Explorer of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was the second Royal Caribbean cruise for my husband and me. We absolutely loved it! We enjoyed the shows, the service, the great food, and the new friends we made. The entire staff aimed to please. We are already talking about taking another cruise.

I've been on other cruise ships, but this one was far superior. The crew was super friendly, the food was amazing, the awesome entertainment kept on coming day after day, after day. The shopping aboard the ship was fabulous. With endless bargains on two of the five days. The crew was very knowledgeable of the port we docked at. And we were given ample tips on the very best places to visit and shop, and the wonderful beaches to sightsee. All in all, this was a fantastic cruise, and I wish I was still on this ship enjoying the endless amenities!

We had a wonderful time. THe weather was great, dining and activities were wonderful. Always something to do. Our room was fine,and the gentleman who cared for it was outstanding.He had a super personality. We cant wait to book the Quatum when its ready to rock and roll.

This was my 6th cruise. It was my 3rd Royal Carribean cruise. I must say I love the Royal Carribean Cruise Line best for many reasons and this last cruise on The Explorer of the Seas lived up to my expectations. Even though this ship was slightly smaller and older than the last RCCL ship I went on, it still had everything I wanted. The service was great everywhere on the ship. Everything was clean and well maintained - only the extremely picky would notice any sign of wear. There was always many things to choose from to do. My husband and I loved the mini golf, the lounges with various music groups playing, browsing the promenade, the theater shows every night, the ice skating show, the seminars, sitting on deck, the adult solarium & hot tubs and more. The food, while not 5 star restaurant quality, was still quite good and certainly quite plentiful - I gain weight! I really appreciate the efficiency of the bathrooms. Although all cruise bathrooms are small RRCL bathrooms make good use of space. And I love that the showers all have the rounded ( bowed out ) doors instead of the dreadful shower curtains the some cruises have. We enjoyed all 4 of the ports & the tours we took at 3 ports. The 2 RCCL excursions were excellent and we took our own taxi tour in Bermuda. (That was well worth the money as we could do exactly what we wanted.) What we liked most about this cruise is that we did not have to fly to get to the cruise. We could drive to the NJ port. That made our vacation more relaxing from the beginning to the end.

Food, service,entainment are great except one time I went to the ice show, the lady attendant is kind of rude to the guest about the admission. Also, I would like to have chicken finger and more vegetable in the buffet menu.

It's a fun trip ... But a bit short. Great for families ... lots of kids on board. Don't count on computers to entertain ... wifi = $$$ ... But there is plenty to do and enjoy. Not a big recommend for singles ... Or mature crowd looking for a quiet and relaxed time. There are a few surprises for the first time cruiser (it was our first time) there are a lot of hidden costs ... Be prepared to spend! You are constantly offered products and services "at an additional cost". Unless your a big drinker ... Drink package is a waste. Yeah that's right no drinks included even a soda is an added cost. Time in Burmuda was way too short ... With little to no advice from cruise ... Other than "additional cost" excursions. Would have liked some advice on great place to eat or a must see beach, but all we got was ... For an additional cost you can go on this tour ....

This was me and my family first cruise and we had a blast. From boarding the ship on day one to the farewell dinner was enjoyable. We enjoyed everything from the food (washy washy), sports bar (was able to watch the NBA Finals and it was a blast on board), sports activities, fitness center, the parades, shows, and the staff was excellent. I highly recommend this cruise if you are cruising for the first time with family. This is a great cruise for a family reunion.

Weather could have cooperated more. The outward voyage was cloudy and rainy and the homeward was very choppy and windy. The Island was fine. I'd take the trip again. It was short and Bermuda is lovely. The Ship and crew are also very cool. But the Bayonne facility is a nightmare that takes away from it all.

WEATHER GOOD, SERVICE EXCELLENT, FOOD FAIR, SLOT MACHINES DID NOT PAY OUT AT ALL & BELIEVE WINNING ODDS HAVE BEEN LOWERED, BEST RIDING SHIP I HAVE EVER BEEN ON, MANY EXTRAS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED SUCH AS CANDY ON BED EACH NIGHT, NO BATHROBES, NO SHOWER CAPS, NO BODY LOTIONS. HAVING BOTH CAR ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE IN ONE LANE WAS TERRIBLE & TOOK TO LONG. dEOARTURE PROCESS , INCLUDING BAGGAGE HANDLING WAS VERY GOOD, ALTHOUGH SHUTTLE BETWEEN TERMINAL & SHIP DOES MAKE FOR LONG LINES & WAIT TIME LONGER.

