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   Cruise Travel - Reader Reviews

Welcome to Your Favorites, where you have the opportunity to share your travel experiences with fellow Internet Travelers around the world.


Royal Caribbean International

MV Explorer of the Seas

Your Rating:Three Stars
Reviewed by: Malcolm Oliver
# previous cruises: 10 to 20
Date of Trip: August 14, 2005
Itinerary: Caribbean - Western

Overview
The ultimate floating resort aimed squarely at the mass-market.

She's a busy ship offering a reasonable cruise experience. You do not pay five star rates, so you do not get five food and service, but standards are generally perfectly acceptable. Fun for the whole family, especially if you like sunbathing and water sports.

If you want some higher-culture, or a spacious environment, you had best pick another ship/cruise line.

Public Areas
This is a busy ship with up to 3,800 passengers. However, the range of public areas is probably better than any other ship afloat.

The 'Royal Promenade' is great, a street at sea. The theatre is the best that I've ever seen on a ship (with lots of moving scenery) in fact it is better and bigger than many of London's theatres. Studio-B (the Ice Rink) is a true innovation. There are plenty of very nice themed bars to choose from, too.

Food and Service
The breakfast lunch, and evening buffets were very good , if not a little crowded. Tables were cleared quickly. The evening meal in the main dinning rooms was often mediocre and often inconstant. It was certainly not fine-dining by any means. However you are not paying five star and you do not get five star food. The waiters were efficient but were far to theatrical and made too many speeches for my liking as a Brit.

Cabins
This big ship of course has a full range of cabins to suit every wallet, although the cheaper ones are far from spaciouss, but they are adequate.

Unfortunately I cruised on this ship one month pre-refit when the carpets looked tired and dirty, the bed mattresses looked worn out. These issues will of course be resolved.

The shower had doors so you did not get the shower curtain sticking to your back like superman's cape!

Entertainment
The production shows (singing and dancing) were the best that I have seen on any ship. The singers could actually sing, almost a first for a cruise ship. The Ice Show was also fantastic.

The guest acts were not so much to my liking as a Brit, but they were enjoyed by the mainly American guests.

Activities
RCI's entertainment programme is firmly aimed at "Belly Floppers" and "Bingo" addicts. Something a little more high-brow, like some lectures, would be welcome.

RCI's push all the onboard sales (Art, Inch of Gold, Bing etc.) far too hard. At times you feel like a marketing guinea pig.

The ports of call were only really of interest in you sunbath or love water-sports. They offer little culture, but maybe I'm on the wrong cruise line to the wrong destinations?

Who Goes
A true mass-market ship. There was the whole range of people from the educated to the dumb, who asked questions like "where is the room where the driver, drives the boat', In fact 90% of people though it was a 'boat'. There were lots of families and kids, but they did not bother me. I could not fit 3600 in my house for dinner!

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