Explorer of the Seas

Bill wrote:

Charles wrote:

In article , Bill
wrote:

Also, if I recall correctly, they tell you that boarding time is
2pm. And the RCI website says "Please do not plan on arriving at
the pier prior to the specified time as the ship will not be
ready to board guests". While it sucks to have had to wait until
6:30, you shouldn't have gotten there so early. Maybe they
should have called local passengers and told them not to arrive
early (maybe they did?).

But most experienced cruisers arrive around noon. So I would not say he
should not have gotten there so early. If it wasn't for the unusual
delay he would have been fine.

It wasn't his fault. It may not have been RCI's fault either that the
ship was late. But it is not unheard of to happen (he said this was
the third time that it happened), so after once or twice I think they
should have a plan.

I agree, I get there early, too. But given that he's complaining
about the short time they have to service the ship before new
passengers can board, and that there should be more time built
it for problems, he shouldn't be getting there before RCI tells
him to.

The same thing happened to us in Miami with NCL. The ship didn't get
cleared at the expected time - large ship and not enough places to sit
in the terminal. Our wait was only 2 hours though, and NCL didn't
make us walk around to different locations to get cards etc. We got
our pictures taken downstairs and then proceeded upstairs. Once the
seats were full, they lined us up and the people at the desks came to
us to give us our cards. So that when they were ready to let us
board, we could walk right on.

Obviously NCL had a plan in place. I think there should always be a
contingency plan. It is certainly not that unusual for there to be a
delay either in the ship getting to port or getting cleared. People
would be less likely to complain if the situation is explained and an
attempt is made to mitigate the problem.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
Out of curiosity, did you get to your first port late? If so,
then you know when they leave at 5 and don't have a lot of time
to pad the time in NJ.


No , we were able to make up the time .

Also, if I recall correctly, they tell you that boarding time is
2pm. And the RCI website says "Please do not plan on arriving at
the pier prior to the specified time as the ship will not be
ready to board guests".

I think , but am not positive , that we were supposed to begin boarding at
noon . In fact , now that I'm thinking about it , initially we were told at
the terminal that boarding would be DELAYED until 2:30 , so it must have
normally been earlier. Still , considering it takes time to check in , get
your photo taken , recieve your Sea Pass , ect . , We weren't that early .
However , we had little choice , as we came by a chartered bus (from
Connecticut) and thats the time the bus was available.



While it sucks to have had to wait until
6:30, you shouldn't have gotten there so early. Maybe they
should have called local passengers and told them not to arrive
early (maybe they did?).


Some people were called , but those calls only could have helped people that
had flexible travel arrangements. Anyone using airlines or other commercial
means of travel probably couldn't do anything about it. I never got a call ,
neither did my travel agent . The people that did said they only got the
calls late the night before or the same day we left.


Clearly the Cape Liberty terminal is not as nice as it should be
and it really sucks when there are long delays. But it's not
clear what they can do differently with the current layout.
Should they have bussed everyone to another location during the
waiting time? There's really no good solution.


Well, the terminal itself isn't really bad , it serves the purpose, and
would be fine it only served the size ships it was designed for . The root
of the problem was that there was no room for 3,000 people . The Explorer is
a huge ship , and before Royal Caribbean began sailing her from that
terminal , it pretty obvious that they should have made some
upgrades/improvements to the terminal first . Thats really the point I was
making to the original poster . Unexpected things can and will sometimes
happen , but if one happens with THAT ship in THAT port then the result is
much worse than you would expect.

"Charles" wrote in message
d...

I doubt that the wait would have been nice at any terminal. They would
all suck if there were a long delay. The delay was beyond the control
of Royal Caribbean. Sometimes stuff happens that makes people miserable
that there is no solution for. You just have to suck it in and bear it.

Charles ,

I'm not really complaining about the wait , or at least the fact that
there was one. I understand things can happen . However , the point is there
were no chairs , or even SPACE for that matter , for all the people because
the building itself is not large enough or designed to have that many people
inside of it at one time .

What is NOT beyond the control of Royal Caribbean is how a long delay is
handled . This was handled poorly , probably about as bad as you can imagine
.. They provided some hot dogs and sandwiches , which was nice , but many
people had to eat standing up , there was no room to even walk , no
information was made available as to how long the delay might be, a general
state of confusion seemed to exist ..... I've had delays before , at
airports for example . Being stuck in an airport for 6 hours would have been
very pleasant compared to this.

"Bill" wrote in message
...


