Trip Report Alaska Explorer of the Seas 8/31

Thank you VERY MUCH for this review. You have touched on a lot of my questions and concerns regarding RCCL. I am in a similar situation. We have never Cruised on RCCL, and love the service on DCL. In fact we just got off the Fantasy a month ago.

I have been on NCL, Carnival, DCL and Cunard previously, but have no experience with RCCL.

We are also looking at Alaska for our next cruise, and have been looking at RCCL as an option. The cost for DCL to Alaska for a family of 3 is a bit "hard to swallow...." So I have reluctantly looked at alternatives..... Princess, RCCL and NCL. I have heard good things about RCCL, so I thought they might be a good compromise. I did however also hear good things about Princess, but a friend of mine just came back from Alaska on the Emerald Princess, and said "I will never Cruise on Princess again". Most of his complaints were service related, and they have never sailed on DCL, so he bar wasn't necessarily set high. So, I took Princess off my list. Maybe someday we will give Princess a try, but not going to chance it for what Alaska costs. So, we are down to NCL or RCCL. The reality is we would prefer DCL to Alaska, but the cost differential is literally THOUSANDS. I don't mind paying a premium for Disney, but cannot justify a few house payments worth. We could make compromises, to get the cost differential down, but should we?

So, narrowed it down to NCL Bliss, and one of RCCL Quantum Class ships.....can't remember which one...

So, your review is very helpful for me, coming from DCL to RCCL. Not sure if I want to gamble and see if we have a different experience on RCCL. Most of the points you addressed, are the same things I would have trouble with, coming from DCL.

Definitely disappointing to hear........

We just did the Bliss to Alaska and it was one of our worst cruises. We were so bored. I don't know how they can have a ship homeport for 5+ months in Alaska without a retractable roof over the pool! It's a brand new ship...didn't they take that into consideration when building it? There were no appropriate shows for our family (daughter is 9) so nothing to do at night. If your kids don't go in the clubs forget it...no activities. Their big family activities were a 30 minute circus workshop and a 30 minute balloon-animal making class in the middle of the noisy and overcrowded atrium. Ugh. Three times I had to contact guest services because they incorrectly charged my account (3 separate charges). Our stateroom attendant actually told us that she would only be making up our room once a day - so did we want morning or night? What??!!

Bliss wasn't my choice - we went with extended family. Previously we were on Epic, Breakaway, and Getaway - all with extended family. Whether it was Alaska or the time of year, the cost of the cruise was high (my 3rd time in Alaska - previously RCI and Celebrity). I won't ever cruise with NCL again. The only high point was that the food was actually good - better than our previous NCL experiences. I also loved the port valet service (no charge!) - they took our luggage the last night and we didn't see it again until we were back at our home airport. We've never spent as much time in our room on a cruise as we did this cruise and I spent most of the time wishing I was on an RCI Oasis class cruise!!
 
We just did the Bliss to Alaska and it was one of our worst cruises. We were so bored. I don't know how they can have a ship homeport for 5+ months in Alaska without a retractable roof over the pool! It's a brand new ship...didn't they take that into consideration when building it? There were no appropriate shows for our family (daughter is 9) so nothing to do at night. If your kids don't go in the clubs forget it...no activities. Their big family activities were a 30 minute circus workshop and a 30 minute balloon-animal making class in the middle of the noisy and overcrowded atrium. Ugh. Three times I had to contact guest services because they incorrectly charged my account (3 separate charges). Our stateroom attendant actually told us that she would only be making up our room once a day - so did we want morning or night? What??!!

Bliss wasn't my choice - we went with extended family. Previously we were on Epic, Breakaway, and Getaway - all with extended family. Whether it was Alaska or the time of year, the cost of the cruise was high (my 3rd time in Alaska - previously RCI and Celebrity). I won't ever cruise with NCL again. The only high point was that the food was actually good - better than our previous NCL experiences. I also loved the port valet service (no charge!) - they took our luggage the last night and we didn't see it again until we were back at our home airport. We've never spent as much time in our room on a cruise as we did this cruise and I spent most of the time wishing I was on an RCI Oasis class cruise!!

