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Explorer of the Seas
December 21, 2008 Sailing Date
Review
It was a cold and rainy night in Chicago, Lana Monroe decided to take a walk. It was the last decision that she would ever make. Ooops, wrong beginning. I've been watching too many "Kolchak, The Night Stalker" episodes.
What follows is my review of the cruise that Ellen and I took on the Explorer of the Seas, departing Bayonne, New Jersey on December 21st, 2008. The cruise was in celebration of our 35th wedding anniversary. Please keep in mind that all of the opinions expressed are mine. I will try to organize the review in such a way that one can skim it if they so desire, focusing on those items which interest them the most. I make no guarantee that this will not put you to sleep.
I have posted some of the cruise pictures on Webshots.
The Booking - While trying to decide on the proper way to celebrate our 35th anniversary, I started looking through the cruises departing from NYC during December. I knew that NCL was leaving out of the NY Passenger Ship Terminal, but was not aware of the fact that RCI had instituted year round sailings from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ. The 12 day trip on the Explorer of the Seas fit our needs perfectly. 4 of the 6 ports of call would be new for us and the timing was perfect with us being at sea for our anniversary. I contacted Kaycee at CruCon as she had been very helpful in the past. She got us a rate on the cabin which I had selected and told me that due to the fact that this would be a popular sailing, RCI was not discounting the rates. She would include pre-paid gratuities and some on-board credits. Keep in mind that we booked this cruise 15 months in advance. As the sailing date got closer and the rates began to fall along with the economy and the stock market, I contacted Kaycee and asked about a price adjustment based on what RCI was now advertising as the "resident" rate on their website. She contacted her groups department and arranged for a price adjustment. The amount was credited back to my charge card in a few days. This was the most hassel-free experience that I have ever had with an agent. I will continue to use them for all of my cruising needs. Transportation - We live about an hour from the Cape Liberty Cruise Port. There is more than adequate parking at their pier. One of my major concerns is that December in New York can produce a mixed bag of weather. I did not look forward to the possibility of coming home to a snowstorm. Even if the lot at the pier was plowed, I would still have to get home and back into my driveway. With that in mind, we opted to use a neighborhood limo service Executive Limousine . They are very reliable and our driver Felipe had taken us to the Brooklyn pier in September, 2007. Get Me To The Pier On Time - With our cat dropped off at the pet hotel, we were on our way to beautiful downtown Bayonne. The roads were pretty empty for a Sunday morning, although the Belt Parkway had its fair share of potholes due to the plowing from the snowstorm of the previous week. We arrived at the cruise ship terminal around 11:30. There is one access road in and out. This used to be the Military Ocean Terminal, Bayonne. If you look carefully, you will still see that designation on one of the water towers. Among its many uses has been as a records repository for certain Federal agencies. There was a huge back up of traffic on the access road. Our driver who comes here on a regular basis commented that he had never seen it that bad. As is per usual in New York, some people started to "jump the line" and use the exit line to cut ahead of cars waiting to get in. It was very interesting to see what happened when they met a bus coming the other way. Shortly after 12:00, we arrived at the terminal. The Check-in - On prior cruises I had either been mailed the luggage tags or told to print them at home. RCI uses a unique system for check-in. At the terminal there is a tent connected to the terminal building. Each spot is also assigned a bay number so you can tell the person picking you up where you will be standing. Once you unload your car, the longshoremen will give you luggage tags which you complete in the tent area before they take your luggage. I had requested tags from Kaycee as I was not aware of this system and had enough to deal with without writing out tags curbside. With our luggage given over to the longshoremen, we headed for the entranceway to the terminal. The one thing that they didn't tell you was that you needed your passport to enter the building. Those passengers with passports in hand "charged" ahead, while we had to go into our carry-on to find them. Once inside the building, the metal detectors were the next stop. I had left all of my change and my MacGyver Swiss Army Knife at home to minimize the amount of "stuff" that I would have to empty out. I also emptied out most of the credit cards from my George Costanza wallet. With all of that having been done, I still "beeped" and had to remove my coat as the zippers were setting off the machine. We were next directed to the Platinum/Diamond check-in area where we were greeted by a woman from Staten Island wearing antlers (sounds like something for The Quest). She told us that the ship had come in sick with over 300 passengers suffering from GI (aka Norovirus). As of 12:30, the first group of passengers had still not been boarded while the ship was being sanitized. This was apparently the cause of the back-up on the access road. We were processed through check-in, signed our GI free form, had our photos taken and were bussed to the ship shortly after 1:15. We were on Deck 9 by 1:25. The cabins become available at 1:30, so we decided to wait in order to get rid of our coats and carry-on. Our Cabin - We were on deck 9 mid-ship in Cabin 9576. I had specifically chosen this cabin based on its location. It is equidistant from the fore and aft elevator banks and has only cabins above and below; it was VERY quiet. The cabin was a standard issue RCI cabin with balcony on the port side. The closet was huge, but the dresser was somewhat lacking in drawer space. In situations like this, one becomes creative in using the wire shelves in the closet and the hangars. The cabin had a refrigerator, CRT TV and a programmable safe. Our cabin attendant Aaron hailed from Dominica and was wonderful. I asked him to empty out the refrigerator as we had brought our own Pepsi products with us (we do not drink Diet Coke). Unlike the safe of the Crown Princess, this one worked flawlessly. The beds in the cabin were just the right height for us to slip our wheeled duffle bags under. A special note about RCTV - this system has to be among the worse that I have seen on a cruise ship. Their only live channels were Fox News (ugh) and ESPN. On occasion, we would get CNN. The other channels consisted of Dave Chapman's (the CD) daily talk, shows from the day before, port shopping talks, CBS on RCTV (a DVD apparently that they repeated at regular intervals), the RCI channel and various DVDs. I should not forget the Captain's talk about the importance of shipboard sanitation. That played on 2 channels. They also had movies in various foreign languages (some in English with foreign sub-titles). The report from the bridge channel was invariably wrong in relation to the outside and ocean temperatures. We were off the coast of Virginia, it must have been 40 outside and the temperature on the TV was still showing 77 degrees as it had for the past 3 days. I phoned passenger services and a few minutes later it was corrected. My rating for RCTV - C- . Yes I know that you don't go on a cruise to watch TV, but it should still be there. That reminds me of an old Catskills joke that I will save for another time. The Ship - Much has been written about the ship, so I will not be-labor the point. For a ship this large, RCI has done a fantastic job of making it feel a lot smaller than it is. On passenger decks they do not have have straight front to back passageways, but rather use curves at regular intervals to visually break them up into segments. On the Crown Princess you can see from the back of the ship all the way to the front. When you are returning to your cabin, it makes the walk feel that much longer. The Grand Promenade is a great place to watch people and just sit and relax. There are many shops and restaurants there that make you feel as if you are in a mall.