I agree, I get there early, too. But given that he's complaining
about the short time they have to service the ship before new
passengers can board, and that there should be more time built
it for problems, he shouldn't be getting there before RCI tells
him to.

Bill,

I'm not really complaining .... it's more of just making an observation.
I know almost every cruise line has quick turn around times , and usually
things go pretty smoothly . I think the advantage to the cruise line is the
ship is cruising every single day , always making them money . Everyone
would surely agree with that . I also think it's obvious that they allow
the minimum possible time to turn these ships over , only 4-5 hours , do not
allow much, if any time at for unexpected problems . In a nutshell ,only as
long as everything goes perfectly can they can keep to the schedule , and
make the most money , and not inconvenience the passangers.

My thought is they should not expect everything to always go perfectly ,
and be prepared for a problem that might result in a delay.

I was cruising from Seattle once , and I live on the East Coast . I could
have caught a flight the morning I was cruising , but I thought it better to
go the day before , in case there was some problem at the airport. If I'm
planning on being somewhere a few hours away , I allow myself some extra
time for traffic . I don't think this is unusual , most people probably
think like that.

Royal Caribbean should hope for the best , but be prepared for the worst .
They are not .


There are several ways that this type of situation can be avoided .

First , allow a day between one cruise ending and the next one starting .
This will never happen , of course , as it would cut into profits .

Second , they could only use Cape Liberty for ships that are smaller - then
if there is a delay it won't be such a horrific situation. Again , bigger
ships make more money , so this is unlikely as well.

Third , they could improve the terminal to handle the amount of people that
might be delayed based on the size ships that are using the port. Probably
the best option , as there seems to be plenty of room . In my opinion , it
should have been done before the Explorer ever ported from there , at least
during the winter when it's to cold to wait outside.

Deb wrote:
We are considering a trip on RCCL's Explorer of the Seas next winter out
of Cape Liberty New Jersey. We would like feed back from anyone who has
sailed form Cape Liberty, especially in February. Does anyone know how
much parking is per day?? Is there a parking garage, or just a lot??
First/last two days of the cruise is at sea, is it warm enough to be
outside by the pool by the second day?? Any first hand experience with
this ship/port in winter would be appreciated.

Debbie, my husband and I are just back from the 1/25 - 2/3 sailing on
the Explorer. We had a FABULOUS cruise.

You got your parking answers already, and Tom is right in that you can't
predict the weather with any certainty, but I can tell you that the
captain announced it is generally warm enough to enjoy the outdoors by
late afternoon on the first full day of the cruise (the day after you
sail). In our case, things didn't warm up until the following day, but
there was more than enough to keep us happy inside. It was a nine day
cruise, so I didn't feel the lack of outdoor time. Additionally, we got
a "bonus day" of warmth and sunshine on the way back, being able to sit
out and enjoy our aft balcony until late afternoon on the day before we
arrived home.

As for embarkation, ours couldn't have been smoother. We're platinum
(soon to be diamond!) Crown & Anchor members, so we had a private check
in and waiting area, which made things very nice. We arrived at the
pier at about 11:30 AM and were on the ship by 12:15 PM.

Disembarkation was smooth, as well. Not even 15 minutes passed from the
time our color was called until we were off the ship, found our luggage,
sailed through customs, got the car and were on the road. It was
amazing. My best advice: find a porter. You will get to go through a
separate customs line instead of waiting with the masses. The friendly
service and general ease of the process made it well worth a very
generous tip.

I can see that things might back up at the terminal, but we were lucky
and I wouldn't let any potential problems prevent me from sailing out of
Cape Liberty in the future. Not having the hassle of transferring to
the airport made this cruise even more relaxing from beginning to end.

Of course, I wouldn't do it for a shorter cruise, as too much time would
be eaten up in cooler temps, but for nine or longer, this was just perfect.

~ Peri

welcome back!
sheree

"Peri" wrote in message
...
Deb wrote:
We are considering a trip on RCCL's Explorer of the Seas next winter out
of Cape Liberty New Jersey. We would like feed back from anyone who has
sailed form Cape Liberty, especially in February. Does anyone know how
much parking is per day?? Is there a parking garage, or just a lot??
First/last two days of the cruise is at sea, is it warm enough to be
outside by the pool by the second day?? Any first hand experience with
this ship/port in winter would be appreciated.

Debbie, my husband and I are just back from the 1/25 - 2/3 sailing on the
Explorer. We had a FABULOUS cruise.

