Explorer of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was our first cruise so we did not know what to expect.  The service from all staff was over the top, especially towards the children.  Our dinner staff was very catering to our needs and were ready for us each evening with our drinks and smiling faces.

NOT ALOT OF TIME AT PORTS, NOT EXCEPTIONAL ENTERTAINMENT, EXCEPT THE ROYAL CARIBBEAN TALENT SHOW MEMBERS! THEY WERE GOOD. FOOD CHOICES AT DINNER WERE NOT AS GOOD AS OTHER ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES. NOT A FUN CRUISE BUT VERY RELAXING. EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMED TO GO AS PLANNED! I CAME BACK FEELING LIKE I ACCOMPLISHED A RELAXING SUNNY VACATION, WITH LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS CENTERED FROM THE CARIBBEAN BEACHES, & GORGEOUS BLUE OCEAN INLETS!

I didn't rate this cruise excellent because the Drinks Premium Package was disappointing. The advertising didn't mention limitations and it was obvious what I called premium was not defined the same by Royal Carribbean. The cruise ship is outdated and the balcony was disappointing too.

The overall cruise was very good--the best of our previous experiences with Royal Caribbean. Gorgeous ship, great service, very good accommodations, and the four destinations were awesome.  We love the town plaza with all of the shops, eateries, staged and spontaneous activities, including a Starbucks, which made my wife and daughter extra happy . The evening dining menu and food quality in Da Gamma were ok and a little disappointing, however.  The best thing about the dinner was our waiters and the bonding we established. They were the most personal and best we have experienced and they became part of our extended family. Our greatest overall food experience was in the buffet (breakfast/lunch).  The food was very tasty and enjoyable every day. We did not experience the buffet for dinner. We had dinner twice at the specialty restaurant and enjoyed the food and atmosphere very much.  The room service menu and food were also very good. Our cabins were very comfortable and the experience of sleeping with the open balcony was so refreshing and rewarding. We are eagerly looking forward to doing this cruise again and hope our experience will be enhanced even more by our comments below.

Would like to make a few suggestions for enjoyment in the future.  The dinner menu and food quality need to improve.  For example, crab cakes were on the menu and every one in our party ordered them.  Not a single piece of crabmeat could be found.  They were made with fake crabmeat (pollock),  and after the first bite, all of us returned the dish.  A couple of times the food was not cooked thorougly or as requested and not enough daily variety was offered. These were inexcusable and disappointing.  Overall, maybe one-half of the items we selected during the nine dinner nights were good to very good. No excuse for it not being consistently very good.  Good thing we had the waiters we did.  They made up our dinner disappointments.

We were disappointed in the choice of sweetners used in the preparation of sugar-free deserts and available in the dining and eating facilities. All of the sugar alternatives were nutri-sweet varities that are all artificial and dangerous to ones health.  More healthier and natural sweetner such as truvia or stevia were no where to be found.  Splenda, which is not as good as truvia and stevia, but much better than nutri-sweet was unavailable, but available on other Royal Caribbean Ships we have traveled.  No excuse for that either.  We have come to love cruising on Royal Caribbeans and hope these suggestions will be implemented in time for our next cruise this year.

What an amazing trip.  Highly recommended trip.  Ship was awesome... as expected by RC, and Bermuda... if not already on your bucket-list... put it on there.  Very well worth the trip.

Renting scooters is discouraged by most, but my wife and I are adventurous- and loved them.  The island is only 22 miles tip to tip.... and we put 64 miles on our scooters in the 24hrs we had them.

Overall I thought the cruise was nice. The food was pretty good in the dining room, though at times I thought it could have been better. I did have a great experience with the helpfulness of my server in meeting my gluten free needs. They had fresh baked gluten free bread for me every dinner, and I ordered breakfast for the following morning which included gluten free french toast or gluten free pancakes. Both of which I can't remember the last time I had! My server was Wendell - he was absolutely wonderful. He told me everything I could want to know about the ship, how to get the food I needed (for my gluten allergy), and even about the islands. He was a pleasure. I cannot say good enough things about him!

Just a note - Portofino's was a little overrated. Its only $25 per person for the dinner, but the food wasn't fabulous and it was more about the "presentation" of the food than the taste of the food. You might as well not waste your money since the normal dining experience (sit-down as well as the buffet) are included in your costs. 

