Explorer
of the Seas: Day 1 to Day 4
We
recently went on our first family cruise with Royal Caribbean, on one of their
newly refurbished ships, Explorer of the Seas.
My last cruise was also with Royal Caribbean, 12+ years ago, and our
last as a family; pre-weddings (my sister’s) and pre-children. While that was fun cruise, I was unlucky to
bring home a hitchhiker: a parasite that required flushing! (Don’t ask me which one, I’ve blocked it from
my memory) So yes, I was put off cruises for some time. But now that MrE is at a good age (read: he
can participate in some of the activities on board) for this type of travel, I
was open and excited to re-experience cruising.
Also, not having to go to the airport after this past year was very
appealing to me (see our Year in Review).
Cruising
is becoming very popular in Australia.
We are very much like a big island so flying anywhere international can
already blow the budget. With cruising,
we are lucky that the passenger terminal is accessible by public transportation
so it was less than $10 round-trip! We
chose Royal Caribbean mostly because of the on-board offers – rock climbing,
ice skating, and surfing! (Plus being
from the US, I still can’t bring myself to go on Carnival although it is a very
different cruise line in the Southern Hemisphere)
We
had a lot of fun over our 8 day cruise which means I have a lot to share with
you! This post will cover Day 1: Arrival to Day 4: Isle of Pines, our first port of call. You may have already seen some of these pics
from my Instagram feed (now also on here!)
Day 1: Arrival
I
cannot tell you how good it felt to turn on my out of office, added to the fact
that I was completely offline (we did not opt for the connectivity
package). We were excited to board the
boat... but let me backtrack a bit…insert flashback sound here.
On
the Sunday before our departure, we received an email regarding delayed
boarding times due to increased sanitation efforts due to illness. Then the news hit: gastro! After my last experience, I was concerned to
say the least so I immediately stocked up on hand sanitiser and anti-bacterial
wipes. Then on Tuesday, a super stormcell hit Sydney (gale force winds, hail, thunder and lightning) and continued
onto Wednesday (departure day).
 |
| It's raining cats and dogs! |
After
watching the rain radar, we weighed up forgoing our public transport plans and
calling a taxi but suddenly we got a break in the rain. We acted quickly and frantically threw our
luggage and kids in the car. MrH drove
us up to the closest sheltered bus stop where I waited (dang those snorkelling
fins are heavy!) while MrH dropped the car back at home and back to us in time
for the next bus. As the bus crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge we could see our
ship! And it was BIG.
 |
| Bon Voyage! |
Finally
it was our stop but we had to drag our luggage (and kids) 1.4k to the Overseas
Passenger Terminal. Only with 400m left,
the sky was threatening and we more or less jogged to the boat… just in time
too. No sooner were we inside completing
our customs forms when the Syd-nado struck.
We had no idea of the chaos and damage it was causing outside! I was very impressed with the check-in
process for the cruise. We were
exploring the ship within 35 minutes of entering the Terminal!
We were lucky enough to
have the first boarding time (1:30PM) this meant there were no delays from
earlier groups. As I mentioned the
boarding process was easy: we had tagged our luggage before leaving home so on
arrival, we dumped and ran at luggage check-in and were swiftly in the
queue. The first queue was to check that
we had passports and signed cruise documents in hand – check! Before heading upstairs for full check-in, we
received bottles of water (save these!) and pre-packaged cookies to snack on. My also kids got their treats for being good
and compliant during the public transport and 1.4k walk here. There was a queue here but all counters were
open so it moved quickly. From here it
was onto Immigration, again there was no queue and it only took as long as it
took to complete the Immigration Forms.
(If I had known, I would have had this pre-completed as well. I keep some at home!) If you didn’t pre-purchase your beverage
package (we missed the deadline) you can do so here. This worked in our favour as the costs were
cheaper now!
 |
| From Deck 5: Royal Promenade |
Once through immigration,
we were on the boat! After grabbing a
bite to eat, we located all the activity decks, booked our standing dinner
reservation (we were on My Time Dining), purchased a Dining Package to try the
3 fine dining restaurants on board (again, cheaper) and most importantly
registered the kids for Adventure Ocean.
Whew! As we had rest over coffee
and fresh baked cookies; we heard our stateroom was now available. Yippee!
We had a balcony stateroom on Deck 9.
The cabin location was fantastic; it was close enough to the elevators
and stairs. If the lifts were busy we
could use the stairs to get to the Windjammer (buffet) and pool on Deck
11. It was also a straight shot to the
entry of Adventure Ocean and the Sapphire Dining Room. We had a queen bed and a sofa bed.
 |
| #9356 (I brought a mini-Christmas tree with us) |
Just
as quickly as the Syd-nado came, the skies were calm again. Our departure was delayed until 8PM due to
airport closures so after our first dinner at Sapphire Dining, MrH took the
kids in the pool and I watched the sunset as we sailed away.
 |
| Sailing away |
Additional note: Cruise stateroom must-have’s
1. Pump handsoap for the bathroom - this made washing hands so much easier and more hygienic than bar soap (thanks Maree!)