You got your parking answers already, and Tom is right in that you can't
predict the weather with any certainty, but I can tell you that the
captain announced it is generally warm enough to enjoy the outdoors by
late afternoon on the first full day of the cruise (the day after you
sail). In our case, things didn't warm up until the following day, but
there was more than enough to keep us happy inside. It was a nine day
cruise, so I didn't feel the lack of outdoor time. Additionally, we got a
"bonus day" of warmth and sunshine on the way back, being able to sit out
and enjoy our aft balcony until late afternoon on the day before we
arrived home.

As for embarkation, ours couldn't have been smoother. We're platinum
(soon to be diamond!) Crown & Anchor members, so we had a private check in
and waiting area, which made things very nice. We arrived at the pier at
about 11:30 AM and were on the ship by 12:15 PM.

Disembarkation was smooth, as well. Not even 15 minutes passed from the
time our color was called until we were off the ship, found our luggage,
sailed through customs, got the car and were on the road. It was amazing.
My best advice: find a porter. You will get to go through a separate
customs line instead of waiting with the masses. The friendly service and
general ease of the process made it well worth a very generous tip.

I can see that things might back up at the terminal, but we were lucky and
I wouldn't let any potential problems prevent me from sailing out of Cape
Liberty in the future. Not having the hassle of transferring to the
airport made this cruise even more relaxing from beginning to end.

Of course, I wouldn't do it for a shorter cruise, as too much time would
be eaten up in cooler temps, but for nine or longer, this was just
perfect.

~ Peri

sheree wrote:
welcome back!

Thanks, Sheree. Next stop: Vision of the Seas, Mex Riv in April!!

~ Peri

Peri wrote:
sheree wrote:
welcome back!

Thanks, Sheree. Next stop: Vision of the Seas, Mex Riv in April!!

Welcome home Peri!

sue

Welcome back Peri... how did Explorer compare to Liberty, in your opinion?

--Tom

"Peri" wrote in message
...
Deb wrote:
We are considering a trip on RCCL's Explorer of the Seas next winter out
of Cape Liberty New Jersey. We would like feed back from anyone who has
sailed form Cape Liberty, especially in February. Does anyone know how
much parking is per day?? Is there a parking garage, or just a lot??
First/last two days of the cruise is at sea, is it warm enough to be
outside by the pool by the second day?? Any first hand experience with
this ship/port in winter would be appreciated.

Debbie, my husband and I are just back from the 1/25 - 2/3 sailing on the
Explorer. We had a FABULOUS cruise.

You got your parking answers already, and Tom is right in that you can't
predict the weather with any certainty, but I can tell you that the
captain announced it is generally warm enough to enjoy the outdoors by
late afternoon on the first full day of the cruise (the day after you
sail). In our case, things didn't warm up until the following day, but
there was more than enough to keep us happy inside. It was a nine day
cruise, so I didn't feel the lack of outdoor time. Additionally, we got a
"bonus day" of warmth and sunshine on the way back, being able to sit out
and enjoy our aft balcony until late afternoon on the day before we
arrived home.

As for embarkation, ours couldn't have been smoother. We're platinum
(soon to be diamond!) Crown & Anchor members, so we had a private check in
and waiting area, which made things very nice. We arrived at the pier at
about 11:30 AM and were on the ship by 12:15 PM.

Disembarkation was smooth, as well. Not even 15 minutes passed from the
time our color was called until we were off the ship, found our luggage,
sailed through customs, got the car and were on the road. It was amazing.
My best advice: find a porter. You will get to go through a separate
customs line instead of waiting with the masses. The friendly service and
general ease of the process made it well worth a very generous tip.

I can see that things might back up at the terminal, but we were lucky and
I wouldn't let any potential problems prevent me from sailing out of Cape
Liberty in the future. Not having the hassle of transferring to the
airport made this cruise even more relaxing from beginning to end.

Of course, I wouldn't do it for a shorter cruise, as too much time would
be eaten up in cooler temps, but for nine or longer, this was just
perfect.

~ Peri

sue mullen wrote:

Welcome home Peri!

Thanks, Sue. Looks like you, me and Jeff are on rolls. Peter and I
also thought this was among our best cruises.

But I probably say that after every cruise!

For anyone Explorer bound over the next little bit, you're in for a
treat. The cruise director, Dave Chapman, is wonderful: young,
energetic, friendly, funny and irreverent; the captain, Sverre Ryan, set
a great laid back but professional tone for the whole ship.

The itinerary could be better (7 AM to 2 PM in Casa de Campo, DR is just
plain stupid!), but this one was definitely a winner.

~ Peri