The good and the bad
Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
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Sail date: February 01, 2013
Ship: Explorer of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 7634
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
This was our first cruise so we had few expectations. The good was very good- spotlessly clean ship, excellent service (except for guest relations-!), good food, wonderful cruise director and captain. Labadee, Haiti was fantastic, a truly wonderful day with great water and beaches, terrific barbeque, very relaxing. Enjoyed San Juan and St. Thomas, although the weather was pretty bad and the only beach day we had on the 10 days was at Labadee. Activities around the pool were fun, and our fellow passengers were friendly. The bad was "feh" to awful. Our room was well worn- palm sized chips of paint on the floor of the balcony, chipped furniture, rusted outdoor furniture and trash can in the bathroom. That being said, it was all spotlessly clean. Our room steward, Herman Susherman, was terrific. The rest of the ship looked very good to great. It was comfortable (including the bed) and attractive. We always found a table to sit at in the Windjammer and were seated promptly in the dining room. We changed from late seating to My Time Dining, because it worked better with the show times for us. The only criticism I have of the dining was their use of imitation crab, in dishes that read "crab meat" like Veal Oscar, which was the only awful dish I had. The crab cakes were real crabmeat. The shows were great, whether it was the ice show or regular show in the evening. Our only major problem (beside very rough seas and lousy weather, which was not their fault) was we never got to the Dominican Republic! We were told to pick up tender tickets 15 min. before we were ready to depart, and could go back and forth to the ship throughout the day. After 2 hours of waiting, I wanted to know where the tender was. They said it would be leaving shortly. I asked how long I'd have to wait for a tender to get back to the ship, another 2+ hours? The response I got- a shoulder shrug. She had no idea. When I complained at the Guest Relations desk, all three people there just looked at us. Never asked our room number, never apologized, nothing. Like talking to a wall. Also, on the way onto the boat, my husband brought his Swiss Army knife, which was confiscated, but we were given a receipt to pick it up on our way home. It disappeared- they didn't know where the receipt we had came from, and Lost and Found keeps NOTHING, it's a joke. IF they ever find it, they'll return it- but we have to pay the postage. Really? How cheap of them. Left a bad taste in our mouths.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Pool chairs are saved by groups, regardless of what they say about prohibiting it. Same with seats in the theater. Get to both early. And smoke in the casino was disgusting- they need a better air filtration system- the stink rose up to the Promenade.
Ports of call
Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey
Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)