Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas - Cruise Review

Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 09:21:53 -0500
From: posman@daphca.ca (James Posman)
Subject: Review

Explorer of the Seas
November 2-9, 2002
Miami-San Juan-St.Maarten-St.Thomas-Nassau-Miami

The week aboard this ship was incredible. We were 3 families with 7 kids ranging in age from 4 10. I am going to write my review from a parent’s perspective. When we have cruised in the past, we were adults only. This time around, all of our planning and activities were made keeping in mind that kids would be included. Given the ages of my 2 boys (5 and 8), I will only be commenting on their respective groups the Aquanauts and the Explorers.

It has always been my policy to fly down at least one day in advance. My reasoning is simple: you know that all your baggage has arrived and if not, you still have 1 day to find it. Secondly, you can get to the ship by 11:30am and utilize the day you have already paid for. I realize that all the documentation says how boarding only starts at 2:00pm but I believe the cruise lines do this to avoid noon rushes. We arrived at 11:40am and embarkation had already begun. The new terminal in Miami is great and well laid out. We were onboard within 30mins and having lunch by 12:30pm. About 2 months before our cruise, I started research on Miami area hotels. Most people stay near bayside but we arrived 1 day earlier and one of the other families arrived 2 days early. Since we had kids, we figured Miami Beach would be good. I had asked many people about Miami Beach area hotels but did not get much feedback. Somebody told me about a site whereby hotels are rated by guests. I found the Best Western Miami Beach at 4333 Collins. It is located 2 hotels over from the Fontainebleu. We booked the BW at US $89 plus tax, using my CAA rate, for an ocean view room. The Hotel’s rooms, halls and lobby have just been totally renovated. Rooms were clean and had a safe. Also, the pool area has also been renovated and is quite nice. The pool is salt water. The beach is 50 feet away with direct access and is also great. Beach towels were complimentary from the reception desk. The boardwalk runs along the beach for a few miles and is great to walk on. A breakfast was complimentary but limited to breads, cereals, muffins and pastries. The only negative was the elevators are VERY slow. As for supper, you need to take a cab to go anywhere but you can go next door to the Sheraton Four Points where they had a restaurant with nice menu. The service however was slower than the elevators back at our hotel. After dinner, we walked along the boardwalk, which was now inundated with thousands of people who were lining up and sleeping overnight. We later found out that auditions for American Idol 2 were starting the next day at the Fontainebleu. How exciting was this! Finally, we had thought about renting a car but did not as it would have been more expensive than cabs (extra parking charge at hotel) and also no longer easy for drop-off now that Avis closed their pier side drop-off. All in all, this BW was definitely worth the money and a great location to boot. One last item, when you are ready to leave the day of your cruise, call the bell captain 1 hr before and have him/her reserve your cab for 11:00am. We just had him call when we got there and we had to wait about 15mins.

As I stated above, we were onboard and having lunch by 12:30 pm. While waiting to get onboard, we were able to keep in touch with the 3rd family in our group by walkie-talkie. These came in very handy all week. If you have them, bring them. If you don’t have them, buy them and bring them. We dropped off our bags and tipped the porters ($1.00 per bag). However, before they were allowed to take our bags, our passports pictures were verified against our tickets to make sure we were who we were. I felt good with this added security. We completed embarkation, received our Seapass cards, had our first of MANY photos. Just prior to the photo, we had our picture taken by security and the photo was scanned onto the barcode of our Seapass card. At each port when you come back aboard the ship, your card is inserted in a machine and the associated picture is displayed to the security person. If that picture is not you, bye-bye. Once again, I was impressed with the Security. Then, onboard we went. Right as we got on, there was a rep from the kids club. All kids were given special wristbands according to what stateroom they were in. The wristband listed that child’s muster station. If your child was in the club and an emergency were to happen, the parents do NOT go to the club to pick up their child. A member of the youth staff brings their child to their respective muster station. Once this was done, we headed to our balcony stateroom on deck 6 near the middle. I read many things about kids and balcony staterooms and I was thinking about this too. However, the patio doors on Explorer are very heavy and not easy to open. We also moved the 2 chairs and small round table against the door and laid down the rules for our kids, which they followed all week. Finally, there are no conventional railings but a steel plate siding topped off with a wood railing. Total height of this is about 4 ½ feet. We met our Cabin steward Caesar then headed up to Island Grill (Deck 11 aft) for lunch.

