Avoid Explorer of the Seas

[Host Jacquelyn]

Thank you for the review, I found it fair and balanced. I was thinking about Explorer for this summer, and will take your points into account.

[PaulS]

We were on the same 8 day sailing of the Explorer as the OP and can say it was not one of our favorite cruises. The crew was working very hard, but there just were not enough of them. We spoke with one waiter who said they need an additional 30 waiters.

I think the shortage of crew affected dining the most. Izumi and Johnny Rockets were only open for lunch and service was slow in Johnny Rockets the day we had lunch. The fellow who was in charge of Johnny Rockets was actually acting as a waiter for several tables in the dining room at the late seating each evening.

I know that the cruise line needs to have high occupancy in order to make money, however having high occupancy without a full crew will only result in complaints even though the crew is doing their best. Many posters on Cruise Critic are fortunate to be able to take multiple cruises a year. For us, these temporary problems will not mean much. However, those who save to take a cruise once a year or every few years, may not come back because they may feel the current service is what is always provided.

 

 

 

 

[Guest TopoChico]

Add me to the list.  The food was pitiful, really awful. Service was slow and disorganized due to very low staff.  Food was not as good as my mother’s nursing home food.  Specialty dining was also very disappointing. The ship conditions were fine, however. Our cabin and balcony were very nice, as was our room steward.
 

I will never say never but it will be a long time, if ever,  before I book on Royal Caribbean again. Once and done for us, I think.  
As far as San Juan departures go, we’ve sailed out of there plenty on other lines without issue.  We spoke to several groups of pax from Celebrity Millennium in Barbados.  They had rave reviews of both food and service.  It’s a Royal problem. 

[Ashland]

5 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

Add me to the list.  The food was pitiful, really awful. Service was slow and disorganized due to very low staff.  Food was not as good as my mother’s nursing home food.  Specialty dining was also very disappointing. The ship conditions were fine, however. Our cabin and balcony were very nice, as was our room steward.
 

I will never say never but it will be a long time, if ever,  before I book on Royal Caribbean again. Once and done for us, I think.  
As far as San Juan departures go, we’ve sailed out of there plenty on other lines without issue.  We spoke to several groups of pax from Celebrity Millennium in Barbados.  They had rave reviews of both food and service.  It’s a Royal problem. 

You have other threads/posts about your displeasure about Explorer. At this point it's probably best to try another ship (we just sailed on Harmony and it was amazing) or change cruiselines. Best of luck to you and please don't judge the whole RCI fleet based on Explorer. I agree I sailed on it March 20 & 27 and was unhappy as well however the itinerary was great.

[Guest TopoChico]

14 minutes ago, Ashland said:

You have other threads/posts about your displeasure about Explorer. At this point it's probably best to try another ship (we just sailed on Harmony and it was amazing) or change cruiselines. Best of luck to you and please don't judge the whole RCI fleet based on Explorer. I agree I sailed on it March 20 & 27 and was unhappy as well however the itinerary was great.

You also have more than a few other posts about your displeasure, including this one? Not sure what that’s supposed to imply but ok?

[Ashland]

11 minutes ago, TopoChico said:

You also have more than a few other posts about your displeasure, including this one? Not sure what that’s supposed to imply but ok?

I certainly do and have given my input on each of them. Sorry you misunderstood that it was to imply anything other than I have agreed with you about EXP. I'm a long time loyal RCI cruiser and take the good with the bad as far as ship experience. I was only suggesting that not every RCI is a disappointment and to try other's in the fleet otherwise try another cruiseline. Best of luck to you.

 

I've been on RCI Navigator, Explorer, Harmony so far this year and am getting ready to sail on Jewel and two cruises on Serenade. Each of them has had (will have) their pros & cons.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ashland

[Guest TopoChico]

31 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I certainly do and have given my input on each of them. Sorry you misunderstood that it was to imply anything other than I have agreed with you about EXP. I'm a long time loyal RCI cruiser and take the good with the bad as far as ship experience. I was only suggesting that not every RCI is a disappointment and to try other's in the fleet otherwise try another cruiseline. Best of luck to you.

 

I've been on RCI Navigator, Explorer, Harmony so far this year and am getting ready to sail on Jewel and two cruises on Serenade. Each of them has had (will have) their pros & cons.

I just added my two cents here like others did.  Why you feel the need to single out my comment and make suggestions on what I should do when you did not on anyone else’s - is a mystery.  

Edited May 12, 2022 by TopoChico

[PTC DAWG]

I have an idea, if they don’t have enough crew, book less capacity.  

[PaulS]

Exactly. It was announced today that Cunard is limiting capacity until they get a full crew on several of their ships. Kudos to them.

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

I certainly do and have given my input on each of them. Sorry you misunderstood that it was to imply anything other than I have agreed with you about EXP. I'm a long time loyal RCI cruiser and take the good with the bad as far as ship experience. I was only suggesting that not every RCI is a disappointment and to try other's in the fleet otherwise try another cruiseline. Best of luck to you.