My niece who is 7 months old also accompanied my family on the trip - and the cruiseline was less than helpful when it came to her. She wasn't allowed in the pools and they reminded us constantly of this (we just had her feet in the water to cool off). They had a pack and play for her to sleep in but it took up the bulk of the room which was frustrating and they said they could not take out the table that was in the room to give us more room. They don't provide any baby food or anything like that so my sister had to bring everything herself. They also don't allow children that are not potty trained to be in their children's activities so she could not be apart of that. Lastly, they say they offer babysitting for nights you want to go to dinner/drinks without the kids - but really its based on the staff doing overtime if they choose, but it is not guaranteed that they will show up because if they have other duties needed, then they dont have anyone to babysit. This was very frustrating because they advertised it like it was 100% there and available, but really its not. So from the sounds of it - it just seems like the cruiseline isn't very accomodating to little children. The biggest problem was that they still charged for the baby as a full passenger along with gratuities - which is crazy. She wasn't allowed to use any of the ammenities!

I think at the end of the day, the cruiseline is really meant for people without kids, people with elementary school aged kids(they were better with their activities for them), and elderly people. If you have young kids - you're constantly running around with little help from them.  

The biggest complaint I have is that there were no signs posted about getting your photos from the cruise prior to the day of embarkment back in the US. They did not have their photo area appropriately staffed for the demand on the last day of the cruise. Becuase of the craziness in the photo area - we waited until the morning of embarkment - and we were unable to purchase them. Its a little crazy. But essentially I was told that there are international laws that keep them from selling things once we're back at port. The physical pictures were discarded (recycled) as of midnight the night before, and the electronic photos were deleted as of midnight the night before the cruise ended. I'm disappointed about that.   

First time with Royal C.  Many activities on the ship for the whole family. 5 star dining. Wonderful entertainment with the ice show, comedy show, magic show and musical entertainment. Everyone of the crew were very courteous and friendly.

I have to say we enjoyed this cruise very much!  The kids (2 boys, 6 and 4) had a very good time.  they loved the pool and the jacuzzis (spelling??).  THe food was great.  nothing outstanding but never had a bad meal.  loved it all.  the entire ship was very clean.  for a ship to have been in service for a while now, i was impressed by the clenliness of everything.  nothing looked worn, slightly outdating in color, but overall I felt comfortable.  The ports were beautiful.  limited time in most of the ports which made it difficult to get out and enjoy them.  Labadee was BEAUTIFUL and we had the best time there!  They built it up wonderfully!!  My only and biggest problem..... our 8 month old!.  She was fine but the entire ship had nothing to offer her.  They did not provide any babysitting services, in the room or in any other area of the ship.  That proved to make things difficult for a baby that loved to sleep.  I made the mistake of getting an inside room with no windows, so sitting in the room while she slept was impossible.  she wasnt allowed in the pool, no diapers, swim diapers, or pull ups in the pool!  Then to top it off, the wanted to charge her gratuities!!!  I absolutely refused.  Partially my fault for having booked a cruise ship that did not provide any services for her but i also should have been alerted to the extremelly limited amenities for a baby!!!

The Exlorerer of the Seas is a nice cruise ship, albeit the decor in their staterooms are a bit dated.

Service in the dining room for lunch and dinner were excellect, and so was the stateroom cleaning/daily room service. We tipped extra on top of our mandatory daily tipping to a few individuals who provided excellect customer service. Entertainment on-board was decent. Pool area was good. We spent most of our time in the Solarium, adults-only jacuzzi and pool. The food was decent and had enough variety that you aren't eating the same thing everyday. My only complaint were the desserts, they were a bit lackluster. I would recommend this cruise to others. 

Cruise met or exceeded expectations in terms of service, accommodations, entertainment, and activities. However, food in Windjammer cafe inexcusable in terms of quality and selection. Food in main dining room improved during cruise, nad overall the service from waiters and staff was excellent. Presentation and quality of food in main dining room average compared to other cruise lines we've sailed with. Perhaps it's a sign of the times. Most others we spoke to regarding the dining experience were on the same page in terms of feelings expressed above. The next cruise we sail will return us to the line we chose for our two previous cruises, prior to this trip.

This was my first cruise, I loved it and plan on taking many more. Everyone was very friendly. I recommend the dining room for dinner rather than the buffet, the dining room has much better food and you can order as much as you want. I got the drink package and it was well worth it I will purchase it again on future cruises. There were alot of activities on the boat, they had them parties such as a 70's party and a glow in the dark party but they were only about an hour long which I thought was weird they shouldve been a little longer. But all in all it was great.

