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Explorer Live Now And Then

aqhacruiser

By aqhacruiser,
in Royal Caribbean International

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dolfinmusic

dolfinmusic

Posted
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To all leaving today, have a wonderful trip. But, hurry back as we are on the next trip out and this next week is going to drag by. Keep up the live posting as it is a great way to past the time. Thanks!

 

Hey! Don't rush it for us!!! lol!!! Don't worry - it will be here before you know it! And I will be depressed! :eek:

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cs

cs

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To all leaving today, have a wonderful trip. But, hurry back as we are on the next trip out and this next week is going to drag by. Keep up the live posting as it is a great way to past the time. Thanks!

 

Sorry, we may talk the captain into letting us have a few extra days - lol.

 

Thanks all for the well wishes - we'll be onboard with Suzanne really soon. Hope she left some cookies for us ;)

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dolfinmusic

dolfinmusic

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Sorry, we may talk the captain into letting us have a few extra days - lol.

 

Thanks all for the well wishes - we'll be onboard with Suzanne really soon. Hope she left some cookies for us ;)

 

lol! Carol - I don't think the Captain will listen to us and I am sure Suzanne ate all the cookies!

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aqhacruiser

aqhacruiser

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Hi everyone! Cybercabin is off line at the moment so I will copy and paste this in the morning.

Today we did a tour of the galley. AMAZING! They put out about 15,000-20,000 meals a day! 60 second dishwashers which I loved! LOL! Everything is mostly prepared by hand meaning although they do use giant electric mixers for somethings, pastry and breads are all handrolled and all vegies hand chopped! About 140 galley staff including chefs, cooks, prep staff, and dish/pot washers and cleaners. Special heated drawers for cups and plates ready for hot foods and drawers that are chilled for dishes for cool foods. There is NO computer system. All orders are presented handwritten and a staff member counts each dish at the endof the night so they know exactly how many steaks, lobsters, etc. are ordered. Based on that they plan food deliveries for the next cruise. Occasionally they may run out of an item but there is plenty of food to substitute it. The Explorer always carries a few days extra food in the event she could not return to port as scheduled because of a weather event or other issue. I met the pastry chef and yes! I bowed! LOL! Unfortunately the COOKIE MAN was not in the galley at the time of the tour but YES! There IS a cookie man that bakes all the cookies and they go thru about 600 pounds of them a day. Of course this number CAN increase depending on who is onboard at the time! All hot entrees are prepared fresh as ordered. Cool items such as salads can be prepped in advance that day but never hot dishes. The galley is constantly going thru various inspections from the Culinary Institure of America, Corporate chefs from Miami, to the U.S. Health Dept. and the galley which is all stainless steel is immaculate! Our tour was at 11am so it was in full swing preparing lunch and prepping for dinner. It was a fantastic tour and the staff really does an amazing job!

Next was the Bridge tour! Wow! What a view! The bridge electronics were explained to us in detail and of course I " drove" the ship and turned her right back to Bermuda! LOL! Well I did sit in the Captains chair but very very still so I did not accidently hit some button that would have landed us on the CNN nightly news!

Finally we did a tour of the engine room. This is a very sensitive area of the ship and pictures were not allowed. Only the latest technology is found on the Explorer and I can say we are in the excellent hands of highly trained expert engineers as we sail on the Explorer.

I also want to mention that the passenger that was ill on Sunday evening and was taken off the ship by helicopter remains in the hospital and in stable condition and should be just fine which is wonderful news!

It was hot and sunny today as we sailed back home but tonight brought rougher seas so we are rocking quite a bit this evening. It is much cooler out now as we get closer to home and we may have a bit of rough weather sailing out on Friday.

We had our last dinner in the dining room for this cruise tonight and thanked our waiters and staff for doing a great job as usual! The farewell show was very good with comics and the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. Dave did an excellent job of CD and Allen is expected back onboard next week. The Explorer is getting all new plants and greenery this coming week in the pool areas by the same designers that did the Freedom and the Liberty. We were told drydock for the Explorer would be at least 2 years away. New carpeting throughout the cabins, new glass tops of coffee tables and much of the upholstery on cabin furniture is complete. The ship looks great!

In the morning we will move to the Owners Suite with the help of our stewards and than we will go have breakfast and relax on the ship. We received our new cabin keys tonight and our concierge keys will stay the same.

I was speaking to one of the bartenders I know before dinner this evening and a couple overheard my conversation and asked if I was AQHA/Suzanne and I said yes. Turns out the man was fellow CC members Hatsoff!

I have lots of pictures of the galley and the bridge so I'll post them here when I return home.

I will post more tomorrow once we are settled in our new cabin!

