Did Not Meet Expectations

Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 18

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Explorer of the Seas

7 Night Alaska Sawyer Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 26, 2016

Ship: Explorer of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 9334

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Besides the dreaded, but expected, lines boarding and disembarking, the overall cruise experience was mildly disappointing:

*  Positive - The stateroom was clean and our attendant (Fitzpatrick) was outstanding.  He should be commended.

*  Positive - Assigned dinner seating / didn't have to wait on table.

*  Disappointing - The hordes of people / long waits for elevators / limited seating in Windjammer for the large number of people / seating difficult to find for some shows and events; for most events one had to arrive very early and wait until a previous event ended.

*  Disappointing - Service in dining room was adequate but slow;  it seemed as though the waiters were understaffed and handling too many tables.  On their behalf, they were working very hard trying to please everyone. Breakfast orders of fried eggs in dining room were less than desirable / Food in CHOPS was good, but service very slow.  Our meal for our party of six took three hours from the time we sat down.

*  Disappointing - Food was adequate but certainly not exceptional.  It was difficult to get a decent amount of salt & pepper out of the shakers in dining room.  This was a daily nuisance.

*  Favorable - The stops at Juneau and Skagway were enjoyable / The casino was fun.

*  Unfavorable - Of our party of eight, four caught colds on our vacation.

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our cabin time was very enjoyable. Always clean and well funrnished.

Ship tip

Opt for assigned eating time. This will eliminate having to wait in lines and you will have the same table every night.

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

5 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5

Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska

5 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 18

2 Comments

The1edge    8 years ago

You probably shouldn't be eating that much salt anyway! RCCL probably did you a favor. So sorry to hear of your runny noses, too. Next time, pack hand sanitizer, Kleenex, and surgical masks. Your comment on the Windjammer reminds me of the Yogi Berra quote..." It's no wonder nobody ever eats here...it's too crowded."

kodak7    8 years ago

Omg. "It was difficult to get a decent amount of salt & pepper out of the shakers in dining room". That's the funnest rant yet. Did you ask for a fresh set? And did your party pack enough of warm clothing? Now if you said 3 out of 6 got sick to stomach from the cruise, you have a reason to complain. Colds, not so much........... Better to pack some salt and pepper packs next cruise, lol.

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