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Found 14 results

  1. I didn't see a post created for this sailing and I wanted to share the Cruise Compasses with @Matt and anyone else who may ever want them. Thanks. Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02232024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02242024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02252024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02262024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02272024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02282024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_02292024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_03012024.pdf Explorer_CC_9N_EasternCaribbean_03022024.pdf
  2. As of this morning, Explorer is up in the Royal app!
  3. Feb 7, Explorer of the Seas. Hi all, I have a solo traveller that is looking to share an Interior Room expense but won't be staying in the room. If anybody have a group of 2 or 3, that would be ideal. Another solo cruiser will work too. For your trouble, you will get a bigger room as she won't be staying in the room. Thanx.
  4. T minus 2 days. Bags packed. Boarding pass printed. SetSail pass printed. Luggage tags ready. Check, check, check and check. I think I'm ready. Amazingly I don't feel like I forgotten anything, which means in about 10 hours at 35,000' I will remember exactly what I forgot. Such is cruising. For the flight to Seattle tomorrow I have a 6am departure. I had plenty of choices of flight times all day but I chose 6am so I could visit something in Seattle I've always wanted but haven't been able to yet. The Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit at the base of the Space Needle. I'm a sucker for blown glass so I'm looking forward to this as a pre-cruise excursion. I'm flying with Delta, my favorite airline since I am heavily vested in it's frequent flier program. At 13,500 Skymiles this may be the cheapest round trip flight I've booked using frequent flier miles. A direct flight was available departing later and arriving at nearly the same time but at several thousand more miles so I chose a connection in Salt Lake City given the early time of day plus day before cruise booking. Connections don't bother me since I've flown a bunch. Loyalty pays - I've been upgraded to first class on both segments. Not bad for an 'award' ticket. My son is joining me on this cruise flying in from the East coast. With a Friday to Friday cruise itinerary it meant an extra day of vacation for him so another day on top of that to fly in the day before was a problem. He doesn't get that much time off at this point in his career. He elected to fly in the day off the cruise, something I tend to avoid. Flying from the East coast the time change is working in his favor. Fingers crossed. I booked my cruise through MEI Travel and added the official hotel for the Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise when it was offered oh so long ago. Time flies, it's almost cruise day! Shout out to Jacki York at MEI Travel for proactively checking each and every sale over several months to verify I had the best price. Our cabin on this cruise is an interior with virtual balcony. A full balcony cabin was nearly twice the price, per person of course. I did an Alaskan cruise last year on Celebrity with a balcony. One Alaska lesson I learned last year was that good excursions can be pricey. Alaska excursions are well worth the price in my opinion to experience Alaska however adding up the total cost of a vacation experience on my second Alaska cruise I chose to spend money favoring excursions that were my second choice from last year over the cabin so interior virtual balcony it is. Basically by booking an interior cabin we got our excursions 'included' compared to the cost of booking a balcony. Excursions this time around: Juneau Skagway (The description read much better when I booked it!) Victoria Booked during various sales it definitely pays to book excursions early and watch sales. Most of them have increased in price over the months since booking. I booked our excursions with enough time for us to self explore before or after as weather permits. Alaska here we come! With that it's time to close my laptop and pack it, else I might forget it in the morning at oh-dark-early when my ride arrives to carry me to the airport.
  5. Hi guys, I will be sailing on this ship in August, 2020, and I would like to know any tips and tricks that we could benefit from. We are traveling on a huge budget so I want to try to stretch our money as much as possible. Btw, I’m new to this blog so hello!!! I am sailing with my hubby and two teenage daughters. Thanks!
