New Cruise Review: Explorer of the Seas

Jason · December 27, 2005

Cruisinmama has submitted an extensive review for her cruise last week aboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. Thanks so much Ann, I'm so glad you had an excellent time!! Here are some of the ratings she provided:

Entertainment: Very Good

Service: Excellent

Cabin: Very Good

Food: Excellent

Overall: Excellent

Be sure to check out Ann's great review!!

GottaCruz · December 27, 2005

i loved reading your review, ann. i could just picture the expressions on your kids. i'm so glad that , with the bumps and al, u still had a great time. i know what u mean about hot topic. dd loves that store too and we do spend a lot of time and money there. i'm so glad you and the kids enjoyed yourselves. it's great 2 have u back here with us. thanks 4 sharing your much anticipated review with us. i now look forward to viewing your photos. big hugs,

JoeyandDavid · December 27, 2005

Brava... glad you guys had a nice time!... your review was.. well ...how do i say it...KEWL!

thanks for sharing :grin:

rogue · December 27, 2005

That was a great review, Ann. It's a shame that you weren't feeling your best, but I'm really glad that you enjoyed the cruise anyway. It sounds as if the kids had a blast. Thanks for sharing. :grin:

Mebert · December 27, 2005

cruisinmama,

Welcome back.

Thank you for the very thorough review. It seemed that there were some mishaps at the airport coming and going, but you were completely transformed when you boarded the ship.

I also enjoyed the response from your children. I wish I could have seen them.

All in all, you seemed to have had a great time. I'm sorry you got a little sick, but it seemed that you managed to enjoy yourself anyway.

I look forward to seeing the photos.

Suzila · December 27, 2005

Hi Ann,

I have a question for you about customs...to and from Canada.

My son and daughter-in-law are going up to Toronto in January...the 14th and returning on 1/22. He's an American citizen and she's a Canadian citizen.

I see you say where you had a very long wait for customs...when hubby and I went up there last October, we had almost no wait getting into Canada, but extremely long lines getting back home. About how much time before a flight would you say the kids need? Should they give it 4 hours before flight?

Any insight would help. And now, back to reading your excellent review.

Mebert · December 27, 2005

Suzila,

Sorry to chime in, but it seems that it's always easier to get into Canada than to get out. The lines are really long getting back into the U.S. and they seem very slow. It seems that for security reasons, since 9/11, one has to give themselves a lot of extra time.

gymbrat33 · December 27, 2005

Ann,

Thanks for the great review. I'm glad that you had a wonderful time.

cruisinmama · December 27, 2005

Hey Sue

It all depends if they fly from Canada to a USA direct then they go through USA Customs in the home airport

You have to clear Customs in your last Canada airport for us we went from

Winnipeg to Toronto "USA Customs" then FLL

If we had gone Winnipeg straight to FLL then we could of cleared it at Winnipeg..much easier and faster

Coming from the USA I know USA Customs for residents was empty and the lines for all the rest of us was 2-3 hours long..

If its a major airport I'd allow 3-4 hours..we had a 5:55am flight into Toronto and thought we'd be ok...NOT!!!! the problem I think and many others I have talked to is that not enough agents are on to handle the lines a 2-3 hour wait in Customs is just wrong...there was only 4 agents open...when they have at least 8-10 windows to do it..

Not many flights allow more than 2-3 hours in between flights..

We went last time through our home auirport and was done in 15 min..so its a hard one to pick..we thought around 9:00am in the morning would be ok to clear USA Customs...

Coming home we were picked for some special scan through USA Customs the lines were short but this special air pressure scan which I had no idea what it was ended costing us an extra 45 min to get through.

Hope that helped...