I sailed on the Explorer of the Seas to Bermuda Oct. 21, 2007.This was a five night cruise to Bermuda. I must preface my review by saying I previously sailed the Freedom of the Seas and loved that ship. I found myself making comparisons between the ships.

EMBARKATION: We drove to the Cape Liberty port and embarkation was a breeze. We arrived at the pier building at 12:30 PM, dropped our luggage and continued past the terminal to the long term parking. Parking was $80 for a 5 night cruise, payable in cash or by Visa or Master Card.

We walked back to the terminal after parking and showed our i.d. and Seapass printout and were given a bus number. We were in cabin 1343 and proceeded to the line for deck 10. We were immediately greeted by an agent, the check in process took five minutes. We were directed around the corner to have our picture taken for our Seapass card, took an embarkation photo and by the time we were finished, our bus number was called. We got on the bus and were on the ship within 15 minutes.

Since it was a little before 1:00 PM and too early to get to our room, we went to the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. It was fairly crowded and we shared a table with two others. Food was okay - nothing spectacular, but plenty of choices. I felt we had more choices on FOS than Explorer and the quality of food was a bit better as well. We then proceeded to our dining room to try and have our dinner changed from late to early seating. We were quickly accommodated and then proceeded to our room.

CABIN: We had inside cabin 1343 on deck. 10. It was a very short walk from the aft elevators and in a great location. The room was small, but there was plenty of storage space. The beds were pushed together, which left absolutely no room to get out of the side of the bed to use the bathroom. We found our cabin attendant (Amanda, who provided outstanding service throughout the cruise) and she moved the beds and also cleaned out the mini-bar in the fridge for us. With the beds moved apart, there was plenty of room to walk in between the beds.

The carpets and couch were a bit worn in our cabin, but not filthy. The quilt on the bed when the beds were doubled had a few holes in it. With the beds split, the bedding was fine. no holes or worn spots. I was concerned about noise in our room because we were directly under the Windjammer. There was nothing to fear. The only noise we heard was on the second night at about 11 PM and sounded like something being dragged across the room. Other than that, it was very quiet.

We did notice during the cruise bags of cut up carpet in the hallways during the day. It seemed that some of the cabins were having their carpets replaced, but not ours.

FOOD & DINING SERVICE: We were assigned to Columbus Dining Room, table 524 early seating. We were not happy with the service by our head waiter. We and our table mates arrived promptly, yet our waiter did not take any orders until all three of his tables were seated. Then he was able to serve all three tables at the same time rather than one at a time, making service easier for him. That was a big issue, since neither of the other tables was ever on time.

The first night, we sat without him taking our order for nearly a half hour. The second night, he had begun taking our order after we sat for 15 minutes when the next table came in . He stopped taking our order to put the napkins on the laps of the late guests. Those at our table were very unhappy with this situation. We weren't served an appetizer until 40 minutes after we were seated.

On the third night, the only show was at 7:45 and we knew we would not make the show if we ate in the dining room. We decided to eat in the Windjammer, but did go to the dining room to tell our waiter so he would not hold up the dinner for our table mates. The waiter was no where to be found, but we approached the Maitre D and told him of our situation.

He was very apologetic and asked us to please eat in the dining room and he would ensure we would be out in time to get to the show. We opted to not take a chance and the head waiter assured us he would take care of the problem. He did take care of it - our table mates told us later on that dinner was served promptly and they were out of the dining room in a little over an hour after sitting down. We did go back to the dining room after that and found that the service had improved and the waiter was no longer waiting for all three tables to start taking orders and serving.

The food was good, but not the best I've ever had. Steaks and filet mignon were outstanding and cooked to order. Some of the fish dishes were excellent but people did complain that the same fish (cod) served the first night was terrific, but terrible on the third night. I love the cold fruit soups and found all of them good. The desserts were not as tasty as the desserts on FOS. Lobster was on Wednesday night and very good. We had lunch in the dining room on Monday and I did enjoy that - I felt the food quality was much better than the Windjammer and should have eaten there more.

Food at the Windjammer was disappointing. The selection was not as big as was available on FOS, the food was over salted and some of it was bland. On many other ships, tablecloths are on the tables in the Cafe at dinner - not on this ship. There were also not as many sugar free desserts.

We did have breakfast in the dining room one morning and it was delightful. Food was cooked perfectly.