Hello Cruiseline. Simply put I had the best time I've ever had. The service of everything was incredible and I cannot wait to plan another cruise hopefully in the near future. Thanks you, Harold Prigge.

The Explorer of the Seas never ceases to deliver a fabulous vacation. Its amenities, activities, shows, food, really everything about it suits all age groups. The service is the best. Whether in the dining room, cabin service, bars, reception desk, whatever, they all aim to please. Also a winner is their activities staff. They really take an interest in their passengers and make sure you're having a great time. Young or old, you've got to try Explorer of the Seas.

this cruise was awesome. crew was very helpful, polite, and friendly. good food, and very good sport facilities. enjoyed the street parade, it was fun, colorful, and wonderful to view.

This is my second time on a RC Cruise and I did enjoy it. The workers were excellent, very professional and very lively. Leigh and Frank the Tank- Cruise director and Cruise Activity manger were wonderful. Shows were wonderful since they were mostly funny. Ice Show was great I love the costumes. Ship Overall was very clean! Food was just okay- to me the food needed more flavor- I am thinking they are catering to a more adult audience so the food lacked in flavors -but hey I am from NY and I know quality food. I did enjoy the burgers and Johnny Rockets. I was a bit disappointed that the didn't provide you with a iron or a place where you can iron your clothes- they wanted to charge you to iron your clothes. On other ships I been to- they provide you with an iron or you have a laundry room which makes more sense to me. Besides that the Port of Calls were wonderful as well.

Comments regarding our vacation with Royal Caribbean "Explorer of the Seas" (5 day cruise to Bermuda, May 11-16, 2013) We have previously cruised with Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises and were very happy with our cruise experience on both of these. We decided to try another cruise line, for the experience and are very, very disappointed with our recent cruise vacation with Royal Caribbean. We may have been naive to think that all cruise lines had the same (or close to the same) standards, but it is now very evident that this is not the case. Here’s the list of mediocre standards encountered on our cruise: Smoking Being non-smokers, we had a particularly difficult time with this. While we understand that smokers are customers too, it seems to us that there are now a lot more non-smokers than smokers and that should be reflected in the amount of areas available to each group. Cigarette (and other smoking materials) smoke smells a long time, permeates into everything that is porous (fabric, wood, etc.) and that the ‘old smoke’ smell is absolutely disgusting when it is very humid. I guess you have to be a non-smoker to have this experience. It would be interesting to know how many of the Royal Caribbean execs are smokers... This ship is well suited for smokers and should be ‘marketed’ as such. In fact, we think this ship should be renamed “Ashtray of the Seas". Here are examples of our experience: • 2 outdoor pool bars (the only ones outside) with ashtrays on the bar counter. Of course this attracted all the smokers to ‘hang out’ at the bar, smoking their little hearts out while the non-smokers, held their breaths, waiting for their drinks to be prepared and move to other locations. • The casino area is completely open on the deck and, of course, smoking. I guess we should be thankful that we had one evening dedicated to non-smokers. It was not very interesting to us to spend time (and money) in the casino, even on the non-smoking evening with the stench of old cigarette smoke everywhere (upholstery, carpets, etc.). To make things worse, the casino, being located on a deck opened on either side to the adjacent bar areas, the smoke smell travelled to these other locations on a couple decks (4 and 5). • Half of the public outdoor deck areas permitted smoking. So wherever you were, whenever the wind blew our way, we got that wonderful smoke smell. My-time dining Your my-time dining system is not working properly and not efficient. We have no problem with waiting a reasonable time for a table. Here are examples or our experience: • One evening, we were told that since we did not have a reservation, we could not have a table for quite some time. This was at 7 PM and the hostess asked that we come back and check at 9PM. The hostess did not even take a look at her table chart or at what she could do. This is completely unacceptable. We’ve always used our-time dining with our other cruises without any problem. At most, we have waited 45 minutes, with very sympathetic personnel and follow-ups. We finally decided to go to the Windjammer for dinner and missed out on our lobster dinner. • The following morning, we decided to call for a reservation for that evening. We called the 3333 number that was suggested in the My-time dining section of the daily journal. This was at 7 AM. There was no answer but a voicemail message came on saying that they were not available and to leave a message. So we left the message giving our stateroom number, the number of people and the hour of our reservation. Believe it or not, when we showed up for your reservation, we got the ‘’No, you do not have a reservation dear’ from the hostess. We then explained that we left a message and we were told that that wasn’t possible. One employee then agreed that there was a voicemail where people left messages but that they never checked them.... The hostess then quickly assigned us a table in front of the waiter's service counter (where they bring back the dirty dishes). We guess we got what we deserved right for trying to fit into the ‘system’. • We believe that your My-time dining should be renamed "the hostess will decide when/where you'll dine" . Food quality Having been on the other two cruise lines, we could compare the quality of the food served and we felt it was not up to par with our other dining experiences. Many things seemed not ‘home made’ but ready-made. Among other things, we were quite disappointed with the Caesar salad -too simple, ordinary, French onion soup - just a consommé no onion pieces, a plate of battered fish and seafood –ordinary (the one at Costco is superior), the shrimp and scallops were way over cooked, key lime pie – filling very ‘ready-made’. The lamb and aged beef were good. We didn’t get to taste the lobster due to the above-mentioned situation. Premium beverage package Again having had other cruise line experiences, we were able to compare the packages. The Royal Caribbean premium beverage package is very much lacking versus its competition. First, this seems to have been something ‘new’ for the personnel onboard. Everyone seems to not quite know and had to ‘check’ what was included or not. If we take the example of Celebrity Cruises, for the same daily price, everything that was $12 or less per glass/bottle was included. That means water, sparkling water, juices, freshly squeezed juices, specialty coffees, soft drinks, all wines (within the $12), all beers, all spirits, etc. If we wanted a drink that was over $12, we were charged the difference. Example of our experience with you: • If we wanted something other than what was included, i.e. Guinness beer, we paid the full price. If we wanted another type of wine than the house wine, we had to pay the full price. In fairness, they should give you a credit and make you pay the difference. This is a very expensive package if you still have to pay for water, fresh juice, an espresso or a Guinness beer. Ship not suited for destinations from Bayonne, New Jersey We had very cold and windy weather with this cruise. Our previous cruise from Bayonne was with Celebrity Cruises. The ship was well suited for this destination, having a covered pool area. The Explorer of the Seas is not well suited for this type of sailing destination. We did not even check this aspect this time since we assumed that since we can have cold weather, that all the ships departing from New Jersey had this type of feature, a covered pool area. That way we still are able to enjoy these amenities. We were quite surprised to see that this was not the case. Comfort We had a hard time finding confortable chairs and well lighted areas inside the ship in order to relax a couple of hours without the need to change position every 5 minutes (one exception, the 3 blue chairs in the cloud nine saloon were pretty decent and we felt lucky every time we could use them). All in all we found that the ship was very ‘dark’ and not well lighted. We are very sorry to say that this sailing experience was very, very disappointing in comparison to the others we have had, and for this reason, we will not consider cruising with Royal Caribbean in the future or referring the cruise line.

