Explorer of the Seas: Room Service
On our last cruise in September 2022, a six-night Caribbean cruise on Explorer of the Seas visiting Cococay, Falmouth, and Labadee, my husband had the unfortunate luck to come down with Covid-19 on day 2 (it was really day 10 for us as we were on a back-to-back). Fortunately for me, I was spared and was able to continue to enjoy the ports of Falmouth, Jamaica and Labadee, Haiti.
While I was out enjoying the beautiful weather and port food, he was quarantined to our stateroom. Despite this, Royal Caribbean treated him extremely well and did what they could to make his time more comfortable including free internet (prior to Starlink, so terrible quality) and free room service.
While room service used to be included in the cruise fare, over the last several years all but the continental breakfast (pastries, coffee, cereal, fruit, etc.) comes with a $7.95 service charge per delivery. With all of the food available for free onboard unless you are sick, hungover, or just truly unable to pull yourself out of your stateroom, I wouldn’t recommend paying the extra charge; however the free breakfast is worth it if you are satisfied with the continental offerings.
If you do decide to order room service here are some tips.
Breakfast is the best option for room service (especially the free option!). There are door hangtags in your room with a menu. Simply check the time frame you would like it delivered and place it on your outside door handle the night before. They will typically give you a courtesy call when they are on their way up, but they are generally on time.
Be prepared to wait. Room service wasn’t fast on our last trip (aside from the scheduled breakfast). There wasn’t an option to order anything on your TV as I saw on ships several years ago. You had to call room service to place your order and it was generally a wait (roughly an hour - sometimes longer).
Avoid the chicken fingers and burgers! While you would think the chicken fingers would be a pretty safe option, they were by far the worst chicken fingers we have ever had. They were cold and dry. Not sure if this is a random unfortunate occurrence, but certainly not worth paying anything to risk it. The burger wasn’t terrible, but it was room temperature by the time it arrived and overall just not worth it.
Pizza was worth it. For lunch one day, we ordered pizza which included an entire pizza. If you are a fan of cruise ship pizza from Sorrento’s or Café Promenade, you won’t be disappointed.
Greek Salad, Wings, and Quesadillas were decent. After the chicken finger experience our expectations were low, but all three of these turned out to be pretty tasty. While there is significantly better food elsewhere on board, these wouldn’t be a bad option if you are unlucky enough to be quarantined to your room.
Rachael Ratings:
Continental Breakfast: 8/10
Convenient, timely, and perfect for those that want to wake up to coffee, tea, and pastries to eat on their balcony in the morning.
Lunch/Dinner: 5/10
Some items were good (pizza, wings) and others a definite avoid (chicken fingers)
