Explorer of the Seas

Explorer of the Seas, Greek Isles Cruise

September

Pros: Very clean ship, with little wear and tear. An exceptionally friendly crew.

Cons: Very slow service in the Main Dining Room. Food quality and variety is much worse than our Royal Caribbean cruises from 2022 and early 2023.

Recommended: No

Overall we had a nice cruise. The ship was in great condition, and crew were superb. The shows were good with the Ice Show being a REAL highlight. Despite missing two of our five ports (due to weather), the ports we did visit were excellent. To make up for missed ports, a fourth port was added on day 7, which was a nice surprise. We booked two Royal Caribbean excursions, and they were both excellent. A quick shoutout to the pub… the pub layout, staff, and pub singer were all incredible. Best pub in the fleet (as far as we’re concerned)! Unfortunately, we noticed that the core experience of cruising with Royal Caribbean has changed significantly since 2022. This is our third cruise with the new MDR menus, and the lack of variety is starting to affect our dining experience. The quality of the food was noticeably worse than previous cruises (following somewhat of a trend). However, this was overshadowed by the service speed of the MDR. Nights 1, 2 and 3 took 105-120 minutes between sitting down and receiving dessert. We noticed an extreme lack of assistant waiters, and only met our assist waiter once or twice per night. Our main waiter also seemed to be stretched to cover a large section, which likely slowed the delivery of food from the kitchen. There appeared to be a reduction in staffing in the MDR. My wife and I remained patent as we enjoyed our entire basket of bread, but we noticed many angry passengers around us every night. We retreated to the Windjammer on nights 4, 5, and 6… which was surprisingly as good (food wise) as the MDR. Also, the Windjammer took 20 minutes to eat, and the bar service was immediate. Similarly, the once per day stateroom service seemed acceptable on our last 4 night cruise, but we noticed the room wasn’t as clean by the end of this 7 night cruise. Only 2 towel animals for the week, and we didn’t get replacement towels a couple nights. I called housekeeping about 6 times each of those nights to ask for towels, but no one answered. Guest Services told me to try calling again (which was unsuccessful). We had to disassemble and share the poor towel animal… The excess of staff in the bars, and lack of staff in the complementary venues indicated a change of priority for the cruise line. Unfortunately we believe the core experience has slipped to a point where the allure and value of a Royal Caribbean cruise is affected. We plan to cruise again with RC, but we are concerned this trend may continue…

We had a great time

April

Pros: Friendly staff, great stops

Cons: Not many big shows, okay food

Recommended: Yes

We had a great time! Our staff was friendly and helpful. The pool decks were always crowded and it could be difficult to get a seat, especially if you did not camp all day at a seat. We enjoyed a lot of the smaller evening events - like karaoke and game shows, though we noticed that there was not much by way of big shows that we were interested in. We enjoyed our excursions and stops.

Everything I hoped for in this cruise!

May

Pros: Excellent staff, great sit down dining, lots of options for activities

Cons: The itinerary was not available when I first started looking.

Recommended: Yes

Our trip required a lot of planning for my family to make it work, so I started looking 3 years in advance. I was booked on another cruise line that cancelled our trip, so I went back to Royal. I am SO GLAD that it all worked out that way! I truly enjoyed our family adventure and the staff on the Explorer added so much to our experience. I highly recommend Royal Caribbean!

Explorer of the seas review

April

Pros: Great service

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Great experience.

Great Vacation

December

Pros: Food, service, shows, stops were great.

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

Had a lovely vacation.

8 fun nights

November

Pros: Friendly crew

Cons: Food in the main dining room. small portions

Recommended: Yes

Smooth sailing

Food needs a little help

February

Pros: Staff was amazing!!!!

Cons: Food needs help!

Recommended: Yes

Food was not that great. Staff was amazing!!!!!

Beautiful Cruise

February

Pros: Clean ship, clean cabins, beautiful decor.

Cons: Slow bar service, food was average at best, and it appeared to be understaffed considering the guest crowd.

Recommended: Yes

Slow bar service......understaffed considering the number of guests.

great trip

February

Pros: great experience

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

I had a nice time on this cruise. The room was pretty large with a lot of storage space. The attendant for my room was Putu. He was awesome.

Great Time with a few drawbacks

December

Pros: All the islands we got to see within 9 nights were terrific. Our room and balcony and view were outstanding and the room was very quiet and insulated. Jaya and Weda our dining room servers provided great service, as did Ben our room steward. Staff at Chops and the Italian restaurant very good. Main dining room a very nice experience too. Theater with shows/movies were very nice.

