Explorer of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Our favorite part of the cruise was Victoria, B.C.  It is a beautiful place.  We would like to recommend that you spend more time in this port.  Overnight, or at least until 9 p.m.

This was the third time that I sailed on the Explorer of the Seas.  While the Explorer is a great ship I enjoyed it better before they did the recent changes.  While the outside theater is a nice idea,  it does not always work when there is high wind or rain.  The inside screening room was nicer. I liked that they made more use of the Palace Theatre.  I missed the little private areas throughout the ship where you could just relax and read. They eliminated the card and board game room and combined it with the library.  This made the library very crowed and it was difficult to find a book with all the people in the way.  The main dining room did a nice job and the waiters that took care of us (Ieka and Oka) were excellent.  The room and balcony and bathroom and closet were excellent.  Only the mattress could have been better.  Lunch in the main dining room was a little bit of a disappointment.  We had eaten there on our last two sailings on this ship, and thought that offerings were better on the previous cruises.  There needs to be more communication between the shore excursion people and the food staff..  In San Francisco if you went a night excursion you had to leave the ship before supper . The wind Jammer Café close early after lunch and opened too late for people who had to go on a tour. In our case the tour was bus tour that did not stop to allow a meal.  Something must have happen on the last day in Canada because at lunch there were no vegetables to be had at lunch.  We were not the only ones to notice this.  I also missed some of the seminars such a music appreciation or music history as well as just some general history.  Also any possibility of having some additional channels for the tv.  While we did have some disappointments, we did enjoy our cruise.  The staff was great and friendly and very helpful.  The ship handled very well in the seas. One area I was worried about was the fact that in order to make connections to get home we needed a very early flight of 9:50 a.m.  The staff helped me by telling us we could use the express departure and  told us there would be cabs available.  That gave me great peace of mind.  We were able to get to the airport in plenty of time. Just a though.  We had to leave our cabin around 600 a.m. but all the eating areas were still closed.  Perhaps one dinning area could be opened with a continental breakfast fir those who leave early.

a great cruise west coast cruise was one of the best cruise i have taken , food and service was super,going to san franciso for 2 days was great . the shows were super .the service was great all over the ship.the pomanote deck was the place to be.

This was a great cruise for relaxing and getting away from it all. Two full days in San Francisco was nice, especially since the weather was perfect.

With so much going on on other cruises (day tours) this was nice in that they were limited so everything was more casual and not as rushed.

This is the secind time we have taken this cruise and it was a nice break from the usual Med cruises.

Explorer of the Seas is a Hugh, beautiful ship that is kept spotless. We opted for the My Time Dining. We made reservations before we left home. The two servers we had each night, Michael and Jeffrey were the best. Always cheerful, polite and just plain nice. The dining room food was incredible. Our room Stewart, not sure of his name but we were in cabin 6525, kept our room clean and always managed to do that while we were out of our room..

San Francisco & Victoria,British Columbia were beautiful and fun. Astoria, Oregon was pretty small and shops old. Not much to do there. People there friendly.

This is my fourth cruise trip. I've cruised with Carnival and Norweigian before. A strong feeling is this ship only cares about getting more money out of your pocket, and it can be reflected by having only one complementary dining restaurant, more strict dining policy and shorter dining time. As for the the buffet place, its dining time is also shorter than other cruise ships, and out of the three food sections, almost always there's one of them closed for cleaning. There's no free barbecue food court or free fountain drinks on the deck either, but there're at least a dozen bars. Be careful with the menu they offered on their website, we found out later that not all the dishes are free even in the complimentary dining restaurant like you thought when looking at their website info. Als be careful with their last day's breakfast time, they closed off food section way before the schedule. Overall, it feels like a military dining room, not a relaxed vacation restaurant. Blame the short-sighted management. 

We (my older and younger brother, their wifes and my niece and her husband) took this cruise because we grew up on the Oregon coast and hadn't spent much time together in the past 10 years... we wanted to spend quality time together and my brothers (younger dealt with cancer in the last year) (older has diabetes) so we needed to do something that would be close to Seattle.  This cruise was perfect.  We got to spend time together, enjoy wonderful dining and great entertainment.  Thank you so much for a wonderful time together and great memories...

The ports were awesome.  The ship made changes since we last cruised.  Johnny Rockets is not included for free.  My dining needs reservation time.  Windjammer does not have much of a variety from day to day.  Grilling outside is gone.

Everything was good. Staff helpful, nice and fun to be around.  This itinerary was OUTSTANDING. Staying overnight in San Francisco was such a treat. You need to offer this cruise more often.

Your dinning room staff appeared to be under staffed. You are trying to cut cost too much. They did an outstanding job with the number of people they had.