After lunch, we headed up to the Adventure Ocean club area on Deck 12 aft. We looked around all 3-group areas (Aquanauts, Explorers and Voyagers) and let the kids explore for themselves. In the Aquanauts area, they had a big TV for video’s, Lego center, IBM PC’s (5) with little tikes keyboards, various software games and headphones, ball pit and slide and many arts & crafts stations. In the Explorers area, they had their own mini rock climbing wall, a little room off in a corner with big comfy couches to watch videos or sing Karaoke, 5 IBM PC’s with regular keyboards and game software and another corner area with a circular table counter where all experiments were performed a kind of science center. Finally, in the Voyagers area (2 kids in our group were in here), they had the corner TV room, mini stage for small shows they put on, fooze ball machine, 6 IBM PC’s as well as a separate room housing Nintendo, Playstation and Gamecube stations. While a common hall joined all 3 areas, the hall connecting one area to another was roped off so kids of one age group would not get mixed into another. Each group had a minimum of 3 youth staff supervising. We ended the tour by going to Adventure Beach, outside behind Adventure Ocean. There was a 4 ft. deep saltwater pool about 10 feet in diameter, there was another 1 ft. wading pool with a metal slide going into it and finally, a water slide which had a 46” minimum height requirement. The slide was only open between 11:00am and 3:00pm and was supervised by a member of the youth staff to monitor the height requirement. As a parent, I was very concerned about the railings in this area. I was quite impressed as there was an “interior” metal railing, about 4 ½ feet high with an outer glass wall about 6 feet high. These railings were installed in all the kids’ area. Please note that there are ice cream machines located in a small cove next to the kids’ pool. My kids kept going for more and more and more and…………….

After spending some time here, we headed back to our cabin to get ready for the mandatory muster drill. If you have small kids under 75lbs., make sure to ask your room steward for special life vests for this weight class. The muster drill went smoothly and we were done by 4:30pm. Then, we went topside to watch Explorer pull out of Miami. At 5:30pm, we headed down to Studio B (Ice rink) for a 15 min. introduction to the Family Welcome Aboard program and Adventure Youth. Each time your child attended a session, he or she would be given a coupon to be redeemed at the end of the week for kids gifts. At the end of our week, my 2 kids had 34 coupons between them and got some great things. After supper (casual) we went back to Adventure Ocean to register our kids. Prior to leaving for our cruise, my youngest who is 2 ½ months shy of 6 kept saying how he would only go in the club if he was in his older brothers group. I tried to sneak him into the Explorers group but the staff was well prepared with a detailed printout of all kids and their respective birthdays. So, no go for my youngest. It was back to Aquanauts to register my youngest. For all groups, we had to sign various consent forms and fill in a list of names of people authorized to pick up your kids. Anyone not on that list could not pick them up. Parents of all the 3 and 4 yr. olds were given pagers which worked anywhere on the ship. If any problems, they would page you. For the 5 yr. olds, if there were any extra pagers you got one. On a final note, I asked the youth staff if they ever brought the kids to Adventure Beach for swimming. They said that they would not do this and parents should bring their kids. All week long, you would sign your kids in and sign your kids out. At the beginning and until the staff got to know you, you had to present your seapass card proving you were who you were. I was very impressed and very reassured with all these safety issues.

During sea days, all clubs ran from 9-11:45am; 2-5pm and 7-10pm. From 10:00pm until 1:00am, you could leave your kids in their club as part of the late night party zone. There was a cost associated with this of $5/hr. per child. The cost was charged directly to your seapass card. During this time, all the regular safety procedures were still in place.