  6. I am not really a blogger so this will just be some ramblings and photos from our 3 day Explorer cruise leaving from Sydney. Day 1 We had to be up at 4am to catch a flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia which takes approximately 3 hours. Today we were flying Latam Airlines. The flight was on a Dreamliner and was very nice. I love the mood lighting in the cabin on these flights. Due to the time differences between Auckland and Sydney we arrived just after 9am. Customs processing was quick so we though the airport in 20 minutes. We caught the train from the airport directly down to Circular Quay where the ship was waiting for us. As this is only a 3 day cruise we only had carry on luggage and nothing to check in so it was straight through to the check-in area. For this cruise we are in an Owners Suite (1592) so we could use the suite check-in line but as we were early everyone at the terminal could check-in without having to wait. The ship was not ready to board yet we had to wait in a reception area on the first floor for about 20 minutes. When they did start boarding we were on screened through security and on the ship within about 10 minutes. There was no customs processing for this voyage as it is a domestic cruise. Once on board I changed out of my travel clothes straight into the swimwear I packed in our carry on. The Solarium was empty so I jumped into the pool and spent some time talking to the Life Guard so that he would get bored. I learnt he was from Indonesia and is on the ship until May. It is the only job he has to do on the ship so he was pretty happy. He said the main issue they have is not with people drowning as they are trained for that, but people falling over on the deck and hurting themselves. When his shift changed (they are on duty for 30 minutes before changing pools) I got out of the pool and had a quick soak in the hot spa. I let the sun dry me off and then we grabbed some food from the Windjammer at about 12pm. It wasn’t too busy but we took the food and ate it out by the pool. After lunch even though the cabins weren’t ready yet we went down to our cabin on deck 10 and left our bags outside our cabin door before heading up to Dizzies. They serve lunch up there for Suite guests so we just wanted to see what was on offer. The selection is small (similar to the food available on Cafe Promenade) so if you are after a quick light lunch it is fine. We didn’t have anything and went off to check out the Diamond Lounge. The Diamond Lounge on Explorer is much nicer than the Concierge Lounge in my opinion as it is light and airy and has a nice outside area. Diamond Lounge Inside Diamond Lounge Outside Concierge Lounge After checking out the lounges we headed back to our cabin to see what that was like. Normally we have a Grand Suite but this time paid a little extra to try an Owners Suite. The layout was different from a Grand Suite in that’s the Island that normally separates the “bar” and “living” area is not there and there is a table and 2 chairs in its place. The living area itself is spacious with a large couch and a couple of chairs. the bathroom has a free standing shower as well as a bath and a bidet. The Grand Suite normally only has a toilet and over the bath shower. The space itself seemed smaller than a Grand Suite but maybe that was because there was more in it. The sleeping area was also large and had a picture window that you could sit and look out of. Very nice. The balcony seemed a little smaller but still had a table and 2 chairs and it was fine for what we need. Because we are Diamond and in a Suite waiting for us in our cabin when we arrived was 1) fruit platter, 2) 4 biscuits 3) 4 bottles of water 4) 1 large bottle of Evian water and 5) 2 cans of coke. Here is the list of Suite services for this cruise. At 5pm it was time for the guest assembly drill. We went down at about 4:45pm to avoid some of the crowds. Our muster station was on deck 4 and there were already quite a few people there when we arrived. Unlike Ovation they did not scan our sea pass cards, rather they ticked us off on a piece of paper. Even at this time it was clear that some people had spent most of their time on the ship at the bar. After the drill as we made our way back to our cabin following some people you would think we were out at sea in a 4 metre swell. Once back at our room we changed into some casual clothes and headed off to the Concierge lounge. It was busy but still possible to get a seat. Most people in the lounge were suit guests but didn’t stay long. Prior to our cruise we purchased the ultimate dining package and I had emailed the concierge about booking Chops for night one. I needed to check with him what time dinner was booked for. We stayed for 1 drink and then went up to the diamond lounge. We were there just after 6pm and apparently it had been busy but a lot of people had left by then. It was easy to find a table outside and we grabbed a couple of Cokes. The Diamond Concierge came over to make sure we were “legit”. We asked her to book Giovanni’s for dinner for night 2. We stayed there for around 40 minutes and then got ready to go watch the sail away at 6:45pm before heading to Chops. The weather had turned a bit rainy by then but people were