Royal Caribbean's
Explorer of the Seas
February 21 - 28, 2004
Cruise Review
by
Dave Wendell
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 16:48:48 -0500
From: "Dave Wendell" <d_wendell@yahoo.com>
Subject: Review
I want to begin this by thanking everyone who posted to this list in
the past. I’m not the type of person who likes to go into something new
without some fore-knowledge, and I gained a ton of useful information from the
postings to this site. I read everything posted here, even if it was about a cruise
to a different geographic area and/or a different ship than I was planning. It
proved invaluable to me with all the little hints and tips. As the disclaimer
at the top of the page says, different people will have different perspectives
and experiences. By perusing everything posted here, which admittedly took a lot
of time, I felt well prepared for my first cruise and avoided some pitfalls experienced
by others.
Our cruise aboard the Explorer of the Seas, to the Eastern Caribbean
(Miami, San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Nassau & back to Miami) was one
of the most wonderful experiences I’ve ever had. I can’t begin to
tell you how many people I’ve told in the week since my return that I had
more fun on this one week cruise than I’ve had in 15-20 years. That could
be indicative of simply experiencing something new, or maybe it’s a commentary
on my life in general. I’ll leave that to someone else to decide. ;-)
I’m going to limit my comments here to only things that I learned
or experienced on the cruise that aren’t covered elsewhere on this site
by someone else.
If you’re cruising out of Miami, check the airline fares into
Fort Lauderdale before you book your travel arrangements. We saved a considerable
amount of money by flying into Ft. Lauderdale instead of directly into Miami,
and then taking a shuttle to the RCCL terminal in Miami on the morning the cruise
departed.
Boarding went smoothly with only a 30 minute or so wait inside the
cruise terminal before going through security. This was aided significantly by
having all of the required paperwork (passports and/or birth certificates and
photo I.D.) ready when we arrived at the RCCL desk before boarding. [NOTE: The
party in the line next to us included legal U.S. residents who were NOT citizens,
but had their ‘green cards’. They were fairly well upset to discover
that RCCL’s policy is to take their ‘green cards’ and hold them
until the first time the ship goes through U.S. Customs on it’s return to
a U.S. port, which for us was in St. Thomas. I don’t know why this policy
exists, or what the specific circumstances were, but it was confirmed to me later
in the week by the ship’s business office that it is RCCL’s policy.
I know I’d be pretty irritated if someone wanted to take and hold my birth
certificate for several days. It takes too much effort to get official copies
of those kinds of documents to take the chance of someone else losing it, especially
if I hadn’t known of this policy before arriving at the port terminal.]
Shortly after boarding I went to the Customer Relations desk to acquire
the necessary telephone replacement for in-cabin internet service. I advise you
to do this as soon as possible as there is apparently a fairly limited number
of them available. The internet service is dial-up, and is at best, only 45Kbps.
Additionally service wasn’t always available. There were two periods during
the cruise when I couldn’t connect at all. They only lasted for a few hours,
but it may be something you want to consider before paying the $100.00 for the
cyber-cabin convenience as opposed to using the computers in the ship’s
internet center.
Our first night at dinner was the only unpleasant experience we had
while onboard. We were at a table that seated 8, and the other 6 people all knew
each other. My wife and I were essentially ignored throughout most of dinner,
and when we did attempt to interject something into the conversation we both felt
as if we were being merely tolerated. When one of the other couples suggested
that they all go to one of the onboard restaurants the next night, we were specifically
excluded from the invitation. This had nothing to do with the cruise line, and
I don’t mean to impugn them in any way. However, afterwards I quickly discovered
that since the cruise was booked solid and every cabin was filled to capacity,
changing tables wasn’t something the cruise line could easily accommodate.
VERY fortunately for us our travel agent happened to be on the cruise, and was
able to make arrangements the next night for us to join the party at their table
where we enjoyed dinner for the rest of the week .
I’d read several posts on this site about the cabin attendants
folding towels into creative animal shapes. I was looking forward to seeing this,
and was somewhat disappointed when it didn’t happen the first two nights.
It finally dawned on me that the reason we weren’t seeing any of these uniquely
folded towels was because we hadn’t left any of the towels on the bathroom
floor to be replaced. We were hanging them up to dry, which indicates to the cabin
attendant that you will use them again. (Incidentally, although our cabin attendant
did come and introduce himself to my wife before dinner the first night, I was
in the shower at the time. Although I have absolutely no complaints about the
service, I never did see him all week long.)
