Disaster-Did manage to have some fun moments inspite RC's efforts to destroy my vacation

Item: Explorer of the Seas
Rating: 2.9
Author: catsam61

Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

catsam61

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 37

Overall rating:

2.9 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Dutch & French Adventure (London Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 18, 2019

Ship: Explorer of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7624

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Never so glad to be home from the cruise to HELL-Sailed on Celebrity and 3 international cruises -all wonderful-Expecting this to be the same Had many cruises in years past, never a bad experience After returning, called Post Cruise and customer service - at best, cavalier attitude-Who cares-RC reserves the right to trash your vacation at a moment's notice-I think they owe us some compensation We have a cruise reserved with RC in July-not sure if I can stomach the thought of dealing with them again

Embarkation

2 out of 5

No wheelchair as requested with

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food is very good to ok

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Could not see ice show - due to show schedule on a late port time-When we were at sea we could not be admitted "not the right letter on sea pass

Entertainment

See comment above-just another disappointment

Children's Programs

no children-but PLENTY OF THEM ON BOARD-

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Very good service from wait staff and room steward

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Nice ship

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Nice size and clean

Ship tip

Told our port time were adjusted-hours late into port-due to reduction in speed because after this sailing ship was going into dry dock to work on the stabilizers!! RC refuses to take responsibility -chose this itinerary because of port times-They do in advance that this ship needed maintenance-Ruined the cruise-they mentioned safety - how safe is it to board thousand of people onto a ship that could not sail at a normal speed-

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Hamburg, Germany

1 out of 5

Everything closed in Germany on Sundays-BAD choice to sail on a Friday and first port -Hamburg-all stores, etc. closed-just the start of RC cruise to disaster

Thumbs Up 0

Rotterdam, Netherlands

2 out of 5

Changed port time -Had very little time to do anything -Supposed to be in port from 1000am to 900 pm -Had excursion AMS on your own - They cut that short by one hour (bus trip) after not even getting off ship until after 1 PM

Thumbs Up 0

Amsterdam, Netherlands

3 out of 5

Could walk to port - took public trans -actually did more in this port with short time than the longer time we were supposed to have in Rotterdam

Thumbs Up 0

Le Havre (Paris), France

1 out of 5

Late by two hours-RC sent message in Sept that we would be late-of course only late because of ship maintenance needed-I was planning to drive to Omaha Beach - Barely made it to car rental in time-service desk was able to call and ask them to stay open during their lunch-was told taxi's would be waiting-NOT-free for all Had to fight my way into the taxi-did't want to take only 2-grabbed some other people and forced our way into the cab-The people in the taxi also heard about the dry dock situation-as did several other passengers we later met

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

at least it was organized

9 Comments

wgammon1 4 years ago

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

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oceanspice 5 years ago

We were on the same ship at the same time, even the same deck, (if you saw the stateroom door that had a chalkboard with what "These Canadian girls" were up to, that is me! Iv only ever done RC, and all without issue. Iv been on Explorer once before this trip and it was an AMAZING experience/trip/ship. This trip here was exhausting to say the very least, very port intense, but I really enjoyed each of the ports. I too was quite miffed about the scheduled change of time into Paris, and I too also recieved the emailed letter in Sept. BUT, from my understanding of that letter the late arrival was due to a required reduction in speed, but not due to maintanence, but rather, due to channel and port speed instituted by France. I also agree that everything on board was completely lack luster in way of food, and entertainment. Though I had a great trip, I was completely dissappointed with the onboard experience. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, passengers need to share these things.

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cshorlock 5 years ago

We’ve cruised at least a dozen times on rccl and love it. We’ve had issues but it doesn’t matter we love them. You Will always have issues just adjust and make the best of it all cruise lines have problems

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lol1964 5 years ago

We were on the ship 14-19 th. was fine tbh

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Cruiserike0322 5 years ago

Sorry for your experience

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ljkg 5 years ago

It sounds like the ship wasn't in great mechanical shape which means difficult keeping to time. I agree about the ice skating there's no flexibility. I loved the ship but many issues with RC means I won't sail with them again. I've been on Ovation, Radiance and Explorer and the same issue on all 3. But each to their own ... I hope your next cruise is 100% better.

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NJCruiseGuy 5 years ago

We’ve traveled on Royal Caribbean multiple times and will be on them again in a week and on Explorer of the Seas in May and are looking forward to it. Never had any issues close to what you mentioned.

Thumbs Up 2

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cruisereckoning 5 years ago

I have travel 3 cruises on RCCL and always been happy. I’m not sure what you expected but we have always been treated very well. My husband needs assistance getting on and off the ship and we have never had a problem.

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tia8656 5 years ago

You sound like an entitled person that didn’t get what they want I think you’ll be fine 😒

Thumbs Up 7

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Other reviews of this sailing

An all out, both feet in, FUN cruise

Excellent !!

Europe trip