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Well here I go... just got off the Explorer

Goodtime Cruizin
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Goodtime Cruizin

Goodtime Cruizin

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so I thought I'd share some thoughts. It was our first cruise since the pandemic hit so this will be a bit of comparison of what I liked and didn't like. And perhaps a comment or two on the different cruise eras. This is not a review on Royal overall but just my cruise and the Explorer.

 

What I didn't like.

1. I'll start w/ MTD. At one time it was really a great concept. Offering tables for hungry passengers that didn't want to eat early and didn't want to eat late. Well guess what ? It appears few want to eat early or late nowadays and most everyone wants to eat between 7:30-8:30pm.  Try as they might, the staff, the kitchen, and the dining rooms just can't handle it any longer. Perhaps it's all by design to move some passengers who grow frustrated to the specialty places. Who knows?  But it was bad pretty much all week. Night 3, as walked out of the Sapphire the MTD line w/ reservations had a line of 150+ at 9:05pm. Crazy man crazy. But I know, there will be a ton of comments on how things went perfect w/ them & MTD. Not so on this cruise.

 

2. Turn down service at night was greatly missed. Paying $16/day/person for room service is crap. That's another $112 to one's total cruise fare. Royal should adjust the rate properly at the sales point. Our cabin attendant had 14 cabins. She was golden. We gave her a nice tip. I'll get toasted for this but paying more for less is not good. Going forward and given the option, I'm removing my gratuities. I'll pay out the $32 daily to those that serve me directly. Those that don't need to be paid better by Royal via the cruise fares, not w/ a forced gratuity by me. Or they need to improve their skill sets and find ship jobs that gain them tips. Royal is already getting more money for the cruise fares these days and have less staff. 

 

3. Men's restrooms were not as clean as the past. In fact, I never saw an attendant once cleaning a men's room. And believe me at my age, it is frequently visited. Pool deck and Promenade decks are the most frequent used decks and I never once saw an attendant.

 

4. Bread. This is one area that is obvious in the MDR. And the same selections are not offered either.  

 

What I did like.

 

1.I loved the two dudes singing and playing the guitar at the entrance of the Windjammer. They actually enforced people to wash their hands. Each side offer 5 cleaning stations, w/ soap, sink and paper towels is good stuff. Singing "I'm leaving on a jet plane" on the last day was creative & entertaining.

 

2. As always, I enjoy the spirit of the bartenders and servers. In fact, we had our very best server at a Chops on this cruise that actually restored our confidence in Chops.

 

3. Speaking of bartenders.... I've read that some believe that the drinks are weaker for DBP holders and that is far from the reality. In fact, the drinks are open poured. They were good.

 

4. The shower heads in those Beam Me Up Scotty shower tubes...they're actually pretty damn good. I'm amazed at how good the showers feel. The flow of hot water is strong and I'm puzzled on how the ship keeps it going for so many people.

 

5. Lastly, not once was I handed a slip to sign to pursuade a tip. Not once. That was nice.

 

Everything is subjective from the food, menus, to the looks of the ship. By the way, despite washy washy before yummy yummy singing guys, we both got pretty sick day 7 and while traveling back to stateside. The covid tests came back as negagive but we're not so sure. We're staying away from all for awhile to be safe.

 

Goodimes I tell ya, Goodtimes!

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Goodtime Cruizin

Goodtime Cruizin

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20 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Happy to hear you a Goodtime.   Was this the Greek Isles sailing?    

Hope you both feel better soon.

 

Yes. Aug 6th. Wonderful cruise. So beautiful. We enjoyed some great guides and took advantage of the trip and took in Venice while over there.  Thanks for your concern. We both are like zombied out looking around gong, "what happened?" But we'll be fine given the time.

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Biker19

Biker19

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1 hour ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

Night 3, as walked out of the Sapphire the MTD line w/ reservations had a line of 150+ at 9:05pm.

That is unlikely to happen out of the US - that's likely a European/Italian thing - having a surge that late for dinner.

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Another_Critic

Another_Critic

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2 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

1. I'll start w/ MTD. At one time it was really a great concept. Offering tables for hungry passengers that didn't want to eat early and didn't want to eat late. Well guess what ? It appears few want to eat early or late nowadays and most everyone wants to eat between 7:30-8:30pm.  Try as they might, the staff, the kitchen, and the dining rooms just can't handle it any longer. Perhaps it's all by design to move some passengers who grow frustrated to the specialty places. Who knows?  But it was bad pretty much all week. Night 3, as walked out of the Sapphire the MTD line w/ reservations had a line of 150+ at 9:05pm. Crazy man crazy. But I know, there will be a ton of comments on how things went perfect w/ them & MTD. Not so on this cruise.

The issue is that too many people want to eat early, so they first use the MTD level (room) for early seating and thus don't start MTD until 6:45 or 7 PM.  This creates a backlog for MTD.

 

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Goodtime Cruizin

Goodtime Cruizin

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2 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

The issue is that too many people want to eat early, so they now use the MTD level (room) for early seating and thus don't start MTD until 6:45 or 7 PM.  This creates a backlog for MTD.