 

I've been on RCI Navigator, Explorer, Harmony so far this year and am getting ready to sail on Jewel and two cruises on Serenade. Each of them has had (will have) their pros & cons.

Just completed multiple Cruises on Jewel, Great Service and Food, Ship was run better with plenty of Staff and cleaner then Pre-Covid. Was pleasantly surprised. Hope you have same experience!

[orville99]

49 minutes ago, PaulS said:

Exactly. It was announced today that Cunard is limiting capacity until they get a full crew on several of their ships. Kudos to them.

The challenge is not just getting a full crew, but getting the correct full crew. We have been on several cruises since the restart, and one theme has been common amongst all of them - the combination of new crew (rookies), crew that have not sailed in 2+years (rusty crew), and crew that are being pulled from ships they normally work so they can staff the larger ships (overwhelmed crew). We have had numerous opportunities to have substantive knee-to-knee discussions with restaurant venue managers (i.e. MDR); executive chefs, restaurant services managers (the person responsible for all of the restaurant venues), and others, and they all have the same lament - they can't get the crew they want, and it takes time to train (or re-train) the staff they have. Significant shortages in trained and competent chefs (all the way from head chefs to prep chefs), wait staff that are unfamiliar with the restaurants (flow, timing, menus, etc), and sporadic supply chain issues where they can't get key components of menu items, and the chef doesn't have any suitable substitutes. 

 

Every one we spoke with reaffirmed that it is truly still a "work in progress", and they are as frustrated with the product they are delivering as we are with the product we are receiving.

 

Two solutions:

1) Recognize that it is a long way from pre-covid levels and "grin and bear it", or

2) Wait it out until the number of negative rants drops below the level of tipping/smoking/upickem rants.

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by orville99

[cruisestitch]

On Explorer now, back to back with the previous cruise.  The staffing issue is definitely apparent and the food has been sub-par.  It is a real shame because the staff who are here are overworked and tired.  For the first time ever I had a bartender snap at me when I requested something.  They are completely out of Pinot Noir and very low on bourbon!  One bartender said that a new supply of bourbon was loaded on board but is still in storage because they lack workers to unload it. There are no mushrooms so no mushroom soup.  The onion soup has had no onions.  The litany goes on and on.  Add to that 2100 first time cruisers and you have a lot of people lined up at Guest Relations questioning everything.  So I hope they get a lot of new hires and get them trained quickly!

[njkruzer]

On 5/11/2022 at 4:27 PM, bridedoll1026 said:

Same with Jewel & Enchantment. Very short staffed. On Enchantment I had a Truffled Grilled Cheese for lunch. It came with grilled bread & a few leaks, NO cheese!! Onion soup without onions, obviously reheated steak, served lukewarm with cottage fries instead of baked potato.  Asked for a baked potato & it was served cold that the butter didn't even start to melt on it!

On Jewel TA now, ending tomorrow.  No staffing complaints. 

[rudeney]

I can see this from two points of view.  One is that the cruise industry is going to need time to recover from being shut down.  I can be patient with crew that is having to be (re)trained and is short-handed.  The other is that the cruise lines are charging prices that reflect ships with fully-staffed with well-trained crew.  I want to make sure I appreciate the crew that is trying their best to make my vacation fun, but I also don't want to pay for sub-par service.  If I was in the situation where the service and food were this poor, I'd likely be complaining to RCI.  I'd make sure to let them know that I was not complaining about specific crew members, but the company's inability to provide the value that I paid for.  Call me entitled, but yes, I would expect some sort of compensation.  It wouldn't have to be much, but something that shows the company understands there is a problem and wants to make it right.

[Cruising89143]

32 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

On Explorer now, back to back with the previous cruise.  The staffing issue is definitely apparent and the food has been sub-par.  It is a real shame because the staff who are here are overworked and tired.  For the first time ever I had a bartender snap at me when I requested something.  They are completely out of Pinot Noir and very low on bourbon!  One bartender said that a new supply of bourbon was loaded on board but is still in storage because they lack workers to unload it. There are no mushrooms so no mushroom soup.  The onion soup has had no onions.  The litany goes on and on.  Add to that 2100 first time cruisers and you have a lot of people lined up at Guest Relations questioning everything.  So I hope they get a lot of new hires and get them trained quickly!

Which is why we’re seeing more of this……

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27378-royal-caribbean-group-to-launch-major-recruitment-drive-in-antigua-and-barbuda.html

 

Last week I saw an ad on Instagram for Celebrity. They were advertising for Cruise Directors and activity staff. I have never seen that before. 

[leaveitallbehind]

37 minutes ago, Plum Happy said:

Umm, once again, I was speaking on the fact that powdered eggs are real eggs, nothing about what they use on ships.  Got it?

