Good cruise not my favorite destinations but it was a back to back so it was ok

Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

mariotroli

Contributor Level: Purser

21 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 62

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 02, 2023

Ship: Explorer of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 6523

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Overall it was just time away from home and to be in the sun we wanted a 14 day cruise and this is what we are able to get and combine with the next cruise going to the ABC island which was where we had never been. Who ever assigns the rooms are not very interested in making things easy for passengers We had a Back to back booked both at the same time and one of our cruises we were on the 2 deck and the other we were on the 6th deck. Why wouldn't we stay in the Same room for both cruise??? Overall I was a little bit disappointed

Embarkation

5 out of 5

perfect not long at all

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

All were very good. we had Harendra and Stacy as our Servers in the Main Dining room they were great we were seated at table 506 not a great location but it worked for us.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Pools and hot tubs were very nice

Entertainment

3 out of 5

They were good.

Children's Programs

i had no kids

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Dining room table 506 Harendra and Stacy were great !! we asked to be seated at the same spot on our back to back we got the same table but not the same Servers. Our room Attendant Yoni was superb !! Wonderful guy. On the fifth floor at pizza place Sparkles was absolutely attentative of passenger need and was very helpful. For an Attendant with only a few weeks experience on the job she was fantastic.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

A much needed upgrade to this ship would not be a luxury. I heard chatter that it was being schedule for upgrade in the future.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Very uncomfortable for 4 people. Does not make sense. Insufficient luggage space, Insufficient Sitting space. Worst room I ever had. Not sure if it because I booked through

Ship tip

choose a newer ship

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

it was reasonable

7 Comments

kellies26 1 year ago

In my opinion ANY Royal ship is better to be on than Carnival!

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kellies26 1 year ago

Might be good to do more research in the future on how old the ship is and when they have been refurbished if that is a big deal to you… We have been in explorer a few times. We like the layout of this ship. I’m on vacation not cooking, cleaning, etc so I guess that’s something for me.

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

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javawoody 1 year ago

It is your responsibility to book the same cabin on a b2b cruise, glad you enjoyed the experience

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kef2016 1 year ago

We’ve done 2 different back to back cruises. The first one, we had the same cabin number for the back to back. I made sure when we booked it, the cabin was available for both parts of the cruise. The back to back cruise we did last August, we could not book the same cabin number for both parts as there wasn’t a cabin available for both parts. We were able to book cabins that were only a few cabins apart. Sounds like you did a guarantee cabin rather than book a specific cabin number. If you book a guarantee cabin, you get what Royal assigns to you. Also, back to back sailings are separate reservations even though you are staying on the ship for the next sailing.

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4tanya 1 year ago

Did you book them at the same time ? If not perhaps that room had already been booked on your second cruise ??…

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Mellowjourney 1 year ago

It sounds like you purchased a guaranteed cabin which is why you had to change cabins. I always select my cabin so that I have control over location. Yes, the ship gets a refresh next month. Using a good travel agent in the future will make for a smoother trip unless you like to research every little detail. A travel agent doesn't cost any more than booking it yourself. Happy future travels. 😊

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