Good, not great

Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to U.S. - Pacific, Northwest

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 11

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Explorer of the Seas

4 Night Best Of British Columbia (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 16, 2016

Ship: Explorer of the Seas

Cabin number: 1888

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This was our 4th time cruising this itinerary, and 2nd overall cruise with Royal Caribbean. Overall, we had a wonderful time due in most part to the fact we were a group of seven adults and know how to have a great time. We had rooms on the 12th floor that adjoined and that couldnt of been better. Our balconies opened into each other and we just loved being up top close to the pools and bars, very cool. We went to the shows and loved them, we played mini golf, basketball, and shuffleboard. We explored our ports and enjoyed ourselves walking around town and hitting the Pubs and Grills, as well as talking to people and taking in the sights. The downside to this cruise was the food, or lack there of. The Buffet(Windjammer) was ok at best, good assortment that repeated itself and just wasnt that good. The Cafe on the 4th floor which was the only other "free" place to eat was always crowded and VERY limited selection, very. The other 2 places cost $25 @person or 35 @ person which doesnt make any sense and then there was Johnny Rockets, at $6.95 per person could of been ok but the service was the worst in the world, prompting me to walk out completely and in the middle of the meal, just down right awful. So try room service and if you could get them to answer the phone, they would send you what you ordered IF they were not to busy, which was told to us. They will also charge you if you happen to call them between midnight and 6am, go figure. So, yes, we had a great time, and yes, the shows were good, really good, and yes we had a great room which we paid for, but man, the service really sucked and the food was really bad and confusing. Will we go again, yes, but the last 3 times we were on Celebrity which at the time we thought was very average. Now, I will be glad to book with them. Royal Caribbean really needs to step it up or lose some business, and believe me, this was the sentiment of a lot of passengers.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Spend a bit more and get a balcony room like room 1888, it was awesome.

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5

Nanaimo, British Columbia

3 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 11

3 Comments

chrystaloftheseas    8 years ago

Fully agree!

Rachrose    8 years ago

We cruised with them 2 months ago and had the exact same experience. Worst service in dining room and Johnny Rockets I've ever experienced on a cruise ship.

barb64energy    8 years ago

I think every cruise is a different experience. I cruised Celebrity for the first time last year and my friend and I couldn't believe we were served cold food in both the dining room and the buffet. Have had both good and bad experiences on different sails on several cruise lines.

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