The Food - Despite what many people say, the amount and variety of food is one of the main draws of a cruise. While not as extensive as those on some of the newer ships, there were enough options to satisfy most people. I will start from the bottom up
Room Service - Room service can be ordered one of three ways. Breakfast can be ordered by completing the in cabin order form and leaving it on your door or via the interactive TV. Light snacks are ordered via the TV. Dinner is ordered via the telephone (at least as far as I could tell). The breakfast selections were on the basic side with scrambled eggs being the only egg option. The light snacks were quite varied including sandwiches, burgers, salads, cakes and quite a few other items. Dinners were grouped in option categories. You will see what I mean when you look at the TV screen. The dinners mirrored the dining room options although one day they had the Christmas eve menu on the screen which was not until the following evening. Perhaps there is a cutoff for ordering dinner after which time the menu rolls to the next day. Then again the person who does the report from the bridge may be the same guy doing the dinner menu. With all this having been said, we did not order room service. We had intentions of doing so on several occasions, but the time was just never right. We did see room service deliveries and their aftermath in the hallways. Overall I would give the room service high marks for variety.
Promenade Cafe - While not unique to RCI (Princess has something very similar), this is nonetheless a very popular spot. Located on the Grand Promenade forward, they are open 24 hours and their selection varies depending on the time of day. During the morning hours, they feature breakfast items. This includes muffins and danish. Lunchtime features sandwiches, pizza and dessert items. During the dinner hour and into the wee small hours of the morning they have sandwiches, pizza and cakes. Fresh fruit is also available. Among the sugar free items that they serve are sugar free chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. If you are into sugar free, I highly recommend the chocolate chip cookies. The beverages include regular and decaf coffee as
well as various teas and hot chocolate. The coffee was quite good.
Specialty coffees are also available at additional charge. I had
planned on a capuccino, but never got around to it. The cafe was a very popular spot in the evenings as people are always looking for a little "something" after coming out of the show. There is quite a bit of seating inside, just turn left at the sandwich counter.
Johnny Rockets - Located on Deck 12 aft - "Everybody say hello!!". That sums up the attitude at Johnny Rockets. Everyone coming in gets a LARGE hello from the staff and all of their fellow guests. Direct from your neighborhood to the high seas. The decor is straight out of the 50s right down to the nickel jukeboxes around the "joint". The staff are outfitted in soda jerk suits (for those of you who remember soda jerks). There is indoor and outdoor seating available with occasional waits. The menu is straight from Johnny Rockets. Upon being seated, you are presented with two bowls. One bowl has onion rings and the other french fries. They are accompanied by a smiley face plate with ketchup on it. If you finish these, you can have more. Ellen ordered the turkey burger and I had the St. Louis burger; they were both prepared properly. Included in the $3.95 cover charge is your choice of dessert. They feature hot apple pie ala mode and Oreo ice cream sundaes. The sundae alone is worth the $3.95. Beverages are additional at bar prices. I assume that they accept the soda card here. Interestingly, their sodas are served in larger glasses than elsewhere on the ship. No, I don't know if they have free refills for the card-less crowd. You owe it to yourself to try Johnny Rockets at least once. Please note that their hours during port days are shorter than during sea days. They were open from 3:00PM - midnight on port days and noon to midnight on sea days.
The Windjammer - Located on Deck 11, aft, The WIndjammer and companion Island Grill are the main dining areas for breakfast and lunch (yes, you can also get served breakfast in the dining room and lunch as well on many days). Upon entering the Windjammer you are greeted by two machines dispensing Purell hand sanitizer. There is also a crew member there greeting you. Call me paranoid, but I think that his primary function was to make sure that everyone sanitized their hands. Some people got quite proficient at waving their hands under the sanitizer in a mock "purelling" motion. His secondary function was to keep the machines operating smoothly and his tertiary function was as a greeter. The young man (as I get older, they get younger) who greeted us on several mornings was extremely pleasant. The Windjammer has lines to both the left and right; these lines serve identical items. During high traffic periods the left line is opened.
At breakfast, the first section of The Windjammer that you encounter has fruits, pastries, breads, bagels, muffins, waffels, pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs and the various accompaniments for them. These include fruit toppings, bacon, pork and turkey sausage, homefries and regular and sugar-free maple syrup just to name a few. If you proceed all the way to the back of The Windjammer (that may be the Island Grill, I never saw the distinction), you will find more of the same with the addition of a fried egg station as well as an omelet station. You could order your eggs any way that you like them or get a custom made omelet using eggs from a bag (I hope that they were eggs). I would be remiss if I failed to mention that they also had fresh sliced ham "slabs" as well as breakfast meats, cheese, yogurts and lox (smoked salmon). The lox did not make an appearance until the 3 day although it was available in the dining room on day 2. Noticeably absent for the fish lovers among you was herring and white fish, breakfast staples in certain parts of the world. The rear section also had repeats of the bread products and the eggs, etc. You SHOULD NOT have to wait long for breakfast unless you want a custom omelet or fried eggs. What I found curious was the variation in size between the french toast in the dining room and that served in The Windjammer. The dining room french toast was about an inch and a half to two inches thick; for those familiar with challah french toast, it resembled that. The french toast in The Windjammer was obviously made from commercially sliced white bread. If you have more exotic tastes, the Jade area in the rear had ethnic breakfast items focusing on Asian Pacific and Indian items (e.g. scrambled eggs with shrimp). The only item that Ellen would have enjoyed that was unavailable in The Windjammer was eggs benedict. She managed to make her own version with items at hand. There is a concerted effort to make the dining in The Windjammer as passenger friendly as possible. There are waiters crusing the area ready to bring you the beverage of your choice. Ellen is a V8 drinker and that was one of the items that had to be brought from somewhere else. For those of you who remember the days when Sweet 'n' Low was treated as gold by restaurants, Splenda has now achieved that dubious distinction. While it is available upon request, RCI has a generic equivalent readily available. If you ask, they will bring you Splenda and interestingly in large quantities.
