Royal Caribbean is outstanding and our favorite!! Beautiful ships and great service! We have sailed Carnival, Princess, Disney and NCL (all very good), but Royal is by far our favorite and exclusive the last five years. I believe the loyalty benefits are better also, in our experience.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Outstanding! Royal Caribbean had set up a special table for passengers in wheelchairs. No waiting! We were onboard within 15 min, after entering the building. Porters were on hand and very efficient.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food in the dining room and Windjammer was always good, but not great. However, serving 20,000 meals per day is obviously a great challenge. It seems that chefs prepare and present entrees in a way that does not meet my taste, ie. I may like the basic food, but not the things they add to it.
Drinks and bartenders were very good!
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
As we were on a west coast Sept cruise, the pools were only slightly used by most guest, as it was too cool. I never saw anyone on the rock climbing wall or Flowrider during the entire cruise.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The two production shows and the ice show were great! Especially considering this was the first time the cast had done one of the shows. The only problem with the ice show is they try to force you to attend the ice show at a certain time, instead of allowing you to get tickets to attend at your convenience.
The two "Headliner" shows were OK, but not as good as usual.
Children's Programs
No children with us.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff in ALL areas were outstanding!!!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship design is one the main reasons that Royal Caribbean is by far our favorite cruise line, 18 of 34 cruises, and exclusively for the last five years. The ships are always extremely clean. We always try to sail on ships that have the Promenade.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The balcony cabin is just the right size and design for us. The cabin steward was outstanding! He met or exceeded out needs. The closet had plenty of hangers and seemed to be a little larger than other ships. The mattress seemed a little too firm, but about the same as most ships. All the furnishings were in very good condition.
Ship tip
Enjoy this beautiful ship!! This was our third time to sail on the Explorer (each with different intinerary). Great design!! Easy to find your way around. We almost always try to sail on ships that have the Promenade and do not care for the smaller ships, without the Promenade.
We visited Pike Place Market the day before the cruise and it was enjoyable. We have visited the Space Needle on past trips and it is my favorite. Traffic is bad. No organized excursion.
Had visited Astoria once before and not much to see, although it has nice scenery. We only got off the ship to look at a few crafts, on the pier, and then got back on the ship.
Very nice scenery! Nice pier and transportation at the street entrance. They brought the tour bus inside the covered port buiding. We had been there before, so only did the hop on/off this time. Did two day hop on/off, but would only recommend one day.
Outstanding!! We used the luggage valet, which is now free!! They charged $25. each on a previous cruise, but it is still worth it. Royal provides your boarding passes, airline check in and luggage tags, which check your luggage all the way to your final destination. Customs has eliminated the paper customs form, so you just show your passport and go. No waiting in line!! We were off the ship in about 10 minutes.
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