At the end of the evening, there is the welcome aboard parade in the promenade. We unfortunately missed it but wish we had gone. We saw it replayed the following day on our TV and it looked great.

On a final note, the dining room. We were all seated at 2 separate tables (main sitting) next to the window in a corner. This worked out great considering we put all our kids at 1 table and the adults at the second table. We were a little concerned about this but they were great. Even though each dinner ran at least 1 ½ hrs, the kids were polite and behaved extremely well. We let them bring their little card games and other items to keep them busy between courses. Believe it or not, not one spilled drink the entire week!

As for food, the adult’s menu changed each day. The kids had their own menu which was the same for the week and included: fruit salad, soup of the day, kids chef salad, chilled tuna salad, veggies and star dip, fish nuggets with sweet & sour dipping sauce, chicken fingers & fries, fried mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce, tomato & cheese pizza, 4oz minute steak with mashed potatoes and corn, spaghetti with meat sauce, macaroni and cheese, hot dog or hamburger with fries and peanut butter and jelly. Then, the many deserts!

We went to the Welcome Aboard show, which was at 8:00pm for all guests. We were quite tired after the show and we all called it a night. Off to bed with the gentle roll of the ship rocking us all to sleep not that we needed any help! Unfortunately, we missed the 10:45 pm parade in the promenade. Next time!

We woke up at about 7:45 am and headed up to the Island Grill / Windjammer buffet for breakfast. We opted for the buffet all week for both breakfast and lunch as it was easier for our schedules and the kids liked all the choices. Also, there are 2 ice cream machines on either side of Island Grill, which our kids HAD to visit each day! All breakfast’s typically consisted of: various breads and bagels, fruits, yogurts, cereals, cheeses and meats, fresh salmon, onions and capers, bacon, hash browns, plain scrambled eggs as well as another mixed scrambled eggs (ham or diced vegetables), 2 types of sausages, grits, porridge, waffles (with various sauces like blueberries, strawberries as well as powdered sugar), pancakes, French toast, various muffins, croissants and danishes. At the end of the “line” was a circular station manned by a few cooks who would make made-to-order omelets. There was also a separate area for orange and apple juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and milk. I am sure I have forgotten something but you’ll find out when you get there! Service in the Windjammer / Island Grill was excellent. If you needed any refills on juices or coffee, somebody was there to help.

Once breakfast was done, there was a wait for the forklift to come move us (haha). Once we made it out, off to put the kids into their respective club which started at 9:00 am. I will not list all the MANY MANY kids activities, as we will all be here for a long time. I have scanned all the Aquanauts (3-5) and Explorers (6-8) compasses for all 7 days. Please email me and I will be happy to send them to you. I also have all the adult compasses.

Once the kids were in, we just took the morning to walk around the ship and get our bearings.

We picked the kids up at 11:45 am. And everyone went back to our stateroom to get into our bathing suits then back up to Island Grill / Windjammer for lunch. I cannot list all food items here as they changed each day. Needless to say, that forklift was busy all week. After lunch, we brought our kids to Adventure Beach (Deck 12 aft). We let the kids enjoy this area for about an hour. We learned our first day about something else located here another ice cream machine! After the hour, we had a change of clothes for the kids then brought them back to their clubs. They were very happy to be back as all new activities. Nothing was ever the same and they changed every 20mins. or so which really kept their attention. I was very impressed. For us adults, we headed over to the main pool for some leisure time and for many of those frozen thingy’s I can never pronounce. Though many people still save chairs at the crack of dawn, we just resigned ourselves to sitting up on deck 13 with a short walk to the pool, which we did not mind at all. The pools and hot tubs were both saltwater. While enjoying the upper deck, there was a mini-rain drizzle, which lasted only 2 minutes. Not to worry though; we just kept dry using the mini-umbrella’s that came with our drinks! We did have to head down to the Promenade at 2:30 as the kids clubs were putting on an Adventure Ocean Circus of the Seas show, which lasted about 15mins. The show was great and all the kids dressed up with face painting resembling different animals. After the show, the kids went back to their area and us to ours.