As a pastry lover I would be remiss if I failed to mention has wonderful the fresh baked muffin and pastries were. My favorite was the brioche. Fresh baked every morning with just a hint of butter put on and ................ For those of you who like bran muffins, the honey bran muffins were among the best that I have had.
At lunchtime there are again two lines. The salad items greet you upon entry and then you proceed down the line. There should be something to please virtually every palate. At lunchtime the rear section features homemade hero sandwiches (ham and cheese, roast beef, tuna, etc), wraps, pizza, pasta, hot dogs and hamburgers with the necessary fixin's. I found the carved meats to be outstanding. They are turned over so quickly that they are always fresh and of the highest quality. The pizza, while not on a par with New York pizza, was acceptable. I'm sure that the burgers were fresh cooked in the kitchen, but there is something about waiting on line for a fresh grilled hamburger that is lacking here. At lunchtime the Jade serves ethnic specialities, again focusing on Asian Pacific and Indian items. The best part of any meal is dessert and they run the gamut from the good, the bad and the ugly. A consistent hit was the chocolate roll. It had just the right amount of chocolate taste and a wonderful consistency. Many of their mousse items tasted as if they had too much gelatin in them. It was kind of a case of hit or mousse (sorry, I couldn't resist that). We reached the point where we would take something that looked good and if it didn't end up tasting as good as it looked, we would leave it behind; we didn't need the extra calories. Almost every lunch featured a sugar free selection. These too ran the gamut. My recommendations here are the sugar free chocolate chip cookies and the sugar free napoleon; the napoleon was outstanding.
We made one pass through The Windjammer at dinnertime on the first night out, but that was it. Based on my limited experience, I will pass on commenting.
The Dining Room - There are three dining rooms on Explorer. The Magellan is accessed via Deck 3, the Da Gama via Deck 4 and the Columbus via Deck 5. Internally, there is a grand staircase that connects all 3. They are in the aft portion of the ship, so unlike the casino on Deck 4, they do not present an obstacle to people who want to traverse a deck. We were seated at table 549 at the main seating with our waiter being Denise and our assistant waiter being Elicia; they both hailed from Trinidad and Tobago. In days gone by when you arrived at the dining room on the first evening you would be asked for your table number and a member of the staff would escort you there. RCCL has replaced this with a table "map" placed outside the dining room. Find your table number on the map and then locate it in the dining room. A GPS would have been very helpful here as the map on display is rotated 180 degrees from the layout in the dining room. The map has the grand staircase at the bottom, whereas when you enter the dining room, the grand staircase is at the rear. The way I figure it, the starcase should have been at the top of the map. Be that as it may, we made a full tour of the dining room prior to finding our table. The table was located on the edge of the balcony, giving us a wonderful view to the two levels below as well as the Captain's table; unfortunately, the Captain was late seating. For those Seinfeld fans out there, I could have dropped a Juniors Mint right onto his table. Our dinner companions for the cruise were Cheryl and Steve from the UK. They were lovely people and we hit it off quite well with them. I often say that people are people and in many respects they mirrored us. Steve had a great sense of humor. You may ask, how do I know that? He laughed at many of my jokes; oft times I get stares as my humor tends to be a little too esoteric for some. Okay, okay, enough rambling.
Royal Caribbean has come up with a unique menu format. Menus are generally broken down into appetizer, soup, salad, entree and dessert. The menu on the Explorer had the appetizer, soup and salad all combined in one section, while the entrees were in another. The third panel of the menu was the "Vitality" section. Those were the healthy items that they recommend to help ease the guilt for all of the other things you've been eating all day. Ellen's theory on the menu arrangement, and I tend to agree, is that by combining three categories into one, diners tend to pick only one item. This cuts down on consumption and ultimately cost. Keep in mind that you can order as much of anything or as many items as you wish, you feel a little odd doing that.
The menu featured the usual always available, meat, fish and vegetarian items. The rotating "specials" generally numbered 4 or so and included everything from prime rib to lobster tail to shrimp and salmon. For some reason that I could not figure out, the lobster tail was served on 12/30, not 12/31 which woule have made it a really gala New Years Eve. I have the New Years Eve menu as well as the Holiday Menu, if anyone would like me to scan and post them to Webshots please let me know. I had a particular problem with the Hanukah side of the holiday menu. The matzoh ball soup featured one matzoh ball that was slightly smaller than a Dunkin' Donuts munchkin and tasted far worse. The tzimmes was just cooked carrots. The brisket and potato pancakes were acceptable. The oddest thing about the dinner was the dessert; they served noodle kugel (pudding). This was served cold with whipped cream and a raspberry on top. I have NEVER had it served this way, although my research indicates that it can be done. Overall the food was quite good with the steaks being a standout. Denise always pointed me towards the better cuts of meat. The Caesar Salad was always good, but not a standout. The desserts were nothing elaborate for the most part with the flaming baked Alaska parade long ago having been dropped. A sugar free selection as well as sugar free ice cream are available each night. Some of the sugar free desserts were borderline while the ice cream was good.
The servers do not dance and sing per se as the do on Carnival, however several nights we were serenaded and the staff did parade through the dining room. If you have a camcorder and are into this kind of thing, bring it along.
Our servers did an excellent job. Although they had the "islands" accent, I understood them perfectly and they understood me as well. They both had an excellent sense of humor and I gave Denise my highest recommendation - "you can wait tables at a NY restaurant"; trust me, that is no small compliment.
We had planned to try The Windjammer for dinner one night, but as previously mentioned that was the lobster tail night.
I would be remiss if I did not mention Rakesh, our head waiter. He came over each night to see how things were going and arranged the anniversary presentation for us. The head water is the gentleman in the maroon jacket. If you have any special dietary requests or just something special that you would like prepared, he is the man to talk with. Steve commented that he loved cheese and would enjoy a cheese platter for dessert. I mentioned this to Rakesh and a few minutes later two cheese platters appeared at the table. The following evening a platter arrived without having been requested. They are there to make you happy and do succeed.
