This Alaskan cruise was our first cruise....a gift from my son for mine & my husband's 60th birthdays. It was better than I ever expected and I would definitely book another cruise on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas. It wasn't just the ports and excursions that were enjoyed, but the staff made it our best vacation EVER!!
Will not be our last....I promise you.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation didn't take as long as I thought it would. Everyone was very nice & helpful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Many dining rooms on the ship. While we didn't go to any of the specialty restaurants, we did enjoy the others. I liked it that there were hand sanitizers at the entrances of the restaurants and there were also crew members that would give you the sanitizer before entering. And everything was kept clean...the crew kept up on bussing tables and kept the self-serving areas clean.
And the food was wonderful...for all meals. Very wide variety to choose from too...so you could always find something you liked.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We didn't do any of the onboard activities though we watched many. Many dance sessions, bands, and even a towel folding class aboard.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Always something going on aboard the ship. And the cruise director always seemed to be right in the middle of it. He was fun to watch and had a great sense of humor. He even had his own show on the RCTV. Very entertaining!!
Children's Programs
Don't have children and didn't watch any of these.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff was awesome. Only had one problem with a waiter. We had arranged to have "ANYTIME DINING" instead of the 8pm time they originally set us up for. I guess this was not changed. On day # 6, we finally decided to eat at the time & table listed on our sea passes. The waiter came to meet us and said "Its day # 6, now you show up. Where have you been?". I didn't take that very well. I told him we had changed our eating arrangements on the phone but I guess it wasn't really changed. We ate at other restaurants because the 8pm time was too late for us. He was fine after that but I just didn't feel welcome after that. Probably just the way I took it.
All the other waiters, room stewards and personnel were very nice, helpful, and very quick to answer any questions we had. Really miss them. And our room steward was awesome!!!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was perfect...better than I ever expected. Design, layout, decorations...everything was great. I loved the fact that the elevators have the day of the week in the carpet on the floor. We looked every day when we road the elevator to see what day it was. Very nice!
Cleanliness was excellent. We saw someone several times a day wiping down all railings to the stairs, washing glass windows, and everything was spotless.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
LOVED the room. Had read previous reviews and knew we had a good room. It had everything we needed, and our room attendant/steward, RENE made sure we had everything we needed and kept the room cleaned as well as the bed made & towels changed. It was awesome not to have to clean or make the bed ourselves (even though I did a few times). And I loved the fact he remembered & called us by our names whenever he saw us.
Also loved the fact that every morning outside the cabin room, they would leave you a pamphlet listing all the days activities onboard as well as menus. They thought of everything!
Ship tip
Definitely have a balcony suite. The views from the ship were awesome, and the balconies very relaxing. Would definitely recommend room 7642.
And if you have any questions, deck 5 has a help desk as well as excursion planning area. The crew at the help desk were great help in answering our many questions.
Busy port but very nice! A little hectic but then again, with so many leaving the ship and then others getting ready to board, it's to be expected. Everyone was nice though.
LOVED Juneau! NIce port!! We went on a whale seeing excursion. Everyone was so knowledgeable and made sure we had a good time. From the time we left the ship, there was always someone there to help tell you where to meet for your excursion...and there were a lot of excursions going on at once! But they kept everyone up to date on when & where. Would have loved to have spent more time in the town.
Saw many hump back whales and the tour crew made sure we to turn the boat around a few times so all could view the whales. A great excursion!
Also loved Skagway!! The port was gorgeous and again, there was always someone there to make sure you got to the right meeting area for your excursion. We went on the Bald Eagle sight tour. While we only saw one bald eagle, the boat driver was very fun and shared his knowledge of the area and the eagles with us. Great hot dog, soup lunch too.
Beautiful little port. We did a city tour in a bus and well as spent some time downtown on the pier. Saw some street performers, as well as some tall ships. Bus driver, again, was extremely knowledgeable about the area.
Disembarkation was very organized as they told you in advance when your room was leaving the ship and where to meet so everyone wasn't leaving all at once. We arranged it the night before so they would take our luggage we weren't carrying out with us and have it at a meeting place for us...so we wouldn't have so much to take down with us.
Very sad to go.
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