My wife and I took our first cruise on the Explorer of the Seas. We seem to be the minority who were quite dissatisfied with the overall experience.

Worst of all was the 50 min. full body massage. The massage therapist at first seemed interested in my health. She talked about toxins in my body that she needed to work out. It was very painful not relaxing at all. She did not stop talking the entire time. Then while I was still naked (and vulnerable) she tried to push her $90 algae pills on me for detoxifying, which explains why she was so talkative about my toxins during the massage. This was really upsetting to my wife and I. She had the same experience with her massage therapist. We’ve had full body massages before, so we know how you are supposed to feel afterward.

We also had poor service from the stateroom attendant. I’ve had better maids in hotels. She didn’t clean our room in the morning on several occasions. I asked for Ice to be delivered in the morning and in the afternoon. Only two days was ice delivered twice.

We went to guest services to complain about the service we received and they said “well it is a big ship and it’s hard to service everybody properly” like I should be satisfied with the short end of the stick. She didn’t offer anything as a token or gesture to show sorrow or concern for the troubles we had.

The food! We were quite disappointed with the food quality overall. If you ate in the dining room you had it best. If you chose to eat in the windjammer buffet line style then too bad for you. I’ve eaten better a “Old Country Buffet” which I hate. The food was generally the same every time. Breakfast foods were the worst. Unripe cantaloupe and melon, soggy waffles, poor tasting and hard pancakes, and all those pastries that were worse than what I pick up in the local supermarket on Sunday morning here at home. The café promenade was decent, but would have been much more inviting if there was a variety. They had one type of muffin, two types of doughnuts, and maybe a pastry or two. No quiches, or pies. Don’t expect the coffee to taste too great. After 4 creamers it started to lighten up a little!

We had nice entertainment. Greg Shepard the pianist was who we enjoyed the most. We relaxed at Dizzy’s with Elijah who was a great waiter.

All that said, my wife and I will never cruise again!

Save your money. Get a nice hotel and eat in upscale restaurants. You will have better food and probably come out ahead financially.