I could go on and on about dinner, but suffice it to say that I give them an A in that category. If you have specific questions, please use the Contact box at the bottom of this page and I will respond to your questions.
Portofino - we decided to celebrate our anniversary on December 23rd with dinner at Portofinos. While I don't have a copy of the menu available, I did find this link. Located on Deck 11 aft on the starboard side of the ship, Portofinos is an upscale dining alternative charging an additional $20.00 per person. We had a 6:00 reservation and their literature indicated that we should expect to spend two and a half hours for the entire dining "experience". We arrived shortly before six o'clock and were seated promptly. The ambiance in Portofinos beats the dining room hands down. While we were given the impression that getting a reservation here would be difficult, the restaurant was relatively empty with only a few tables being occupied. The service was outstanding with several people waiting on us. Upon being seated you are given a basket of various breads and butter. None of these items are served in the dining room. While I like Italian food, most of the selections were far too extravagent for my peasant taste which leans more towards the Olive Garden and Piccolo Pasta a local restaurant here in Bellmore. The highlight of the meal was....what else, dessert. They have a marvelous dessert sampler consisting of four items. They increase in sweetness and you follow the suggested consumption order. My personal favorite was the tiramisu. While we did not eat our way through the menu, we were quite full when we were finished. In case you were wondering, our dining "experience" lasted one and a half hours. At the conlusion the waiter asked how everything was, I replied in my best New York Italian "delicioso". He complimented me on my Italian, he was from an Eastern European country and did not speak any Italian; interestingly, none of the staff in the dining room is Italian either. One would think that if you have an Italian themed specialty restaurant that you would staff it with Italians; but then again, it may just be me. Was the experience worth the $40.00 extra? To celebrate our anniversary in an intimate surrounding with a special dinner, yes; if it were just a regular day, no. I feel that the dining room food while not quite on a par with Portofino is quite good. By the way, to give you an idea of where I am coming from, lunch yesterday was two White Castle cheeseburgers.
Ice Cream - there are two soft ice cream/yogurt machines located on deck 11 starboard, aft right outside the entranceway to the centrum. While not in operation 24 hours, they are open from 11:00 till 8 or so (the times are posted). There is always a line. It is a self-serve cone, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.
The Entertainment - The variety and quality of entertainment on all cruise ships has taken a hit, no doubt a victim of cost cutting. When we went on the Voyager of the Seas a few years back, one of the more entertaining groups were the Kruise Komics. This was a talented troupe of performers who prowled the Grand Promenade by day and The Palace by night. During the day they would do things ranging from mime acts to juggling in the Promenade. My favorite bit was when the would fall in behind a passenger and micmic that person's walk. Of course when the person turned around they stopped. In the evening they would keep the passengers entertained in The Palace, providing sort of a pre-show. This helped make the time pass a lot faster. When we were on the Crown Princess, they had a similar concept but with rotating performers in The Piazza during the afternoon and early evening. These ranged from magicians to jugglers and everything in between. That also provided a nice break during the day. The entertainment on Explorer was limited to the nightly show in The Palace. There was a time when the show would feature two acts; a variety act and either a singer or comic. We are now down to one act with a show running about 50 minutes. Many of the acts that were headliners on Explorer would have appeared in the Explorers Lounge on the Crown as the "alternate" show. What follows is a night by night breakdown of the shows and my opinion of them:
- Day One - Marcus Monroe - a new style of juggling - this is another Hotels.com moment. By that I mean, I've seen this act before. It might have been Marcus, it might have been another juggler, but this was definitely not a new style of juggling. While he was good at what he did, I was not overwhelmed. No, I don't juggle and as a hockey fan I can appreciate Alexander Ovechkin's skill without being able to shoot a puck.
- Day Two - Beatlemaniacs - the complete Beatles experience. Now this was something that I had never on a ship before. While they were good, I feel that 1964 The Tribute is far superior. We have seen 1964 twice, once being at Carnegie Hall. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine the Fab 4 in the room. The Beatlemaniacs did make clever use of AV materials including a video filmed aboard a ship that imitated a seen from A Hard Days Night. I would give this show an A- rating.
- Day Three - this evening featured the production show - "Fast Forward". This was a very enjoyable show, with a pop music theme to it. The singers on the ship are quite talented and the dancers while not The Rockettes or The June Taylor Dancers were also quite good. I have the utmost admiration for show people who can first of all sing and dance and second of all do it on a moving ship. That is no small accomplishment. One of the dancers, Alissa I believe, had her parents on board and appeared to really be giving it an extra effort. We sat next to her in Studio B and she looks just as attractive without all of the stage makeup. You may ask, "how did you know it was her?". First of all, she had a staff member badge (a dead giveaway) and second of all she was howling at the skaters in the same manner that I do when the NY Islanders score a goal (which is sadly few and far between these days). As an aside, while all of the dancers were quite attractive, you know you're getting old when you look at them and try to figure out which one would be good for your unmarried son.
- Day Three also featured a late show at 11:00. The featured act was a comedian by the name of Dave Burleigh. Let me preface this by saying that at least half of the audience was very disappointed by his performance. These were the teens and pre-teens who thought that Late Night Comedy was a euphemism for dirty. Sad to say, the show was not dirty. Dave is a very talented comedian and while there was an occasional innuendo, the show for the most part was PG-13. His celebrity impressions were dead on. I was glad that we went and would definitely recommend fitting him into your schedule if the opportunity presents itself to see him. Make sure to watch the You Tube videos linked from his website.
- Day Four - this was Christmas eve and there was no show in The Palace. This worked out okay as unknowingly we had gotten tickets for the Studio B show - "Spirits Of The Seasons". The performers skated their way through the 4 seasons with aplomb. As a hockey fan, I admire excellent skaters (no, I can't skate either). The balance of the evening's entertainment was Christmas Eve Carols on the Grand Promenade. I have video of Dave and the captain singing.
