Another Fantastic Cruise on the Explorer

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 42

Review summary

This was our second time on the Explorer of the Seas and once again she did not disappoint! We just got off of the 5 night to Bermuda that left 9/20/08. My first rave has to go to the incredible staff on this ship. These people go out of their way to anything and everything for you. They are friendly and polite and somehow still manage a smile after a 12 hour shift. I truly can't say enough about them. The ship itself is really beautiful. Although she is in need of a little TLC (chipping and rusting a bit, etc), she is kept very clean and unless you are really looking she looks pristine. It is also big enough that you never run out of a new place to explore or go and have a drink and there were plenty of places to get away from the crowd. The food on the ship was good, not great but good. The Windjammer was a bit crowded and the food their was very average. The dining room, however, had much better food and excellent service. The casino and bars were very fun and very active but I really hate all of the smoking. There is one teenie, tiny non-smoking area in the casino and there were 3 people smoking. I wish the staff would have enforced this. It is also horrible to be walking to lunch and have to walk by a line of people smoking. By the time you get to where you are going you smell like smoke. As a non-smoker this is an awful smell. I think there should definitely be a smoking area but definitely not the whole side of the ship and the casino is too small a space. We visited Bermuda on this trip and is was our third time there. We went to Snorkel Park which is within walking distance to the ship. There are jet ski rentals, snorkling and a small bar and grille. We paid $24 for two frozen drinks at the bar so needless to say, we won't be buying drinks there anymore. There was also a great glass blowing shop where I bought the most beautiful earrings. They also sell the famous rum cakes there so bonus! There were lots of scooter rentals and segway tours but we decided to walk about a mile from the ship to a secluded beach where we found sea glass by the pound, it was phenomenal. We had read about this beach and thanks to a few friendly locals we were able to find it. We even gave our favorite bartender Sujith a few pieces to bring home. Finally....the other passengers. First let me say that we met some of the nicest people ever on this cruise. It was fun to get to know people from all walks of life. I met a wacky millionaire from DC and a rapper from NYC, it was so much fun. I couldn't hep to notice, however, the lack of common courtesy that some people had when dealing with the staff. It was appalling and I was embarrassed. Even worse was that the adults also let their children treat the staff just as poorly. I found myself apologizing for their behavior! It was just really sad to see these great people being treated so poorly by some. All in all it was just a great cruise. We have one booked in December of next year but we can't wait that long to go back. 5 nights was way too short!!! The Explorer is simply magnificent and I can't wait to get back.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

King's Wharf, Bermuda