Oh My! Thank you for the feedback on the Bliss. That was one of my options.......

My Son, will be 14 when we go, and has never been much for the Kids Clubs. I agree about the Retractable roof over the pool area, that's why I was originally looking at a Princess ship. The do offer a few ships with a semi-indoor pool, with retractable roofs. I was worried about an older demographic on Princess (because my son with be with us), and activities for my son. So, after a close friend had a bad experience on Princess, both him and his wife had absolutely nothing good to say about Princess, I took them off my short list. I don't believe the RCCL Quantum ship in Alaska has a retractable roof either.


I hear that Alaska is very Port intensive, so I don't want to get too caught up in the ship. As a previous poster mentioned, the Dining room wait staff and Room attendants are instrumental to if you have a good cruise or not. If you have a great room attendant, and a great dining room staff, they can make up for an otherwise mediocre ship and food.

Thanks again for the feedback.
 
We just did the Bliss to Alaska and it was one of our worst cruises. We were so bored. I don't know how they can have a ship homeport for 5+ months in Alaska without a retractable roof over the pool! It's a brand new ship...didn't they take that into consideration when building it? There were no appropriate shows for our family (daughter is 9) so nothing to do at night. If your kids don't go in the clubs forget it...no activities. Their big family activities were a 30 minute circus workshop and a 30 minute balloon-animal making class in the middle of the noisy and overcrowded atrium. Ugh. Three times I had to contact guest services because they incorrectly charged my account (3 separate charges). Our stateroom attendant actually told us that she would only be making up our room once a day - so did we want morning or night? What??!!

Bliss wasn't my choice - we went with extended family. Previously we were on Epic, Breakaway, and Getaway - all with extended family. Whether it was Alaska or the time of year, the cost of the cruise was high (my 3rd time in Alaska - previously RCI and Celebrity). I won't ever cruise with NCL again. The only high point was that the food was actually good - better than our previous NCL experiences. I also loved the port valet service (no charge!) - they took our luggage the last night and we didn't see it again until we were back at our home airport. We've never spent as much time in our room on a cruise as we did this cruise and I spent most of the time wishing I was on an RCI Oasis class cruise!!

WOW !!! We had the last Jewel cruise and it was NOT what we had hoped for especially when the toilet would not work but I figured the Bliss would be tons better since it is a new ship. Thanks for filling us in.
 
Oh My! Thank you for the feedback on the Bliss. That was one of my options.......

My Son, will be 14 when we go, and has never been much for the Kids Clubs. I agree about the Retractable roof over the pool area, that's why I was originally looking at a Princess ship. The do offer a few ships with a semi-indoor pool, with retractable roofs. I was worried about an older demographic on Princess (because my son with be with us), and activities for my son. So, after a close friend had a bad experience on Princess, both him and his wife had absolutely nothing good to say about Princess, I took them off my short list. I don't believe the RCCL Quantum ship in Alaska has a retractable roof either.


I hear that Alaska is very Port intensive, so I don't want to get too caught up in the ship. As a previous poster mentioned, the Dining room wait staff and Room attendants are instrumental to if you have a good cruise or not. If you have a great room attendant, and a great dining room staff, they can make up for an otherwise mediocre ship and food.

Thanks again for the feedback.

The Quantum does have a retractable roof and I think your 14 year old would love some of the other activities (bumper cars, roller skating, iFly skydiving, XBox, the North Star, etc.). Yes, I agree about Alaska being port intensive but unfortunately we didn't have the best weather, which didn't help when there wasn't much to do to begin with. I'd definitely research the Quantum (Google or check on CruiseCritic). Here are a few links - https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscent...ntroduces-more-innovations-and-firsts-at-sea/ and https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscent...bbeans-high-tech-ship-ensures-fun-for-guests/ and https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=705&pgtype=activities. If we'd had a choice between Bliss and Quantum, I would have chosen Quantum. I know my daughter would have loved it!