 

 

It was a total fiasco on the Explorer.  Cruisers were talking about it throughout the ship. I asked what the issue was and the person at the desk w/ the walkie talkie told me that the busiest time frame on that cruise was 7:30pm. "Everybody wants a table at 7:30."  So I don't know really. but it isn't going well for Royal. I expect we'll see some sort of changes soon. Perhaps placing a maximum limit of MTD placements. 

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Sunshine3601

Sunshine3601

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28 minutes ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

It was a total fiasco on the Explorer.  Cruisers were talking about it throughout the ship. I asked what the issue was and the person at the desk w/ the walkie talkie told me that the busiest time frame on that cruise was 7:30pm. "Everybody wants a table at 7:30."  So I don't know really. but it isn't going well for Royal. I expect we'll see some sort of changes soon. Perhaps placing a maximum limit of MTD placements. 

Did the itinerary have back on board later than 4 or 5 pm on port days?

 

I think it is common to eat dinner later in Europe than us in the US.  

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Loracpin2

Loracpin2

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49 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

The issue is that too many people want to eat early, so they first use the MTD level (room) for early seating and thus don't start MTD until 6:45 or 7 PM.  This creates a backlog for MTD.

 

We were on the Oasis end of June and chose early because our group of 8 didn't want MTD. When we booked last year, early was still 6:00 pm. Didn't found out until we boarded that, to now accommodate the MTD 6:45/7:00 start, early dining was moved to 5:00 (something we definitely did not want).. Since there were no options to change (6800 passengers on the sailing) we arrived at 5:15 just before

doors were closed.  

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villageidit

villageidit

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We were on Explorer in April/May and If it was the same people singing at the entrance to the Windjammer they were great. We did traditional dining at 5:30 to avoid the waits and my wife loves having the same waiters every night. The two we had on Explorer were outstanding. Missed the turn down service but our steward kept the room spotless and handled all our requests. 

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little britain "Live from...." Rare

little britain

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14 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

The issue is that too many people want to eat early, so they first use the MTD level (room) for early seating and thus don't start MTD until 6:45 or 7 PM.  This creates a backlog for MTD.

 

No one wants to eat that early in Europe…there is no demand for early seating, and therefore MTD and late dining are the most popular.   
At 5pm you are just rising from your siesta and then you need to go for your pre dinner drinks. 

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Goodtime Cruizin

Goodtime Cruizin

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8 hours ago, RocCruisers said:

Any comments on the ports / excursions?  Was this a Ravenna embarkation?  What were the choices and cost when leaving?  Were there many B2Bers?

 

The ports were over the top beautiful stops. We only did one of the four ports w/ RCL. We had private guided tours for Kotor and Athens. Small group tour for Mykonos, and then RCL for Argostolli. 

Kotor - Viator Private Walking Tour (Rick Steve's Recommended) Miro & Sons actually handled the tour and the tour guide was actually from Kotor. He knew his stuff and was extremely proud of his small but independent country. After the tour he recommended a family owned restaurant which we enjoyed a nice lunch. 

 

Corfu - RCL's Glyfada Beach Transfer. Was good. Not great but good. Water & Beach was fabulous. Accomodations so-so. Kitchen was opened... but the bartend literally walked me over a small store around the corner and pointed out some freshly made 'pies'. Think turnovers. Spinach. Cheese, and Fruit. I bought one of each for 1eu each.

 

Athens. Viator Private Guide. I wanted to learn, hear as much as possible at a place I wanted to see since I was watching Hercules cartoons. Peggy was our guide and she was absolutely incredible. Occasionally I got lost in her broken English but this woman is a walking google machine in regards to the Parthenon & Acropolis. Our driver took us as far as possible and then the climb began. It was hot but not as hot as Texas is right now. We thoroughly enjoyed the museum. Incfedible stuff. 

 

Mykonos - Viator - Small Group Tour up and all around Mykonos from the mountains, to the old lighthouse, to the  only public beach left in Mykonos, to the beautiful small street shops of Mykonos. Good time. Would do again. We docked at the 'new' port. Odyssey was tendering her passengers at the old port of Mykonos. We shared an incredible greek gyro sandwich. We had to take a water bus back to new port. 2eu.  Heads up, the guide told us that the average beach entrance fee is around 80eu these days. We saw the new resorts and villas being built all over the sides of the mountains. Mykonos is hot property these days.

 

Argostolli - Paid for a RCL excrsion but did not get of the ship. 

 

Ravenna - So many options to get there from Venice & Bologna. We did Venice & booked the RCL transfer. a 2 1/2 bus ride there and 2 1/2 hrs back to Venice. It sounds ok when you're making plans, but it's taxing on travel day. Especially on the way home. Our cost was $90 for the two of us, eacg direction. But I can clearly see why Venice moved the ships out. Saturday in Venice was like crazy w/ people. Unreal. But wow is Venice special. We loved Venice. 

 

Venice - We stayed at the Canal Grande, a very nice boutique hotel. We water taxi'd from airport to the hotel. No dragging our bags over any walking bridges for us! The hotel has a dock. Worked out great. We then set our phone gps to the Rialto Bridge and took off exploring. It's a beautiful city. Amazing shopping, and near the Rialto Bridge, it's lined with resturant after restaurant for excellent food, and drinks. We thoroughly enjoyed it.  

 

Met a few B2B couples. But don't have any details. 

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