Explorer of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Review

[lisas414]

Well, after a year and a half of planning our 9 night cruise is over.

 

We left out of Bayonne NJ. We got there about 12:00 and we were on the boat by 12:30, very fast check in. We went right upstairs to the Windjammer for lunch and to sign up for our soda passes. Our rooms were ready when we checked in, very nice. We had cabin 7694 aft JS balcony and it was great. Would I stay in the aft again, probably not. My girls had cabin 7483 and it was okay, an inside room. Too small for me, but no complaints by them. (They don't know any different)

 

One complaint would be the elevators, way too slow, we took the stairs almost all the time. We had dinner 6 nights in the dining room and it took forever to get your food and drinks. That was the only other thing we did not like. We had the second dinner seating, so they were in no hurry to get you out of there. You could not even find the waiter to get your soda's and the wait between your appetizers and your dinner was at least 45 minutes.

 

We loved St. Maartan, we went to Orient Beach and would highly recommend it to everyone. We then went to Front St to shop a bit.

 

St Thomas was good, we went to Meaghan's Bay. I don't think it was as nice as Orient Beach, but that is just my opinion. No one in our group of 40 thought it was as nice as it was rated the top 10 beaches in the world.

 

San Juan we just walked the streets, it was very hot. My girls were thrilled because they found vendors selling knock-off pocketbooks. We spent a lot of money with them. It was so humid that we just went back to the ship early, and it was nice because it was empty at the pool.

 

We had a blast at Labadee. We loved the barbeque, the hammocks, the lounge chairs, the music. It was a very nice relaxing day there. The people were very agressive in the straw market and some people got aggravated by them. We did not, we enjoyed talking to them and seeing what they made.

 

Our family bought one of the 6 promenade race cars at the auction. And on Saturday, we went to the promenade to race and we won!!!!!! That was very exciting!!!! I was one # off from winning the $13,000.00 jackpot at bingo, very disappointing!

 

Quest was good and so was the comedian and Love & Marriage. Don't miss those shows.

 

Any questions, ask away, god knows I asked a million before we left.:)

[bailey5697]

It sounds like you had a great time! I giggled when I saw you mention the street vendors - I am looking forward to the knockoff purses in the islands.

I wondered if I could ask a question?

Why wouldn't you book aft again?

[WMQueenie]

We are going on 9/22 to the Eastern Caribbean on the Explorer and we can't wait! I've read about the barbeque at Labadee before - is that an excursion or sponsored by RCCL? Did you do any excursions? This is our first time to the Caribbean. Last year was our very first cruise on RCCL to Bermuda and we absolutely loved it :D. What are the race cars about? We also have second seating for dinner...wonder why service was so poor? Last year on Voyager we were amazed at the dinner service... I'm sure I'll have more questions but I guess that's it for now.

Thanks for any information!

[LAKaye]

Yes, I too am curious about why you would not book aft again. I have sailed aft many times (and love it), but never on a Voyager class ship. I am nervous about the view obstructions from that metal framework; we have aft staterooms booked in the future on the Freedom.

 

I am sorry to hear that your dinner was marred by the waiting; in the future do speak to the head waiter about that. Something must be wrong.

 

Leslie

[lisas414]

Well, for the aft. The reason why I would not book it again was because on the Explorer, it was nice to have a huge balcony, but it was very rocky at times and there was always a vibration going on at all times. Sometimes you could hear it seemed like the gears turning. I did not like the obstructed view at all. You do get used to it, but family members had a JS on the 9th floor and they had such a nice breeze at all times, which the aft does not. Like I said, it was nice, we did it once, but I would not book it again.

 

For excursions, we did not do any, we went out on our own. We hailed taxi's and did not have any problems at all with them.

 

At Labadee, the barbeque and iced tea and kool-aid type of punch were all included from RCCL. You actually saw them transporting the stuff off of the ship to the island. We did the water park there, and had a blast. Those icebergs do not look all that big, but you would be surprised how big they are when you are next to them in the water.

 

Any more questions, ask away!

