This was a five-day cruise to Bermuda from New York.  Explorer of the Seas is a large ship, 142,000 gross tons and capable of carrying a maximum of 3,835 guests.  Indeed, the Voyager-class ships (Explorer is one of five such ships) were the largest passenger ships in the world until Queen Mary 2 went into service.  Built in 2000, Explorer is full of amenities and facilities.

Royal Caribbean, which owns Explorer, seeks to attract people who are physically active and looking for adventure.  Thus, there is a rock-climbing wall on the back of the ship’s funnel, a large pool area, a golf simulator and miniature golf, an inline skating track, a jogging path, and an extensive spa and fitness complex.  On board activities are similarly orientated.  They tend reflect a casual, light-hearted atmosphere rather than cultural or intellectual pursuits.      

Inside the ship has a modern contemporary style.  The central feature is a long, three deck high space called the Royal Promenade.  This space is lined with shops, bars and places to eat.  Indeed, it resembles an American shopping mall or a street in an American theme park.  The decoration is bold and whimsical.  During the course of the day, the lighting changes, giving the area a variety of moods.  There is always something going on in the Royal Promenade and people are constantly passing through it.  Consequently, it is an interesting place to go to just people watch.

Although there are other areas with a similar décor (e.g. the casino), it is by no means universal.  There are also areas that have a sophisticated, albeit contemporary, style.  These include the Champagne Bar, the Schooner Bar and Dizzy’s.  The latter is located high on the ship on the funnel and thus offers spectacular sea views.  In the evenings, it features live jazz entertainment.

An unusual feature of the Voyager-class ships is the inside ice skating rink.  This is no small pool-size area but rather an arena that is also used for concerts and various other activities.  I do not have much of an interest in ice shows but since I had heard good things about the shows on these ships, I decided to take a look.  To my surprise, it was a very enjoyable show.  The skating was impressive and the costumes, lighting and sound were well done.  This explains why admission is by ticket only (tickets are free) and they are “sold out” almost as soon as the tickets become available on the first night of the cruise.

The primary entertainment venue is the multi-deck high Palace Theatre.  This is where the ship’s production shows are staged and where guest entertainers perform.  On this voyage, the production show was good.  The guest entertainers were comedians who were not that impressive.  On one evening there was an adults-only show at midnight and guests were advised not to come if they were easily shocked.  Naturally, this filled the theater with people hoping to be shocked.  However, it turned out to be a rather tepid performance by one of the guest comedians.

The passengers on this cruise were mostly Americans.  Indeed, a large proportion of them came from New Jersey.  I was told that with the favorable exchange rates, the ship normally had a significant number of British and European guests.  About half of the guests appeared to be repeat passengers who had traveled on Royal Caribbean ships before but there were also quite a few first time cruisers.  The median age of the passengers was between 45 and 60.  However, there were quite a few families with young children on the ship.  Explorer has a large children’s area including separate pools, a water slide, a video arcade and facilities for supervised activities.

The main dining room is an impressive three-deck high room at the stern of the ship.  During this cruise, dinner was done in the traditional manner with each guest assigned to one of the two seatings and having an assigned table.  (Royal Caribbean has announced that they will be implementing a new dining program with flexible times as an alternative to the traditional approach).  The guests at my table consisted of a mixture of British and Americans and dining together each night produced interesting conversation and camaraderie.  The service was excellent and friendly.

The service was also very good during the other meals which are done on an open seating basis.  Although the waiters were unlikely to ever see the guests they were serving again, they were friendly and willing to try and accommodate special requests.

In addition to the main dining room, there are several alternative dining venues on Explorer.  The most sophisticated of these is Portofino’s, an intimate upscale Italian restaurant.  At the other end of the spectrum is Johnny Rocket’s, which is styled after a 1950s American diner, and which specializes in hamburgers.  There is also a large buffet restaurant with impressive views over the water.  Café Promenade, located on the Royal Promenade, offers pizza, sandwiches, fruit and specialty coffee and has tables well-situated for watching the people pass by on the mall.

The cabin I had was relatively small but well-designed.  It had a large bed that took up one end of the room, a small sofa, a glass-top table, and a combination desk and wall unit that housed the television, refrigerator and safe.  There was plenty of closet and drawer space.  The bathroom was also compact.  The stewardess was friendly and kept the room neat and clean.

Explorer is based in New York harbor at the Liberty Cruise Ship Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey, which is one of three that serve the New York area.  Although you can see the skyline of Manhattan from the terminal, it is not as simple to get to from Manhattan as it may look on a map.  There is no direct public transportation that one can conveniently use if one is carrying bags.  In addition, the public transportation involves using two different rail systems in order to get to a point where you can take a local taxi into the terminal area.  (Pedestrians are prohibited in the terminal area).

There is also no direct road to the terminal.  Instead, one has to go across the Hudson River into New Jersey and get on the motorways that circle the city. Most of the time they do move freely but they are subject to the types of delays that all motorways are subject to.  Thus, one should budget plenty of time to get to the cruise ship terminal if one is staying in Manhattan before joining the cruise.

If one is flying in, the best airport is Newark Airport.  This is because it is very close to the cruise ship terminal.  The other two New York area airports are on the other side of the city from the cruise ship terminal and one must either go through Manhattan or take a circuitous route through Staten Island to get to the terminal from those airports.

The terminal itself is a former military complex that juts into the harbor.   As noted earlier, one has to take a taxi, limousine, or private car to enter the complex.  It is quite large and the terminal is at the far end of the complex.

The complex is now in the process of re-development.  The terminal building itself is a converted warehouse.  Vehicles arrive at one side of the building and off load passengers and luggage.  The passengers then go through the building past security and check-in and then out the other side.

The security and check-in process was very fast on this cruise despite the large number of passengers boarding.  However, a delay took place immediately following this processing.  Because the terminal building is about a mile from where the ship ties up, one has to take a shuttle bus from the building to the ship.  The buses arrived and filled very quickly, one right after another.  But, this is inherently a slow process and one had to wait about a half hour.  There were tables and chairs in the building for passengers to use while waiting.  One should also keep in mind the fact that passengers have to negotiate the shuttle buses, when deciding whether to carry bags onto the ship.

The weather during this voyage was less than ideal.  The April showers that bring May flowers on land often stir-up the sea.  Thus, the first night and the following day, the ship was in a storm that caused her to move around.  However, the fact that most of the passengers were out and about in the public areas is a testament to the ship’s overall stability.

In Bermuda, the first morning was cloudy and then there was rain in the afternoon.  It continued off and on until Explorer left Bermuda early the next afternoon.

Nonetheless, the majority of the passengers went out to explore the island.  Explorer ties-up at King’s Warf.  In this former Royal Navy dockyard, there are a number of shops, a pub, a restoration of the governor’s house, and a “swim with dolphins” area.  There is also a fast ferry that one can take to Hamilton, the main town on the island.

The final day and a half at sea, the ship encountered the first Spring-like weather of the season.  As a result, passengers were out on the open decks and using the various physical activity facilities described earlier.        

In sum, this was a very enjoyable cruise.  The facilities are excellent and the officers and crew friendly and willing to help.  The lifestyle and the décor is geared toward the American market.  The atmosphere is casual.  However, on the formal night, the ship rose to the occasion.

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