still having a good time. P It was now 7pm and time for dinner. As we weren’t sure what Chop’s policy was on diamond drinks we grabbed a glass of wine and coke from the Windjammer bar before making our way into Chops.i checked the waiter and he said we could use our diamond vouchers in Chops so that is good to know for the rest of the cruise. I ordered the shrimp cocktail for me entree and Anita had the tuna crab cake. Both were delicious as usual. For the main I had the half roast chicken and Anita had the filet mignon. Sorry they were so good that we ate them before I took photos. They looked great and tasted better. We had to wait a while to let the food settle before we were game enough to have desert. Anita decided not to have anything but I went with the red velvet cake and I didn’t regret it. As we had the ultimate dining package there was no bill to pay so we decided to have a quick wander around the promenade. Most of the shops were still open apart from Port Merchants which does not open on Australian domestic cruises. Anita was feeling pretty tired by this stage so she went back to the cabin. i elected to go to the casino and try my luck on the roulette table. I retrospect I should have just gone to bed and saved my money. I enjoyed it all the same. After that it was time to head off to the cabin for some sleep. It has been a long day but thoughly enjoyable one. i suspect tomorrow will be a late start. Stray Observations Boarding was very fast. Getting to the port early certainly helped with this. The majority of guests are Australian’s as you would expect and most would be under 45. The guests are mainly composed of birthday, anniversary, divorce party hens and bachelor type groups and also families with children. 3 days is perfect for this type of cruise. Explorer now has free style machines. It didn’t have those last time we were on her. Voom has been working well. I take a photo of the voom code and airdrop to all our devices. This means if we want to connect another device I can just look at the photo without having to carry the piece of paper with me. Right that is me signing off for day 1. Hopefully I will wake up before day 2 is over so I have something to post
  7. The Royal Caribbean Instagram and Snapchat stories feature the great DanandMoore. Whenever he takes over the RC accounts, I don't miss anything he posts because he is so good at sharing the experience. He is currently on the Explorer Alaska itinerary, and it's amazing to watch. If you aren't already, follow either the IG or Snap stories...it's helping me look forward to the Alaska cruise, and ignore my Harmony GC (not going) blues....
  8. Since I used this board extensively prior to my recent Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska on Explorer of the Seas on June 30th (and gained valuable insights from Matt's podcasts), I thought I'd share my experience with future cruisers. I traveled with my 15 year old son, so my perspective is a little different since I wasn't with my wife or a big group. All in all, we had a good vacation, but it wasn't a great vacation. We flew into Seattle the day of the cruise (this is really easy if you live on the west coast) and used the cruise shuttle at the airport. I didn't have a reservation and intended to take Uber, but everyone must have had the same idea because the Uber charge quickly escalated to over $100 by the time our luggage came off the plane. The shuttle was only $27 per person and allowed bags to be dropped off right to our room. They were pretagged and this made things very easy. Our cabin was a balcony cabin on the 9th floor on the hub near the elevators. I loved the convenience of the location and we never heard anyone in the hallways. Check in was easy and we headed up to the Wind Jammer to have lunch. Exploring the ship that day was an awesome experience and the excitement of our fellow passengers on the decks at sail away was contagious. The sun was out and the weather was warm. Kids (there were a lot of them on this particular cruise) were swimming in the pools and adults were enjoying drinks at the bars. Unfortunately, this was to be the last day of warmth and sunshine that we would experience until we arrived in Victoria 6 days later. At this point, I'd like to mention that I thought the food was very good everywhere we ate (except at Johnny Rockets where the burgers were just ok and not worth an extra charge). We had My Time Dining and, being a party of 2, could usually get seated at anytime without a wait. Lobster night in the MDR was a highlight. We had breakfast at the Wind Jammer every morning and the hot tip is to go to the omelet bar to have your eggs made fresh. I sometimes just had a scramble made with ham...you didn't need to order an omelet per se. If you are traveling with kids who are picky eaters (like my son), they will have tons of options for food. The negatives of this cruise were related to the weather. After sail away, the weather became chilly, rainy and (unfortunately) foggy for the entire time we were in Alaska. I couldn't take a decent picture and never saw any wild life in the ocean or on shore. The supposed beautiful scenery the Alaska is famous for, was hidden by low clouds and fog. I recalled listening to Matt's podcast