We’d booked the “Old and New San Juan City Tour”
as our shore excursion in Puerto Rico. I recommend against this. Although the
tour bus was clean and the driver polite and knowledgeable, we spent 70% of the
time riding through the newer section of San Juan with him pointing out low-income
apartment buildings as we drove by at 40 mph while he said things like, “See
that low-income, pink apartment building on your left? That’s where Roberto
Clemente grew up, and the ball field just beyond it is where he learned to play
baseball.” He stopped or drove by every major hotel in the area just to
show them to us, and most of what he pointed out were the homes of famous people
from Puerto Rico. To be honest, I got the impression that at least some of what
he said was B.S. He then took us to the old fort, which is massive. I could have
spent an entire day exploring this, but I am admittedly a history buff. Unfortunately
we only had 35 minutes here before we needed to be back on t he bus. It wasn’t
a bad experience. But I didn’t feel it was worth our time.
Our St. Maarten experience was at the opposite end of the spectrum,
and the highlight of the cruise for us. Our shore excursion was aboard the “Golden
Eagle Island Sailaway”. This is a sail catamaran that takes approximately
40 guests for an hour and a half ride out to a small island that the government
has turned into a nature preserve. We spent almost 2 hours there, on the beach,
snorkeling, swimming, and generally having a ball. There is a reef there you can
snorkel out to (equipment provided by the tour operator), and the tour operators
took a small boat out to the reef and fed the tropical fish there while the majority
of us were snorkeling among them. We then sailed back to the port, being served
drinks, champagne and lunch by the crew. The catamaran crew made this a VERY fun
adventure. By the time we pulled back in the entire contingent of passengers was
on the bow singing and dancing the Macarena. The catamaran was new (only 4 months
old), and is one of several operated by the same company. It was very professionally
run, and well worth every penny we paid ($72/person) for the experience. HIGHLY
recommended in my book.
If you plan to shop in St. Thomas, definitely either attend the shopping
brief onboard the cruise ship or at least watch it on the television in your cabin
before getting to the port. It will give you valuable information on how NOT to
have a bad shopping experience, and guarantee your purchase indefinitely as long
as you buy at one of the shops endorsed by RCCL. But definitely ‘shop’
rather than just buying at the first place you come to. My wife was looking for
some Tanzanite & Diamond earrings. She found a set at the first place we went
into, that she really wanted, and the shop quoted a price (with discounts applied
from the cruise coupon book – which we DIDN’T purchase) of $400.00.
We decided to delay the purchase until we were on our way back to the ship. We
later found the exact same pair of earrings at another branch of the same jewelry
company, but much further away from the cruise ship dock, for $335.00.
The tram ride to the top of the mountain, overlooking the city of Charlotte
Amalie was also worth it. [NOTE: There is a significant discount for U.S. military
personnel on the tram. Showing my retired Navy I.D. resulted in a charge of only
$30.00 for the two of us rather than $40.00.] The view from the mountain is breathtaking.
There are shops and a restaurant/bar at the top. I assumed the prices there would
be outrageous given the location, but they were surprisingly reasonable.
For various reasons, I realized about an hour before entering port
in Nassau, that my wife and I would not be able to participate in the shore excursion
that we’d booked. This excursion wasn’t cheap ($120 for both of us),
but circumstances made it clear that we would not be able to attend. This particular
excursion, the “Stingray Express” was handled by the Dive Shop on
deck 11 instead of the Excursion Desk on deck 5. I was directed up the to the
dive shop when I inquired about it. I approached the young lady at the Dive Shop
(I wish I’d gotten her name) and explained that I would not be able to use
the tickets. The young lady indicated that it was way too late for her to refund
the money, and I told her that I realized that, and wasn’t looking for a
refund. But if someone wanted to go on the excursion at the last minute, they
could have my tickets rather than waste them. I gave them to her and left. About
30 minutes later as I was checking my onboard account on the TV in the cabin,
I noticed that the tickets for the ‘Stingray Express’ had already
been credited back to my account with a full price refund. I don’t know
whether she sold them to someone else or simply refunded them entirely. Needless
to say I was impressed.
The port visit to Nassau was both enjoyable and slightly irritating.
