Explorer of the Seas Review

Dropped the Ball and tainted a 25th anniversary

Review for Bermuda Cruise on Explorer of the Seas
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reinholdmatay
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2014

My wife and I have sailed on Royal Caribbean several times before and are Gold Members. Last years trip to the Western Mediterranean was amazing with a few small glitches. This years 25th anniversary cruise aboard the Legends of the Sea to Bermuda was absolutely horrible and after speaking with other passengers, I find we were not alone. I booked this cruise as a surprise for my wife’s and I 25th anniversary. I pre-booked a 75 minute deep tissue couples massage for the evening of the 15th. I also Pre booked an anniversary dinner for 2 at Portofino restaurant on the 16th to celebrate the night and had all of the paperwork to prove it.

Upon arrival at the ship we fought through the typical Bayonne NJ traffic and in a decent amount of time made it to out stateroom. After waiting in a lounge to get to the room (6638) we were able to see our accommodations for the first time. I was surprised to see an old tube version TV instead of a newer flat screen. I was told that the ship would undergo a complete rehab next year and it would be upgraded at that time. Is it really so hard to take out the antiquated televisions and swap them out? I have lived with old tube TV’s my whole life so that did not bother me so much and I shrugged it off. In the bathroom was an old porcelain garbage can covered in rust. It looked terrible. The bed was still separated into twins and I requested to have them pushed into a queen. I laid down on one side and could clearly feel a ridge running down the center of my mattress where the coils had separated. If I rolled to the left I would continue to the floor. It was not a small ridge it was severe. I asked the attendant if there was possibly a pad that could be put down to soften the ridge and she stated she would look into it. I was thinking a foam egg pad which I had seen in the hallway from the previous cruise who must have had the same complaint. Instead she provided me with a pad no thicker than a bedspread. It did not help but I put up with it for 5 days. Her attitude was poor and she rarely followed through with our requests. When I returned later that evening I had to push the bed together myself. As for those cute little towel animals we found on last years cruise every evening, We got them only 2 of the 5 nights

While checking in at the dock the hard sale guys started their spiels and we bought an extra evening at the Portofino fine dining restaurant. The meal was excellent and the service first rate. For desert they brought out 2 towers of chocolate covered strawberries and various cake pieces. The dinners and massage were booked in advance with COSTCO Travel who also got us multiple ship board credits. One of which was for $50.00 dining and another each for $238.00. On day three we went to the desk and looked at our current charges. The $50 dollar credit showed up as $25.00 according to Royal Caribbean. We asked about the discrepancy and were told by Christine that if I supplied copies of my paperwork then she would straiten it out . We gave her copies that specifically stated $50. And she went to work on it. The same thing happened last year and the attendant fixed it within 15 minutes. This time however, we were told that we would need to take it up with COSCO when we got back to the United States and there is nothing more that they could do. I knew better!

Cabin Review

Room attendant was rude and not very helpful. Overall a poor attitude.

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