gets quite frustrating after a while, but looking forward to the review, nice photo's!

[bradpole]

This happens to us EVERY TIME on all different lines, we ALWAYS ask for a double and always get singles, I think they see Mr and Mr and just assume, it gets quite frustrating after a while, but looking forward to the review, nice photo's!

 

Same here, with the exception of full ship charters (RSVP Vacations), the beds have never been as the reservation has stated. When I have cruised with my mom (we both have the same last name) we have the opposite problem, even though the reservation always asks for two beds, they put them together.

 

to the OP,

thank you for your review.

 

In the conversion to "the tavern" on deck 4 outside the casino did the big fish tanks get removed?

[widallas]

Don't be a pool lounger douche.

 

Honestly you should have shirts made and sell them...you could finance your next cruise.

 

Love your review and photos.... ;)

[ken_nyc]

Wonderful review so far!

[BillOh]

I'm appreciating the Explorer pics. I think they are the first I've seen sits her last upgrades. I've been on Voyager and going on Adventure. I'll probably add Explorer to the To Do list.

[CntPAcruiser]

Enjoying your review! We were on EOS last November for a B2B before the revitalization. We had the pleasure of hearing Captain Rick's Margaritaville twice, at each top-tier party, the first week and the second. It was also interesting seeing how they tailored 70s night to the crowd (first week VERY adult; second week 1,000 young children).

 

In all of our cruises with RCI we've never had the problem of beds being apart, in spite of being "Mr. and Mr."

Edited October 14, 2015 by CntPAcruiser

[dronfield]

I am sailing on the October 2016 transpacific to Sydney. I'll be in cabin 1886 which is near to the one you had. I was concerned about movement since deck 12 is so high up. I'm very glad to read that you did not think it was a significant issue.

 

You are very considerate to take the time to post all these photos. I'm sure everyone is very appreciative of your effort.