Cons: Should be some limits to where children can go. Especially the specialty restaurants. A couple of meals were ruined as unruly kids in the specialty restaurants disrupted the enjoyable experience and it was also a safety issue to your staff. Maybe an age limit of 10 + at specialty restaurants. Also some of the staff were not quite that friendly which was surprising. Time changes were not notified to us and we missed a couple of appointments.

Recommended: Yes

On the whole a very nice experience, just suggest that 1-as we said above don't let small kids into the specialty restaurants, if they misbehave it ruins it for everyone. 2-Labadee - the beach was rocky and we were not warned. My wife cut her toe and foot in only ankle deep water because the rocks were not visible. There was too much pressure from the staff on the island to take our phones and take pictures of us. One of the staff took my wifes phone and went out of sight for a while and she is worried about that. 3-We saw the movie Judy on the big screen in the theatre one night. That was very nice and wish their were more "movie nights". Maybe show one movie every night! 4-Cupcake Class was good but should have specified children under 12cannot attend without a parent due to the skill required. And there should have been more classes offered on days at sea.

May 2019

May

Pros: Ports visited, few children

Cons: See Comments

Recommended: No

Decent ship!

September

Pros: Clean, enough to do

Cons: Food could have been better, gym hours

Recommended: Yes

Food was average except the upgrade options. Service was good but a couple workers were begging for positive feedback. Gym closing at 10 too early. Room shower did not drain properly.

Excellent Cruise with exceptional service

September

Pros: Excellent food and service in main dining room, stateroom always was perfect and shows and entertainment was wonderful.

Cons: Excursions were expensive but it may be I just haven't cruised recently and prices have changed.

Recommended: Yes

Cruise director and activities director did a great job having so much to do on board you never got bored. They were so actively involved with the happenings on the ship and you would see them in a lot of activities. Great team!

My trip

September

Pros: Good job

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Everything was great

Explorer of the Seas, July 2018

July

Pros: Food, activities and staff!

Cons: Not enough elevators!

Recommended: Yes

This was an excellent cruise and my mom and I had a fantastic time! Everything was awesome except for the elevators. My mom is unable to walk for very long, so I got her a wheelchair for the week. We spent so much time waiting for elevators, it was incredibly frustrating. Other than that, I can’t say enough about how great the experience was!!!

First timers

May

Pros: Very well coordinated

Cons: Check-in for ship, line too long and slow moving. Nowhere to rest while waiting.

Recommended: No

Loved every minute of it. (other than the wait to register to board.) This was our first cruise and even though I got seasick, I will go again.

Excellent

March

Pros: Excellent Service, food, and plenty of activities on the ship

Cons: Listed in the comments section below:

Recommended: Yes

My cons for this ship is that it is SO large that I had a hard time getting used to the layout of the ship and how to find everything. Also, the entertainment on the ship was just average for me. I would like to see more singing/dancing from the entertainers. We only had 2 performances out of 7 nights from the singers/dancers.

Explorer of the Seas, Alaskan Cruise

September

Pros: Wonderful trip in every way

Cons: none

Recommended: Yes

We had an amazing cruise to Alaska. Donna White orchestrated the whole trip with us and met with us to assure that all details were in place and gave us some tips for travel from her own experiences. The ship was clean, our room was excellent. The staff was professional, polite, and went above and beyond to assure a comfortable and pleasurable experience. We would definitely choose Royal Carribean again.

Service on ship

August

Pros: Great service

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

Had a great time

Seattle to Sydney Explorer of the Seas Cruise

October

Pros: Beauty of ship, stateroom and bed comfort;religious services; lectures; little emphasis on shopping, bingo, casino

Cons: Some decrease in food quality; disorganized luggage collection in terminal after departure

Recommended: Yes

Royal Caribbean is still our first choice of cruise lines, although this was not the most outstanding cruise of our 19 on Royal Caribbean. It was, however, very enjoyable.

Virtual review

August

Pros: Virtual balcony, cleanliness of room and ship, excursions, weather, room steward, wait staff, shops, plenty of things to do on board

Cons: Food was just ok

Recommended: Yes

Had a great time on Explorer of the Seas Alaskan cruise out of Seattle. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze. Everything was well organized, clean, and pleasant, even the medical center.

Alaska Cruise August 2016

August

Pros: Great food and plenty of it. Friendly and efficient staff especially dining and housekeeping staff which you have contact with most frequently. Good entertainment. Plenty to do. I don't think

Cons: I don't think it's right for an 18% gratuity to be added to the cost of the soft drink package since 90% of the time the cups were refilled at a serve-yourself machine. Other than that I can't think of anything to complain about.