A couple of other things - the port times for the Bliss were terrible! We only had a few hours in each port (a full day in Skagway) - and in Victoria we were supposed to have from 4 to 10 p.m. but there were some foreign citizens that didn't report to immigration so we were delayed about 40 minutes getting off the ship and then the shuttle lines were crazy long! Kind of a wasted port "day". Also (no fault of NCL) the weather near the glacier was so bad we weren't able to get anywhere near the glacier - very disappointing. I'd agree about Princess. It's been a while since we've been on (our daughter was less than 2) and we had a great time but at this point with a 14 year old I don't think I'd recommend them.
 


Our first non-DCL cruise was on Royal Jewel of the Seas. I think the first one is the hardest - we had lots of "Disney wouldn't have done it this way" moments. Maybe when your kids are older, you might want to try again. Or try another line. We LOVE NCL. Our kid has never done the kids clubs, so we've never had to compare them. We've discovered we cruise for the ports and make do with whatever on the ship. It would take a lot of bad experiences on the ship to overshadow Alaska or the Med or any of the other amazing ports we've seen.

Our cruise next month is on Allure and it's going to be our first "cruise for the ship" cruise. We'll have the meet and greets and I suspect it'll be a lot closer to Disney than our last several. Now that we've gone away from Disney, we just can't get past the price difference. We'd rather have 2 vacations a year than 1. If the price, ports, and ships were comparable, we'd pick DCL hands-down.

I think Kevin asked it above, but how did the other people in your party like the trip? Did the kids enjoy it?

Edit to add - I am definitely NOT a Royal cheerleader. I'm excited about going on Allure, but the planning has been a nightmare. Every. Single. Person. I've talked to has been awful. They change prices on excursions and packages mid-booking. They show one price on one screen and then change the price in the cart. Their website is horrible. I think this may be my last Royal cruise as well and I haven't even been on it yet!
Hi there. We will be boarding Allure on Oct 21 next month. Will you be on that sailing also?
 
I am currently on The Radiance of the Seas and yesterday ate with a couple who were on the cruise you were on. This couple, like we are, are Diamond loyalty with RCCL and could not talk enough about the difference they are experiencing on the Radiance compared to the bad service and food they had on the Explorer last week.

Don’t give up on RCCL, it is a line worth building loyalty on.
We cruised on explorer last year to alaska and it was a good cruise. Had a great cruise and did not have a bad experience on her at all. Actually on 30+ royal cruises and twice on MSC seaside we have not had a bad cruise at all. Maybe some not so great moments, but not every I would like to be anywhere but on this cruise moment.

To OP I say you might want to give royal a chance when your son gets older. Since DCL works for your family I would stick with it and maybe venture out again a little later. We stayed with royal these past 4 years because we liked the product. This past summer we ventured over to MSC. Loved MSC for the yacht club experience as you get so much for the price (MSC is half of what royal charges for same suite class). We will be cruising with MSC again but will still do royal as there are things we like about royal that MSC lacks.
 


We just did the Bliss to Alaska and it was one of our worst cruises. We were so bored. I don't know how they can have a ship homeport for 5+ months in Alaska without a retractable roof over the pool! It's a brand new ship...didn't they take that into consideration when building it? There were no appropriate shows for our family (daughter is 9) so nothing to do at night. If your kids don't go in the clubs forget it...no activities. Their big family activities were a 30 minute circus workshop and a 30 minute balloon-animal making class in the middle of the noisy and overcrowded atrium. Ugh. Three times I had to contact guest services because they incorrectly charged my account (3 separate charges). Our stateroom attendant actually told us that she would only be making up our room once a day - so did we want morning or night? What??!!

