Looking for Pacific Northwest review on Explorer

[Locobill49]

We set sail one year from today on Explorer of the Seas for the Pacific Northwest cruise. Hoping to see some good reviews of this itinerary. I have been to San Francisco before, but never been to Astoria, Oregon or Victoria BC. Looking for excursion ideas.

 

Bill

[Tinkerbellcgy]

Give it a few weeks if you are looking for a 2016 review. This itinerary is currently being sailed and the final sailing is on September 30th of which I am a passenger.

[Hoopster95]

We set sail one year from today on Explorer of the Seas for the Pacific Northwest cruise. Hoping to see some good reviews of ... Victoria BC. Looking for excursion ideas.

 

Bill

 

Hello Bill. Scroll down to post #69 and onward...

full photo review of Victoria from the Explorer with tons of photos

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2358456&page=4

 

Have a great cruise :D

[kcmspatsy]

We were on this cruise just last week. Astoria is a smaller seaside village. Reminded me of Bar Harbor. I would suggest you go to the Maritime Museum there. There is a shuttle you can take from the port, $6 per person, good for the day. They put a sticker on your jacket. Great nautical displays along with a couple others I really enjoyed seeing. One being a small boat with a hole in the side. It was a boat that was washed ashore in Astoria from the tsunami in Japan. Also be sure to see Michael Mather's photo display, "On the Inside Looking Out". Several collages of pictures taken around Astoria literally from the inside looking out onto Astoria, homes, businesses, cars, etc. Wonderful collection. We had lunch at the Buoy Beer Company on the waterfront. Another stop I would recommend. Good food, good service. They have a small Plexiglas window in the floor where you can look down & see the sea lions. We went to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Highly recommended. Even in the fall it was very colorful & enjoyable to walk through.

[Langley Cruisers]

I have been to San Francisco before, but never been to Astoria, Oregon or Victoria BC. Looking for excursion ideas.

 

You don't have to wait - we have an excellent Ports of Call section with Victoria discussed regularly on this board:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

 

And you'll find Astoria here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=226

 

Just type the city into the Search this forum box on the right hand side and you will get dozens of threads to read through and research. :)

 

.

[canuckcruiselover]

We set sail one year from today on Explorer of the Seas for the Pacific Northwest cruise. Hoping to see some good reviews of this itinerary. I have been to San Francisco before, but never been to Astoria, Oregon or Victoria BC. Looking for excursion ideas.

 

Bill

 

We were on the September 23-30 sailing. Loved the itinerary and the Explorer.

 

San Francisco

We hadn't been to San Francisco in about 20 years so really enjoyed the overnight on the ship. Took a 4 hour city tour with The Painted Ladies. Josh, the owner, was our guide. He is very knowledgeable, warm and friendly and even provided wine and water. We rode in an old Volkswagon van which was great. He took us all around the city, up to the top of twin peaks, which offers a spectacular view of the city; down the twisty Lombard Street and other places that the big buses can't go. We picked up the tour at Fisherman's Wharf and he dropped us off at the pier afterwards. Wonderful tour! We also did a LOT of walking. It was very hot in San Francisco and the fog was hovering over Alcatraz much of the second day but most of the time we were able to see everything clearly. It was certainly a unique experience sailing into the fog which brought the temperature down very quickly.

 

Astoria

We got off the ship and took the shuttle. Astoria is a very small "town" - quite run down and we didn't stay long. Others, however, enjoyed it. Just not our cup of tea.

 

Victoria

We had never been to BC before. Victoria is a gorgeous town. Very pretty. I can see why so many Canadians choose Victoria to retire. We took the HOHO bus which stops in front of the elegant Fairmont Empress hotel. We stayed on the bus for the whole route and then walked around the downtown area. Had lunch in one of the pubs and a great day.

 

Seattle

We spent one night pre-cruise in Seattle and enjoyed our time there. Went to the Chihuly Glass Gardens, rode the monorail which was a fun way to get from the Space Needle to downtown. Also, had a brief visit to Pike Market and, again, did a LOT of walking which is just as well considering the amount of food we consumed on the ship!

 

And while I'm on the topic of food . . . we stopped going to the MDR a couple of years ago and eat most lunches and all dinners in the WJ. We thought the WJ selection and quality was superior to other ships we have been on recently and we never had a problem finding seats. They have all the items that are served in the MDR except, I think, for lobster. I'm not a seafood lover so am not sure about that. They even had lamb shanks which I don't think I've ever seen in a WJ and more Indian dishes than usual.

 

For the first time, we stayed in a cabin on Deck 6 overlooking the Promenade, directly above the Café. Never had a problem with noise but it did feel more like a hotel room without a view of the ocean. We had the drapes pulled most of the time but it was worth trying and the window seat made the room bigger.

 

All in all, we had a wonderful time and I highly recommend the itinerary and the Explorer.

[LovetheSea]

I was on this ship and itinerary Sept 23. 2016

I posted a review and made two, Pt 1 and Pt 2 on YOUTUBE...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88xy33p9CeU

 

 

[socialworker]

We were on the September 23 sailing too. It was a delightful itinerary, but I heard from a crew member that the sailing on September 30 would be a slightly different itinerary - Santa Barbara instead of 2 days in San Francisco. Astoria was a new port for us so we took a tour offered by RCI. We would have been better off buying the all day bus pass for $6 because we would have seen the same things but in a comfortable bus at a savings.

 

We're relatively new to RCI, having just sailed the Allure this summer. I felt really crowded on the Explorer but the MDR food was fine. We try the different restaurants and thought Giovanni's Table was lacking but Chops was excellent.

 

I've never taken a cruise I didn't like and this was no exception.

[davekathy]

We were on the 23 September Cruise. Excellent Cruise. Did the Jewel last September out of Vancouver. Few different ports than this year. Doing the Cruise again September 2017 on the Infinity out of Vancouver.