We ate a few times in Cafe Promenade. Pizza was available, as were sandwiches and some desserts. I prefer the larger ships that have both Sorrento' s Pizza and Cafe Promenade. There were more food varieties and more tables. On sea days, it was hard to get a table.

We ate at Portofino's the last night Service was excellent, food was good.

THE SHIP: The ship is a smaller version of FOS. The ship was in good condition for a seven year old ship. Not a lot of signs of wear and tear. Missing are the H20 water park and the Flow Rider. The Solarium pool was very enjoyable. The other pools were a bit more crowded, but to my astonishment, it was never difficult to find a chair on sea days near either pool. Whether it was because it was cool out and not as many people used the pools, or if this cruise didn't have chair hogs, I don't know, but it was delightful to be able to find a seat after lunch.

The Promenade is lovely, but the shops are really a waste. I haven't been on a ship in which I saw so few people shopping. The high end jewelry store was pretty empty most of the time. The Logo shop had a lot of items, but very few kids sizes. The Liquor Shop was the busiest shop. Since many of the passengers had driven to the ship and didn't have the issue of getting liquor home on an airplane, I believe that drove a lot of business to that store.

There are a lot of places you can go to on the ship and not feel crowded. The 19th Hole on deck 14 was a great spot to watch the Rock Climbing and Basketball activities. There is also an inline skate park (that I didn't notice anyone using) and it also overlooks the mini-golf. The golf course could use new turf. The Crow's Nest, Dizzy's, Viking Crown Lounge, Cloud Nine and Sevens Hearts are on this deck.

We didn't use the gym or the spa but did walk the track every day. Get there early, that was the most popular spot on the ship by 9 AM.

ACTIVITIES & SHOWS: I didn't feel there were enough activities on this ship, particularly on sea days. There was the usual Bingo, Aerobics Classes, Trivia. However, many times the venues were so small and because there was not more activities going on, it was SRO. At a towel folding class in the Schooner bar, there were so many people you couldn't see what the staff was doing.

We missed the show the first night with comedian Rick Starr and magician Peter Gross but heard from people we asked the show was good and did get to see it on the t.v. in our room later on. We only saw one Production Show (Wild, Cool & Swingin')with the Singers and Dancers and it was awful. We left after 20 minutes. We weren't the only ones - everyone we spoke to that night and the next day did not like the show either. We heard better singers at Family Karaoke (seriously - I was sorry that was only one hour).

The third night, the featured singer was John Christie, who was very good. Reminded me very much of Peter Allen. We skipped the productions show the next night and the ship was rocking too hard for us to stay for the show the last night.

Do not miss the Ice Show or Quest. Our cruise director was Dave Chapman. He was pretty good but it was his last cruise on the ship. He is very quick and has a great sense of humor.

BERMUDA: If you love the beach, Bermuda is the place for you. Elbow or Horseshoe Beaches are must see's. If you are not a beach lover (like me), there is not a lot to do. This was my second time to Bermuda and I had already done the Botanical Gardens and Caves. While I usually like doing a catamaran excursion, I didn't bother this time because I was concerned it might be too cool to swim.This time, we opted to buy a one day bus pass on the ship.
The ship docked in King's Wharf. On a previous cruise, we docked in St. George and Hamilton. I prefer King's Wharf. There is not much to do in Hamilton besides expensive shopping. Souvenir shopping on the Wharf was much better. We got off the ship and walked to the high speed ferry to Hamilton. After walking around Hamilton a bit, we walked to the bus terminal and went to St. George to the Perfume Factory. While we were told we could get a tour, there were only two women in the shop and both were busy with customers, so a tour was out of the question (but I did get my Frangiapani perfume).

We took the bus back to Hamilton and decided instead of taking the ferry back to the Wharf, we would take the bus. What didn't appear to be too far on the map ended up being over an hour's ride by bus. Take my advice - use the ferry to go back.

On day two we decided to explore the Wharf and to my delight, I found a Snorkel Park that was not there when I last visited 5 year ago. It is located next to the Dolphin Swim. It is free to get in, you can rent a chair and umbrella for $10 each (or $25.00 for two chairs and two umbrellas) and enjoy a small beach right next to the pier. There is a restaurant and rentals of snorkel equipment and other items. It was wonderful and if I were to ever go back, I'd just spend my time there.

