Hello from St. Tropez, what a glorious day. Had an early excursion this morning and now we're back home relaxing. We are LOVING the Explorer. I don't think I can find the words to describe how beautiful this ship is. We've finally had a chance to explore most of it and each area, each restaurant forward and aft are amazing. They didn't spare any expense that's for sure.

We're in an F2 (732) and love the room. Getting use to the closet took a few minutes since we're use to something wider with double hanging bars. Instead, this has one much longer bar and wider drawers. There's a full length mirror at the end. Once everything was in I realized how much more the closet holds compared to the Voyager. Our bathroom is fabulous, separate tub and shower, double sinks and LOADS of storage above the sinks/below the mirror as well as loads of drawer space. There's even a hand towel bar in-between the two sinks which makes so much sense. Our balcony is also longer than the standard Voyager with real nice chairs that recline and a larger table if you eat outside.

We have friends in a G cabin so got to take a peak at theirs too. They're smaller than the standard Voyager cabin but not by much. The closet is smaller but definitely doable.

We are definitely HAPPY campers. The standard menu at Compass Rose has changed drastically. It is much larger and so many options. For example, Dover Sole is an always available and there's about 5 different sauces you can order with it if you want, same with all the different types of steaks. They've really incorporated items that use to be just at specialty restaurants onto the "always available" menu. I think they're testing this out on the Explorer and will be rolling it out on all 3 other ships. We had a great, fun table for 6 last night and everyone raved about the food and the new menu....something for everyone! The Explorer lounge is next to Compass Rose so we stopped off and danced awhile after dinner...felt like old times!

The spa and gym are like something out of this world. Fabulous.! The only very strange thing we noticed and commented on was that from the spa you must go up a circular staircase to get to the gym. That seems like poor planning, what about people in wheel chairs or have mobility issues that can't go up the stairs ?

Great to hear your excitement about the new ship, Marcie! Have a great cruise! Sounds like it's certainly started off great. I love the idea of the "always available" menu options.

Sounds perfect, Marcie! Enjoy!
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Helen

Sounds wonderful, Marcie. I love the expanded menu in CR! Have fun!

Good to hear from you Marcie! Explorer sounds wonderful. Your discription of the menu made my mouth water! Know you are having a ball. Please keep telling us about it!

More, more! We need more!

Love the updates feels like we are there

Thanks for the update!! I keep looking for you and Tom in all the pictures people are posting on FB!

Petlover, thank you for the comments. We'll be on Explorer in November also booked on F2. How is the shower space? I would had preferred just a shower instead of shower and tub. The ship sounds fabulous and the menus so yummy. Enjoy, enjoy!!

Marcie, I asked about this at Rodeo and Randall got back to Ngaire saying there was a door on deck 6; can you see if you can find it?

Sounding wonderful Marcie, can't wait for March. Glad you are having such a good time. More info on F2, which is what we have for FROLIC, are there side chairs? Is there a vanity table? I would miss both of those a lot. How are the new restaurants? or did you already mention that?

Marcie, so glad Explorer meets with your approval as Michael and I join it on 3 August. Sadly though I think that is when you leave it? What a pity we can't find anyone to join us.

All is well on board with few little glitches here and there but nothing that has effected this great cruise. Today we're in Ibiza, Spain. We missed our morning tour...overslept so took the ships' s shuttle into town. Very nice, upscale sea town.

Last night we had a wonderful "dinner under the Stars" on the pool deck. SO MUCH food! We had lots of fun at our table. They had local Flamenco dancers performing and lots of guest dancing before and after the show. We stayed till the end with lots of Sambuca, dancing, laughs etc. We turned in around 12:30am...guess part of why we missed our tour this morning.

Marc, still haven't had a chance to check out deck 6 about entering the gym without stairs. Yesterday Tom & I went to trivia and came in 3rd, just the two of us. Many were still out on tour thus our 2 person good showing. I'm still learning my way around the ship.

In case anyone is curious (or not) all the toilets in the cabins and public restrooms have the soft close toilet seats.
Our shower in our F2 cabin is not exactly an oversize shower but is rectangular and definitely larger than those on the Voyager, but not quite as long as those on the Mariner with the seat. The bath tub is very deep with adjustable height rain head. For the ladies...There isn't a seat in the shower but there is a little bar of sorts that I "think" is for lifting your legs to shave your legs. The hairdryers on board are very powerful, nothing like the wimpy ones of days past so do NOT bother to pack a hair dryer.

The food and wine selections have been good. We ate in Chartreuse 2 nights ago. The decor and service was great. The menu is somewhat limited IMO but I'm a bit picky with simple taste (a children menu would work for me) so I'm not the best judge. Lots of Foie gras escargot things that I don't eat.
The staff has really gone out of their way to make this inaugural Maiden voyage very special (as you'd expect) and they sure haven't disappointed. We remain VERY happy campers! Wine choices have definitely met Tom's expectations as well.

There are lots of former WC passengers on board so it's been a fun reunion running into people we may not have seen for 10-12 years. The average age on board seems younger than I would have guessed and there are a handful of very well behaved children as well including a little 2.5 year old boy that is the cutest little guy I've ever seen traveling with his parents and grandparents.

