The Ups And Downs On The Ocean Wave
The ups and downs on the ocean wave |
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Reviewed By: Acaster, Lewannick on 22nd Jun 2009
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| Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean Cruises |
Times cruised before: 0 |
| Cruise Ship: Explorer of the Seas |
Sailed:
April,
2009 |
| Destination:
Caribbean
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Age: 46-55 |
| Cabin: Balcony |
Occasion: Wedding anniversary |
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Overall we had a lovely holiday. We sailed around the caribbean on the Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. It was our first cruise and although I suffered terribly from sea sickness on the first 3 days and the last day, once I had recovered from that it was brilliant. If we were to cruise again, which I like to think we will, we would think more carefully about how much time we spend at sea. We sailed from New York to San Juan and although the sea wasn't considered majorly rough, I did suffer quite badly and ended up in the ship hospital on a drip. The caribbean was beautiful. If we had a choice, we would rather spend 2 days in each place as one day was not long enough to get a good look at the island and most days we had to be back on board ship by 4 p.m. having docked at around 10 a.m. There was a vast choice of food which was very tasty. We particulary liked the Porto Fino restaurant which was a bit more up market than the other dining rooms and the food was exquisite. Our room steward was superb. He was very friendly and helpful. The room was very good. The only problem we had with that was that the bathroom smelled of urine all the time which wasnt pleasant. I would definitely recommend a balcony room. That balcony was my life saver when I was ill, but apart from that the view was amazing. Every single member of staff was extremely helpful, polite and friendly. They couldnt do enough for us. The excursions we went on were excellent. Everything was well organised and we had no problems. I would recommend the Atlantis submarine, sulphur springs in the Dominican republic, kayaking in the mangroves and snorkelling. We were booked to do parasailing but the representative didnt turn up. We went back on board ship and told the people at customer services. Our money was refunded immediately. One very big down side was the queueing to get on board the ship and the hotel we stayed in overnight in New York. The Doubletree hotel cost was included in the package but we werent told that we had to pay for our breakfast and evening meal. These were pretty pricey. The hotel was an hour's drive from the centre of New York so by the time we got there and took into account the time difference, we were absolutely exhausted by the time we ate our evening meal in New York at about 2 am. British time. We didnt get a wink of sleep because the room was facing an extremely noisy highway. The concierge wasnt very pleasant and was hoarding us onto buses like cattle. The queue at Cape Bayonne to board the ship was absolutely horrendous. After a sleepless night I wasn't in the mood for standing in a queue for hours. If we were to cruise again, we would book the cruise and the accommodation ourselves separately, and not as a package and allow more time to visit places such as New York etc. The ship itself was amazing. You just cant comprehend how big this thing is. There's plenty to keep you occupied when at sea. There was lots of entertainment and we met some amazing people whom we have kept in contact with. Explorer of the seas is a very relaxed ship and caters for all types. There were alot of children on board as it was in the Easter holidays and they seemed to have a ball. They particularly liked the free icecreams near the pool. The children seemed to find their way around in no time and 10 days into the holiday I was still getting lost. On the days at sea, it does get pretty busy around the pools and the sunbathing decks, sometimes there weren't enough sun loungers. We became very friendly with our waiters at our dinner table. We had the same ones every night. They were so helpful and friendly and if you didn't like the food, they would take it away and bring you something else. Or, as one American on our table had, 3 meals per night! I can honestly say this was the best holiday we have ever had, putting aside the sea sickness, which was a really big issue for me, I really was very ill. The medical staff were absolutely amazing though and so professional. We would definitely cruise again and would definitely use Royal Caribbean again. We very much liked the look of their brand new ship, I think its called the Oasis of the Seas. It looks absolutely amazing. It's much bigger than the other ships so won't be able to visit some places. We are considering the Mediterranean next time. Somewhere where there are not too many hours at sea.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| The Windjammer restaurant - Buffet type food. Portofino restaurant is superb | | Entertainment | |
| The ice skating show was fantastic | | Shore Excursions | |
| Favourite was kayaking in the mangroves. | | Staff |  |
| Cabin steward. Couldn't do enough for us. Made nice little animals made out of towels | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Lots to do and see. Fancy hat night good. Casino good. | | Cabins | |
| | Overall Rating | |
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