Disembarkation: We were out of our room and sitting at Bolero's by 7:20 AM. Disembarkation did not begin until 9:20. Apparently, it took longer than usual for the ship to be cleared. We had lavender tags and were the third group called off. After a slight back up on the stairs, we were off the ship within 15 minutes and lined up to get a bus. We waited for the second bus and were quickly inside the terminal. For the first time ever, I found my bags immediately - the bags were right where they were supposed to be, and even next to each other. It was a quick trip through Customs and we were in our car five minutes later.

This is a good family cruise - there were quite a few kids on the ship who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. Most of the passengers were from the tri-state area and I didn't see any boorish or poor behavior, with the exception of some people who felt the need to jump on the elevators in front of people waiting in wheelchairs. It was a real pleasure to be able to drive to a cruise instead of the stress of flying.

I did like the FOS a bit better than this ship, but for an older ship, she is in good shape and provides a nice experience. The quality of the production shows was not good, but the shows featuring other performers were good. For a five day getaway, this is a good choice.

Well, this was the cruise that was totally unplanned. Our big cruise was supposed to happen back in the Spring and it was supposed to have been on the Mariner of the Seas out of Florida to the eastern Caribbean... but alas, that cruise had to be cancelled due to a prolonged injury/illness that left me unable to work through most of the winter of '06-'07. So, we had to (GASP!) cancel that cruise. But, being the cruise addicts that we are, we had to do something... so we decided on the infinitely affordable and incredibly excellent five night Explorer of the Seas trip to Bermuda once again.

Almost exactly one year to the day we were off once again to Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ. This time we were accompanied by our dear friends and always wonderful cruise companions, Kim and Steve. We were in adjacent balcony cabins- ours was 8586 and they were in 8588. I am very pleased to announce that Explorer now has the enhanced linen and mattresses that we enjoyed so much on Freedom of the Seas last year. These weren't in place on our Explorer sailing last year. This is an excellent change from the old super-cots that cruise ships used to employ. Our cabin steward was Geraldo (Gerry) Gonzales... he was truly amazing and funny and above and beyond in performing his duties. Just about every time I approached my cabin, he would come out of nowhere and open the door for me! As is typical on RCCL, our cabin was always immaculate.

Although she's in her seventh year of service, I have to commend RCCL on giving the old girl new life. In fact, many of the worn out spots I noted last year were addressed. (Only the Solarium's urns need to be replaced) A big improvement was the fact that the spa was now open till 11pm every night! Finally! Music in the disco was far superior to other years with an excellent mix of oldies and cutting edge stuff (at 46, I actually enjoy all dance music- so I'm a bit more liberal in my tastes). Food in the Main dining room was very good to excellent. Food in the Windjammer was good to very good. And of course, food in Portofino's was excellent to beyond belief. It's always important to remember that if you order something and don't like it and you don't order something else to make up for it, you're only ripping yourself off. I've always found that it's very wise to listen to your waiter's suggestions. They're working for that week ending tip and they try everything for that night and they always have the best suggestions. Our waitress, the incredible Lydia from Germany (table 332), always had the best suggestions and even told us what to stay away from. (If you didn't take her advice, she'd often sneak her suggestion in as well as your order always with a wink!) Our assistant waiter, Clint (from Trinidad/Tobago) was always there with rolls and sodas for me. (I always buy the soda pass since I'm a soda-holic)

This was our first cruise as Diamond members (and Steve & Kim's first as Platinum- YAY!) and as such we got an excellent coupon book full of wonderful discounts. We also finally got the Concierge room key- what an excellent way for RCCL to pay back it's most loyal passengers! Every day, there was Ricky waiting to help us out with anything he could and always making sure everything was just right. (Getting out of that room could be a bit tricky... there's just something strange about that locking mechanism)

Embarkation day was the typical hubbub at Cape Liberty- each year it improves a wee bit. I can't wait to see it's final realization. This year, parking was on the other side of the port building. We used to skip luggage drop off and turn into parking right away. Now you must pass in front of luggage drop off to get to parking. It makes it much easier for those that like to drop off their luggage first. Since ours is spinner wheeled luggage, we don't mind wheeling it over from the new parking section. Parking price at the pier has gone up- $80 for the five night cruises. We parked near the gate and moved our luggage over to the porters then went through security and into the Platinum/Diamond members holding area for accelerated boarding onto the ship. We left home at 10am, arrived at Bayonne around 11:30pm and were aboard by 12:30pm! We met up with Kim and Steve around 1pm in the Windjammer and made our plans for Portofino's for Monday night at 6pm. (We wanted 7:30pm, but couldn't make it work) We spent the balance of the day poolside, doing the muster drill, watching the pass under the Verrazano Bridge (always a heart stopper) and just reveling in the fact that we were all on a cruise!!! That night's entertainer- a comic writer from SNL- had us in stitches! (his adult act later in the week was even better) Diane and I and Steve and Kim had a great time in the disco!

