Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas is in the middle of a drydock refurbishment in Cadiz, Spain and we've found some photos of the ship getting some work done. Enjoy!
Photos above by Puerto de Cádiz
Thanks to Scott Sanders for alerting us to these photos!
A few guests aboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas are reporting a giant 40 foot wave struck Explorer of the Seas causing damage to the ship's lifeboats.
Photo copyright Cruise Critic Message Board Forums / Merion_Mom
A Cruise Critic message board member, Merion_Mom, reported that two life boats were torn from their position along side the ship and struck the Promenade deck.
Additionally, some sea water penetrated damaged doors on deck 4 and there were some elevator outages for a short period of time. No injuries were reported and the ship is able to continue on its normal course.
Photo copyright Cruise Critic Message Board Forums / Merion_Mom
The ship's captain indicated that despite the lifeboat damage, there are still enough space on the deployable life boats and rafts for all guests.
Royal Caribbean announced today that Explorer of the Seas will have to change its itinerary and skip its planned stop in Bermuda due to the expected path of Hurricane Gonzalo.
Bermuda officials have asked Royal Caribbean not to visit the island while recovery efforts are underway. As a result, the October 18 sailing of Explorer of the Seas will instead sail north to Canada.
Explorer of the Seas will now call to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Monday, October 20, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and St. John, New Brunswick, on Tuesday, October 21, from 09:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Royal Caribbean will compensate passengers for the change in plans by offering them a future cruise certificate worth 25% of the cruise fare paid for their sailing. This certificate may be used for a future cruise on any Royal Caribbean ship.
Raul Soler recently returned from his cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. He took some great shots and we wanted to share these photos with anyone interested in seeing how the ship looks these days or just wants a quick "mental escape" aboard one of Royal Caribbean's beautiful ships.
All photos were taken by Raul Soler.
Royal Caribbean will send Explorer of the Seas to Australia for the 2015-2016 cruise season to compliment sister ship Voyager of the Seas.
Explorer of the Seas will replace Rhapsody of the Seas, which has been a fixture in Australia since 2007.
Explorer of the Seas, a Voyager class cruise ship, was previously announced to be going to Europe for April through September 2015 and will begin offering cruises in Australia starting in November 2015.
Royal Caribbean made the announcement in an email sent to members of its Crown & Anchor loyalty program.
Radiance of the Seas will also return to the region again for the 2015-16 season, the newsletter reveals.
For Rhapsody of the Seas, 2014/2015 will be its last season down under.
Royal Caribbean’s Australasian itineraries for 2015/16 will go on sale at the end of the month.
Royal Caribbean gave guests a hint at some of the changes we can expect to find once Explorer of the Seas receives her ship-wide refurbishment next year.
Royal Caribbean confirmed that Explorer of the Seas will receive new virtual balcony staterooms along with a 3-D movie theater.
A full list of changes and additions is still forthcoming but we know for a fact the ship will get these two improvements along with a FlowRider.
The virtual balcony addition is not surprising since sister ship Navigator of the Seas had virtual balconies added to her earlier this year.
Scheduled for February 2015, Explorer of the Seas will be the fourth Voyager class cruise ship in the fleet to get a revitalization. Royal Caribbean also promised new specialty restaurants and based on other ships' revitalizations, other ship facilities are likely to get upgraded as well.
Royal Caribbean announced today it will send Explorer of the Seas to Europe for the first time in summer 2015 out of Southampton, UK.
Royal Caribbean originally planned on having Adventure of the Seas be based there but swapped the two ships.
Explorer of the Seas will offer three- to 16-night, roundtrip itineraries from late-April through September 2015. In addition, there will be three- and eight-night Northern Europe itineraries, 11- to 16-night Mediterranean itineraries, or 10- to 14-night Madeira, Azores and Canary Islands itineraries.
Adventure of the Seas will remain at San Juan, Puerto Rico, to sail seven-night Southern Caribbean cruises throughout the summer season.
Prior to Explorer of the Seas' arrival in Southampton, she will undergo a ship-wide revitalization that will refurbish much of the ship. This refurbishment will be similar to other refurbishments that have been taking place across Royal Caribbean's fleet.
Changes to Explorer of the Seas include
Additional revitalization details will be unveiled at a later date.
UPDATE: We asked Royal Caribbean directly if the swap of Explorer of the Seas with Adventure of the Seas had anything to do with Adventure of the Seas' recent propulsion issues.
Royal Caribbean responded promptly that, "The deployment of Explorer of the Seas to the UK is not associated with any issues with Adventure of the Seas. Stay tuned as the reason for Explorer of the Seas' deployment will become evident shortly."
Royal Caribbean has signed a contract with Mobimar to add the FlowRider surf simulator to Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas.
Mobimar, a construction firm in Finland, also was contracted to add the FlowRider to Navigator of the Seas, which it already completed.
The FlowRiders will be installed on Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas later this year, with no specific date. Voyager of the Seas is scheduled for a refurbishment in May 2014 and Explorer of the Seas will have her refurbishment in February 2015.
Each Flowrider module contains the surrounding stands, canopies, lights, water treatment system, Hi-Fog system, piping and cabling connections to the ship. The installation of each module requires approximately 30 days with minor advance preparation prior to entry into drydock.
Mobimar has been Royal Caribbean's partner for installing FlowRiders on its cruise ships since 2004 when it added them to Freedom of the Seas. Mobimar is also working currently to add a FlowRider to Quantum of the Seas.
Tip of the hat to CruiseCurrents for the news.
The tests are in and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that Norovirus was indeed the culprit in over 600 cruise passengers getting sick on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas last month.
The CDC says the particular strain of Norovirus was identified as the GII.4 Sydney strain, which is named after originating in Australia.
Furthermore, the CDC confirmed today that it is the most common norovirus of about 20 different types in the country right now. In fact, it affects many more people on land than on cruise ships.
In fact, according to the CDC, over 21 million people are infected with Norovirus each year with less than 1 percent of out breaks occuring on cruise ships.
The GII.4 Sydney strain was identified in 2012 in Sydney, Australia.
Jan Vinje, the head virologist who tested the Royal Caribbean germ samples in the CDC’s lab, said Americans should not postpone cruises because of this new norovirus strain. “When we did the math last time, and looked at the total number of voyages annually, maybe less than half a percent had outbreaks. They are perfectly safe.”
For its guests returning early on the Explorer of the Seas cruise that was struck by gastroenteritis, Royal Caribbean will give them compensation for not only the lost time but also the poor experience.
CNN reports that all passengers will get a 50% refund of their fare as well as a 50% future cruise credit.
Royal Caribbean is also giving passengers that were quarantined in their cabins due to the Norovirus-like symptoms an additional credit of one future cruise day for each day they were kept secluded.
On top of all this, Royal Caribbean is reimbursing any change fees imposed by the airlines to book travel home due to the early return.
More than 600 passengers reported feeling sick on the cruise, which has garnered headlines around the world. Royal Caribbean made the decision to bring the ship back early to perform thorough sanitization of the ship.