Ship needs to go into dry dock. Balcony state room was shabby. Stabbers Went out & ship did a slow roll at times for short periods of time. Food was OK, service good. Shows good. Could not get specialty coffee in dinning room, as it took too long. We were told to go to Starbucks! No paper, pens, lotion, conditioner, shower gel, Q tips. I will go back to Celebrity for most of my cruising.

Cruise was nice, ship is getting old but still well kept. Weather was cool and water was too cold to swim, however when the sun was out it was nice low 70's

Had a wonderful time... crew was VERY accommodating. Leigh (cruise director) and Chris (asst.) were HILARIOUS! LOTS to do.... or do nothing if that's what you like. Night shows were very entertaining. It's amazing how clean the ship is with that many people on it. My only tiny complaint was that Diet Coke was sold out in the self-serve beverage dispensers at Windjammer and on Royal Promenade deck 5 for the last 2 or 3 days. But was 99.9% pleased with entire cruise. Will definitely be going again, hoping to bring some friends!

I was dissapointed with the service on the ship. Our cabin stewart was great. Bar service was terrible. No one would come around and take orders. At the champaign bar there were 2 waiters and when they weren't fixing drinks they just stood there. On the last night my husband and his friend ordered johnny walker blue on the rocks $21.00 a glass. The bottle was almost empty so the waiter said he would check for more and he would top off there glass when he found it. Never said we're out or anything else. This was my first cruise on royal carribean and it may be my last. I say go back to the old way of tipping. You got much better service then.

I had an amazing time. Bermuda was beauiful!! The staff was great, friendly and made the cruise fun, I will be sailing on Royal Caribbean again. The all inclusive package was the way to go. I avoided cruise in the past because I like to pay up front and not worry about a bill while vacationing. Thanks Royal Caribbean for a great time

The cruise was as expected. The ship was nice, clean, and the people were friendly. The weather cold and rainy (we went in April...not recommended). The food was really disappointing. We struggled to find something to eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.