Our first day at sea (Monday) began, for Diane and I, with a massage at 8am. As usual, this was the perfect start to our cruise! Diane and I both napped after the massages till around noon, then we went to the main dining room for a wonderful lunch. The day was simply gorgeous- very warm in the low to mid 80s- and the Atlantic was very calm. We mostly sunbathed all day with Steve and Kim. Later we had dinner at Portofino's which is always "worth it" more then can be believed. (especially for the unheard of price of $20/person) If you cruise on RCCL and skip Portofino's (assuming there's one on your ship), you've made a huge mistake. Later we saw the RCCL song and dance production "Fast Forward" which featured some of the same singers we saw last year. This year there seemed to be some sound problems- the one main singer's voice kept fading out.

Our first day in Bermuda (Tuesday) we bought the Bus/Ferry passes for $20/person for two days. This extremely cheap pass gets you unlimited transportation all over the island using their pink busses and high speed ferries! This being our third trip to Bermuda, we decided to try to see more of the island then the beautiful Horseshoe Bay beach. So, right outta the Dockyard (aka King's Wharf) we took the high speed ferry to the far east side of the island, called St. George. We disembarked and walked about the quaint town and perused the stores and checked out the Episcopal church (dating back to the 1700's) and it's adjacent cemetery. We then hopped the #6 bus down to the light house then joined the #1 bus to the Hospital to rendezvous with the #7 bus to the beaches. This took about two hours. Since time was of the essence (we had a Sunset cruise planned for 6pm) we decided to forgo all the other beaches we hoped to visit and go directly to the always gorgeous pink sands and turquoise waters of Horseshoe Bay. (One of these days we'll do Warwick!) After a few hours there, we climbed the hill back to the bus stop and boarded a "Special" #7 bus with direct connection to the Dockyard (nonstop)! How did we ever manage that? Our sunset catamaran cruise was wonderful. Hosted by Captain "Smitty" (not at all pirate like or even an old salt- just a young Bermudan native who looked like he'd be just as comfortable catching waves in California) who told us a brief history as we sailed away from Explorer towards Hamilton. There was complimentary rum punch served (constantly) which made the whole event very relaxing. The skies were wonderful at sunset. Later, we popped back into Explorer around 8:45pm and ate dinner in the Windjammer so that we could get back down to the port's carnival where locals sell their wares and where there are exhibitions of juggling and native Goombay dancers. Kim and Steve headed back to the ship, and we had a drink in the bar at the port (where service is very slow).

Our second day in Bermuda (Wednesday) was also gorgeous, but Diane and I slept in too late to accomplish our original goal of shopping in Hamilton and heading for Horseshoe later... so we decided to forgo Horseshoe and head to Hamilton (the capitol) instead on another ferry. I was very glad we did! This neat and clean city had so much to offer! We only had a few hours but we made the most of it visiting a tiny museum on Queen's street and an adjacent park. We shopped in a few stores and got some cool things for the friends and family back home. There were two ships in port- and NCL (the Crown?) and an Azamara journey (I think this is some sort of Celebrity thing). We both decided that our next trip to Bermuda, we'd check out more of the sights in Hamilton. Diane and I got back to our cabin and watched our departure from our balcony, away from all the noise topside. We then headed for the Solarium and relaxed for a while. Steve and I hit the saunas for a bit before dinner. For the rest of the night, we mostly bopped around the ship- I made a perfunctory donation to the Roulette gods who were unkind this trip- I lost around $140. (but things got much better later) Steve did very good at roulette this night hitting big on #26 and #36! We hung out in various clubs and drank lots. (this- happily- was a recurring theme!)

