Great time had by all

Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean

MarkM19

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

9 Night Eastern Caribbean & Bermuda (Cape Liberty Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 08, 2007

Ship: Explorer of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

We traveled on a nine day cruise from Bayonne, NJ on Explorer of the seas. The boat was in great shape. I was surprosed to find it was seven years old. Thefood in the main dining room and the service was uniformly excellent night after night. The room service breakfasts (we had almost every morning) were delivered on time with a friendly call a few minutes before delivery that we used as a wake up call a few mornings. The shore trip to St. John's was a repeat for us and was great. Trunk Bay deservedly ranks as one of the top ten beaches in the world. We did a shore excursion to St. Martin's Orient Beach as well. The beach was nice but we were not given as much time to explore the city as I would have liked. We did Bermuda and San Juan on our own. The ship did not provide information on where to go on the islands except for shopping. I think they should have an orientation presentation in addition to shopping. Overall a great time for us and our fanilies.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Excellent main dining room. OK buffets.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Ice skating show was fantatstic. Theater shows were just OK.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Room stewards, waiters, bartenders, were all excellent. Tour clerk was unable to provide any help on doing stuff on your own on two of the islands.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

I was surprised how easy it was to get around suc a large ship that was totally sold out. The pools were always too full but that did not surprise us

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

We had a blacony room that was roomy! We traveled with my sister and son in adjoining staterooms. The Explorer balconies do not connect. Newer ships in this class have connecting bealconies.

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

It was very hot and we were in port only for about 6 hours. Again, our activities desk offered no help in planning things on your own unless you wanted to shop all day. My wife had done some online reserach so we spent a good three hours seeing some of the sites on our own.

Thumbs Up 0

King's Wharf, Bermuda

3 out of 5

It was a cool and cloudy day. We went to the caves and had a good time with the two tours. Made arrangements on our own to take teh ferry and bus and it worked out fine.

Thumbs Up 0

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

The BoBoJam beach and restaurant on Orient Beach were fun. We are a bunch of beach bums and liked this area. We were tossed off our beach chairs by another guide who claimed to have reserved a section.

Thumbs Up 0

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

We shopped at teh peir which was enough for me.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: St. John's is a great one day trip. The tour uide we had was very good. Snorkeling was excellent.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

King's Wharf, Bermuda

3 out of 5

It was a cool and cloudy day. We went to the caves and had a good time with the two tours. Made arrangements on our own to take teh ferry and bus and it worked out fine.

Thumbs Up 0

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5

We shopped at teh peir which was enough for me.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: St. John's is a great one day trip. The tour uide we had was very good. Snorkeling was excellent.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Pros: The boat had a number of activities for all ages. The most spectacular was the ice show.