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Live/Semi-Live review Explorer of the Seas May 20, 2016

Kinny

By Kinny,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Kinny

Kinny

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We did not have dinner at the MDR last night, hence the photos taken from the electronic sign outside. We went to Chops instead.

Fried Goat Cheese Salad. Pecans got a little soft, but the goat cheese is great!

26556646414_54b1078750_b.jpgIMG_2265 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

Black Pepper Bacon. Soooooo good! :D

26558267273_8517e8eec2_b.jpgIMG_2266 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

I paid extra for the 20oz Porterhouse. I know I know, why would I do that? Hey, I wanted a good steak! I'm worth it. :D It's actually nice and tender and there is a difference between their in house NY streak and their USDA Prime dry aged porterhouse.

27094183761_00344a59b5_b.jpgIMG_2267 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

And for desert? Huckleberry Cheesecake. One of the better cheesecakes I've eaten.

26558259473_6393b6156b_b.jpgIMG_2268 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

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Kinny

Kinny

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So, I woke up at 4;00AM this morning trying to catch the sun rise. Although technically I did not catch the sun, it is still a beautiful sight.

I actually had to switch to manual mode to brighten up the images by playing with the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed setting. I had to set it one F stop higher to get it to look decent. I'm no professional photographer, and I'm always learning. I do try my best. :D

27169753505_445069fcd3_b.jpgIMG_2275 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27074743122_18293cd3c3_b.jpgIMG_2276 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27169751875_2265305973_b.jpgIMG_2277 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27074739452_2057cbfb62_b.jpgIMG_2278 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27169748895_966b55a0e6_b.jpgIMG_2280 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

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Kinny

Kinny

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And since I was up so early in the AM, I decided to take photos of the ship while majority of the passengers are asleep. There are some early birds out there I tell you. :D

 

26895502430_0444ea7c0b_b.jpgIMG_2288 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

26895496260_bfb1ac3a83_b.jpgIMG_2291 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27101558361_e09b395669_b.jpgIMG_2289 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27136743566_8d88969ba9_b.jpgIMG_2290 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27136737386_0c9f77f0b7_b.jpgIMG_2293 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

This is the first Royal ship I have been on that does not have chandeliers in the MDR.

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Kinny

Kinny

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Also, this is the first Royal ship that has a Tavern instead of a Boleros.

26565405823_83b6ddc189_b.jpgIMG_2294 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

 

Then off to the gym I went. I know I will have a large caloric intake today, so I attempted to minimize the damage. :p

26910608610_8a0682da9e_b.jpgIMG_2295 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

 

On the way to Juneau

26911641930_bcc4af9280_b.jpgIMG_2342 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

26580303974_ec79f8fc19_b.jpgIMG_2341 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27153064666_412a8a2944_b.jpgIMG_2336 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

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Kinny

Kinny

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We did a little shopping then I told my parents go back to the ship without me because I wanted to do the tram. I think that was a good decision. :D

 

Island Princess departed before I could take a group pic.

26580329724_b03e9de5b4_b.jpgIMG_2322 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27090895132_1139a8a132_b.jpgIMG_2321 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

 

Here are the rest.

27153076416_719d83d02b_b.jpgIMG_2319 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

 

The view is awesome up here!

26911678060_5534103b20_b.jpgIMG_2318 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

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Kinny

Kinny

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Here is Explorer of the Seas from the bird's eye view. :D

26911676860_462084e6ff_b.jpgIMG_2320 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

 

While up there, I also visited Lady Baltimore and donated a few dollars to help keep her healthy. :D

27153078186_bf9ee70980_b.jpgIMG_2317 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

27089878462_12b3943168_b.jpgIMG_2306 by kinnylee@yahoo.com, on Flickr

 

Oh by the way, no flash photography and keep noise to a minimal when taking pics of Lady Baltimore. :D

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pattle66

pattle66

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Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on all the happenings, Kinny! I have another question. I'm really into astronomy. How dark does the sky get at night? Can you see the stars well or are they all washed out from the lights of the ship? Do they have any naturists on board that give presentations about everything you're seeing on the cruise? Thanks!