Ok, It's now Friday and we are in the OS! WOW! Did I say WOW? LOL! It's a gorgeous cabin and I took pictures for you when I return. :D They just delivered a platter of fresh fruit. The stewards helped us move about 9am to the new cabin. Than we headed up to Dizzy's where I fell asleep on one of the couches! We came back to our cabin about 11am and it was ready for us. We put our things away and than had lunch. It's a misty cool day today. Pools are netted but hot tubs are steaming. We had some rough seas last night coming home so we may hit some going back out. I also have pics and video of 1612 for those staying in that JS and I'll do a video of the OS also. The balcony has a nice high table for dining and 3 comfortable chairs and a footstool. The cabin is in perfect condition for those that will stay in it soon IF and it's a HUGE IF they get me out of this one! :D BBL

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aqhacruiser

aqhacruiser

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Ok... who can tell us more details about Captain Erik Standal on Explorer??? (assuming Capt Erik is indeed Erik Standal) I have not heard of him before. Info? Pictures?

 

Yes, he is Captain Erik Standal. He was staff captain on another RCCL ship ( sorry I can't remember which one ) and he is now Master of the Explorer. Very nice man! :) He will be captain thru Dec. as far as we know and Captain Ryan should return in Jan.. RCCL changes captains with little notice so this is what we know as of now. There had been rumors of another captain that was suppose to be here this week from Greece however he is now a port captain instead. :) As I said staff changes with little notice so you never know who you find onboard until you get there but they are all good! :)

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CeeAngel

CeeAngel

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Aqhacruiser,

 

The galley tour sounds unreal....you would think that with all the activity around meal time that they would be tripping over each other!

 

It must feel wonderful coming back to port and NOT having to get off the ship. Oh well, one of these days.....

 

Which OS do you have? Was wondering if all the balconies of OS's are the same...I have 1314 in Oct'08.

 

Really enjoying your posts.

 

Thanks!

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aqhacruiser

aqhacruiser

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Rudy, thanks for the updates, love them!! Living vicariously through you. The photo was incredible! I'm using it on my computer at work. I'd feel sorry that you are already on your way back but you have another cruise following this one . . . soooo, you go girl! Best to Deb and and Capt Bob.

 

BIG THANKS for the smack down of McPokey. Heaven knows he needed it. ROFLMAO.

 

 

BB I left YOU in charge of him! Not going well is it? LOL! I have completed my assignment you gave me and you will be pleased! LOL:D I did see Deb this morning for a bit and she probably got off the ship about 9:15 with pink tag. She was in the first group. They got the last group off about 11:40 and first passengers arrived onboard about 11:50. I will deal with McPokey now! LOL:D The crew is very excited about doing the 12 night and having us all onboard!

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aqhacruiser

aqhacruiser

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Aqhacruiser,

 

The galley tour sounds unreal....you would think that with all the activity around meal time that they would be tripping over each other!

 

It must feel wonderful coming back to port and NOT having to get off the ship. Oh well, one of these days.....

 

Which OS do you have? Was wondering if all the balconies of OS's are the same...I have 1314 in Oct'08.

 

Really enjoying your posts.

 

Thanks!

 

The galley tour was really great. Yes! They were very busy and toward end of tour the galley was flooded with waiters also as they were getting water and drinks for guests yet it is all so well organized it flows smoothly! :)

More news.............Allan Brooks IS NOW back onboard as CD.:D

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beachbuzzard

beachbuzzard

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That is great... doing a B2B and getting two different CDs! I've heard Allan is great... I will enjoy him on the next 12 nighter in a few weeks I'm sure!

 

Have a great time at all those stops in the Caribbean... any info about the stops will be appreciated! I hope when I grow up I can be in an OS too!! Maybe if I win at BINGO!!! :D

 

Alex

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Guest Crazeecat5

Guest Crazeecat5

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Hi Suzanne,

Glad to hear the first leg of your trip went well. The OS sounds great! I have another handicapped question for you....do you think I can go on any of the ship tours, especially the galley, with my scooter? Would love to do it, if I could.

Thanks again for all of your posts!

Sheryl

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sea-cruise

sea-cruise

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Suzanne, Thanks for keeping us posted! Sounds like you're having a grand time! :D

Can't wait to see pics of your OS!

It's been many years since I've seen an engine room and I imagine they've changed A LOT!! It's great that you got to see it!

Smooth sailing!!!! :)

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DPurcell58

DPurcell58

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Hi

How do you get to do the Galley Tour, Bridge Tour, Engine room - is it in the Compass? Does one have to sign up? or is it limited to certain groups?

 

thanks

treefrog

 

 

We were in a GS in Aug. and were invited to a Galley tour and backstage tour. I think the bridge and engine room tours are for Diamond members.

 

PS. Treefrog, - I think we're on the same cruise in Feb., the 15th???

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