[Nick Needs To Know]

If by any chance you saved your daily Compess newsletter...would you mind scanning one or two of them to share with us? Thanks!

 

Nick

[rncruiser]

Nick, you can find the compasses on this web site: http://www.cruisedailies.com

[luv2cruz64]

Lisas414, you mentioned something@ promenade race cars. This is a new one for me. Can you elaborate on it a little, it sounds interesting. Does anyone know if this is offered on EOS to Bermuda?

 

Queen Jean, the bbq at Labadee is included, you just walk up and help yourself. I may get blasted for this but my DH and I thought it was highly over-rated. We went last Oct. on Voyager. The food was ok but there were flies everywhere, including all over the food. Now maybe late Oct. is fly season in Labadee and no one else had this experience(curious to know if anyone else experienced this) so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.

[Nick Needs To Know]

Nick, you can find the compasses on this web site: http://www.cruisedailies.com

 

This is awesome! Thank you so much for this link RNCruiser!

 

Nick

[crisp1]

We are going on 9/22 to the Eastern Caribbean on the Explorer and we can't wait!

Thanks for any information!

 

 

Hey Queen Jean,

Come over to the Roll Call Board and say hi. The more, the merrier! Here's a link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=214690

 

Seas the Day!

[Cruisin Around]

Yes, I am also interested to hear about the car race. Also, do you know if there was a Murder Mystery dinner on your cruise?

Thanks!

[lisas414]

The car race started as a bidding auction on 6 race cars. My family won the bid on the car. It ended up costing $200.00. Then at the end of the cruise, you go to the royal promenade, my daughter got to sit in the race car and have her cousin push her down the promenade when the dice was rolled. We were car #4, when #4 would come out on the dice, you got to move your car. People could bet on the cars to win, so they would win cash too. We ended up winning the owners race and we won $1400.00 It was definitely a blast, much more fun when you win!!!!!

[murray_realtor]

Well, after a year and a half of planning our 9 night cruise is over.

 

We left out of Bayonne NJ. We got there about 12:00 and we were on the boat by 12:30, very fast check in. We went right upstairs to the Windjammer for lunch and to sign up for our soda passes. Our rooms were ready when we checked in, very nice. We had cabin 7694 aft JS balcony and it was great. Would I stay in the aft again, probably not. My girls had cabin 7483 and it was okay, an inside room. Too small for me, but no complaints by them. (They don't know any different)

 

One complaint would be the elevators, way too slow, we took the stairs almost all the time. We had dinner 6 nights in the dining room and it took forever to get your food and drinks. That was the only other thing we did not like. We had the second dinner seating, so they were in no hurry to get you out of there. You could not even find the waiter to get your soda's and the wait between your appetizers and your dinner was at least 45 minutes.

 

We loved St. Maartan, we went to Orient Beach and would highly recommend it to everyone. We then went to Front St to shop a bit.

 

St Thomas was good, we went to Meaghan's Bay. I don't think it was as nice as Orient Beach, but that is just my opinion. No one in our group of 40 thought it was as nice as it was rated the top 10 beaches in the world.

 

San Juan we just walked the streets, it was very hot. My girls were thrilled because they found vendors selling knock-off pocketbooks. We spent a lot of money with them. It was so humid that we just went back to the ship early, and it was nice because it was empty at the pool.

 

We had a blast at Labadee. We loved the barbeque, the hammocks, the lounge chairs, the music. It was a very nice relaxing day there. The people were very agressive in the straw market and some people got aggravated by them. We did not, we enjoyed talking to them and seeing what they made.

 

Our family bought one of the 6 promenade race cars at the auction. And on Saturday, we went to the promenade to race and we won!!!!!! That was very exciting!!!! I was one # off from winning the $13,000.00 jackpot at bingo, very disappointing!

 

Quest was good and so was the comedian and Love & Marriage. Don't miss those shows.

 

Any questions, ask away, god knows I asked a million before we left.:)

I'm booked on the September 8th out of Bayonne. I was interested in the fact that you did not like js 7694. That is the cabin that we have. Could you tell me why? I may have the opportunity to change then instead of that cabin and get a guarantee. Thanks.