- Day Five - this evening's show in The Palace was "Love Changes Everything" with the Star of Les Miserables, Jordan Bennett and his wife award winning instrumentalist Dominique Ava. This evening wasn't going particularly well for me. It is now day five and I've been eating like food is going out of style, something that I don't normally do. Unfortunately we didn't pack any antacid, Pepto Bismol or Mylanta and my stomach was revolting. With the concern about Norovirus pervading the ship, the sundries shop no longer sells ANY sort of stomach remedy. You are invited to visit the medical office for a complimentary consultation. Call me cynical, but I know myself and I know that what as was experiencing was piggingoutitis and did not want to risk a 72 hour cabin confinement while they observed my condition (BTW - I was fine in the morning and for the balance of the cruise). But again, I digress. At the beginning of the show I was not my usual chipper self, but listening to Dominique's wonderful playing (including a fiddle number) and Jordan's marvelous singing, I completely forgot about my discomfort. We can file this under music hath charms to soothe the upset stomach. The two of them were fantastic and get my vote for the best act of the entire cruise. I look forward to seeing them again.
- Day Six - Vibeology - another production show. Don't miss it, it is worth your time. I believe that we had seen this before on the Voyager. I was told on the backstage tour that a show which receives high marks can remain on a ship for as long as 8 years (I believe that was the number).
- Day Seven - Antonio Salci when we entered the theater he had a promo video complete with with website and email address running on the video screens. I for one, find this kind of tacky. The video kept looping every few minutes for the entire 20 minutes that we were sitting there. I particularly liked the note that said "initial contact via email only antonio@antoniosalci.com . Well, if I decide to hire him, I know how to go about it. When the show finally did start it reminded us (Ellen concurs on this) of man attacks piano, film at 11:00. While I am sure that he is a very gifted pianist, his performance was over-orchestrated. He reminded me of a cross between Liberace and Floyd Cramer with a little bit of Reverend Jim from Taxi thrown in for good measure. Judging by the response from the audience, he was a tremendous hit. I personally would have loved to hear him play something that could show off his talent such as "Rhapsody in Blue". During the course of his act, various members of the outstanding Explorer of the Seas band were given featured spots; as they had only met that afternoon for the first time, he kept going back to his notes which were on top of the piano to get their names. If he was going to do this, an index card in his pocket would have been much less obvrious. If you get a chance to see him, I recommend that you do so, as my mother used to say, "that's why they make chocolate and vanilla".
- Day Eight - The Palace is dark again. Studio B featured "Blades" - The Ice Challenge. Ellen wanted to try to get in on the standby line although we had tickets for the 3:00 performance on Tuesday. Well stand we did watching from the back of the theater. The show was very entertaining and not rigged as we went again on Tuesday (I wanted a seat up front this time) and different skaters won. Strangely, the host Jed did not name the correct winner at the Tuesday show, hum?
- Day Nine - Invitation to Dance. This show was choreographed by Louis Van Amstel from ABC's "Dancing With The Stars". Auditions had been held earlier in the week for passengers to participate in the ahow. The peoples' choice was couple 41. While they were not selected by the judges we were surprised to see them in the show. It seems that one of the original couples selected chose not to participate. This was another enjoyable show, while nothing spectacular, it is certainly deserving of your time.
- Day Ten - "The Wit and Wizardy of Martin Lewis" - Now I no that I am getting old. I kept looking for the "and" between Martin and Lewis. While bringing nothing new to the table, Mr. Lewis is a talented magician. We have seen all of his material before (another Hotels.com moment). At the end, he told a story about a boy from somewhere (I can't recall) who had never seen snow. He then goes on with the story and ultimately makes snow from paper coming out of his closed hand. Now I DEFINITELY know that I have seen that done before by another magician. The magician we saw also had a boy in his story, but for him it was a dying wish to see snow. Is there no truth in advertising? If you like magicians, his magic punctuated by his British humor will provide an entertaining show.
- Day Eleven - "The Happenings". Here is where we sing the theme song to Gilligans Island or The Poseidon Adventure. It is New Year's Eve and we had a wonderful dinner. Heading into the theater, we noticed that the ship had started to rock and roll with the pronounced sound of waves breaking across the bow. I had taken a Bonine earlier in the evening so my head wasn't bothering me, but alas, it was my stomach betraying me yet again (no, not as bad as on day 5). We went back to the cabin around 9:00 and called it an evening. This is cruise 15 or 16 (I lose track), and I have NEVER heard the kind of sounds coming from a ship that I heard that evening. Keep in mind that many of the passengers were unaffected by the rough seas. Particularly interesting was the sounding of the ship's horn at 12:01 AM (I guess the captain must have bought a Rulex in St. Martin). The following morning we ran into an English family that we had met on our Dominica excursion. The wife shared the same thoughts that I had the night before, this is the end. Well it wasn't, as I'm sitting here boring you to tears. We never did see The Happenings, well actually we did. We had previously seen them at Kutsher's Country Club in The Catskills thee and a half years ago and I still remember that performance
- Day Twelve - Farewell Variety Show with the "interactive" comedy of David Orion along with The Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers. David puts an interesting twist on an old show business phenomenon; rather than having the audience heckle him, he heckles the audience; well sort of. While I'm not particularly fond of comedians who reach out to audience members for their material, he was good at his craft. For you IT people out there he uses "pull" technology rather than "push". The dancers and singers did a farewell number and Xavier one of the officers on the ship came out with a number of the staff members to say goodbye. This was one of the classier goodbyes that I have seen on a ship.
