We really enjoyed our time on Explorer of the Seas after a very long anticipated wait time and lots of anxiety over getting vaccinated and all the protocols. We had made a conscious choice not to get vaccinated for several reasons, but the desire to go on this cruise was overwhelming and we chose to get vaccinated. The embarkation process sounded so intimidating, but we were prepared, and Royal Caribbean did a great job. I was amazed at how easy and painless it was. The lower capacity on the ship was nice so there was not as long a wait at the elevators and easy to find a chair by the pool, but it did make some of the activities less fun I think because there weren't enough people to really get things going. Overall, it was a fantastic experience despite the COVID protocols that were necessary. Every staff member we encountered was cheerful, friendly and accommodating. We will definitely go on another Royal Caribbean cruise in the future.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Easy Peasy
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food selection was good. We selected the 8:30 pm main dining room sitting which was a bit too late, but the 5:30 pm was too early. We didn't find out about the My Time dining until later in the cruise. Food was a B+. We did not experience the specialty restaurants.
Service was excellent.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pool and Flowrider. The pool was closed several days on the ship when we tried to go. The Flowrider was fantastic.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
We did not take full advantage of all the activities but did go to a couple of shows which were ok. Our favorite was Love & Marriage. Super funny. Due to the lower capacity on the ship, many of the venues had low attendance which minimized the interactions.
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Main Dining Room was John & Prasenjit - fantastic service. They were super attentive, friendly and great memory on preferred drinks and suggestions.
Pool area bar was Paolo & Emilio. He was so friendly and took very good care of us remembering even 2 days later and I'm sure after serving many many people in between.
Schooner Bar bartenders Philip and Nover were great and took very good care of us!
Flowrider guys were all great.
And last but not least, our stateroom service. I wish I could remember her name. It was something like Carmelita. It was a spanish name and I wish to apologize to her for not remembering. She was wonderful.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I was surprised at the amount of storage space. We brought ALOT of luggage, but easily fit everything with room to spare.
Ship tip
Some of the activities seemed unprepared. We went to the acupuncture seminar and waited for 20 minutes before anyone got things going. It was probably the most disappointing activity. Not very informative. We went to 2 tastings at the Port of Call and he didn't know what he was supposed to be setting up for sampling. It would be nice to have the Windjammer open 24 hours. Often we would come back from an excursion and want to eat, but it was in between main diningroom and windjammer hours but we didn't get to eat until 8:30 pm
We were underwhelmed with St Thomas. We did the Champaign Sail on a Catamaran to St Johns. We didn't see anything but the beach. The boat was fun, but the snorkeling was underwhelming. It might be fair to say, we're from FL, so we have access to these types of activities more often than someone from the north.
We did not do an excursion and just walked around the area near the port. It was just ok. We then walked down to the beach and found a Hobie Cat kayak to rent which made the day for that port.
This was our 2nd favorite port. We did the Double Decker bus tour which was actually a good mix of interesting places. The downside was not having more time at each place we visited. 15 min barely gave us time to find a restroom, let alone take in what we were there to see. One thing we were looking forward to was seeing the French side which was a bust. I don't feel we really got a good flavor for that side of the island. We really enjoyed Maho Beach and watching the airplanes. We ended up getting a water taxi to Philipsburg and then another taxi back to Maho Beach for the remainder of the day which we really enjoyed. This is a place we would consider returning.
We were denied access to the port due to 7 crew members testing positive for COVID. We were disappointed not to be able to see the Grand Pitons. But in hindsight, we were exhausted at this point and welcomed a day at Sea and the ability to sleep in.
We did not want to book an excursion in Barbados and rather do our own thing, but that wasn't possible due to country restrictions. Consequently, we did the Beach Island Hop tour which was ok. The bus driver was great. The people attending the restrooms were VERY rude. The beaches were ok, but again living in FL we weren't all that impressed.
This was by far our favorite port of call. We loved the area, and the Push Pull Swim with the Dolphins excursion was magnificent. Truly an amazing experience. After the excursion, even though we were restricted to the port area, we had fun at one of the bars near the ship and stopping in the various shops in that area. We would definitely like to return to St Kitts.
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