20220911 Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas ABC cruise - homeward

Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas ABC cruise - Disembarkation

Miami to home 

It was an early morning today - up at 6:15AM.  The plan was to grab a quick breakfast in the Windjammer and self-assist disembark with the first group at 7:15AM.  That was the plan.

Getting up and getting food went as planned.  Getting to the disembarkation deck went as planned.  Getting off the ship - not so much.  They had people lined up on deck 4 in the hot and humid motionless air outside.  For whatever reason, they weren't letting anyone off the ship.  We did catch a nice sunrise over part of the Miami skyline.

A little after 7:30AM, we were finally allowed to disembark.  The new Customs process absolutely rocks.  No passport, no ID.  You just walk up to the camera, it recognizes your face, turns green, and you're on your way.  No muss, no fuss, no long lines.

The next stop was between markers 10 & 11 at terminal G to wait for the WeParkinMiami shuttle to pick us up.  As expected based on the incoming process, it absolutely sucked.  A whole bunch of us were waiting for a van that didn't arrive.  I finally summoned an UberXL and four of us piled in for the two-mile ride to the parking structure. We shared the ride with our dining partners, Dave & Anjelika. At under $20 for the four of us, it was worth it.  We said our goodbyes at the parking structure and hit the Florida Turnpike.  As I sat back and let Super Cruise do the driving.

We made our usual stop in Orlando for lunch.

We will be eating well for several days on the leftovers.

By the time we got off the turnpike, a little room had cleared, so we made a stop at Russell Stovers.

For much of the drive on the turnpike, there was a constant *whack* *whack* sound.  Here's why.

Our windshield (and the entire front end) was absolutely splattered with bug guts.  That warranted a stop at the carwash where they did a surprisingly great job getting most of it off.  Then we went home and unpacked.

I always like to reflect a little on a trip upon its completion.  This marked our 26th cruise and fifth on Royal Caribbean.  Thanks to loyalty reciprocity with Celebrity, our Celebrity Elite status netted us Diamond status on Royal Caribbean for this trip.  One of the Diamond perks is that four drink vouchers are loaded on our Sea Pass cards daily.  By not purchasing the drink package and only purchasing the soda package, we figured that saved us $1,100 or so on this cruise.  That was a very worthwhile perk.

Comparing this cruise to our last cruise on the Caribbean Princess, well, there is no comparison.  This cruise was superior in almost every dimension.  The only one lacking was the absolutely horrible internet service on Explorer of the Seas. But beyond the sucky internet, everything else was terrific.  Outstanding service everywhere, good quality food, well-maintained vessel, and so on.

They had a nice variety of entertainment options.  While all the shows didn't appeal to us, that's OK because it is all about choices.

With 3,258 passengers out of roughly 4,000 at full capacity, the ship felt a little crowded to us. The Windjammer was regularly packed as were the pools and hot tubs. We are definitely spoiled having sailed on several 50%-capacity cruises.

Still, it was an enjoyable cruise and we would consider Royal Caribbean again, although we prefer Celebrity.

So now, we're home for the moment before our next adventure later this month.  Stay tuned for Antarctica!