Wasn't picking on you, just thought with the comments made by by chengkp75:

 

No ship or cruise line that I'm aware of uses powdered eggs.  It just isn't economical.  They use "pasteurised egg product", which is eggs that have been taken from the shells, mixed in huge vats with a chemical that stabilizes the eggs  

 

...and your response to him:

 

I have no cue what they use, it sometimes looks like a huge vat of butter if it's not chopped up or stirred up.to prevent separation, and then pasteurized.

 

...that perhaps you weren't sure of his information, to which my response was intended.  Nothing more. Got it? 😉

 

[Mikew0805]

8 hours ago, island lady said:

 

For us (on same B2B) it was more the shortages (of everything) and the very rude, obnoxious, "me first' pax that were on board.   Unreal lack of manners!!  Ugh....😡

Yep... every single ship for the last 20 cruises. 

[orville99]

59 minutes ago, rudeney said:

The other is that the cruise lines are charging prices that reflect ships with fully-staffed with well-trained crew.

While this may be true about new bookings, all eight of our cruises taken post restart were either bookings made back before Covid hit or were L&S from cancelled cruises( and I doubt we are alone in that analysis). I just looked at our upcoming cruise schedule, and the first cruise we have booked that was made post restart is not until the summer of 2023. In short, they are still working off a significant number of lower priced bookings (probably more at this time than new bookings. BTW, every cruise we have taken post restart has been better from a service and quality standpoint than the one before it. It is nowhere close to pre shutdown standards, but it is improving dramatically cruise by cruise.

[orville99]

7 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Yep... every single ship for the last 20 cruises. 

and for the past 20 years...

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, TopoChico said:

I just added my two cents here like others did.  Why you feel the need to single out my comment and make suggestions on what I should do when you did not on anyone else’s - is a mystery.  

No worries, I won't quote you again...Happy sailing !!

 

Whoops...I just did 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Ashland

[sushitex]

On 5/11/2022 at 3:27 PM, bridedoll1026 said:

Same with Jewel & Enchantment. Very short staffed. On Enchantment I had a Truffled Grilled Cheese for lunch. It came with grilled bread & a few leaks, NO cheese!! Onion soup without onions, obviously reheated steak, served lukewarm with cottage fries instead of baked potato.  Asked for a baked potato & it was served cold that the butter didn't even start to melt on it!

 

 

Hmm, that Truffled Grilled Cheese sandwich on the Enchantment must have been made by the same person who made mine when we were there during last week's cruise. Too true: NO CHEESE in the sandwich! I ended up ordering a cheeseburger to supplement that  entree (this time, there was cheese, lol.)  Strangely enough, I ordered the same entree several months ago on either the Adventure or the Liberty, and there was plenty of cheese. It was delicious.

 

What's worse is that we went to said lunch in the MDR to avoid the large crowds that we  had experienced in the WJ the day before. We literally walked through the entire area and found no empty tables, so we ended up taking our plates outside to eat in the pool deck. Well, I had brought pizza with me from the Park Cafe,  and that was a wise choice, in my opinion. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by sushitex

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, njkruzer said:

On Jewel TA now, ending tomorrow.  No staffing complaints. 

As said I just got off Jewel myself the 29th, one my better Cruises. No waiting, Staff was Fantastic. Daughter and Grand Daughter were on with me threw Easter agree

[ONECRUISER]

3 minutes ago, sushitex said:

 

 

Hmm, that Truffled Grilled Cheese sandwich on the Enchantment must have been made by the same person who made mine when we were there during last week's cruise. Too true: NO CHEESE in the sandwich! I ended up ordering a cheeseburger to supplement that  entree (this time, there was cheese, lol.)  Strangely enough, I ordered the same entree several months ago on either the Adventure or the Liberty, and there was plenty of cheese. It was delicous.

 

What's worse is that we went to said lunch in the MDR to avoid the large crowds that we  had experienced in the WJ the day before. We literally walked through the entire area and found no empty tables, so we ended up taking our plates outside to eat in the pool deck. Well, I had brought pizza with me from the Park Cafe,  and that was a wise choice, in my opinion. 

25-30+ years ago by Pool and on open Decks there was small table for every 2 Lounge Chairs, was handy to eat there and it spread out the Chairs some. On Sea Days Royal cook up Barbecue Lunch by the Pool. Also miss the Food Trays WJ use to have...

[davekathy]

17 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

25-30+ years ago by Pool and on open Decks there was small table for every 2 Lounge Chairs, was handy to eat there and it spread out the Chairs some. On Sea Days Royal cook up Barbecue Lunch by the Pool. Also miss the Food Trays WJ use to have...

We didn't have a small table in our cabin. Asked the cabin attendant for one, sorry, no can do. When we needed a table, I would bring the one in from our balcony and then put it back on the balcony when we were done with it. 

[Ocean Boy]

23 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

SJ often gets the worst crew. Laura was told the clientele don't complain much😉

 

And that's an absolutely true answer as told by a department head.

 

Oops, my bad. It was the concierge who told her that 

I never found a crew issue with the sailings I did on Adventure all the years the ship sailed out of San Juan.