Jeff & Joan’s 7 night Explorer of the Seas Bahamas Cruise (April 2014)

Thanks to our clients Jeff and Joan from New York for sharing this review of their extended family’s cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas from Port Liberty, New Jersey.

I just returned from the Explorer after a 7 day Bahamas cruise.  Here are my thoughts.

Day One:  Port Liberty is more or less the same as the Florida terminals.  Organized chaos, but everyone knows their job.  It works.  Arrived around 11:00 am and were on board by 11:30.  This was with a party of 10!  The bus ride to the ship is really a very small inconvenience.  The weather was raining and chilly, so ALL passengers were indoors. The Windjammer was beyond capacity so go there immediately if the weather is iffy.  We hustled down to Deck 5 and managed to snag a table for all of us at the Café Promenade.  The cabins opened promptly at 1:30, and with the exception of one bag from our group, the luggage had arrived shortly thereafter.  Muster took place in a chilly rain.  Afterward we ran up to the Viking Lounge.  It was as crowded as the Windjammer.  Because of the weather, the whole ship went there to go under the Verrazano Bridge.  It was woefully understaffed for this many people, but it gradually improved and all was good.

Day Two:  Day at Sea.  Very windy.  Pools closed.  Deck 12 off limits.  Ice Skating show cancelled.  Sea sick bags were hanging on railings, but I never saw anyone actually ill, just having trouble walking.  I did see someone stuff cookies into one of the sea bags for later!  It was a little tough taking a shower.  By chance we ended up that afternoon at an informal military veterans get together hosted by the HR officer Mark Sette at the Schooner Bar. It was incredibly moving.  The services were well represented with veterans going back to World War II.  Some people were still active, and some were proud parents of children currently serving their country. Each and every one introduced themselves and each received a round of applause.  We are not veterans.  In fact, we showed up early at the Schooner to read while waiting an hour for trivia (remember, the weather was bad outside).  I will never miss such a gathering aboard again.

Day Three: Port Canaveral.  We saw the morning Ice Show.  It was the best RCI ice show I have ever seen.  We later had the opportunity to meet the ice captain and learned that this particular cast had only come aboard the previous week.  Some in our group watched it twice.  In the afternoon, we did the Central Everglades Airboat Adventure.  Our guide, Anna, was very nice and chatted us up on the 25 minute (each way) bus ride to the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp where the Airboat’s were docked.  It was a lot of fun.  We saw many, many alligators, but the blue herons were the best.  They are beautiful.  I don’t want to ruin a surprise for anyone, so I will just say that there are a lot of surprises out there.  I wish the timing was a little tighter, but I feel that way about most organized excursions.  Too much waiting around time.  .
Day Four:  Nassau.  Having been there many times, I chose to go ashore and shop with some family members.  The gentlemen in our group had arranged a private fishing charter and had a blast.  Others swam with the dolphins.  Just a note about being in port with this itinerary; our ship left very late, but once the earlier ships left, Nassau rolls up the sidewalks.  At night, you are pretty much left with just the Atlantis Resort.
Day Five:  Coco Cay.  Coco Cay is a very pretty island.  I think I liked it better than Labadee.  There are plenty of chairs for sun worshipers and shade lovers alike.  The bathrooms are cleaner, and in better shape also.  That said, the lunch buffet was downright awful.  The food wasn’t hot; they ran out of many things, and the macaroni and cheese in one word…inedible.  Pair that with general inconsideration fellow passengers had for each other, it was not a good experience.  (In order to cut the line, people were going behind the salad bar to help themselves.  Not very sanitary.  RCI needs to staff the station.). I came back aboard earlier than my group, and the talk at the elevator banks was the bad food.  The lunch food frenzy might have been abated if there were snack options available before noon.  Next time I will load up on snacks before tendering over.  I had the premium beverage package and drinks are very limited on the island.  My beverage of choice was not available.  If I wanted bottle water (for which I was entitled), I would need to purchase it because the island only stocked Evian and that is not included with the package.  Even at lunch, they were only serving fruit punch and lemonade.  If you wanted a glass of water, they had to pour it for you.
Day Six: At Sea. Good pool weather.  Belly Flop Contest went off without a hitch.  I did something I have never done; I had my hair blown out for formal night.  After some initial confusion regarding whether I had checked in (I definitely had), I was taken in and given a very professional blow out.  It cost the same as it does at home ($45-long hair)

Day Seven:  At Sea.  We did the All Access tour.  Maeve, our guide, was terrific.  Really terrific.  Jenn, the environmental officer was especially great, as she performs a very wide range of duties.  Also informative was the laundry officer, the human resource officer, the engine control officer (who really runs the ship!), the bridge officer, the vocal captain, the StudioB manager, and the ice captain.  All were good.  I was really looking forward to the galley tour portion, but alas, an arrogant chef made it abundantly clear that we were not welcome in his galley.  I could name him here, but I won’t because I suspect he would like that.

Dining:  We did My Time every night and had Sidney and Hari each evening.  They were professional, funny, tolerant, and accommodating.  Thank you sirs.  I thought the food in the main dining better on the Oasis, but this was fine and has improved over the years.  The Windjammer is the Windjammer.  Even though it varies very, very little day to day, there are plenty of options to let you change it up.  I, personally, enjoy the Asian options.  Do they measure up to my Chinese and Thai places at home, no, but the options changed more frequently than the rest of the room.  The main dining room for breakfast is nice.  Nice change of pace from the bustle of the Windjammer.  The main dining room for lunch on the last day of sea was mobbed.  We waited 25-30 minutes to get in.  It was worth it to enjoy linens and proper tableware.
Beverage Service:  Half our group chose the premium package, and half paid as they went.  Would I do it again, probably not.  Did I feel pressure to drink more, yes, but that is on me.  RCI didn’t twist my arm to buy it.  Despite what some posts here on CC have experienced, I always received a receipt to sign.  I didn’t mind because I like to tip extra.  Our whole group did, and at the end of the week we gave cash directly to our favorites.  A special thank you to Javier, Alexandrou, and Simon.  These gentlemen were always on the ready when we came by.

The Ship:  The public areas are great.  The cabins need some work.  I know she is scheduled for dry dock March 2015. I understand chipped plating in the bath room and carpets need to wait.  Two out of our five cabins had stained and chipped toilet seats.  They weren’t dirty, just very unsightly.  Can’t that easily be switched out?  Our balcony was chipped and rusted.  I understand that has to wait, but why were the chairs sagging, rusted and with broken slats?  They are easily replaced given they use the same deck chairs and lounges fleet wide.  I don’t think a passenger needs to point out such obvious deficiencies.  But otherwise, the ship for the most part looked great.

Entertainment:  Erky from Turkey, enough said.  Love and Marriage, The Quest, the aforementioned ice show, all great.  I wasn’t particularly impressed with the song and dance production numbers.  My lack of enthusiasm is not a reflection of the production show quality, because I just am not particularly a fan of the genre.  I prefer the on specialty acts brought on board (i.e. Cutting Edge, Oasis’  “Hairspray”, comedians). We do find trivia fun, and spent a good bit of time participating in that.

In Summary:  As compared to previous RCI cruises, I found the daytime activities on the Days at Sea somewhat lacking.  They rely heavily on casino and spa events.  I would never choose this Itinerary again.  The late arrivals in port really interrupt the flow of the day.  We are the get up and go type and like to enjoy a port then come back to enjoy the pool deck, etc. before getting ready for dinner.  She is a nice size ship.  I was afraid sailing the Oasis would spoil me, but not so.  A very good crew.  I will be on her again in June sailing to Bermuda with no hesitation.