Let me just start out by saying that this review is going to run long, I have tried to label all the sections so that readers can skip to the parts that they are most interested in! My husband and I cruised on the ‘Explorer of the Seas’ Eastern route from May 3rd through May 10th 2003. This seven-night cruise stopped in the ports of San Juan, St Maarten, St Thomas, and Nassau. We had an inside cabin on the forward part of Deck 8, and paid roughly $825 a piece (port charges included).


The Ship: Explorer of the Seas

The Explorer is one the largest cruise ships in operation. As part of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Voyager class ship series, the Explorer has the capacity for over 3000 passengers.

BARS / LOUNGES: There are a number of different bars and lounges onboard the Explorer. These range from RCCL’s traditional Schooner Bar (nautical themed) to The Chamber, a 2-story dance club with lots of lounge tables, couches and chairs. My favorites included the Aquarium Bar – which had martini specials throughout the week (great choclatinis) and beautiful aquarium fish to look at; the Sky Bar (poolside) – which has an elevated view of the pool deck and live band; and the Weekend Warrior (Deck 5) – a sports bar complete with wall to wall flat screen TVs to watch live games and booths to enjoy a snack in.

By far, the Viking Crown takes the cake for being the best place to enjoy the view of the ship itself. The Viking Crown Lounge (Deck 14) is a standard fixture on all RCCL ships, however on the Explorer this bar shares its space with the 19th Hole”, and golf memorabilia-themed lounge that directly overlooks the 9 hole miniature golf course on Deck 13. The Viking Crown Lounge is on the highest deck level, and is the best place to watch the ship pull into and out of port.

CASINO: The Explorer’s casino is decorated with a Vegas theme. There are showgirls welcoming you at the entrance, Vegas inspired flashing lights and signs, neon palm trees, and a singing Elvis replica statue in the middle of the casino. I have to say that I did win almost $500 at the roulette table, so I have very fond memories of the casino as a whole. Most of the casino floor is dedicated to the standard slot machines, which surround the casino bar in the center of the room. For those interested, there is a specially designated non-smoking area dedicated to various table games. There is also a spiral staircase in the middle of the casino that leads up to the Promenade.

PROMENADE: The promenade actually resembles a charming cobblestone street – each side of the “street” is lined with various shops and restaurants. Shops include RCCL merchandise, a clothing boutique, perfume shop, liquor store, and jewelry shop. I found that the perfume shop’s prices exactly matched those on the islands. Restaurants range from the Weekend Warrior sports bar, Crown and Kettle bar, and Promenade Café. The Promenade Café is a designed to look like a French street café complete with sidewalk tables. Food is free of charge in all of the restaurants – beverages are an additional charge. The promenade is an open area that towers up about 4 stories. There is a class of inside rooms – called ‘atrium cabins’ – that have bay windows that look out onto the Promenade.

POOL AREA: There are 2 saltwater pools on the Explorer – the Main pool and the Solarium pool. The Main pool area consists of two rectangular pools that are bridged together by a walkway. On the side of each pool is a circular hot tub that is large enough to fit 10 adults comfortably. The ship’s live band plays at the front of the pool, and can be heard throughout the surrounding multi-level pool decks. Although many lounge chairs, regular chairs and tables are available throughout this deck, it can be difficult to find an open chair during ‘at-sea’ days. Towels for the pools are given to you the first day in your cabin, and you’re told that you’re responsible for not losing it. You can exchange your towel with an attendant at one of kiosks located around the pools.

The Solarium pool is a smaller adults-only area that offers shaded lounge chairs in its quiet space. The lounge chairs are VERY hard to come by, since the space is smaller there are fewer chairs and people get here EARLY to claim these. The Solarium pool area has a Greek theme, complete with columns framing the pool and a bull looking out over the water. There are 2 more hot tubs located in the Solarium, separated from the pool area. Pool waiters walk around both pool areas all day, selling pre-made frozen drinks or offering to take drink orders. I have found that you can get a stronger drink by walking up to the bartender at the poolside bar.