We decided to pick the kids up early, 4:15pm as opposed to 5:00pm, and let them enjoy the big pools and hot tubs. They had a ball, as did we! Back to our staterooms for 5:00pm as tonight was the first of 2 formal nights. I had rented a tux and brought along my kids suits. And to round out our group, my wife was dressed up to the nines. If I may say so myself, we all looked magnificent! This was also the Captain’s Gala night with a big pre-dinner reception on the Promenade deck. However, something else we missed. We did not mind as we were not going to drive ourselves crazy trying to get to everything as, given a 1 week cruise, this was an impossible mission!

Being the first of 2 formal nights, they had all the photographers out for the formal pics. There were about 6 “stations” with different backdrops. This is a great opportunity for family pics and you have another opportunity later on during the week. We enjoy this, as it is not often that a family can take these types of formal pics with no obligation to buy. After the pics, off to supper. Another great meal, which we all enjoyed, capped off with the customary post-dinner shooters.

After supper, they had the first of 2 production shows. Even though the kids club was available to us, we decided that all our kids would go to the big shows. They loved this one and could not wait for the next ones. The younger kids fell asleep halfway through and it was a long “carry” back to our rooms. Again, we all called it an early evening at 11:00pm. There was an adult comedy show at midnight but we all lacked any energy to make it. Prior to the show, we had about 20mins. to spare so the husbands went to the Connoisseur Cigar Club Lounge to enjoy a nice cigar and try to solve all the world’s problems. Cigars were great but, unfortunately, the world’s problems are still there. One interesting thing about this lounge is that there is one blackjack table and during the evening, the casino staff brings in a dealer and you can play blackjack right in the club.

This day is considered a port day but, in reality, is a sea day as you only arrive in San Juan at 4:00pm. I am not sure why this is as I have sailed the eastern previously, twice, and each time we have arrived at noon. It could be that Explorer had to wait for another ship to leave port. Anyhow, the day itself up until 2:00pm was a repeat of yesterdays. Apart from a visit to the shipshape center, mostly leisure time and the kids in the club. Once again, many other activities going on such as Basketball free throw and Mr. Sexy Legs.

Prior to the arrival in San Juan, there was a scavenger hunt for the families registered in Adventure Kids. At 2:00pm, we all met in the Voyagers area where we were given a list of about 20 items to find and get back to the club before 2:30pm. You could be as many in a group as you wanted and the only exception was not using walkie-talkies. Some items were easy and some challenging. The hardest thing to find was Sports Illustrated. After raking my brain and running everywhere, I had a brilliant idea to go to the “Internet café” on Deck 8 and print out their home page. This was acceptable but I missed the 2:30 deadline. Therefore, all other items we had found were still allowable. Even though we had the most amount of items, we still lost due to some snafu I am still trying to understand. Nevertheless, we all still all had fun, which is what is most important.

At 4:20pm, we all headed downstairs and off the ship. We had not booked any excursions since we only had 1 hr. to play with given we had main sitting for dinner. Our plan was to bring the kids to the fort but this did not work. On previous eastern runs, we always moved our clocks ahead to reflect the time change. This time around, we were all told to stay on ships time and NOT move our clocks forward 1 hr. So, even though we got off the ship at 4:20pm our time, it was actually 5:20pm in San Juan and the forts were closed. So, we would just walk around Old San Juan. We exited the pier building to many people, about 40, singing local Latino type music. It was really great. We were out about an hour then headed back for supper. Given the time we had in port, we should have just skipped San Juan all together. Once back, we headed for supper (casual night) and after supper, we went to the Planet Ice Show in studio B. I have read many notes from many people all saying the same thing at which I will reiterate…DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW! I would say it is a cross between Stars on Ice and Cirque du Soleil. The area holds only a few hundred seats so seats are limited. They have a few shows during the week so you pick up tickets depending on your schedule. Tickets are free but you must have them to get in. Show lasts about 1 hr and we headed back to our room. I stayed in with my kids and my wife went out with the girls. In case things were going to get to rowdy, I gave my wife the number of a cab to take home!