Our final day at sea (Thursday), we slept in, nursing yet another hangover. The day started out dreary and a little sprinkly but improved somewhat as the day advanced. Around 5pm, we saw the new ice skating show, "The Four Seasons" which was -as always- an incredible production. (they actually made it snow real snow during the winter segment) That night we got our suitcases all packed and out the door and got our tips to the ever wonderful Gerry (who got teary eyed when we gave him a gift in addition to an above normal tip) and to Lydia and Clint and the very polite Head Waiter (whose name escapes me). The four of us continued to party at the bars, and I took one more stab at the Casino. I played a Video Poker machine with $20 worth of quarters and kept trying for four of a kind (any kind) betting the maximum of $1.25 per bet. I got down to about $3.75 and hit four aces (!) which won me $200 getting my roulette winnings back to me. Carrying 800 quarters around in two buckets was a first! Later, we walked the empty ship (most of the passengers having gone to bed)- we walked to the bow and marveled at the Milky Way and Diane and I saw an amazingly bright meteor fireball. Kim decided to head to bed and Diane went to bed a little after this and Steve and I roamed around drinking until we realized we had to be up in just a few hours to get off ship!

Disembarkation went very smoothly- here the port has improved immensely- and we were off ship by 10am. Unfortunately, an unrelated traffic jam on 440 and the connection to the NJ Turnpike had us crawling out of Bayonne for over an hour. This has never happened before when leaving Bayonne so we were kinda surprised. We were home, with lunch picked up on the way, by 1:00pm. Steve and Kim got home a few minutes after.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip! It was a reunion for the four of us and Explorer since four years ago we'd all cruised for the very first time together on this particular ship. Every cruise that includes our friends, Kim and Steve, is always full of great times and memories... having them as our close friends (and neighbors) is awesome. We love them very much.

We finally made it! With our close friends (and neighbors!), Steve and Kim, we cruised on one of the biggest class of cruise ships in the world, the Explorer of the Seas!!! Along with the original ship of the class, the Voyager of the Seas- and their sisters the Adventure of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and this year's Mariner of the Seas- the Explorer of the Seas is a cruise ship of such immense dimensions (they weigh in at 142,000 tons- the next class of ship to come close hovers around 100,000 tons, and the vast majority of cruise ships are below 80,000 tons!) that the cruise ship itself actually becomes a destination. The ship is HUGE- and the added space is a pleasure. (The Voyager of the Seas is said to have it's own zip code- I forgot to find out if the others in the class do as well). The commercials for this ship, the pamphlets, the advertisements- none of it compares to the real thing- this ship is by far the most incredible cruise vacation we've ever experienced. In fact, we now have no interest in cruising aboard anything but this class until we've done them all! Without a doubt, this was the BEST cruise and BEST vacation we've had to date!

This ship has so many amenities and places that it's difficult to pick a favorite- but personally, my favorite place is the "Royal Promenade"- a four story, 120 meters (390') long central "street" running through the very heart of the ship! You actually feel as though you're in some quaint little town perusing the shops and pubs- and you often lose track of the fact that you're inside a ship! We had a great time walking up and down the "avenue" - going into the bars, eating at the restaurant, and shopping. We also enjoyed the actors who engaged the passengers in silly banter throughout the day. The Royal Promenade also had at least two parades while I was on board.

Below the Royal Promenade is an immense casino - and there's a two story disco called, "The Chamber" festooned with medieval suits of armor and gargoyles- a fantastic late night destination. There's the three story theater up at the bow featuring RCCL's typically very entertaining shows, but there's also the ice skating rink on another deck that has two exquisite shows during the 7 day cruise (GET TICKETS for this show as soon as they become available). Aft is the three story main dining room- very beautiful in it's appointments, but there's also the incredibly upscale and reservations only "Portofino" Italian restaurant that's a bargain at a mere surcharge of $20/person. (Expect to pay 5 times that to eat at such an upscale restaurant in the real world). There's also Johnny Rockets serving up burgers, dogs and malted milkshakes- and of course the line's venerable buffet location, the Windjammer (also called the Island Grill) Cafe. Needless to say, you'll never have a hard time finding something to eat on this ship (or any other respectable cruise ship- but this one has food options everywhere).

Our ports on in this voyage were from Miami: a day at Sea (a pleasure on a ship this big!); San Juan, PR (we toured a rum distillery- my recommendation, stay on the ship next time); St. Martin (absolutely don't miss the beach at Orient Bay!!!); St. Thomas (Magen's Bay or a trip to St. John's Trunk Bay beaches are a must!); another day at Sea (we ice-skated and golfed and explored this incredible ship!); Nassau in the Bahamas (do the Yellowbird rum cruise or just stay on ship- not much here on this island.); then back to Miami. The ship itself is so much fun, it wouldn't really matter to me if it was a cruise to nowhere.