Ports of Call - Let me begin by saying that if the situation in the world were a little different today than it is, we would have negotiated all of our tours with the local drivers at the ports and saved a few dollars. Given the political unrest in the world, I feel that one is safer staying with an organized group where your whereabouts are known. Cheryl and Steve related a story to us about how their taxi guide picked up an individual looking for a ride/tour. Apparently there was some disagreement about the price along the way and he was left in the middle of nowhere. It is worth the few dollars extra to have your safety assured. With that being said, on to the ports of call.Labadee, Haiti - Arrival 8:00am, last tender 4:30pm. Labadee is RCI's private "compound" on Haiti. You are taken tendered ashore by RCI's private fleet of tenders which include the Nina, the Pinta and the SantaMaria (sorry, I didn't catch the name of the fourth boat). The distance to shore is very short and the tenders have a high capacity making this a very rapid operation. At peak times they run two tenders, one aft and one forward both accessible via deck one. The tenders are also accessible for mobility impaired guests. From the ship's tender landing it is a short walk to anywhere on the beach. I say the beach, as this is not an island, but rather an peninsula surrounded by water on three sides. This assists RCI in keeping this a secure area from the rest of Haiti. There are an abundance of lounge chairs available as well as hammocks. We found a nice spot to leave our "stuff" and then walked back to Dragon's Tail Beach to do some exploring. For the marine biologists out there, you will find all sorts of interesting marine artifacts on the beach. We walked west to Dragon's Breath which is the end point for the zip line. For those of you who choose not to walk, there are several free shuttle trams available that will let you take a nice tour of the area. Keeping in mind that this is an RCI owned property, you may find your favorite bar server walking along the beach offering you a cold and refreshing drink. Your Sea Pass is the only means of payment here with the exception of the Haitian Flea Market and the Artisan's Market. A barbecue lunch is available at three locations on the island. The lunch consisted of salad items, burgers, hot dogs, jerk chicken and ribs. Dessert was fruit and cake. Yes, they do have hand sanitizing stations here as well. The activities on Labadee such as the floating mats and the waterslide are available at extra cost and are sold as excursions. In the afternoon the wind started to kick up and we headed back to ship. For those of you wondering about having lunch on the ship, it was more of less the same items that were on Labadee; remember, RCI owns Labadee. RCI is currently building a new welcome center that will eliminate the tendering operation and enable ships as large as Oasis to dock there. It had been several years since we were last at Labadee and I must say that we had an enjoyable time. Just one caveat, the markets are owned by the locals and some may be somewhat "aggressive" in their sales techniques. No, there is nothing to fear, this is a poor island and every dollar helps.
Meanwhile back at the ranch. When you get past the shopping village, there are several ways into town. You can either take the 15 minute walk, the 5 minute water taxi or a cab. We opted for the water taxi which had a fixed price for an old day wristband pass. The water-taxi was fast and convenient and the pass was cheaper than the two one-way tickets that you would need to get there and back.
Along the boardwalk you will notice chair and umbrellas set up on the beach. These are owned by the merchants whose business fronts that section. The deals vary widely from two chairs and an umbrella for $15.00 to two chairs, an umbrella and a bucket of beer for $20.00 and so on; pick your deal.
Our afternoon excursion was SM86, an island tour with our driver/guide Danny. The highlight of the tour was a stop in Marigot on the French side of the island. This is a charming little town with a great marina and several waterview restaurants. It is not the shopping mecca that Philipsburg is. I would recommend stopping here when on the island. As the island is half Dutch and half French, there is a border crossing although it is un-manned. During our drive, Danny pointed out various points of interest, but made only the one stop. After having seen many islands, there is not too much to separate one from another. What makes or breaks the tour in my opinion is the guide and their base of knowledge.
Philipsburg is a very clean city and we felt completely safe there at all times. I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that we were there on Boxing Day or just normal practice, but many of the shops did not open until 9:30am.
Returning to the ship in the afternoon, we encountered a tremendous line waiting to get back onto the ship. A word of advice, if you are like me and tend to carry lots of "stuff" in your pockets, either leave it at home or in your cabin. You don't want to beep.
Roseau, Dominica - arrival 8:00am, all aboard 4:30pm - Unlike Philipsburg, the pier at Roseau is quite short and lets you off directly "downtown". Dominica was our second new stop, so once again we opted for an island tour. We chose tour number RO42 - Trafalgar Fall and Sulphur Springs. The tour met at the end of the pier on the main drag. There was some confusion as the tour operator was holding a sign with the correct locations, but the wrong tour number. Eventually we all piled into a mini-van (yes, piled is an accurate descriptor) and headed off. Our tour guide was Kester and our driver was Pow (pronounced Poe, as in Edgar Allan). Pow has his name stenciled on the windshield, something that I noticed drivers on the other islands did as well. It seems that they all own their own vehicles. Dominica is billed as a natural wonder and it is in fact one. Along with it's natural wonder status comes extremely poor roads. They have no highways or even avenues; once you leave Roseau it is like the safari trail. The guides in Dominica are licensed and Kester was extremely knowledgeable. We stopped at a roadside stand along the way and one of the passengers picked up a package of sugar cane which she shared with the rest of us. The stand also sold various beverages, Dominica's version of Dairy Barn. Our first stop was Trafalgar Falls. Accessible down a winding path, Kester pointed out various plants and trees along with some of the crabs. The final decent to the falls can be a bit tricky, but was worth the walk. Returning to the van, it was a short trip to the Sulphur Springs. Those of you familiar with the New Jersey Meadowlands can appreciate the smell. With it's status as a volcanic island, Dominica has much geothermal activity going on beneath the surface. There were several natural vents along the path to the springs where you could feel the steam coming out. The springs themselves were quite active. Following the springs, we made our refreshment stop. We were served our choice of fresh fruit juice at the home of one of the island's top entertainers (yes, she sold CDs too). Our next attraction was the Botanical Garden. We got out of the van and Kester walked us through the garden, explaining the various flora and fauna. The gardens are also home to a very interesting parrott display. Just before arriving at the garden, Kester explained to us that although he was a licensed tourguide, he was not paid for his time; rather, he worked for tips and Poe got paid. Gee, I feel like I'm back in New York. Call me a softy, but he did do a good job and a few extra dollars would not break the bank. Our final stop was the hill overlooking Roseau and our ship. We had several minutes up there to explore the wares of the vendors and be entertained by two dogs who were very friendly. We arrived back in Roseau in time for lunch. Following lunch, we decided to do some exploring. For all of it's natural beauty, we found Roseau to be somewhat lacking. The streets were narrow and some of them had garbage strewn at the curb. You will not find Diamonds International here as this port has yet to be developed as a shopping destination. We spent a few minutes walking around and decided to head back to the ship. I think that Dave Chapman, our cruise director, summed it up at the show when he said that Dominica was "one of those islands that looks better the further away you get from it". While full of natural beauty, I would not make this my vacation destination.
Some additional thoughts about Dominica. There is a craft market on the main street as you exit the pier. The items for sale include the usual things that one finds in the islands; beads, t-shirts, hand bags and the like. While I'm not certain, I'm pretty sure that someone came up to me trying to sell something that you usually don't find at these stands. Kester told us that the unemployment rate in Dominica runs about 35%. The tourist season is approximately 6 months, running from November through May (yes, I know that is 7). In the off-season, he works in the agriculture field with his uncle. In all of the islands we were told that crime was fairly low. The reason for this being two-fold. You are on an island, you can run, but you can't hid and eventually someone will "rat you out". I have yet to visit an island where they indicated that there was a crime problem. Crime and tourism don't mix well together. While I did not have any fear on Dominica, I did not feel as safe as I had in St. Maarten.