This was a great day. We did not purchase any of the excursions and opted to do things on our own. For weeks before leaving, I drove everyone crazy on all the BB’s about beaches and which ones were best for kids. First I was going to Le Galion, then I was going to Dawn Beach and then to Divi Beach Resort at Little Bay meanwhile everyone was saying that Everything Cool was the PLACE to be. We only really decided at breakfast that we would take the water taxi over and see what happens. So, off the ship we go, take the customary photos and then head over to the water taxi, which brings you to the center of town and was about a 4 min. boat ride. The fee was $5/adult (kids free) and you could go back and forth as many times as you wanted. They put a green wristband on you so this was your receipt. We exited the boat and we were immediately bombarded by locals who wanted to set us up on the beach. We headed to the left of the pier towards Everythings Cool and got about halfway. We had just passed the wave runner shack and we were in front of the water trampolines and we stopped. We paid $10 and got 2 very nice lounge chairs and an umbrella. We also got 2 drink tickets for regular beers. This seemed to be the going rate everywhere on the beach. After sitting down, the local vendors swarmed hair braiding, shirts, dresses, etc. This only lasted about 20mins. and probably was due to the fact that the girls had a few braids done and bought a few sundresses and the guys bought those nice loud flower shirts. Don’t laugh! I actually like mine. Kids immediately hit the water as did we, at least after we covered ourselves with sunscreen. A little later in the day, 2 families split the rental of a wave runner. Cost was $40 per half hour. We each took 15mins and we brought our kids with us. It was fun for all. We headed back to the ship around 3:00pm. We were all a little hungry and since Island Grill / Windjammer was closed we picked up some pizza slices and mini-sandwiches at the Promenade Café. It went down well and it went down fast.

HINT: Before going ashore, take your empty water bottle to the Promenade Café where they have, in back near the windows, coffee like coolers full of ice water. These are always there. Fill up and head out!

Back to the room for a quick clothing change, some quiet time and then off to supper (casual). After supper, we had promised the kids some time in the arcade. We all went for about 45mins .for some fun. All machines work with a game card, which you can obtain right in the arcade at specially designated machines. Just put in your Seapass card, choose the amount you want and your card is dispensed. Once you run out of credits you can just recharge your card. After this, we put the kids in the club for the night as we were off to The Love and Marriage Game show. However, before the start of the show, another kids club presentation. The kids were marching all over the ship dressed up as pirates and having a great time. The even went into the dining room during second seating to put on a little pirate act. They were very cute. Back to the Love and Marriage Show now, another definite must and great for laughs. One piece of advice, do NOT volunteer unless you want to sleep under the stars. After the show, we did some shopping on the Promenade and picked up the kids at about 11:15pm. All were awake and all were going strong and did not want to go. Nevertheless, we paid for our babysitting time since 10:00pm (see above under Day 1) and headed off to our cabins for some sleep.

Important: all TV’s are interactive. By tonight at the latest, you must enter the RCTV interactive section to register for departure. According to your flight time, you will get colour coded disembarkation tags for your checked baggage. If you do not do so by tonight, then you will have to go to a very crowded Pursers desk later in the week like I did.

Being we had visited St.Maarten yesterday, everybody needed to clear US immigration first thing in the morning. Once we docked at St.Marteen, all passengers had to report to the main dining room between 7:00 9:30 am. You also got back your passports from the ship. After clearing immigration, cruise line staff put a red checkmark on your Seapass card. If you tried to disembark in St.Thomas without this mark, you were sent back upstairs.