Recommended: Yes

A great experience. We loved every minute of it. We enjoyed the virtual balcony as I think the weather at sea was too cold and damp to have been able to enjoy a real balcony.

Family trip with teens

August

Pros: Great crew, great ship for teens, very clean

Cons: I wish we could go to Glacier Bay

Recommended: Yes

We were very impressed with this ship and crew. Our kids, age 12 and14 met so many other kids from around the states and abroad and my husband and I had lots of time together as a couple. The dinners were spectacular and the shore excursions well planned and varied. We will do another cruise with this company for sure.

Great Time

July

Pros: Great entertainment and activities, nice rooms, good food.

Cons: Not enough time in port cities to do more than one excursion.

Recommended: Yes

Very fun crew and lots of great evening entertainment including singing, dancing, comedians, magic show, sing alongs, karaoke, trivia, dance contests, line dancing, etc.

Vicki P Cleghorn

July

Pros: Crew, shows, excursions,shopping

Cons: Food...same menu everyday at the buffet....Deserts were awful..

Recommended: Yes

Across the Pond

October

Pros: Good ports, great service, nice ship, base price of cruise, airport -- ship shuttle, casino did not ignore small time gaming.

Cons: Business model is changing. DR food quality slipping. If you want better food, need to go to the pricier specialty dining rooms. Alcohol prices have gone up rather steeply, curtailing consumption

Recommended: Yes

Very interesting itinerary in an English dominated market. The ship had a very European feel to it, but it was easy to communicate with the other passengers, a definite plus. The ports were very interesting, with a lot of history. The shore excursions were well put together. If I had a mulligan, I would have put together a plan that allowed more shopping in each of the ports. Some of the ports have very unique products for sale. In warm weather, the ship seems less than full with many people spending the day at the pool. This was a fall cruise with little pool weather, so most people were inside on cruising days. Nonetheless the ship did not seem too full. One could still find a place to relax and enjoy a conversation.

Trip Review

February

Pros: Most things wonderful

Cons: disembark go back to the color system no self service

Recommended: Yes

De barking was the worst part of the trip everything else was top shelf

Explorer of the Sea

January

Pros: Food in the dining room was excellent so was the service

Cons: Lunch in the Windjammer was just fair.

Recommended: Yes

We did not have hot water in the shower. they were unable to fix the problem Overall we had a good time.

9 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise

January

Pros: Level of food, entertainment & activities were as expected.

Cons: Ship ready for updating. Disembarkment a disaster.

Recommended: No

Awesome ship and staff!!

January

Pros: The staff was amazing and the ship was in great condition!

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Arun Mulay was my server and he was very considerate and a great worker! Always kept us happy and made great reccomendations! Loved his service! His assistant You Wu was also very helpful and very kind! Loved this staff!

Great Fun!

December

Pros: Excellent value, excellent service, good food & good beverage packages, good activities--something for everyone and decent entertainment

Cons: Can get a bit unorganized when trying to disembark, at least with our group; perhaps it was just an anomaly as we had excellent service otherwise. Extremely limited late-night food options, with only one place open 24 hours that serves food included in the trip cost. (No midnight buffet) One can order late night room service for an additional fee, but the night we did, it took over 20 minutes for them to answer the phone and when the food arrived (over an hour later) it was cold, and unappetizing; no spoon for the soup or ketchup for the fries.

Recommended: Yes

We all had a very good time. Sixteen of us went together to help friends celebrate their anniversary and we all were able to "do our own thing" during the days. We all ate dinner together, which was a great way to share our experiences from the day and a fantastic way to reconnect. Those of us who gamble had a blast in the Casino Royale. A few folks in our party did quite well at slots and/or blackjack. In the future when I book another cruise (and I will!!) I'll probably try a different ship/itinerary, just for some variation in ports of call.

Great idea to have friends share your anniversary celebration!

December

Pros: Something for everyone!

Cons: Not enough low limit blackjack tables. Would like to go somewhere else besides Cozumel for a 5 night cruise.

Recommended: Yes

5 nights is a perfect length for a cruise. The staff was wonderful. Everything was very clean. We had a party of 16, and the only thing I heard anyone suggest to improve is the portion size for dinner meals.

Friends and Neighbor Cruise

November

Pros: Great weather, great ship and great port stops.

Cons: Boarding process.