Well enough rambling....at least for now.

Posting for Marcie:

Wow- that menu! I can't wait!It looks like the plates have little starfish or something - very unusual.

Thanks for all the posts, Marcie! Keep that Sambuca flowing

I would sure be happy with that menu! Thanks for the pics Marcie. Cant wait to sail on this ship!!

Thanks for the pix - The menu looks like a big improvement - hope that they roll it out on all of the ships - love the double sinks in the bathroom - the balcony furniture looks comfortable with the tall backs.

Looking forward to more reports! Have fun!

I think you all will really like the spaciousness of this ship. Deck 5 has a large coffee corner, and huge area with reception, destination services, concierge, Gutrun’s office, Franck’s office and a special new dining reservation desk for specialty reservations and changes. No more waiting until 5:00 to try to make or change reservations.

Today is our first sea day and everyone is rejoicing as this has been so port intensive. Tom’s at dancing class right now and I’m playing bingo at 11:30. At 1:00 we’re having a Texas Hold’em tournament that seems to be a big hit. They’re having a Spanish lunch on the pool deck today with Paella.

I forgot to mention that besides all the toilets having “soft close” lids, all the drawers inside the suites are self closing too .
Last night we had the Block Party and we met lots of nice people. There are a LOT of people from California. I haven' seen or heard any numbers for state representation but I would guess California is #1 on this voyage.

Life is GOOD !

Marcie, thank you for these reports and pictures. Everything looks fabulous! We are booked in an F2 suite next March and I've been wondering about the rooms and baths. That Compass Rose menu looks wonderful. I love having some of my favorite things -- dover sole, lobster -- available all the time. Continue to have a great voyage! And keep the reports coming as you can!

We'll be in F2 suite 809 on 1/15/2017 for 15 nights. Have you had any rough weather yet? If so, how has the Explorer handled it?

Saildude, luckily we haven't had any bad weather so can't answer that question. We've had beautiful weather and smooth seas.

There are 2 things on this ship that I don't like....
The tenders are all glassed in. They're large but when the sun is out (every day) it has a green house effect and they're hot with very little air circulation.

The other thing that seems like poor planning IMO is the wide columns in the Constellation Theater if you're sitting towards the back, you could have an obstructed view.

This trip is going quickly...today we're in Valletta, Malta. Last night was the Titanium, Platinum, Gold event in the Constellation theater. There was an Italian Opera singer. He was excellent and got a standing ovation. Tonight is Prime 7, tomorrow night dinner with GM Franck.

Looks like a nice day in Malta.

Nice catch, Kim. A nice day and not very crowded!

Thanks for taking us along on this sensational MV, Marcie!! I'm so excited for you and Tom!! Bonnie

Thank you so much Marcie for the lowdown. I have to wait to board the Explorer on Febriuary 4th. We are going on a 15 day cruise on another line out of San Francisco in October. The ship is nothing like this one of course

Thanks Marcie for all your reporting. So glad you enjoyed your cruise.

We're on board right now and loving it. The cabins are different but apart from maybe needing another seat in the lounge area, all is great. I haven't found a magnifying mirror yet but will ask about it (I really don't need to see a close up of me)!!!

The ship has an interior look similar to the QM2 but obviously much smaller. One thing we have noticed is the marble on the floor of the bathroom is marked - whether that is the case in all cabins, I don't know. Will check it out.

No doubt Michael will have some photos to post soon!

Lee

Apart from lots of complaints about the internet, all is still going well. The weather has been kind to us but it's becoming hotter each day. We've decided to have a 'sea day' tomorrow.

Even though there have been so many photos circulated, I won't spoil Michael's fun and will let him post his whenever he gets a chance.

I managed to get a plastic magnifying mirror but I look so much better without it!

We were given the opportunity to do a tour of Navigator yesterday but I nearly didn't recognize it - looks very smart! Met with Jamie and Dana which was nice. Some passengers on Navigator were given a tour of Explorer but I couldn't get any feedback. I thought maybe Kathy and Al may have still been on it but we missed them by a few days! Pity!

Lee

Lee, I'm so happy you and Michael are having such a good time. It is an amazing ship that's for sure.

Can you please ask Franck which day we will be in port with the Navigator in September. I'd love to see the remodel, everyone raves about it. He told me but I forgot to write the date down.

Hi Marcie - As I'm not 'in the know' as you are and didn't know who Franck was, I went to Reservations who told me that the Navigator and Explorer do not dock at the same port at the same time in September. They come pretty close to it, but miss by one day. She gave me a print out of their itineraries and then phoned me to say that she had spoken to Franck who confirmed the information she had given me. So it looks as if you're going to have to book another cruise on Navigator - yes??? Sorry I couldn't give you better news. Lee

Great to hear your reports, Lee! Glad you're having fun. Looking forward to some photos from Michael. Got a message from Dana yesterday - when she saw Facebook pics from St. Petersburg she realized we were on the Voyager!

Thanks for checking Lee...sorry we'll miss it.

I double checked to see if I could leave the Explorer go see the Navigator and rejoin the Explorer a day later. Cannot be done as the port that this might have worked is a TENDER so you cannot depend on that happening on any given day. The ships are in ROME one day apart!!