This was the only port where we purchased an excursion. We opted to do the Coral World and Magens bay excursion which we bought 2 weeks prior to our departure via the RCI website. Our tickets were delivered to us the first night. Since this excursion only left at noon, the kids wanted to go to their club in the morning. While there, my wife went for a facial and I wandered around taking some video and still pics. Everyone met at 11:20am in the Island Grill / Windjammer for an early lunch then down to the pier for noon. Our driver brought us to Coral World first which was much more than I expected. It is located at Coki Beach and is a great place to bring the kids. There is a large people tank with many types of fish on the outside swimming around. A moderator is inside with you explaining about the fish and coral. While he is talking, another staff member in scuba gear is in the water feeding the fish. Other areas of this park include a baby shark swim tank, stingray tank, sea turtle tank, and many other areas. On our way out, the staff re-routes you through the gift store. After leaving, it is back onto the bus for our next stop Magens bay. This beach is ranked by National Geographic as one of the world’s top 10 beaches. Waters are very still, no seaweed, no shells and just magnificent. There is the customary food/beverage shack and floating mat rental. No wave runners here.

Back to the ship by 4:00 pm and some to the pool and others to their rooms for some relax time. Off to supper (casual) for 6pm. I found tonight’s meal interesting as all the kids, who have been at one table all week, figured out that they can order Shirley Temple’s. When all these drinks arrived, one of the kids commented as to there being only 1 cherry in each drink. Little did they know that our Assistant waiter Oliver was listening and soon returned with 3 bowls filled with cherries. Needless to say, the kids loved this. Also, one of the dad’s was celebrating his 41st birthday. His wife and kids had decorated their cabin earlier on in the day with streamers and balloons and at supper, we had some of the waiters sing the customary and infamous “Hoppy Bursday”.

After supper, we all headed off immediately to the Palace Theatre for the second big production show and we wanted great seats and what a show it was. The sets and costumes were amazing as was the talent on stage. At the end of the show, the younger ones fell asleep ( I still don’t know how with all that excitement going on). The older ones went back to the club for an hour while the young ones were retired back to our staterooms. The husbands and wives took shift as the men wanted to go Johnny Rockets for some chilli dogs. We picked up our kids about 11:15pm then off to sleep.

This day was more or less the same as our first sea day. One exception was that the all kids club put on a talent show in the Maharaja’s lounge. The kids were all very talented and they all had a great time as did the parents. We saw everything from hoola hooping and cheerleading to hip hop dancing and singing. All the kids who participated got not only their coupons but also got a first place medal.

After our late afternoon swim (with the kids) in the big pools and hot tubs, we all headed back to our staterooms to get dressed for our second formal night. This was also the second opportunity for the formal pics and we wanted to be at the stations at 5:30pm and do at least 2 stations. Once done, off to supper (formal) for 6:00pm. We decided to send the kids up to their clubs early this evening as it was Pajamarama Movie Night and pajama party night and they all wanted to go. So, after we finished our main course, we brought them up, signed them in and headed back for desert and shooters. Tonight’s show was The Original Drifters, which we passed on. After dinner, the ladies went off to the Promenade for some shopping while the guys went back for another cigar and a second chance at solving the world’s problems. Once again, the cigars were great but still not successful with those problems. We met up later with our wives for some Casino time. We spent about 1 hr. there then headed up to Dizzy’s Jazz club on Deck 14 for some drinks and dancing. It was really nice up there and we all had a great time. Then, back to Deck 5 at 11:45pm to line up for the big midnight buffet presentation. Apparently, they spend 300 man hours preparing for this and you will see why. Bring your cameras. The first hour is for pics only and you eat it all later. After this, we picked our kids up at 12:30am and went back to our cabins. The guys got the kids settled then went back to Johnny Rockets for more of those chilli dogs. Something about being in a tux and eating those chilli dogs that you will all have to experience for yourselves. Once in, back to our staterooms by 1:00 to relieve the wives who were on their way out to grab a bite at the midnight buffet. I fell right asleep and the wives apparently made it back in at 1:30am.