SPORTS AREA: Most of the sporting areas are located on Deck 13. There is a fenced-in basketball court (to prevent the ball from going overboard!), 9 holes of mini-golf, Ping-Pong tables, an inline skating track, and a rock-climbing wall. All are free to use. My husband tried out the rock-climbing wall, which requires you to wear socks and to sign a waiver before climbing (RCCL provides the special shoes and harness/helmet equipment). There are 3 “paths” to climb on the wall, some more difficult than others are. Rock climbing sessions start every 15 minutes, include instruction, and the climbing time is about 3 – 5 minutes per person. Also on the ship is a small sized ice skating rink, which has designated times for “free-skating” (just be sure to bring long pants – they’re required!).


EMBARKATION:

We arrived at the Port of Miami at about 10:30 on Saturday Morning. RCCL provides a seated waiting area for all early arrivals (there were about 150 people waiting by 11am). Anyone in a wedding party will wait in a separate area (there were 2 weddings on the ship the day of our departure). RCCL staff began calling wedding parties at 11am, and shortly after allowed the first groups of passengers to proceed to the check-in area. I was in the first group to check-in, check-in took 10 minutes, proceeded to take the welcome aboard picture, and was walking onto the ship at 11:30am. Our luggage had been dropped curbside at the port, we had 3 pieces that were delivered to our room at 4pm.


CABIN:

We had cabin 8123, an ‘inside stateroom’. The room is approximately 165 square feet, and decorated in predominant pink and coral colors, with a touch of teal. Furnishings consisted of 2 single beds that lock together to create a queen sized bed, 2 small night tables, a small loveseat, glass cocktail table, and desk unit with chair.

There are curtains that can be drawn to partition the bed from the loveseat / desk area. The desk unit is quite large and houses the television. There is a safe in the desk (free to use), as well as a mini-bar refrigerator, and also about 6 drawers for clothing. We emptied out the mini-fridge’s contents into some of the drawers, and used the fridge to cool beverages that we had brought onboard. The small bathroom is located at the entrance to the room. The shower in the bathroom has a sliding plexi-glass door (hooray!). Also located at the entrance to the room is the closet, which is actually large enough to hang 7 nights of clothing for 2 people in (I did bring some extra wire hangers).


FOOD:

Where do I start? I am a picky eater and there was way too much for me to even consider eating. Breakfast is served in both the main dining room and the Windjammer Café. The main dining room is a sit-down breakfast with choices of egg dishes (eggs benedict / eggs rancheros, etc.), bagels, pastries, and side items (fruit / hash browns / bacon, etc.). If you are seated at a large table, it can take a close to an hour to finish breakfast. The Windjammer provides a buffet-style breakfast with an omelet station, pastry bar, waffle bar, fresh fruit, cold cereal, and a variety of traditional hot dishes (eggs, hash browns, bacon, etc). Breakfast was delicious in both the Windjammer and the main dining room, however the hash browns in the Windjammer could be improved (only complaint).

Lunch is also available in the Windjammer Café and main dining room. The Windjammer has hot lunch buffet options such as pasta, fish, meats, etc. They also have a full salad bar and desert station. We only ate lunch once in the main dining room, and it was superb! Our selections included a chilled avacado soup, garden salad, salmon entrée with a caper and olive relish accompanied by couscous, and a oriental wok-fried vegetable and tofu lo mein dish. Yummy!!!

While dinner is also available in both the Windjammer and main dining room, we chose to eat in the main dining room every night. There is a wide array of dinner choices, and a fish and vegetarian dish is always included. Favorite entrees (and most nights we got 2 entrees per person!): Lobster tails (served with plenty of butter sauce), Blackened Tilapia, Beef Tips, and Tempura-Battered Mahi Mahi. There is a breadbasket every night with tons of tasty carbs…. the banana bread and the focacia were both really good. Appetizers are my favorite, and I loved the sweet potato & spinach dip with chips, asparagus soup, spring roll, tomato with mozzarella and basil, and roasted veggies. I raved about the sweet potato & spinach dip so much that the headwaiter had the chef specially prepare it again for just our table on the last night! I found the salad choices to be just “ok”, and I got the substitute Caesar salad most nights (which is decent). Dessert more than made up for anything that could be lacking in the menu. Favorite desserts: warm chocolate cake (with a liquid pudding center), tiramisu, and bananas foster.

Room service! It’s always available! The room service menu is now available on the TV screen, allowing you to make your selection and just call the order in. Favorite room service “snacks” include: the cheese sampler tray (served with grapes) and crackers - ask for them on the side; the tropical fruit platter; personal margarita pizzas; and oatmeal cookies. There are also a wide variety of sandwiches and gourmet salads.

