Royal Caribbean Cruisers' Discussion Group
Embarkation (Main Index)  - Current Postings  - Cruisers' Cruise Calendar
 Cruise Reviews and Port Reports - Images of Ships - Our History
Copyright © 1997 - 2006 by Lois A. Evensen, the entire contents of this site.

---

Royal Caribbean's
Explorer of the Seas
August 23 - 30, 2003
Cruise Review
by
Tom Knudsen

---

Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 00:04:42 -0400
From: "Tom Knudsen" <t.knudsen@comcast.net>
Subject: Review - Explorer of the Seas - August 23 - 30, 2003

This is a long review that I hope is worth your time. Well, this cruise didn't start out stress free, but it turned out to be the best cruise we've had yet. This was our 6th cruise and 4th with RCI and most importantly, our first with 3 kids. First the stressful part. When I received my cruise documents, I was dismayed to see that we would have to make a connection on our flights to Miami the morning of our cruise, AND that we were arriving in Ft. Lauderdale instead of Miami. We also, wouldn't get into FLL until 1:30pm if everything went just right, which was cutting it way to close as far as I was concerned. Why RCI would put us on these flights was beyond me. Perhaps I should have complained, but I didn't and gutted it out. Suffice it to say, the flights were on time, more or less, and we eventually got on the bus to the ship. By the time, we got off the bus, checked in and made our way up to our connecting cabins, we had precisely 10 minutes until the life boat drill. This is NOT the way to start a vacation. I would recommend trying to get the flights changed if this happens to you.

The above aside, from that point on, this was a dream of a cruise. The Explorer is by far the most beautiful ship I've ever been on. The Royal Prommenade is breathtaking and was my favorite part of the ship. All the public spaces are fantastic and fantastically large. The dining room is like nothing you've seen on a ship before, except possibly on the other Voyager class ships. The artwork, from the huge like Canticle to a Blue Planet at the aft end of the Prommenade, to the fun like the celebrity photos, to the whimsical like the golf ball Rube Goldberg thing in the Crown Lounge area (a BIG hit with the kids), was my favorite of any RCI ship.

We had two connecting inside cabins. This works out very well with three kids as we could put them in one room while my wife and I had the other. Two bathrooms, two TVs and some privacy to boot. This is the best way to travel with a family with more than two kids. I got to peek into a Family Suite one morning and I don't regret my decision to not book one at all. The room was nice, but provided very limited privacy, only had one bathroom and one TV, and cost more for five people as well.

Speaking of the kids, the Adventure Ocean program on the Explorer was so good, I can't think of a superlative that would do it justice. We took our two 3 year old boys and 7 year old daughter up there the first morning just to see if they would want to spend any time there when we weren't doing things as a family. Forget that one! From the first morning on, all the kids wanted to do was go back to the kids program. We would give the kids a choice between doing something with Mom and Dad and going in the program. Except for going in the kids pool, which I sadly understand they are removing, twice and one shore excursion we didn't see much of our kids. I don't know how the counsellors do it all day and night, but I've never seen my kids happier than when they were there. The best praise I can give the people running the program is this. At home, we only leave our children with family members, except for a couple of times when my daugher was little. We felt so comfortable with the Adventure Ocean program that we actually went on several shore excursions and left the kids on board. Also, Pirate Night and the Adventure Dining oppportunities were highlights for the kids and parents. I hope this helps alleviate any fears people travelling with children have about RCIs children's program. They are very strict about the over three and toilet trained, so if your child does not meet either requirement, I would recommend waiting until they do to go on a cruise.

I'm not a food snob, but the dining on board was excellent, with the exception of the first night of the cruise. The first night food was OK, but the service was rushed and harried. I was a bit worried that this would continue. However everything was straightened out by the next evening and the service was, all in all, the best we've ever had. The dining staff took exceptional care of our kids. When our head waiter heard our kids asking for grilled cheese, he told us that even though it was not on the menu, just let him know and they could have whatever they wanted the next night as they could "make anything". The next night, within 10 minutes of ordering grilled cheeses, the head waiter actually served the kids himself. Seems he had prepared them the night before and just had to grill them when they were ordered. This is beyond all expectations for head waiters based on past experience. Also, our waiter found out the kids all loved grapes. The next night there was a stalk of grapes for each kid when we got to the table. After seeing me take the grapes off the stalk for one of my sons for two nights, the grapes were in bowls off the stalks each night. It's this kind of attention to detail that made this the best service we've seen.

The ports were fine. We've been to San Juan before and only got off the ship to shop for a bit since we were only there from 2:00pm on. On St. Thomas, we shopped in the morning near the ship and took the Water Island Bike Adventure in the afternoon. Unless you are accomplished, mountain biker, this can be a real challenge, but the beach at the end is beautiful. The highlight for us was the Shipwreck Cove Snorkel Cruise in St. Maarten. The snorkeling was good to very good, but the staff on the boat made this trip excellent. On the way back in, they all put on rosta wigs and got everyone (well, at least all the women) up dancing. What a blast. Nassau is Nassau. If you've been there, you know what to expect, although I will say they've made MAJOR strides over the last five years to make this a better port of call. My favorite part was still standing on deck watching the ship make a 180 degree spin in the tiny harbor to back into the pier. If they were still keeping track of Wonders of the World, the Voyager class ships would have to be included.

Lastly, I have to say a quick word about Gordon Whatman, the cruise director. He's now edged out Jeff Arpin, who at the time of this cruise was "taking a break" according to Gordon, as my favorite cruise director. He is the epitome of what a master of ceremonies on a cruise should be. Funny, mostly classy with a little risque thrown in, and just the nicest person if you run into him during one of his few moments of quiet time. I look forward to having him as a cruise director again. OK, I lied, this is lastly. The one small complaint I have is the cost of a trip like this with 3 kids. It is very difficult to do a trip like this relatively inexpensively. We ended up having to pay full fare for 2 of the three kids because of the two cabins. With aifare, the cruise was about $6000 before tips, excursions, gambling, drinking, shopping....you get the picture. Booking a cabin/suite we would have all fit in would have been MORE expensive. I can remember when the 3rd and 4th passengers in a room were $100 or so. No longer. RCI, and all the other cruise lines are now taking full advantage of the summer family vacation season. Because of this, I don't know when I'll be able to go on another Voyager Class or Radiance Class ship while the kids are in school. We are, however booked to take the Grandeur in late August in an attempt to see just how cheaply we can do a 7 day RCI cruise. I'll report back when we return. If you've read this whole review th ank you for your time and I hope it has been helpful.

PS. Unless you're an experienced rock climber, make sure you take one of the paths on the left hand side facing the wall. The climb gets harder as you go right. I found out the hard way.<G>

---

---

---