In reviewing our recent cruise on the Explorer I will no doubt repeat what others have previously mentioned but I believe those opinions should be reinforced. Let me begin by saying the cruise was enjoyable mainly because of the excellent service. I was less impressed by the decor and layout of the ship itself.

One reviewer described the decor as "exuberant"; a description I wholeheartedly embrace. It appears the phrase "less is more" was not part of the design concept. The 4th deck is grand but in my opinion overdone. The nicest part is the hallway from the atrium to Compass Rose. The chandelier that seems to generate so much awe is simply big, the staircase is nice but nothing special (we laughed at the newel caps that look like oversized golf balls). The problem with creating such a grand floor is the limited space it leaves for the others. The ceiling on the 5th floor is low and dark. It made my husband joke that it felt like we were on floor 7 1/2 from the movie "Being John Malkovich." Throughout the ship, halls are extremely narrow, ceilings low (my husband is 6'1" and had to walk to one side because his hair brushed against the domed, crystal hallway light fixtures), staircases are also narrow, and some elevators oddly shaped. Yet, the worst flaws are found in the theatre. It bears repeating that there are few good seats. Huge pillars and the low, deep overhang from the balcony make most seats inadequate. The pillars also block easy access to many good seats. It is all around a poorly designed space. As far as the signature chandelier in Compass Rose, well, it is blue. Not impressive in design, just big. This excess of glass is supposedly one of the reasons for the horrible noise level in parts of the restaurant.

Our cabin was a midship G2 on the 6th deck. The location was very convenient but it took a while to figure out which way to go to avoid the "stairs to nowhere" when we chose to use the stairs to go to CR. The suite layout was the same as the veranda suites on the other ships. Definitely smaller but not too small for us. The bathroom was smaller than on the other ships but because of the medicine cabinet we felt there was much more usable storage. The shower was great. The drawers in the walk-in closet were wider but was that the reason the double hanging was removed? We did miss that. The only complaint was the television being in the bedroom area not the sitting area. We wondered if they forgot about it then had to scramble to figure out somewhere to put it. I think they wanted the desk in the sitting area to double as a vanity so had to install that huge mirror and couldn't figure out what to do with the television. There are a number of cures for this flaw; I hope Regent considers one. Also I hope they fixed the rattling and the air infiltration through the balcony doors. Read more