I would suggest better maintenance on the men's steam room. It was broken too much during the cruise and I would suggest keeping the steam room open longer hours, tell 10:00 or 11:00 pm would be nice.

Thanks and I will see you soon!

Staff were very friendly and helpful. Our waiters at dinner were great and kept us entertained.  They put a big smile on our faces.

Departing the ship went quickly.  They have a great system to get you off and on the ship.

This was a very nice cruise.  The ship was beautiful and had an unbelievable crew.  Food was very good.  The weather was cool, so be sure to bring a heavy jacket if you go in September.  Overnight in San Francisco allows plenty of time to see the sights.  We rented a car and drove to Napa Valley, which is only about 40 miles north of the city.  

Great ice skating troup!  Long process of embarkation.  Great service, everyone friendly & helpful.  Loved the virtual balcony.  Very good entertainment.   Wish they showed more movies on tv.  Food was very good & beautifully presented.

Lets start with the good... I liked the bingo games. The prizes were larger than other ships and cruise lines I've been in. Our stateroom attendant and wait staff were all very nice. The kids club was great for my son. $1 mimosas daily in the casino. The ports were nice, the cruise through Tracey arm fjord was beautiful. The gym was big enough to accommodate. We had a lot of fun on the rock climbing wall and ice skating rink and we even played some basketball. Boyfriend made use of the cigar lounge. Relaxing and good variety of cigars. For dinner our party of 4 was seated with 2 other couples and after the first night we asked for a table for 4 and was no problem to get. I loved the tutti salad bar at lunch on sea days. The prices in the spa were cheaper than other lines but I can't comment on the quality. Now for the bad. I was disappointed in the food. To me the best part of a cruise is the food and in the dining room it tasted like the food was just heated and not really cooked. The desserts left something to be desired. Compared to other ships and lines, the food on this ship did not cut it. The shows weren't very exciting. They didn't appeal to anyone in the group. The shows we did see were mediocre at best. I also thought the room was small and organized awkwardly even for a cruise ship

   Special needs (wheelchair) not attended to for boarding/disembark.

  Very poor customer service....unless you were an elite traveler ( ie Pinnacle/

Diamond).

Waitstaff/servers were much better than the general crew members.

We did not see the Captain the entire cruise...and we did attend our dinner

seating all nights!

Our cabin was not correct and had to be modified into twin beds.

In general, the majority of staff were not knowledgeable and/or rude.

Guests at our table highly suggested booking the Princess Line next.

Very good, average cruise. Good weather. Excursions were very high priced so did not partake. Music was way too loud. Played screaming rock music in Windjammer. Guess they did not want us seniors to eat in peace.

Such a fantastic time for our first cruise. Staff service was excellent. Food was good especially Giovanni's Table and Izumi's. Enjoyed the helicopter ride to the Mendenhall Glacier and the whale watching.  Can't wait to cruise again. 

Dinner each night was a treat because of our wait staff. Our waiter cooked up several Indian Dishes (in addition to our menu selections) and served 2 different Indian dishes each night family style to our table. The other provided us with entertainment and magic tricks at the end of our meal each night. We will Miss them both. I have been on numerous cruises, (never with RC before); and this one was pure enjoyment. Dinner was never too slow; and the chef came out each and every night to ask about our meals.

had a great time, the members are on the cruise were very nice, great food, and wonderful views.

Definitely a great experience and would do it again.

satisfied with the crew.

During the cruise we saw gratuities added to our account.We went to desk to rectify and they did not agree. They called and we spoke to an agent you said we were entitled and that had already paid them to RC. The woman spoke to the desk agent  and the problem was rectified.Thank you !.

Besides the dreaded, but expected, lines boarding and disembarking, the overall cruise experience was mildly disappointing:

*  Positive - The stateroom was clean and our attendant (Fitzpatrick) was outstanding.  He should be commended.

*  Positive - Assigned dinner seating / didn't have to wait on table.

*  Disappointing - The hordes of people / long waits for elevators / limited seating in Windjammer for the large number of people / seating difficult to find for some shows and events; for most events one had to arrive very early and wait until a previous event ended.

*  Disappointing - Service in dining room was adequate but slow;  it seemed as though the waiters were understaffed and handling too many tables.  On their behalf, they were working very hard trying to please everyone. Breakfast orders of fried eggs in dining room were less than desirable / Food in CHOPS was good, but service very slow.  Our meal for our party of six took three hours from the time we sat down.

*  Disappointing - Food was adequate but certainly not exceptional.  It was difficult to get a decent amount of salt & pepper out of the shakers in dining room.  This was a daily nuisance.

*  Favorable - The stops at Juneau and Skagway were enjoyable / The casino was fun.

*  Unfavorable - Of our party of eight, four caught colds on our vacation.