Was not impressed with Explorer of the Seas.  Ship is looking aged in some areas.   Staterooms are not refurbished- Carpets, mirrors, balcony just have a tired look.   Definetly needs refurbishing.  The food was not very good.  Not what I expected.  The Windjammer for Lunch was like eating at an all inclusive resort in punta cana. 2 stars.  Lots of choices but little taste.  Pasta dishes were bland, chicken dried out, hamburgers sat like leather discs none made to order so you had to add cheese slices yourself that did not melt so if you like cheeseburgers forget it.  Would not sail this ship again due to the fact that even in the dining room food was just OK.  Exception was lobster night which was very good.  No eascargot in dining room offered or raw sushi choices in the Windjammer.  I can't eat smoked salmon for sushi.    Many other guests I spoke with agreed that the food was not up to par for RCCL.  :(    I have alot to compare this cruise with since I have sailed 10 x's before this one.   Servers &  attendants were great though and tried very hard to please.   We loved Bermuda.  Water is so blue it's unbelievable.    

If you are a alcoholic and over 80 this cruise is for you. The buffet dinner was great and the room service was great. However the staff that controlled intertainment sucked and not informative at all. Example : The chamber had scheduled a family fun hour 7:30 to 8:30 pm I took my grandchildren and nothing or no one was there. The whole cruise we were in the pool but at the last day and was cold we found by chance a swimming pool for kids with a slide . I cant understand that knowing we had children and never was informed about the kid pool. All this cruise did was to promote drinks to the drinkers. Coming back to port the local cab/taxi wanted 4.00 dollars ahead to go 10 blocks when the fare is only 6.25 any other day. Trying to keep money in the community is very hard with this expierence.

We had a wonderful experience on Explorer of the Seas to Bermuda the 3rd-8th of May. Every one of the staff that we met were friendly and very committed to do an excellant job. The balcony room was great and the wait staff at the Magellan didning room were fabulous. All the shows were superb and the food was great.  Keith Lewis

My husband and I went on this cruise for our 20th anniversary and had a blast!  The boat is big and beautiful and when you're in the main part of the ship, you don't even feel like you're on a boat - it looks like Main St.  The food was great and the entertainment was good too.  We would definitely do this cruise again.

My family and I had a very good time.Ship is beatiful.All staff is very friendly.They working very hard to make us happy.Entertainment is excellent.Food is delicious.

I enjoy over all experience all the islands we visited are worth visiting,  the most enjoyable was labade island in Haiti.  I will take this cruise again.  I will recommend if you offer a better rates for single people one person in cabin so it makes it more convenient its hard to find a partner to co-ordinate vacation time etc.

I was disapointed to see that Royal has slipped so badly.  First problem was a major hassel to change to any time dining, they insistently demanded reservations for the first several day, set a very bad tone to the whole trip.  Secondly the WIFI / computer thing is a joke, worse then the Spirit airline rip off, spent $225, never got wifi, had to use very slow cumbersome computers.  Computer / wifi is free on river cruise trips, glad spring is here I i will spend the summer that way.

   Last month I went with Norwiegion, much improved and a far better trip then thisone a full day in each port, much better wifi, food every bit as good and hassl free, bet they get my next big boat trip.  It is a real shame you have many very outstanding employees working very hard, Mgt needs to get it's head out of it's ass!

Barr Quist was a happy customer for years!

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This was a great cruise to relax on.  Enough sea days to really get to know the ship and relax.  Shows were fun.  Ice skating show was spectacular with 1st class costumes. Could have watched it over and over.  Rooms were nice, though balconies were smaller than expected.  The ones on Royal Caribbean are larger.  Would definitely recommend this cruise and would go again myself.

This was my 3rd cruise, but 1st with Royal Caribbean. The NJ dock area where we boarded our ship was a bit rough around the edges and could use some sprucing up.The boarding reminded me more of an immagration to America experience than a start of a luxury vacation.  I certainly didn't expect to drop an extra $95 on parking. Thankfully it didn't last very long. The Explorer of the Seas is a beautiful ship with all the amenities and then some. Unfortunately the weather/seas/winds were very rough causing quite a bit of difficulty for many passengers on board and closing a few amenities on the upper part of the ship. Even so, the RC ship's crew, staff, service, etc. were warm and courteous, bending over backwards to attempt to meet every need. The food on board was excelent and the portions just right. Despite the weather there was lots to do on board. We thoroughly enjoyed our time both on board the ship and off in Bermuda.  In general, my 2 daughters and I had a very nice time.The only thing I might reconsider in the future is going further south at this time of year to avoid the inclement weather.