This was the only port on the trip where I felt inundated with street vendors
being far too pushy, attempting to separate me from my money. They did understand
“No thank you”, but there were so many of them all over the place,
that I found myself saying it repeatedly all afternoon. Once inside the shops
it was a totally different experience with very helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable
shop staffs everywhere we went. This is a good port for souvenirs and gifts if
you get them inside the shops recommended on RCCL’s list.
I don’t want to exclude my shipboard experiences, which were
almost all overwhelmingly great, but so many other people have posted things to
this website that I would feel I was only being redundant. I will comment on the
“Quest” adult game show, and the ‘Ice Planet’ Show. The
game show was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and well worth
the time. Our Cruise Director, Gordon, was hilarious and proved to be a wonderfully
talented game show host. The Ice Show was impressive to say the least. While watching
it some of the moves and styles seemed vaguely familiar. As it turns out, most
of the performers were ex-Olympic class ice skaters, many of them from former
eastern-bloc countries. It was a terrific show. Definitely a ‘Do Not Miss’
event.
This particular ship also includes a working oceanic laboratory. The
tour through the lab was impressive, and the amount of information the University
is acquiring is obviously massive. Unfortunately the University scientist who
conducted the lab tour wasn't very well informed about much of what was being
done in the lab. His function was primarily to monitor the equipment, collect
the data and give the occasional tour to passengers. He wasn't able to answer
many of the passengers questions, but instead kept referring us to the website
they maintain.
Debarkation was an experience where I also learned a few things I feel
I can pass along to others. I’d read several different things on this website
about what to do, and how to avoid problems. The majority of the public areas
on the ship felt crowded for the first time all week, with everyone waiting for
their group color to be called. Ours was Brown, and was supposed to be the last
third of the second hour of debarking. Attempting to avoid the crowds everywhere
else on the ship, we chose to sit outside on deck 11. After about an hour of pleasant
conversation with others it suddenly occurred to us that we weren’t hearing
any announcements of which groups should report for debarkation. After asking
around inside the ship I discovered that debarkation was going much faster than
anticipated and our group had been called almost 45 minutes earlier. It seems
that the outside speakers on the ship aren’t used when in port in Miami
to keep confusion on the dock to a minimum. L esson learned for next time.
RCCL has buses to take passengers to various places, like the airports.
This is something you have to arrange beforehand, and have a travel voucher from
the cruise lines with you. It was very poorly organized in my opinion. We were
headed for the Fort Lauderdale airport, and although there were several buses
loading for that destination, the RCCL employees running the show didn’t
seem to have a good handle on it at all. Definitely get one of the porters to
take your bags to the bus. The porters have head-of-the-line privileges, and simply
bypass anyone else standing in line for the bus. We DIDN’T do this and it
was a mistake. The bus drivers will load your bags according to what airline you’re
flying out on. Everyone was shepherded by the RCCL employees into a line that
started at the front of the bus and went to the driver at one of the baggage compartments
on the side of the bus. Once the baggage bins are full, so is the bus. Despite
standing in line for a long time, and working our way around from the right side
to the left side of more than one bus, we didn’t get on the first two buses.
It was an exercise in dragging the bags around in a circle twice before finally
getting to load them onto the third bus. Much of this was due to the fact that
the porters could simply bypass the lines, going right to the front with the bags
they were carrying. The passengers owning those bags naturally got on the bus.
Those of us bumped out of line by the porters did not. The two RCCL employees
directing us where to go and when to move did not seem very helpful or organized.
Neither did they seem to care that we’d been pre-empted by the porters and
bumped off of two buses. Their only concern seemed to be making sure they collected
our travel vouchers once we were actually seated on the bus.
The negatives I’ve mentioned were definitely in the minority
of my overall experience. I was so impressed with my first cruise that I booked
another one the night before the ship pulled into Miami. If you do this onboard
before your cruise ends, you will get a credit towards your onboard expenses on
the next cruise. I hadn’t had time to figure out exactly where and when
I wanted to go next, but I was assured that everything was changeable as long
as it occurs at least 70 days prior to the sail date. I simply booked another
7-night cruise without much thought to the details. Sure enough, having now had
time to look through the various cruises available, and make a more informed decision,
it was no problem at all to change the date, the ship, and the particular cruise
for next time. The onboard credit was transferred with no problem, but you must
remember to ask for this.
If I can be of assistance to anyone else wishing information about
this cruise or ship or anything else please don’t hesitate to contact me
at: d_wendell@yahoo.com.
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