Don’t forget about Johnny Rockets! There is a regular Johnny Rockets restaurant onboard the Explorer. All food items here are free of charge, you just have to pay for their famous shakes (and soft drinks). You can dine-in as we did, for a late-night snack… or use their take-out window to order. They have delicious onion rings that are served with ranch dressing, and the usual burger / hot dog choices. I was shocked, yet appreciative, to see a veggie burger on the menu also.

One comment: If I did this cruise again, I would have substituted the Portofinos restaurant for one of the more mediocre menu nights (Portofinos has a charge of $20 per person).


SHOWS / ENTERTAINMENT:

This was the first time that I have not seen almost every show offered onboard the ship. We did catch the “Welcome Aboard Show” the first night, which introduced the cruise director – Omar – and featured a comedian and balancing act. We also saw the same comedian do a late night show, which was ok, and the ice show. The ice skating show is AWESOME! There are shows on Tuesday and Thursday night, for which you are supposed to pick up tickets for on Sunday. I didn’t really see anyone checking the tickets when we entered the show, but they do have a handy $1 off your drink coupon on the back. If I were to return on the cruise I would go to the show both nights, it’s that good! There are about 12 figure skaters that have a choreographed program with fun music with fancy lighting effects. Do not miss it!


PORTS OF CALL: EASTERN CARIBBEAN

San Juan, Puerto Rico (Monday): The first stop on our cruise was Old San Juan. We pulled into the port right after noon and were departing the ship by 1pm. My husband and I decided to forgo any of the RCCL sponsored excursions, and we spent about 4 hours doing our own “walking” tour of Old San Juan. Our first stop was the “fort”, which has been turned into a historical park. Entrance fee of about $3 per person to walk around the inside and top of the historical fort, where we had great views of the ship and downtown Old San Juan.

After spending about 45 minutes at the fort, we walked to the “pigeon square” (I forget the official name of it) and through a few downtown jewelry shops (some bargains). We stopped in an outdoor café for some Puerto Rican Rum punch and madurros (sweet plantains). We toured a historical Catholic Church, dating back to the 1600’s (I believe). We walked through the Wyndham Resort’s Casino and placed a quick roulette bet. This casino is nothing like what you would see in Vegas – it just has a few tables and slots, and I think that most American guests are not really impressed with it overall. Before getting back onboard the ship, we stopped in Senior Frog’s – a Mexican restaurant that is known for its crazy bar scene and margaritas.

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten (Tuesday): The ship docked here around 9am, and we debarked at about 9:15 and caught a watertaxi to the shopping area (along Front Street) of Phillipsburg. Most shops opened at 10am, and we spent about 2 hours shopping before returning on the water taxi to the ship at noon. This area of the Island is geared towards tourists - lots of jewelry shops, some electronics, Delft, linens, and perfume. Got a great deal on diamond stud earrings – better prices than St Thomas and San Juan. There are some waterfront restaurants that open up to beach access. If you wanted, I am sure you could use one of these beaches for the day – noticed lots of lounge chairs and water sport rentals.

Had an excursion planned for the afternoon, so after getting back to the ship at noon, we attempted to grab a quick lunch in the Windjammer Café, only to find it closed. Instead of assuming (like me), be sure to check ahead of time which cafes / restaurants will be open when. Our excursion was called the 'Golden Eagle Sailaway' … and it involved a 45-minute catamaran ride to a private island. The sailboat “ride” was awful – very choppy and at times I felt as if the captain was making the ride bumpier on purpose. Both my husband and I felt sick on the way to the island, and 45 minutes seems pretty long when you aren’t feeling well. I would advise anyone taking this excursion or a similar one to take some Bonine before departing. The excursion offered an open bar of rum punch, beer, and soft drinks. The private island allowed nudity, and there were some people on the island that were fully naked, so be aware if you have young children with you. Once we reached the island, the catamaran anchored about 20 feet from shore, and everyone got a snorkel / fins / mask and swam to shore. You have about an hour on the beach and then the catamaran gathers everyone up for the ride back. It was another horrible ride back. All in all, the excursion wasn’t cheap at about $75 per person, and I wouldn’t recommend this excursion to anyone I know.

