Explorer of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My experience on the cruise ship was good. My personal issues are with Cruises Only. When making my reservations I stated I would need a refrigerator for insulin and was told it would be taken care of. A few days before leaving, I called again to check on this and was told it would be taken care of. I was not taken care of. Every room has a cooler in it, but I needed a refrigerator with a freezer to freeze my ice packs for when we docked and went ashore. We were traveling with another couple and asked to be next to or close to the other couple. We were told that could not be guaranteed, but would try. We were on opposite ends as well as opposite sidesof the the ship. I have friends who travelled with friends and used a travel agent and they were directly across the hall from each other. And they didn't have to pay more for this. They went on the same cruise as we did, but at a different time - for less money.

Overall my fiance and I had a great time despite being sidelined by tropical storm Christopher. We missed San Juan and Labadee but went to Nassau to bypass the storm. We're going to look into taking a future cruise with Carnival in hopes the food and entertainment are above average. This was my second cruise with RC and my fiance's first and while we had a fun time, we were both left somewhat disappointed. It should be noted no matter what the ships stores said, the liquor and tobacco prices were MUCH cheaper on the islands.

The ship is immense and beautiful. The onboard directions made it easy to find your way around. The first day was a learning experience, but after that it was familiar. Lot's of walking up and down since the elevators tended to be crowded, at least for the initial boarding (we used the stairs) and after some shows. It also took us a day or two to find the shortcuts to where we wanted to go, i.e. shortcut through the casino to get from the fore side of deck 3 to the aft side of deck 3. The Windjammer Cafe, the buffet dining room was a great alternative to lunches and between meal snacks. The 24 hour cafe on the Promenade made it very convenient for that first cup of coffee in the morning, or a quick slice of pizza after a dip in the pool(s).

This was our 2nd cruise in 2 years with RCCL and it felt like coming home! This ship was identical to Voyager of the Seas other than the decor, so we were very comfortable getting around. We had a balcony room which was next door to a room that was flooded on the 2nd night due to the occupants hanging something from their sprinkler. Our rug/floor was soaked and the cabin smelled horrible...the head of housekeeping had both rooms refurbished with new carpet and deorderized while we were at dinner (from discovery of our room's damage to the time we returned to it fixed was only 2 hours!). There was no inconvenience to us and no interuption of our use of our room...very, very impressed! The weather was awful. It rained all but 1.5 days total and it never felt crowded even with over 3.000 passengers all inside! Due to the fact that it was only a 5 day cruise it felt very rushed and the activities were not promoted like on the longer cruises we've done, so we did feel like we missed a lot and were forced to choose between activites/shows. We cannot wait to cruise again, but will most definitely go for a longer trip.

Overall, the experience was great! The only suggestion I have is that there should be medical facilities on each deck. This is not to say a doctor on each deck but there could be an EMT who could take care of medical emergecies until the doctor did arrive.

the ship was magnificently appointed. it was very elegant and sophisticated. i loved the royal promenade with the shops and restaurants and lounges.

The ship was a beautiful and some of he satff went above and beyond to be accommodating but it was not the norm on this ship, based on my previous cruising experience with Royal Caribbean. The down side to my experience was dealing with the staff as it related to the buisness center. It was a working vacation for me, and I found it frustrating and way too difficult to get simple things done like prinitng a document. I had to work way too hard to get the help I needed from the Royal Caribbean staff. I finally got what I needed but it left a sour taste in my mouth toward the end of the week. It was almost like the head purser and those that worked the purser's desk with him, except for one young women, behaved as if they no longer had to be accommodating on the last day of the cruise. It was also way too difficult for my husband to get a jacket pressed; difficult for me to get room service until I made a big fuss. For example, in the room service information in the suite it said that dinner could be ordered from 6-9 p.m. yet when I called to order my dinner at 6:30 p.m. I was told that I could not place my order until 7 p.m. because they had to take care of the people who were eating in the dining room and that I would not get my dinner until about 8 p.m. Only after I fussed and declared that it was unacceptable and asked to speak to a supervisor did I get some satisfaction. I got my dinner about 30 minutes after it was ordered. When things were needed, such as a jacket pressed, dinner in the room, ect. and things were not being handled to our satisfaction, there was too much resistence from the staff to speak to supervisors. They wanted you to repeat yoru request or problem to too many peopel before speaking with someone who had the authority to fix the problem. The bar staff was about the best and friendliest on the ship. Even in the spa there were issues that were just not good. I specifically requested and spoke with a stylist that did African American hair, yet they sceduled me with someone who had never done African American hair before. The massage therapist tried to get me to buy more products than I needed by not disclosing that one item could be purchased individually instead of buying the whole box. The way that I found this out was that my mother and I had same treatment and when I saw her individual packets of the body soak she saisd that her massage therapist was very clear that she could purchase the packets individually. All of these "little things" made for a trip that was disappointing because of my need to be pamprered and relaxed. Instead I felt as if I had to fight for everything that should have come naturally from just being on a cruise. That why I go ~ to be pampered and to relax, not to come back as tense as I was when I left.