What can I say? I learned to ice skate (after a very shaky and slow start- I got the hang of it- and I didn't fall down), I saw an ice show, I saw terrific shows in the main theater, I played miniature golf (in the middle of the caribbean sea!) and used a golf simulator to work on my driving skills (which have withered considerably since I was a teenager), I worked out in an incredible gym, I watched the stars from the front of the ship, I watched bridge operations from the "peek-a-boo" bridge over top, I almost did the rock climbing wall (a foot injury the week before the cruise made me decide not to do this), I danced the night away in an incredible disco and laughed at the singers in the pub, I gambled in the casino, I swam in the pool and sat in the hot tub at 2am- there's always at least one pool and hot tub open 24 hours (!) on this ship... In short, all of us, Steve and Kim and Diane and I had a great time!

Every wonderful thing that you have read about this ship and it's beauty must be multiplied by at least 10. To say it is simply gorgeous is actually an understatment. Words just don't seem to do it justice.

We arrived at the pier at 12:10 after having driven from the west coast of Florida. We dropped our luggage with the porter, waited while my husband parked the car ($70 in advance) and proceded to the check in counter. Before we went into the check in room, someone checked to make sure we had all our paperwork filled out, they have seats and plenty of extra copies of all required paperwork in case you did not have it all. We went through the security line to the check in. This was a very fast process and we were on board by 12:30.

We proceded to our cabin #1274. A beautiful Category B suite. We had booked a C cabin but were upgraded months ago to a B. We loved this cabin, it was just far enough off the centrum, just about in the middle of them both, to make going to either end of the ship very convenient.

We then proceded up to the Windjammer for some lunch. For future cruises, don't eat in the Windjammer, proceed back to the Island Grill. They have the same buffet but the view out the back of the ship is better than the side seating in the Windjammer. Most people see the first sign of food and feel they need to grab a plate, the Island Grill side was quiet since not too many people had discovered it yet and we had some great service back there. Later in the week, after others had discovered this seating area, it did get more crowded but we never were unable to get seating.

Back down to our cabin to start unpacking from the luggage that had already arrived. We had four bags, two came before 2, one by 4 and the other about 6. We had late seating but I did hear that there were many people at first seating in the dining room in shorts because their luggage did not arrive till after 6. No one was denied service because of this.

We met our cabin steward, Desmond and the concierge, Mary. Both were delightful. There were 14 in our group all together with 6 of them being children 6-14. We had a dvd player in our room and the concierge lounge had dvd's so when it was time for the kids to just chill, Mary was there to get them a great movie. (Note, on the second day, Sunday, one of the children sprained his ankle playing in the basketball tournament and on the third day one of them broke her toe on the water playground in Labadee so the dvd player came in very handy).

We went to the sail away party on the pool deck, met up with the rest of our crew, learned a new dance and had our customary drinks with umbrellas in them. Returned to our cabin for more unpacking.

Muster drill went off right on time at 4:15. My daughter was given a wrist band with her muster station information on it in case she was not with us during a real emergency. All children 11 and under were give the same thing. Anyone who wanted one, could also receive one. Ship did not set sail until about 6 due to some late flights.

We had late seating for dinner. We were on deck 3, Magellen Dining Room. The first night dinner was not until 9:00 but all other evenings it was 8:30. We had the absolute best waitress ever! Monika was just back for her second week after her vacation. Seems that they slowly break them back in so she only had our group which was a table for the six children and the table for the eight adults. The first night I got up and asked my 14 year old son to please help the six year old to cut his food. Monika came right over, told me I was not to worry about this, to stay in my seat and enjoy my meal, she and the assistant waiter Fari would take care of the children. And take care of the children they did. Monika saw that they had their dinner right away, (which was great because most nights they had "children plans"), she cut, tossed, and seasoned everything for them to perfection! She made wonder suggestions to us, told us why she did and did not like particular dishes. We loved her!

As others have stated before me, the food was tremendous. Every night the food was wonderful. None of the 14 of us could find a complaint even if we tried. It was just that good. We ate in the dining room all but one night when we had dinner in the Windjammer. We had a wonderful meal there. They had a pasta station, a steak station and the regular buffet. One family in our group did not bring formal clothes so they ate here those nights and also said it was wonderful.