St Thomas / St John (Wednesday): The USVIs are my favorite place on earth, so I am a little partial here. The Explorer arrived in St Thomas early in the morning and passengers were allowed to start customs proceedings at about 7:15. An announcement was made for this, and passengers were sent to the third floor of the dining room to wait in a winding line with their passports or other documentation. We went through the line at 7:20 and it only took 15 minutes. We had breakfast at the Windjammer and caught a cab from the ship to the ferry, which runs from Charlotte Amalie to St John. The ferry cost $7 per person each way and takes about 45 minutes. Once in St John, we took a cab to Trunk Bay and snorkeled all morning. Had lunch in Cruz Bay (the “town part” of St John) and then caught the ferry back. St John is heaven on earth – we spent a week here for our honeymoon in 2001. The island is lush and tropical, with small mountains and lots of greenery. I had forgotten how pure and sweet smelling the air is. This island is truly unspoiled by commercialism…

Once back in St Thomas, we stocked up on liquor – allowance is 5 bottles per person. Keep in mind that if you wait till the end of the day to do the liquor shopping that the stores may have already sent that days orders to the cruise ships… and you will end up carrying your bottles back to your ship. This is what happened to us, and upon re-boarding the ship I fully expected our 2 big boxes to be seized and held until the last night of the cruise. However the staff let us walk on by with our 10 bottles of liquor, and we were able to keep them in our cabin for the rest of the cruise. Go figure. Ship departs St Thomas at sunset, and we played mini-golf as we watched the ship pull out of port – what a beautiful sight, don’t miss it!

Nassau (Friday): Since we’ve been to Nassau before, we opted to do a beach excursion for about $20 per person. The ‘Pirates Cove Beach Break’ excursion took us on a very calm 15-minute boat ride to a private island that looks at the Sandals Beach resort. The island had lots of lounge chairs, beach volleyball, a food and drink station, optional swimming with stingrays, waverunner rentals, and a DJ playing music. We spent about 2 hours on the island, and it was an extremely fun and relaxing way to end our vacation.


AT-SEA Days (Sunday and Thursday): These are the designated “formal” dress days, if you are planning on eating dinner in the Main Dining Room. After cruising 3 times, I have decided that this means anything from dressy pants or cocktail dresses for women to ballgowns, and a suit or tuxedo for men. Days at sea can be spent at art auctions, by the pool, in the casino, at wine tastings, playing bingo, or at any of the various other RCCL organized events. There is too much to do! Make sure to eat lunch at least once in the main dining room – this was one of the best meals we had. I also learned on this cruise that it’s ok to ask for a table for 2 at breakfast or lunch. If available the waiters will gladly provide you with one, they even made a special effort to clean off a table for 2 that was not really “available” for us.


MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS:

1. I thought it was interesting when our waiter explained to us that the Explorer went through its semi-annual health and cleanliness inspection the week that we were onboard. Our waiter indicated that he was exhausted by the work that RCCL had required of the staff during the few days preceding the inspection (which took place while the ship was docked in St Thomas). The Explorer scored a 95, and our waiter stated that the only points deducted were because the dishwashing water temperature was a few degrees off.

2. Mysteriously, we were notified on Monday that the Solarium pool would be closed for 3 days (Tuesday – Thursday) for emergency maintenance. We were slightly annoyed about this because it seemed to be operating fine on Sunday and Monday (we were in it) and 3 days seemed like a long time for a repair. We noticed that once the pool was drained, there were some ‘crack-repair’ materials left lying around in the pool at night. Putting two and two together, I think that this “emergency repair” was to avoid points being deducted from Thursday’s health inspection. Not sure if it was entirely necessary, but I’ll give RCCL the benefit of the doubt.

3. Towards the end of the cruise, I lost my Seapass card – which is your identification and onboard charge card. I think that one of the waiters may have kept it when I purchased a drink. Guest Relations was able to reissue it immediately, but I found it a little troubling that they didn’t ask me for any identification. Maybe I just don’t look threatening.


WRAP-UP:
I hope that I have included everything. Please if you have any questions, leave a comment. I’d be happy to answer! All in all, we had a great week on the Explorer of the Seas. The eastern itinerary covers a wide range of different islands, while still allowing you to relax during the at-sea days. RCCL continues to live up to their prestigious standards for excellent service and quality food, even when challenged with a ship as large as the Explorer.


Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Couples