The ship was beautiful. Very impressive to someone who never cruised before. It had everything you could want

When we first stepped on the ship. I couldn't get over how beautiful it was! .

The Explorer of the Seas is a top rated ship! The staterooms were beautiful (we had a superior balcony). The most awesome part of the ship was the service! The people working on the ship did anything and everything to make you happy! The entertainment was fantastic (although the shows were a bit "hokey")...I laughed very hard every night. I am in love with Alan the Cruise Director. I would do this again in a minute -- and plan to very soon!

My family and I have cruised with Royal Caribbean for the past four years. Although the total experience, on this trip, was pleasurable, we did notice that the services provided, general ship condition, the food and communications to the passengers has shown some deterioration from our previous experiences. Because of this, we are seriously considering either another cruise line for our future trips or possibly flying directly to some of the islands we have visited.

My family and I had sailed the RCL Voyager for a 9 day last July and had the best time so decided to keep with the same type of ship and move to the Explorer for the 9 day on 6/30/06. I couldn't have imagined that this cruise would exceed my expectations. The ship was so very familiar that it became comfortable right away. We had the owner's suite which was spcaious, and a great room steward to keep it wonderfully picked up and organized. All of the crew was friendly and attentive and it was hard to remember that there were familes before us, and would be families after us. We were made to feel that special. It is one thing to have the incredible experience of being on a ship, but to have one that you love to be on and look forward to being on again is amazing to me. Alan, the cruise director, is a natural. He is precious to look at and so naturally funny and relaxed. The ice show was great; Hayes and Wilde, the comedy team, left me in tears. Portofinos is wonderful!! The food and service were spectacular. To go on and on and rave like a lunatic might get embarrassing for me (well maybe not, but I know I won't be able to write the novel I want in this space), because that is what I want I feel I would have to do. Fill pages and pages with a glowing review of every aspect. So let me end it here with the the the proof...(besides the fact that we are going on the RCL Jewel in Oct 06)....we have excitingly and happily and anxiously booked the Explore for another 9 day on 7/6/2007!! Whooohooooo!!!

The overall impression of the ship was great!!

The ship is amazing. It is beautiful. There is so much to do and to see on this ship. There is a separate pool and whirlpool for adults only. (Solarium). Since there were a lot of children and teens on the ship, this was very ncie.

The Explorer is excellent shape. It's six years of service are not apparent in any way. This is our 14th cruise and this ranked one or two.

This was our first Royal Carribean cruise but our 7th cruise. I found that RC was lacking in several areas. They allowed us to buy excursions that conflicted with each other and if I hadn't found found the problem in time to have the money refunded I would have had to pay for both excursions. This is the only ship that has limited access to free ice tea and lemonade so that you have to purchase water or soda. There were no amenities in the cabin other than a bar of soap and the cabins and balconies were smaller than those on Carnival ships. I also found that they did not make sure to make all shows and events accessable to late seating guests. We did have a good time but unless RC was going to an island that I really wanted to see- I will stick to Carnival or Norwegian.

The Explorer of the Seas had something for everyone. I was with my daughter, daughter in law and all my granddaughters ages 8 to 43 and there was something for all of them. The ship is beautiful and the staff was well trained and they all made us feel special.

I have been on 9 cruises. I was even on the 1st cruise the "explorer of the seas" took with paying passengers out of the port of Miami almost 6 years ago now. The boat and crew didn't let us down one bit, the food as excellent, service was great... However the cruise left out of the NJ port and it took with it a majority of NJ people. Now don't misunderstand me, a lot of NJ people are very nice however a large majority of them were inconsiderate and just plain rude. Pushing us out of the way to get where they needed to go even though EVERYONE was exiting the same parts of the boat at the same time. Sitting on the beach some of them were so loud and obnoxious I couldn't even relax, we had to move. It was like they couldn't have a moment of silence, someone always had to keep shouting/yelling/talking. At 1st I thought maybe we hit a stroke of bad luck and ran into the rude people just coincendentally, it happens. However after spending 9 days on the ship and running into various people that we met who were not from NJ they all complained they were rude/inconsiderate. And what got me is I didn't even bring the topic up, people just mentioned it randomly in passing and unfortunetly they all had the same complaints. So if your a NJ native or enjoy brash inconsiderate people, leaving from the port in NJ might be your thing. This will however be the last cruise I will take from there. And I'm sure some NJ native is clapping saying "we don't want you anyway" since that seems to be the demeanor of the NJ folks. This is unfortunet because flying in a few days early to tour around NY is just wonderful. NY is beautiful, especially in the late spring. I feel bad writing this review as I did meet some great NJ people. However that being said, I think people should be aware of what the atmosphere/people will be like leaving from this port.

We enjoyed the cruise but will probably try another cruise line next time.

great time, great boat....too much to do and not enough time in 5 days...do not miss Dolphin Cove and Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica. Scuba diving in Grand Cayman is pretty good....make sure to get a balcony room on the ship