22 facts about the Explorer of the Seas Cruise Ship
On the last day of our 8 day cruise to Norway on the Explorer of the Seas, an event called the Captain’s Corner was held on deck 3 in the Palace Theatre. All cruise guests are welcome to attend the event and it is a chance for the passengers to find out some facts about the ship that we were sailing on. I was really keen to go, however, Paul and our 2 Dads were not. I eventually persuaded them, dragged them to the Palace Theatre and we took our seats 3 rows from the front.
Captain Kjetil Gjerstad
The following panel were introduced –
The Captain
Kjetil Gjerstad originally from Norway and has been with the Royal Caribbean Company since 1977. He had only joined the Explorer 2 weeks previously but has been the master on numerous Royal Caribbean ships.
The Chief Engineer
Kamenko Milat-Panza, born in Dubrovnik, Croatia, started his career in 1980 and has been chief on a variety of Royal Caribbean ships since 1996.
Hotel Manager
Gordon Marshall, originally from the west coast of Scotland. Started his career in 1997 as a Bar Waiter. Over 15 years he has worked in various positions on 36 different ships including food and beverages trainer, Art Auctioneer, Bar Manager, a Marketing and Revenue Manager until he became Hotel Manager.
Cruise Director
Rob McNally was born in Liverpool, and has been in the entertainment industry for 24 years. He started working as one of the cruise director’s staff until he worked his way up to Cruise Director. Rob chaired this session.\
22 facts about the Explorer of the Seas –
- Built in Finland in 2000
- This April/May 2015 had a 80 million dollar refurbishment in Cadiz, Spain
- Is 1,020 feet long
- Is 157.5 feet wide
- Has a crew number of 1200
- Carries 3840 passengers
- Has 6 engines – but only needs 4 to reach maximum power, and only one engine to run the ship in dock
- Maximum speed is 23 knots (26.4 miles per hour)
- Has 72 cylinders
- Takes 20 minutes to reach full speed
- There is 9 metres of ship below water
- There is 63.4 metres above water
- Has 4 stabilisers
- Has 4 bow thrusters
- Maximum list that the ship could cope with would be 47 degrees (we had winds up to 50 miles an hour and the list we experienced was between 3-6 degrees which was scary enough!)
- The ship uses 900 tons of water in a 24 hour period – this includes both drinking and washing
- Has 26 lifeboats and 72 life rafts which accommodates 20% more capacity than is needed to carry all passengers and crew
- There are 4 carpenters on board
- There are 14 passenger elevators
- There is a legal requirement for all ships to dry dock every 5 years, however most ships dry dock every 2-3 yrs for maintenance and refurbishment
- Once a year divers examine the parts of the ship underwater
- There are always a minimum of 3 officers present on the bridge
The reluctant 3 all admitted to finding the session informative and really entertaining, and would definitely attend another session on future cruises!
If you know any more facts about the Explorer of the Seas then do let us know in the comments below!
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Explorer of the Seas