Bliss wasn't my choice - we went with extended family. Previously we were on Epic, Breakaway, and Getaway - all with extended family. Whether it was Alaska or the time of year, the cost of the cruise was high (my 3rd time in Alaska - previously RCI and Celebrity). I won't ever cruise with NCL again. The only high point was that the food was actually good - better than our previous NCL experiences. I also loved the port valet service (no charge!) - they took our luggage the last night and we didn't see it again until we were back at our home airport. We've never spent as much time in our room on a cruise as we did this cruise and I spent most of the time wishing I was on an RCI Oasis class cruise!!
Free luggage valet is offered by the port of Seattle and we used it when we sailed explorer last year.

Royal also offers it in FLL and MIA if your airlines participates and your flight is in the time allowed. Royal charges $25 per passenger but if you are in a full suite, it is free.
 
The quantum class ship is ovation. We will be on her in July 2019. Lots to do on her and she is made for sailing in cooler weather.

Thanks for correcting me. Since they are sister ships, I believe that all I wrote still applies. I've been considering Anthem for a while and may give her a try. I love the retractable roof over the pool!
 
We cruised on explorer last year to alaska and it was a good cruise. Had a great cruise and did not have a bad experience on her at all. Actually on 30+ royal cruises and twice on MSC seaside we have not had a bad cruise at all. Maybe some not so great moments, but not every I would like to be anywhere but on this cruise moment.

To OP I say you might want to give royal a chance when your son gets older. Since DCL works for your family I would stick with it and maybe venture out again a little later. We stayed with royal these past 4 years because we liked the product. This past summer we ventured over to MSC. Loved MSC for the yacht club experience as you get so much for the price (MSC is half of what royal charges for same suite class). We will be cruising with MSC again but will still do royal as there are things we like about royal that MSC lacks.

I'd like to give MSC a try. The ships look great. They seem to get mixed reviews but I know there are other people here (DISboards) who love them.
 
Hi there. We will be boarding Allure on Oct 21 next month. Will you be on that sailing also?

We're on her the week before. We'll try to leave her in good shape for you! :)

It's funny on this thread you've got "I'll never cruise Royal again", "I'll never cruise Princess again", "I'll never cruise NCL again", and "I didn't like Celebrity". Everyone is different and thank goodness there are so many choices. Honestly though if you "never" go someplace because of one or two bad experiences, you'll never go anywhere. We've had crap service at every one of our favorite restaurants and favorite stores. But we still go there. It's a lot less stressful to just let some things go.

Like I mentioned before, we cruise for the ports. We have really low expectations for the ship and we're always happy and have a great time. Our vacation time is about seeing new places and spending time together. Our Med cruise last year was phenomenal and the only "activity" we did on board was bingo (and the casino for me). We were there 10 nights, in a pretty tiny room, and didn't see one show. We were tired after the ports and loved hanging out on our balcony. We all read some great books, we played games, and we played on devices some. Our son was 10 then and he loved the low-key time on the ship. That works for us. People who need more activity might have been bored. Like I mentioned before, the ship experience would have to be pretty awful to overshadow the ports.
 