Bridgetown, Barbados - arrival 8:00am, all aborad 3:30pm. In Barbados we dock outside of town at a port center/container facility. This photo gives you an appreciation for how far we were from the town. We decided on the Barbados Natural Wonders Tour BB55 . When you exit the ship you proceed to the right into a welcome center/shopping mall. All of the "big players" in the shopping arena are here, including Diamonds International. The building appears to be new and extremely clean. Exiting the building, you find a bus terminal with each bay labeled for the tour departing from it. We found Freddie, our tour guide holding our tour name sign and were told to wait while the group assembled. Considering that the ship has 3000+ passengers, the process can take a bit of time. While waiting, we ran into David and Adele, The Happy Wanderers from cruisecritic.com. After about 20 minutes we boarded our bus (yes, a really bus) and headed out with Nevele behind the wheel. Freddie was the best island tour guide that we have ever met. In addition to having a wealth of knowledge about the island, he also had a bag full of "stuff". This included newspaper clippings about the island, various items such as sugar cane to pass around, and other materials visual materials that were passed through the bus. The roads in Barbados, while narrow, are well maintained and give some excellent views of the island. Passing another vehicle can be an adventure and Nevele honked his horn at each blind curve. Along the way we stopped at a Barbados Black Belly Sheep farm and saw some 5 day old sheep. Continuing on our tour, we next stopped at the Andromeda Botanic Gardens. Freddie took us on a walking tour of the gardens and was quite informative. It was a beautiful stop, Ellen even found a tropical flower for her hair (no she did not pick it, it was already on the ground). On our ride back to the ship, we passed several scenic coastlines and ocean vistas. We also saw the Morgan Lewis Mill which is currently undergoing restoration. Upon our arrival back at the ship, we had lunch at The Windjammer. There was not much time in Barbados following lunch, so rather than going into town we decided to look around in the shopping mall adjacent to the pier. Our big purchases were a Barbados mouse pad and hat pin (I collect hat pins if anyone wants to send some along) and a jar of jerk seasoning. While in Barbados, the ship took on supplies and some new carpet.; several crew members also pulled anchor painting duty. Our scheduled departure time was 4:00 but there were still people strolling down the pier to the ship after 4:00; by that time there was only one gangway out and all ship-side security checkpoints on the pier had been taken down.
Barbados is a beautiful island
and we had a great time there. This is definitely on our would like to
come back here list. Our impression was no doubt influenced by the
excellent job that Freddie did. While I assume that one can walk into
town, there is shuttle van service available for $2.00 per person or by
taxi for $5.00 per RIDE. Cheryl and Steve took the taxi into town and
the driver tried to charge them $5.00 per person, caveat emptor.
St. Johns, Antigua - arrival 10:00am, departure 4:30pm - When we docked in Antigua, the Sea Princess was already at the same pier and there was literally a sea of humanity. This is another long pier but we met our greeter right outside the ship. When planning our tour for Antigua, we were trying to figure out the difference between AN42 and AN01 as they both had almost identical descriptions. The only difference appeared to be that AN01 was $8.00 more per person and mentioned air conditioning. We opted for AN42 and as things turned out, the two tours were identical. We met David and Adele who took the AN01 tour at all of our stops. Once our tour group was assembled, we followed the greeter down the pier to the security checkpoint and then to a parking lot where we boarded our tour bus. Yes, the bus was air conditioned. Our driver/tour guide was Andre, aka Dr. Dre (another name stenciled on the windshield). Downtown St. Johns was somewhat reminiscent of Roseau, but a few notches up on the development scale. While driving, Andre kept making calls on his cell phone. The woman behind us was saying that she couldn't hear what he was saying, assuming that he was giving us information. I finally told her that he was on his cell phone. I call this the Papillon Tour. Some of the vistas, particularly Shirley Heights reminded me of the scene in Papillon where he studies the whirlpool at the base of the cliff trying to figure out if he can jump down, survive and then go out to sea on a raft. Following the stop at Shirley Heights and the blockhouse ruins, we headed down to Nelson's Dockyard. This is a beautiful spot and the local guide explained some of the history. Following our tour, we had complimentary rum punch. Based on our reaction to it, there was more punch than rum in it. During our ride back to the ship it started to rain but by the time we reached the ship it had stopped. We returned to The Windjammer for lunch following which we did some exploring. While there was quite a bit of shopping here, the bulk of it was in the small area just past the security checkpoint; unlike St. Maarten, this is not the mecca.
While it had some beautiful vistas, Antigua is also not high on my must return to list. One should keep in mind that most of these islands are basically the same in terms of what they produce and their climate and foliage. They are distinguished by what has been built on the island or some natural phenomena such as Dominica with it's volcanic activity.
So here are the ports of call in order of preference: Barbados, St. Maarten, San Juan, Antigua, Labadee, Dominica. One thing that we learned on tour that we didn't know before, a goat's tail points up, while a sheep's tail points down.
Some miscellaneous items:
Christmas on a ship - This was our first Christmas at sea, normally we celebrate our anniversary in the Poconos. The ship was well decorated and had a beautiful tree. The caroling was particularly nice and everyone was given the "official" RCCL carol book; mine will be on eBay (just kidding). On Christmas morning, there was the Santa Claus parade that lasted all of one minute. Everyone who so desired could have an egg nog, either regular or high test (that's for Nat, our assistant waiter on our VOS cruise 6/04). Following the parade, children ages 16 and under could visit with Santa in Studio B and receive a gift.
The staff on board was also kind enough to enable those of us celebrating Hanukah to have the use of the conference center for the eight nights. We were also supplied with latkes, challah, jelly donuts (a Hanukah tradition) and Manischevitz wine (I'm not completely sure where the wine came from). One of our fellow passengers Rabbi Sheldon from upstate New York officiated.
