We had a great time!

We booked this cruise based on the itinerary. I had been on this ship 20 years ago and I enjoyed seeing many of the original "classics" on the ship. Some areas have been tastefully updated. We loved the activities onboard and we did not feel crowded on a ship full of people. We were always able to find a chair to lounge around the pool. We enjoyed audience participation shows and headliner shows. The ice show is always a treat! Our dinner & cabin staff were friendly & amazing. So friendly and always welcoming with a smile. We were well taken care of. We did go to the Captains Corner (Q & A) and enjoyed the personal answers from the head of departments. We ate at a couple of the specialty restaurants and the food & service was great. We enjoyed the excursions we took through Royal & appreciated friendly people that guided us on each of these. The embarkation and disembarkation was smooth and quick.

RCL Explorer Eastern Carib. great entertainment

We chose this 10 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Explorer of the Seas to see islands that were on our bucket list. The entertainment was excellent. They had performers from Las Vegas and even Jonathan Burns from AGT. We chose the balcony guarantee and received a great room. The main dining room meals were very good. We have eaten at the specialty venues but the main dining room offered many great choices like lobster tail, prime rib and an Asian night. Windjammer has added many GF items and vegetarian too. I don't need a special diet but these were great healthy options. Check out the made to order omelets and the avocado toast. The ports were great and many can be explored safely by taxi or local guide. Be sure to take a catamaran to the Pitons in St. Lucia and definitely leave the Taino Bay cruise area and see Puerto Plata. St Croix, Fredrikstad is small but has a nice art museum that is free and has free wifi. Check out the lion fish jewelry in the gift shop. RCL does not have this itinerary from Miami for 2026 but I hope it returns in 2027

fabulous cruise

First time cruising and had the best experience. Beautiful cruise and would definitely be booking again. Staff were so polite and helpful all day every day, always cheerful and smiling. Never failed to put a smile on mine and my family’s faces. Went so fast, but best time. Food was amazing and in the windjammer you are welcomed by someone know as ‘ washey-washey ‘ who makes everyone’s day better and brighter even in early hours of the morning. Stayed in the restaurant for tea and waiters learnt our names within the first night and was given a new drink without even asking #brilliant. Tried tipping all workers that supported us, wish i could have tipped them all. Bedrooms were standard with lovely people cleaning them always up for a good chat about your day. Thank you very much everyone you all did fabulous every day of the amazing cruise!!

Explorer of the Seas with 11 month and 4 year old

We just took our first cruise with kids - a 11 month old and 4 year old. We were unsure how it would go, and it overall it went really well! But kids will be kids whether at home or on vacation. I'll share a few details below as it specifically pertains to cruising with these little ones. While preparing for the cruise, I found it really difficult to get specific details on some questions I had (like, can the 11 month old use the pool?), so I'll hope to provide some answers to some of those questions. Our port stops were Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, Antigua, Grenada, and St. Kitts. I will post reviews and what we did in each of those ports with kids in the message board for that port. Hopefully this will be helpful to others considering cruising with kids. - Overall, service was incredible. The entire staff flat out work their butts off and it makes for a great vacation. Almost everyone went out of their way to accommodate the needs of kids, smile, engage, and have fun with them. Again, service was just incredible. Room - We stayed in a balcony room. We chose this room because we wanted the adult to have an "escape" when manning the room during nap times and early to bed evenings. This worked well. The room was equipped with a king sized bed and a fold out sofa bed. For the most part, the kids slept in the pull out and the adults in the bed. Yes, the room is tight, but it worked just fine for us and it was nice to have an escape on the balcony. I know many families had an interior room with the beds that pull out from the ceiling. I'm not sure my kids are old enough for this to make sense for us, but plenty of other families pulled it off and were happy with it. My only complaint about the balcony room is that the balcony is more of a "cove" than a balcony on this ship. It doesn't feel open and airy. I'd even call it "obstructed view" and all of the balconies are like this. Below the railing, it is solid steel, instead of see-through glass. Likewise, the sides of the balcony seem to obstruct the view as well. It's bizarre to me that the ship was made this way. You certainly still have ocean views but the views are obstructed, for sure. Stroller - We did not bring a stroller with us, but plenty of other families did and used them quite a bit. If you have a kid that uses a stroller to get to sleep, deck 4 has a very uncrowded exterior walkway that goes around the entire ship and would be great for stroller naps. I saw many families doing this. I do not know where they stored the stroller when not in use so, that's something to consider. Also, you are then tied to using the elevators to get around, which could be a pain at some points. Lots of Kids - I was a little worried that people would think we were weird for bringing our kids on the cruise. Turns out, there were tons of kids and nobody really seemed to mind at all. Lots of older passengers actually seemed to enjoy engaging with the younger cruisers. Childcare - I really had no idea how this would work. So here it is: there is no childcare available for kids under 3 or in diapers on this ship. There is a playroom for babies but there is no supervision provided. For 3-5 year olds, supervised childcare is available on sea days from 9-12, 2-5, 6:45pm-9pm. That's all included. No extra charge. Childcare is also available past 9pm for a fee (we never did this). On port days, childcare is available from 9am-5pm with no breaks, so adults can get off the ship for an excursion, as well as evenings. Staff will take the kids to the buffet for pizza if they are there all day. Our 4 year old loved going to the childcare room, and the care providers were fantastic. There is a TV in there but it's not overly dependent on screens. They played games and did tons of crafts. The teachers were fantastic and this feature significant enhanced the cruise experience for everyone! It's just drop-in service, with no advanced booking required and no minimum or maximum amount of time in the playroom. Pools and life jackets - So, can a baby splash in the pools? No. They do not allow babies, diapers, or even swim diapers in the pools. I get it, but it's a bummer that there is no option for them. On the next cruise, we will be sure to get a ship with a zero depth, splash pad area. All pools had ultra- attentive lifeguards. We brought life jackets for both kids for various reasons, but this probably turned out to be unnecessary. The ship provides ample life jacket options right there on the pool deck. Food - Compared to 10-15 years ago, the food quality has probably gone down a hair, but overall, the food is fantastic and there are plenty of options for kids. Soft serve ice cream is available on the pool deck from 11am-6pm. The dining room willingly accommodates kids with high chairs, booster seats, fruit cups first thing, and bringing their food out early. Activities - Most onboard activities are geared towards older kids. The minimum age for the climbing wall is 6, which was a bummer for us. My 4 year old is an avid rock climber, and she was bummed they would not allow her on the wall. Likewise, the water slides had a minimum of 48" tall to ride, which also excluded her. Also a bummer. Smoking area - Maybe my only reasonable complaint is that I thought the smoking area was quite large and in too prominent of a location. I've cruised about 10 times - all previously without kids - and don't remember there being such an extensive smoking section. It's located on Deck 11 - the main pool deck in the tables and chairs all along the left (port) side. If you're walking from aft to forward of the ship along this side, you have no choice but to walk through the smoking section. Not good. So, after a day or two, I learned to just use the starboard side when going in this high traffic area. When the doors open to the Windjammer hallway, the smoke gets sucked in and it's quite unpleasant. I think this is just an issue of cruises becoming more mainstream and appealing to a wider variety of vacationers. Regardless, it's unpleasant for the rest of us. Hopefully this review was helpful to you if you are considering traveling with your young kids. I think you'll enjoy this ship with your young kiddos, even if many of the activities are geared towards older kids.