Recommended: Yes

Our group was 53 couples from our housing development and the entire trip was a total joy! It is really great traveling with so many friends and neighbors.

Wonderful Cruise

November

Pros: Excellent service from wait staff in dining room, and exceptional service from room attendant. Fabulous weather and ports of call. Plenty of fun activities to do onboard the ship. In general, food in both the dining room and the Windjammer Cafe was delicious, and bar beverage selection was very good. Salad bar for lunch in the dining room on sea days is absolutely wonderful. Evening shows and the Ice Show were truly positive, memorable experiences Overall, cruise was an entertaining and enjoyable experience.

Cons: Bonaire Highlights excursion was ok, but was a bit over priced for what I saw of this island. Boarding the ship was unusually lengthy this time due to a shut down by the Coast Guard

Recommended: Yes

Had a wonderful time! This was our 10th cruise with this cruise line. As usual, RCCL delivered exceptional service, daily activities, entertainment, and food and beverage. Have been on Explorer of the Seas once before in 2010, and could tell that the ship is somewhat outdated with regard to decor and technology. However, the ship will be drydocked in March 2015 for a major update to match the other updated ships in the RCCL fleet. This 9-day cruise went to the Southern Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Labadee) and fortunately yielded fabulous weather. A nice affordable cruise to take if you want to get away from the cold USA in the winter months.

My trip on the Explorer of the Sea

November

Pros: Windjammer food was good. The help was good

Cons: Stood in lines for three hours to board! Retrieving baggage after debarking, was a nightmare

Recommended: Yes

My ankles are still swollen, from being on my feet so long.

Group

November

Pros: being with neighbors

Cons: waiting in line to embark and line to disembark

Recommended: No

Southern Caribbean Cruise - 7 Islands

November

Pros: Food, service and cabin gal were just fantastic

Cons: Some of "headliner" entertainment left a lot to be desired.

Recommended: Yes

My wife and I enjoyed out longest cruise to date, 14 nights. Rough weather the first couple of nights helped make the balance of the cruise that much better. We did feel they should have spent the last 1/2 day at Bonaire, as there is very little there at this time and we would have loved to had a whole day at Aruba!

Bermuda Cruise

August

Pros: Service / Dinning

Cons: Cabine / It was fine but I have been spoiled with suites. :-(

Recommended: Yes

We did I think already 10 cruises and all with Royal Caribbean. And we will stay with Royal Caribbean.

Exceptional experience

August

Pros: The service onboard was exceptional. The customer service was great. The ship was kept very clean.

Cons: The room was too small and out-dated. The TV and furniture was old. The quality of food was average.

Recommended: Yes

My overall vacation was great. I enjoyed seeing the differnet destination. The staff on board were on point and gave outstanding service. Out statesroom was cleaned at least 5 times a day. The ship is beautiful outside but out-dated inside. Food quality: To many unhealthy choices. Overall we had a good time

9 Day Bermuda and Caribbean Cruise

June

Pros: Good value. We think we were

Cons: Poor global economy has made Caribbean natives more pushy as they try to fend for their families. But, it is an opportunity to help them.

Recommended: Yes

June sailing of Explorer of the Seas, departing round trip from Newark, and stopping at Bermuda, St. Maarten, San Jose and Labadee (Haiti), lasting 9 days. Professional and friendly staff, clean ship, and although large, there are plenty of places with privacy. Good entertainment, including the stage shows and the live music in the bars. The bar entertainment was diverse, appealing to many ages in a multi-generational family. The ports were about as I expected, with St. Maarten and Labadee beaches being among our favorites. Bermuda had a bit of the quaint feel of England, and there were plenty of ways to entertain oneself in San Juan with Old San Juan nearby, a couple of historic forts nearby and several very interesting shore excursions. The poor global economy has hit the Caribbean hard. Many poor folks have taken refuge in St. Maarten. The implication is that being approached to purchase things or give money is much more prevalent than at any time I can recall. It appears that RCI has struck a very nice arrangement with the Haitian officials, protecting the privacy of the travelers while still allowing tourists to help out the local, sometimes destitute, natives.

Stitch & Beach 2014

March

Pros: Convenient location for travel from the tri-state area

Cons: See review

Recommended: No

My Second Cruise

March

Pros: Great tour leader and passengers

Cons: See review

Recommended: No

Did not want it to end

March

Pros: Ten across the board

Cons: None

Recommended: No

The Skeptic goes to Sea

March

Pros: Lots of people and lots of options

Cons: A couple of rough sea days

Recommended: No