The Three B's - The big ticket items on a ship are bingo, booze and blackjack (generic for the casino) and the Explorer was no different. Bingo was held regularly but we have not played since I won $75.00 many years ago (I vowed never to give it back). The bingo machine on the ship was somewhat antiquated compared to the full-screen marvel that we saw on the Carnival Victory in September. Some of the lights had problems and "Lucky balls Paul" had to improvise. There are a full compliment of bars on board. Ellen and I are not drinkers but she did have a ruby martini one evening. We also had our fair share of Yellow Birds at the welcome back parties (there were two - one for all returning guests and another for Platinum and Diamond category guests) and the Captain's welcome aboard party. The alcohol content on these was pretty low. There was always a drink of the day and you could keep the glass with some of the specials. Lastly, the Casino, we are big spenders and decided to stay with the penny machines. I believe that our total loss was around $4.00.
Late Night Parties - There were two late night parties on the ship. The first "deck party" was held poolside. The only problem was that the winds were so strong that you couldn't stand on deck. The party should have been moved inside to The Windjammer, but wasn't. We stuck around for about a half hour and then went to the Promenade Cafe. The Grand Promenade proved to be the refuge for many such as ourselves who couldn't take the wind. A second party scheduled for The Solarium on Deck 11 was cancelled due to poor weather condtions and moved to The Chamber. The dining portion was in The Windjammer. They had a nice selection of items.
The Activities - this sailing had nothing new or unique in the activity department. There was the ususal men's sexy leg contest, belly flop contest and mini-golf tournament to name a few. The trivia deserves special note. Apparently the trivia questions that are in use on EOS are the ones that were issued to the first CD went the ship originally went into service. Unfortunately, times change and facts change. One of the questions was, "what is the largest passenger ship currently in service?". We all said "Freedom of the Seas", Brandy, our assistant cruise director said, "no, this ship Explorer of the Seas". Baaah, you lose Hans (Die Hard fans can appreciate that). We told her that the answers were old and she ended up calling passenger services to verify the answer. Another question had to do with a tennis record, that too was outdated. She should have gotten the idea when a question asked for the highest paid athlete in 1999. Why in the world 1999? For that matter, they could have asked 1998, 7, 6 or so on. It was 1999 because when these questions were written that was LAST YEAR. Well folks, now it is 10 years ago. If you know that answer to that, you really need to get a life.
The Cooking Demonstration - on one of our last sea days a chef from the kitchen did a cooking demonstration in The Palace. He was assisted by Dave Chapman and a volunteer from the audience. The goal was for each of them to prepare a Black Forest Layer cake using an already baked chocolate sponge cake, but whipping their own cream and assembling the components. This was one of the FUNNIEST demonstrations that I have ever seen. The chef had a great sense of humor and some of Dave's expressions were priceless. The audience participant also got into the spirit of things. If you see "cooking demonstration" on the Compass, highlight it.
The Backstage Tour - I have taken backstage tours before, but this one also included the sound mixing board and the light booth. I received some very interesting information which gave me a better appreciation of what goes on behind the scenes. If you want to see what makes the shows "tick", add this to you list of must dos.
The Cruise Staff - We had the opportunity to participate in or observe activities conducted by three of the cruise director's staff. First of all, Dave Chapman is a very talented and personable individual. On a ship of 3000+ people you don't always see the CD out and about as much as Dave you saw Dave; he always seemed to be running somewhere and must be a quick change artist. We enjoyed his "bits" and wish him well. Brandy Carmen (if the spelling is incorrect, please let me know) conducted a lot of the trivia sessions. She hails from Indiana and conducted all of her activities in a very professional and entertaining manner. Then we have Esther from Toronto, she made a brief appearance on our Cruise Critic thread. She is apparently the "new kid on the block" but one would hardly know it. While I don't know what her background is, she handled all of her activities with ease. Lastly we have Brandt Davis - we met him at Karaoke. He seemed to be the senior member of the staff (in terms of age). He too was very professional in his demeanor.
Karaoke - There appears to be a licensing issue with the Karaoke disks being used on cruise ships and elsewhere for that matter. The library on EOS is extremely small by most people's standards. Brandt told me that they could only use songs for which RCI had obtained the licensing rights. He added that they are the only cruise line that hasn't been sued for use of Karaoke disks. So if Karaoke is your thing, don't expect a huge selection.
M - I - C - K - E - Y - Debarkation - We opted for the "Express Debarkation". People who use the express debarkation are responsible for getting all of their luggage off of the ship, into a bus and then off the bus and through the terminal. Our express debarkation tickets indictated that we should be in Studio B on Deck 3 at 8:00 to wait for the announcement to proceed ashore. At roughly 7:30, the announcement came over the PA that the ship had been cleared and that everyone holding express debarkation tickets should proceed to Deck 3. We managed to take the Port elevators down to 3 where Brandy was telling passengers to go down to Deck 1. The problem was that there was a backup at the Starboard elevator bank (the only ones that goes to Deck 1 on this morning) as people were taking them from the Decks above directly to Deck 1; by the time they reached Deck 3 they were full. A suggestion was made that one could take the stairs to Deck 1. Well, the problem here is that while I could manage my own luggage, I could NOT carry it down two flights of stairs. After waiting several minutes, we took an elevator up to 11 and came back down (an old office trick). At each deck the door opened to people holding luggage attempting to get on. We finally got down to Deck 1, had our Sea Passes dipped for the last time and proceeded out to the awaiting buses. The problem that one encounters here (and yes you were warned) is that the buses do not kneel. This necessitates you having to life your bag up approximately 18 inches. I had no problem with this, but Ellen did. After leaving my bags on the bus, I went back to help her. Luckily at the terminal side of things, there was someone who assisted her down with the bags. Once inside the terminal there are lines for US Citizens (to the right) and non-US Citizens (to the left). We were seen immmediately by a CBP agent who examined our passports, wished us a happy New Year and sent us on our way. That was approximately 8:00. We waited in the vestibule area for our driver to arrive (if you leave the terminal, you are NOT allowed back in) which was about 35 minutes.
Well boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the review has provided you with some useful information. If not, at least it hopefully cured your insomnia. We had a great time and would highly recommend the ship and RCI to anyone looking to have a wonderful vacation experience. We enjoyed the company of many of the people that we met on the ship including (but not limited to) Cheryl and Steve, David and Adele, David and Nancy and the gang from Cruisecritic.com.
Until next time, Bon Voyage
Rich
This page was last modified on Sunday, January 11, 2009 03:24:10 PM
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