To the OP, sorry your cruise wasn't all you hoped. We cruised to Alaska on the NCL Jewel in July on a one-way northbound Alaskan cruise. We have cruised several times with RCCL and Carnival (4-5 cruises on each line) and this was our second cruise with NCL. We've had hit or miss service a few times on all cruise lines but service on NCL was the worst. Servers on the pool deck wouldn't make eye contact with you when you were trying to get another drink, or would "sneak up" behind your chair and grab your empty glass without you noticing and without asking if you'd like another. We were left with yelling across the pool deck saying "May I please get another drink?!" When we boarded the ship we were getting charged for drinks and had received a free upgraded drink plan and dining plan. The bartender told us to go to Guest Services so we explained our situation to the lady at the desk. She shrugged and said "I don't show that you have it". I said, "But I DO have it - it was a free "perk". She again shrugged and said "I don't show that". She gave me no direction to correct this, didn't offer to help, didn't offer to get a supervisor, etc. I was left to call my travel agent before we left port who called NCL to fix the situation. When I went back an hour later to make sure it showed our packages, she told me "their system won't update until we leave port". HUH?? Your system updates in open ocean, not in civilization?? OK..... That evening and next day... still getting charged for drinks and upgraded dining room meals. Finally late that afternoon, Guest services called and said it was taken care of. We immediately went to the bar and got charged.... I asked the bartender if he couldn't see our packages when he scanned our card and he said it would be printed on the card. WE NEED NEW CARDS??? Back to Guest services for new cards. They couldn't have told me that when they called me? I was in tears with frustration by this point. (FYI - no other cruise line has ever made me cry). We also loved Alaska and chose this cruise for itinerary (Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier). I'd cruise Alaska again but with another cruise line.
 
I'd like to give MSC a try. The ships look great. They seem to get mixed reviews but I know there are other people here (DISboards) who love them.
I had a very good two weeks on her. Sail yacht club and you will not be disappointed! The yacht club deluxe rooms on Seaside is about the size of junior suites on royal. The room will not wow you but the top sail lounge, suite restaurant and private pool deck will. The shower in room was the second best shower I have been in (oasis or allure crown loft suite showers are the best).

Private pool, two hot tubs and never having to look for a lounger in yacht club. Premium drink package, in room mini bar with snacks and drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic included), fresh gelato, made to order crepes and access to the best spa at sea are some of the things that MSC does that got me booking 4 more cruises with them.

If you are open minded and willing to give it a go, I would sail MSC yacht club for a week. The prices are even better than royal. So a week in MSC yacht club would probably run you 30-50% of disney cruise.
 
We just did the Bliss to Alaska and it was one of our worst cruises. We were so bored. I don't know how they can have a ship homeport for 5+ months in Alaska without a retractable roof over the pool! It's a brand new ship...didn't they take that into consideration when building it? There were no appropriate shows for our family (daughter is 9) so nothing to do at night. If your kids don't go in the clubs forget it...no activities. Their big family activities were a 30 minute circus workshop and a 30 minute balloon-animal making class in the middle of the noisy and overcrowded atrium. Ugh. Three times I had to contact guest services because they incorrectly charged my account (3 separate charges). Our stateroom attendant actually told us that she would only be making up our room once a day - so did we want morning or night? What??!!

Bliss wasn't my choice - we went with extended family. Previously we were on Epic, Breakaway, and Getaway - all with extended family. Whether it was Alaska or the time of year, the cost of the cruise was high (my 3rd time in Alaska - previously RCI and Celebrity). I won't ever cruise with NCL again. The only high point was that the food was actually good - better than our previous NCL experiences. I also loved the port valet service (no charge!) - they took our luggage the last night and we didn't see it again until we were back at our home airport. We've never spent as much time in our room on a cruise as we did this cruise and I spent most of the time wishing I was on an RCI Oasis class cruise!!

Is it THAT cold in Alaska during summer? Isn't the pool heated?

(Or are we Canadians extremely masochistic? Because in Tremblant, people swim in heated pools when it's 40 degrees outside LOL)
 
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(Or are we Canadians extremely masochistic? Because in Tremblant, people swim in heated pools when it's 40 degrees outside LOL)
I've used the outdoor heated pool in winter at Blue Mountain in Ontario. I think it was about -1C at the time. It's quite refreshing.

So to answer your question... possibly.
 
Is it THAT cold in Alaska during summer? Isn't the pool heated?

(Or are we Canadians extremely masochistic? Because in Tremblant, people swim in heated pools when it's 40 degrees outside LOL)

Apparently we had some of the worst weather of the season. It had been really nice until our cruise. The pools were not heated and when you got out it was very windy/cold. We must be made of less hardier stuff than you Canadians. :D
 

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