Our itinerary was a unique one. The normal Eastern Caribbean tour goes to Nassau, Sea, St. Thomas, San Juan, Labadee, Sea. We did this in reverse which the crew told us was better. We were in Nassau from 11 till 6 which gave us plenty of time to do a snorkel excursion and in San Juan from 11:30 till 8. Normally the ship leaves both ports by 2 we were told.

Having the first day at sea was great because it gave every one a chance to check out the ship. Some of the group went to the pool, some participated in organized activities and some just walked around in amazement. RCCL now puts your pool/beach towels in your room the first day and they charge you $20 for missing towels. This is supposed to help with the saving of pool chairs. We still saw plenty of un used chairs that has personal items on them but we did not have a problem finding a chair although we did have to search for one at 2 in the afternoon. This being spring break/easter week I am sure there were many more people on board then other weeks but we truly did not find 3500+ people too much.

We had been given a notice from the captain about behavior and how we were all expected to behave. He also made an announcement about this. He told us two families had been put off the week before for not abiding by these rules. Our concierge told us one family's 15 year old daughter had gotten drunk and stripped on the pool deck, the other had two boys 16 & 17 drunk and disorderly. Both were put off in San Juan. On our cruise, one family was put off in Nassau. Their 15 year old son had gotten vodka in St. Thomas and brought it on board in a water bottle. He and a friend proceded to get very drunk and took all the ornamental mulch they put around the plants and dropped them all over the stairway by Portofinos. This mulch is like marbles therefore creating a very dangerous situation. They then proceded to throw the plants outside Portofino down the centrum. Luckily they were stopped but got very ugly with the hotel manager as did their parents with the captain. They were secured to their cabins and put off in Nassau. With as many people on board and almost 900 children that we had, we really had not problems with crowds or much rudeness. Some children ran in the hallways and played with the elevators we were told but luckily we did not see this. As for our own children, on Friday I was approached by a gentleman who said he was sitting next to our childrens' table and he wanted to let us know they were the most polite and well behaved children he had ever seen and that when they had first seen them sitting there on Saturday night they feared the worst but received the best. Good thing, all six kids (two mine) would have been toast if we had seen anything but their best behavior! LOL
We did use the Fitness Center, the rock climbing wall, the in-line skating rink, and the kids slide. All were wonderful. The Spa was also used by two of us. A pedicure that should have been $55 was $220 after purchasing the products and the facial at $89 cost one of us $170 after the product purchase. They are very pushy with the products. I did want two of the pedicure products having used them before but the other I could have done without. I got away with purchasing no facial products using the excuse that my husband had gone crazy in St. Thomas (we did not even shop) and I would have to check with him of how much I could spend. I did not go back but if I had, the products she wanted me to buy were $529, not including the facial! My mom had her hair done twice for $35. It looked beautiful, it really did, Lottie did a fantastic job but she did manage to talk by mom into getting some Vitamin C for her hair! My mom just can't say no.

We did not get to all the shows as they were at 10:45 after dinner and we were just too tired. The four we went to were excellent and we truly enjoyed them.

Disembarking was a nightmare. We went to the dining room for breakfast and left about 8:45. Our color had already been called so we assumed we could just get off. Unfortunately this was not the case. They only let so many off and then they closed the doors. We waited about 15 minutes and then they let the next group off. We thought we would go right for our luggage but we had to go through the first set of custom agents. This was a 30 minute wait. They checked our passports/birth certificates, asked our children how old they were and then let us go. We got our luggage and proceded to the next customs agent. We turned in our form and got pulled aside. My husband was wearing his Rolex and they questioned him about how old it was, (five years), where he got it (an award from work), how much we paid for it (hello, nothing, it was a gift! cheapest rolex there is), what purchases did we make to get to our $500 (the t-shirts we were wearing, the $90 watch I was wearing, one piece of crystal and other little items) I guess he liked our answers (they were truthful) so he let us go. We were in our car about 10:30 and waved a sad goodbye to the Explorer.

Good news though, we booked the Navigator for the same time next year while we were on the ship. We got a great deal and $200 on board credit!

Any questions and or comments, please feel free to e mail, just put explorer in the subject line. I'm sure I have left out many things so do ask and I will answer if I can.

Happy cruising to you all.

Patti