with Stephanie Miller (travel agent) about Alaska and she made the comment "be flexible" when it comes to your tours. I couldn't agree more! Our helicopter trip to the glacier in Juneau was cancelled (we took a bus to Mendenhall Glacier instead...easy to do last minute, by the way) and the ship couldn't enter Tracey Arm Fjord so we basically just floated around the entrance and viewed small ice chunks in a foggy bay. In Skagway we chose not to do the train because I really wanted my son to get some physical activity at this point. We did a hike/float trip that was "OK", but it was chilly, very windy in town, and on the hike, and we still didn't see even an eagle! The next two days were spent on ship with little to do due to weather. Because of rain and wind, you really couldn't spend time on the outside decks. RC did keep one pool open, as well as the jaccuzi's, but they got little use due to the temperatures on deck. The rock climbing wall, flow rider and even the mini golf were all closed most of the time. That kept you in the inner decks of the ship and I felt that this was too much time to not get a little physical activity. Ice skating was crowded and had limited openings, the gym was packed since there weren't a lot of other options and the shows were just "OK", with the exception of the ice skating show which was outstanding. When we finally got off in Victoria, the sun was out again. We rented bikes near the dock (my son wasn't so interested in visiting gardens) and rode around for 6 hours. Ironically, the port that I was least looking forward to ended up being our favorite because we could finally enjoy some nice weather. We kept our luggage the last night and were able to self-depart the ship without any issues, in very little time, and had quite a few Ubers available to take us back to a hotel in Seattle that we reserved for the final night of our vacation. Here are a few random thoughts: The ultimate drink package turned out to be an excellent value, especially since you tend to be on the ship more on this particular cruise. I got my money's worth with a cocktail or two, several beers and a cappuccino every day. I also used it for bottled waters for both my son and I (though I know you really aren't supposed to share the benefits with another person). I like IPA's and RC is really lacking on this trend, but they did feature Alaska Brewery beers that included some delicious craft beers. The casinos were pretty busy, and smokey, but the dealers were really nice and the table limits were reasonable ($5 craps), if you like to gamble. As other bloggers have reported, the ship never seemed crowded! I don't know how this was possible, considering we were pretty much stuck inside for a good portion of the cruise. The internet was spotty while in Alaska so don't expect to download a book, or even check email, for half of the time you are out at sea. The teen club didn't appeal to my son, but the arcade room was popular. It added up, though, to around $100 at the end of the cruise. I allowed him charging privileges on my credit card so he could play games and have an occasional soda. The extra money spent for a balcony cabin turned out to be a waste since the rain/fog didn't allow us to use it even once on our cruise. I think RC did as good of a job as they could have with keeping passengers entertained (games, lounge singers, bingo...), but this round trip cruise had too many sea days for my taste. I think, in retrospect, a one way north or south cruise may be a better option because it has an extra port and fewer sea days, but I did like the convenience of flying in and out of Seattle. I hope this is helpful to anyone going on Explorer to Alaska this summer and I hope the weather is awesome!
  9. When we disembark Explorer of the Seas in Seattle we will some time to explore the city before heading to the airport. Our flight is at 5:30 pm. Does anyone know what our options are for dealing with our luggage for that time? I not planning on dragging luggage around for 5 people through Seattle. Does the Pier have lockers or storage available? Does the airport have storage available? Thanks
  10. Our upcoming cruise on Explorer of the Seas will be our first RC cruise. Do people decorate their doors like on a Disney Cruise? Thanks
  11. Does anyone know if there is a service in the Seattle area that makes deliveries to the cruise ships? We had done this before out of Port Canaveral and had gift baskets delivered to our room. Just wondering if there was a similar service in Seattle. Thanks
  12. News Flash - Voyager of The Seas and her slighlty younger and bigger sister Explorer of the Seas met on Sunday November 28th in Sydney Harbour and made the harbour look like a small bathtub. Thanks "Cruise Advice" for posting this wonderful video on Youtube. Up until Sunday, Voyager was the largest cruise ship to homeport Australia that title nows goes to her sister Explorer of the Seas.
  13. Did anyone know about the "FreeKids Alaska" promotion? I just received my invoice from my TA and it shows reduction of my son's fare under a "FreeKids Alaska" promotion. It may be available on the website, by I never saw reference to this until I saw the invoice.
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