2. Peg garment dryer for air drying swim suits - the stateroom had a small clothes line. It was only big enough to fit one pair of board shorts across it so this enabled us to dry all of swim suits. I picked mine up at Daiso ($2.80) so when a few of the pegs broke, I wasn't too bothered by it.
3. This last one is my must-have anytime I travel longer than 2 days - a pop-up hamper for dirty clothes. It folds down flat so takes up no room in your luggage. Again, another Daiso purchase ($2.80).
Day 2: At Sea
We
had a quiet start to our cruise. We were
all exhausted so we were in shutdown mode.
The kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean (the kids club) so
we grabbed Starbucks (yes, on the boat!) and leisurely walked around the ship.
After
lunch, we caught the 1PM family movie (Pixels) and had an afternoon swim listening
to the sounds of Umoja (amazing Jamaican band), and suddenly it was time for our
separate dinner reservations. The kids
were off to Adventure Dining and us to Chops (restaurant 1 of 3 of our Dining
Package).
 |
| Huckleberry Cheesecake MrH claims this is the best cheesecake he's ever had! |
After
dinner, MrH and I had a drink at Dizzy’s Lounge then I tried to get him to karaoke with me but failed miserably.
 |
| Dizzy's is on Deck 14 |
 |
| Won't sing? Fine. I'll just drink bubbles then. |
Day 3: At Sea
This morning we tested the
rock-climbing wall. MissE was bribed
with an ice cream for trying. I gave it
a try too – it was my first time rock climbing!
It was a lot harder than it looked. MrH said it’s all about your legs.
I was clearly doing it wrong because my shoulders and arms were pretty
darn sore the next day!
 |
| That's MissE! |
 |
| That's me! |
 |
| And MrH made it to the top! |
Unfortunately, it got very
windy on the decks after this so we headed indoors. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea so
the games room was carpet only. Most of
the board games were already taken so after a round of “Go Fish”, I found
mah-jong tiles and set-up “Turtle”, a game I fondly played in my
childhood. MrE really enjoyed it and
asked to play a few times during the cruise.
We again watched the 1PM
family movie (Big Hero 6) and had pool time (MrE’s favourite time). We had dinner at the Sapphire Dining Room and
then met friends at the Family Disco to boogie the night away – only until 8PM
but for MrE, that’s late!
 |
| Everyday I'm Shuffling... |
Day 4: Isle of Pines
Our first port of call and
LAND! My body didn’t seem to want to be
on holidays as I was still arising early.
I would get up, quietly make a tea, grab my book and sit on our balcony
but this morning, I knew in advance the importance of getting tender boat
tickets. It paid off! We were on a tender boat within the first hour.
Unfortunately it was very windy on land too; MissE’s favourite hat blew straight off her head! We walked to the Kanumera Bay first. Due to MrE’s age, we were unable to book any of the excursions. We didn’t have anything in mind but to play on the beach and see some fish anyway. Here’s the thing: MissE is petrified of fish in the ocean. A few times at the beach, we pointed out the fish swimming around us which quickly ‘beached’ her for the rest of the day.
 |
| The sacred Le Rocher |
 |
| The only fish photo I still have (insert unhappy face) |
Before heading back to the
boat, we spent some time splashing around and cracking coconuts at Kuto Bay.
 |
| The water was just perfect - warm, calm and so blue |
 |
| The coconut was dry so we used it to make a friend instead. |
After a quick shower, we
had a late lunch at Johnny Rockets at Sea.
It’s $6.95 per person, all-you-can-eat, with milkshakes and dessert
extra.
With happy bellies, we met MissC for ice skating. At dinner the night before, MrH and I decided to bring a new “rule” in: to try something new every day. This was to set-up Eloise for snorkeling and Eden to try ice skating and it worked! We got MrE on ice! He gave it a fair shot… and me a good work out since I dragged him, half-limp around the rink a few times. He sat the rest of the session out (last 5 minutes) but we are very proud of him for trying.
After dinner, the kids
went to Adventure Ocean while we watched Skyfall by the pool and played evening
trivia.
 |
| We loved the poolside (and afternoon) movies. |
 |
| Hello, Turtle! |
COMING SOON… Day 5: Mystery
Island to Day 9: Disembarkation, plus Christmas
POSTSCRIPT: SINCE
BEGINNING TO WRITE THIS, I LOST MY OLYMPUS TOUGH CAMERA WHICH I USED TO TAKE
ALL MY UNDERWATER FISH PHOTOS BEFORE I DID A BACK-UP SO UNFORTUNATELY I CAN’T
SHARE ANY OF THOSE. SEE “MISSE TURNS 7”.