We decided to sleep in a bit given our late evening the previous night. Once up, back up to Island Grill / Windjammer for the start of our last full day on the ship. After breakfast, kids wanted back in their club, my wife was off to Aerobics and I just walked around enjoying everything. Others in our party went to the Winner take all snowball bingo match but I passed. The jackpot, which was won, totaled US $11,000.00. We had all met up for lunch later to get ready for our afternoon in Nassau. One group was off to the Dolphin Encounter. They had purchased this excursion on-line prior to leaving for the cruise. It is a good thing they did as this one always sells out and if you wait until you board the ship; it is already too late to get space. They loved it! As for us, I had made arrangements to visit Club Med Paradise Island. My wife and I celebrated our honeymoon there 10 yrs. ago and we wanted to show our kids (as well as the second family traveling with us) where it all began. The people at Club Med very graciously invited us to spend the afternoon there at no cost. We took a cab over and we were on the beach by 1:30pm. The kids loved it and my wife and I enjoyed being back. At 3:30pm, we headed to the other side of the island to catch the 4:00pm Club Med private water taxi back to the pier where our ship was docked. It was a great afternoon! Once back on the ship, I kept the kids topside while my wife did a bit of packing. We also spent a bit of time at the Photo Gallery finalizing our purchases. Then, off to our final dinner (casual). We took our time and everybody enjoyed their meals. After dinner, we gave out the customary tips to our dining room staff and they deserved it. They were great the entire week for our kids and us. Trust me, to keep a table of 9 kids happy and quite for 1 ½ hr. each night is no easy task. After supper, the kids went back to their club for ¾ hr as I needed to fix my luggage tag problem, as I did not take care of it earlier in the week. During this time, my wife was able to finish most of the packing. At 8:45pm, we picked up the kids and headed off to our last show in the Palace Theatre The Farewell Variety show. They had a few acts that night including a comedian who had just arrived that day. He put on a 20 min. act, which was quite good. One joke, which I still remember well and laugh to myself about, is when he was talking about being in his stateroom bathroom before the show. He was saying how he lost is balance and fell over and it was pretty lucky that his bed was right there or he would have been really hurt! Only cruisers will get that one.

After the show, back up to the kids club for one last session and also for the kids to redeem all their coupons they had acquired during the week. They all got some really great stuff. We finished our packing and got our bags out in the hall before the midnight deadline. We left our stateroom and caught the last few minutes of the farewell parade on the Promenade deck. At around 11:00pm, we picked up the kids, said our final farewell to the youth staff, gave them a little something for their incredibly hard and dedicated work during the week and then headed off back to our stateroom. After we got the kids settled in, the wives decided to head back out to the Palace Theatre for a midnight adult only comedy show being presented by the same comedy who appeared earlier in the evening at the farewell show. They all said it was a pretty good show.

Our ship arrived in Miami at about 5:30 am. I got up at 6:30 and spent a few minutes on our balcony overlooking Miami. As I was standing their, the Brilliance of the Seas went passed me on its way to the turning basin, turned around on a dime and headed to dock in front of us. The maneuverability of these ships still amazes me. At 7:30am, we all met for our last breakfast in the Island Grill / Windjammer. After a great breakfast, the forklift came around for the last time before heading off for its weekly maintenance and oil change for next weeks group. We all headed over to the Palace Theatre to wait for our tag colour to be called. While waiting, they were playing various TV shows on the giant TV monitors. Our colour was called at 9:30am and it took about 20mins. to get off as we all had to clear customs. Once this was done, downstairs to the luggage carousels. This area is a great improvement over our previous “everything in one room free for all” cruises. There are about 4 carousel rooms all clearly marked with your colour.

On Sunday morning, while back at home, I threw my towels on the bathroom floor after my shower. They are still there!

To our traveling companions (Liz, John, Michael, Victoria and Lorraine, Patrick, Julia, Jennifer, Brendan) as well as my own family (Maria, Benjamin and Zachary) what a week! Our next is on for November 2004!

To Royal Caribbean as well as all the staff of Explorer of the Seas Thank you!

To those who have put aside the 2 days to read this (sorry for the length), if you have any questions about something I may not have covered here, feel free to email me anytime. I also have available all adult compasses as well as all the aquanauts and explorer compasses.

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