 

We were lucky enough to have someone onboard our Jewel cruise that took a group out to the helipad a few nights and talked about astronomy. Your best bet for viewing is to head to the helipad as it is the darkest place on the ship. You can get an app on your phone or iPad that when you hold it up to the sky it maps out the stars. The lecturer used this program and a laser pinter to point out different stars and planets.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

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travelgoddess1

travelgoddess1

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Definitely subscribing to this thread. We will be on the May 27th sailing (i.e. 2nd-ever sailing of this ship on this itinerary). Hoping you guys have a wonderful time on this "maiden" voyage for Explorer. Help them get everything shaken out before we get on next week, okay?!

 

Love the review! I am also boarding the ship on Friday, and the Cruise Compasses and menus have been very helpful. Love the photos, as well. I see that the ship is not parked very close to downtown, were the shuttles into town crowded? Did they run as frequently as promised?

 

Enjoy the cruise and thanks for all the good information. :):)

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Clarea

Clarea

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Awesome review so far. Quick question is any pool heated for these Alaska trips?

Other than the hot tubs, there are no heated pools on Explorer. They are also all salt water pools.

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travelgoddess1

travelgoddess1

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Love the review! I am also boarding the ship on Friday, and the Cruise Compasses and menus have been very helpful. Love the photos, as well. I see that the ship is not parked very close to downtown, were the shuttles into town crowded? Did they run as frequently as promised?

 

Enjoy the cruise and thanks for all the good information. :):)

 

P.S. I was referring to transportation in Juneau, which I did not make clear with my original post. :)

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cougarish

cougarish

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I'm really enjoying your review, thanks for doing this. It's making me hungry. I notice one of these menus mentions "wines of the day". We usually enjoy wine with our dinner, but since they have done away with the wine packages we used to buy, we're not sure what to expect. Can you get any photos of wine lists or drink menus?

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RobbW

RobbW

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We were lucky enough to have someone onboard our Jewel cruise that took a group out to the helipad a few nights and talked about astronomy. Your best bet for viewing is to head to the helipad as it is the darkest place on the ship. You can get an app on your phone or iPad that when you hold it up to the sky it maps out the stars. The lecturer used this program and a laser pinter to point out different stars and planets.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

That is great! I see from the Day 3 Cruise Compass that Kinny posted that there is a 10pm "Informal Stargazers Meet & Mingle" in the Sky Bar. So, I will probably check that out.

 

Several years ago, we did a Disney cruise in the Caribbean. I had organized a stargazing event one of the nights on board. I had even gone so far as to work with a DCL activities manager prior to sailing to see if we could work out a time and place on the top deck to have a section of outside lights turned off for a 2-hour prior for the stargazing event. The manager was very nice and helpful, but unfortunately, in the end they were not able to get permission from the ship's captain to turn off any ship lights for the event. They stated it was for passenger safety. Ironically, on the Wednesday night of that cruise, they had a top-deck "Pirate" party, where the liquor was flowing, and they set off a fantastic fireworks display for the party. Wouldn't you know it, they somehow got permission to turn off all the outdoor lighting on the ship for the fireworks display! Even with all the drunken "Pirates" partying up on the top deck, no one got hurt while the lights were off!

 

We had a good time with the stargazing anyway. We organized on the top deck towards the bow of the ship. I used a strong laser to point out several constellations and other celestial objects visible from the ship. The darkest area on the ship was actually a couple decks down from the top and in front of the bridge. The bridge requires complete darkness. Therefore, all lights forward of the bridge are required to be off at night. Unfortunately, the public area in front of the bridge is very small and very windy. So, it was not conducive to hosting a large stargazing event.

 

While I'm not making any plans to host a stargazing event on this Alaskan cruise, I'm very much looking forward to meeting other astronomy-loving cruisers! I'm hopeful that we might get a night or two with mostly clear skies so we can actually see the stars. However, I'm not getting my hopes up too much as it seems the weather in Alaska is cloudy most of the time.

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LarryL

LarryL

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Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. We will be on the Explorer next year this time so your photos will be very timely for us. I am curious to hear if you were able to see the NW tip of the Washington Peninsula (Cape Flattery) before dark. I was stationed there in the 70's and it would be fun to see it from a ship.

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Kinny

Kinny

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Well, I figured I get ahead of the game this morning and post today's compass, but Flickr keeps erroring out on me uploading pics. The bandwidth must be severely limited due to how far up north we are. I will resume posting pics when I can upload pics again. Sorry. :(

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