Cruising - Part 4 The Bars

Bars

Now onto the bars. There are many on the P & O Explorer. Many. If you’re not a drinker it can feel like the ship is trying to make you one almost. The Explorer Hotel, Ocean Bar, Charlies Bar, The Blue Room, The Bonded Store plus numerous little carts of alcohol that are around main areas such as The Marquee and the Lido Deck.

The Blue Room - empty during the day

The Explorer Hotel often held a lot of activities like ‘Name That Tune’ and ‘Karaoke’. It would be crowded during these times. The Blue Room often had a live band and a more jazzy vibe. Ocean’s Bar was where trivia was and would serve coffee with a kick (coffee with alcohol).

I enjoyed the Bonded Store the best. It is a little hide away bar that you can enter through a sliding picture. There is also another entrance on the other side that is open all the time. It had a nice intimate vibe of a sit down, chat, relax and enjoy.

One of the best experiences I had was signing up for the Bar Academy. From memory it cost $25 dollars and you learnt how to make four different cocktails. The instructor was friendly while he explained the different techniques used. The real challenge is making the last cocktail as you tend to sip on the previous three before hand. There is plenty of opportunity at the end to sit in the Blue Room and finish your cocktails if you’re not a quick drinker.

Bar Academy

Another experience I heard that people like was the Whiskey tasting, although I did not take part in this.