johng75370

Sounds like @highplanesdrifters is planning a wine run to the Carrefour there (and hopefully the ship's F&B manager)! The Carrefour also has some local items as gifts for a good price.

We've done a couple of Explora sailings and a bunch of Seabourn. Both are great in their own ways, just different (Explora aims to be a resort hotel, Seabourn aims to be a luxury cruise). In terms of differences from Seabourn, here's a few: - no Officer-hosted tables or much interaction with the ship's officers on Explora - Explora has a "solo host" and solo activities (same person who hosts other groups like LGBTQ+ or Friends of Bill) - no special food orders or changing menus on Explora - no unlimited caviar 24/7 on Explora (just a few specific menu items that contain caviar, but no caviar for purchase) - fewer entertainment or guest speaker options on Explora - Much nicer/newer/bigger "hard product" on Explora as @PrivateIdaho highlighted - More pool/hot tub options, but prefer SB's service around the pool (chair massages, cold fruit on sticks, etc). - Excursions on Explora are more expensive and less certain to run than SB; can't use OBC on Explora for excursions you've booked in advance. - Spa on Explora much bigger/modern than SB, but treatments are more expensive. - SB has "signature events" like caviar in the surf or marina day or evening at Ephesus - SB has a loyalty program, Explora does not - Explora can have more people (~900 vs SB's 450 or 600) FWIW, my brother was a solo traveler on Explora II recently and had a fantastic time. Congrats on giving Explora a try; please share your experience after you sail.

We’ve stayed in 421 on Sojourn before, and had no issues with either strange noise or just noise in general. It was a quiet cabin.

FWIW, I listed to the "Insider Travel Report" YouTube video with Chris Austin from Explora, and he said that they would not repeat entertainment for 14 days, so doing 2 7 day B2B should get you different offering each night. Fingers crossed for you that this is true!

No, just a limited number of people.

@whogo, thanks for sharing your secret method; we’ll try to book suite 543 going forward. It’s better than my current approach, which is to use the chat function in the Source app to randomly reach out to people asking if they are really smart and need a trivia teammate. Has not worked too well 🤔

How so? The only Malbec they are currently pouring is the Borga from Italy that sells $15 for a 5 liter box. All Explora choices are lower average retail price per bottle for similar category than on the SB Pursuit list recently posted.

Here’s a drawing of the 2024 Helly Hansen jacket; we were also on in 2023 and got the black jacket made by Storm Creek with a minimal lining, which is the one we kept/preferred. Hard to say who they will go with for 2025, but both years we saw had very good quality, and easy exchange in ther Grand Salon on the first day if you need a different size. This blue one (2024) was better insulated than 2023, which was mainly wind/water proof while breathable. Also, from what we observed people doing kayak or Zodiak excursions were outfitted with outerwear as part of those excursions (onboard before starting off). We did the catamaran excursion which didn’t need anything more than jackets, but if we were more adventurous I feel like we would have been taken care of (but worth checking into).

We’ve done three SB sailings and 2 Explora in the last 10 months, and they are hard to compare because I think they are aiming at different audiences and are not “apples to apples”. Both deliver excellent vacation experiences, but just quite different. Long story short the physical ship and the food are exceptional on Explora; the overall service, crew, and shipboard experience we find better on SB. Really was turned off by how Explora bent over backwards to accommodate “influencers” to the point of ignoring paying guests, and the overall attitude towards real paying guests (e.g. kicking off passengers in NY so they could have the naming ceremony, or not inviting guests to today’s EX2 naming). A year post-launch and Explora still does not have a loyalty program. On SB we like the flexibility; special orders no problem and a genuine friendliness across the whole ship. On SB you can share a coffee with the Captain; on Explora you would never see that person. Staff on SB seem relaxed; on Explora they are worried who is watching them. That’s the feeling we’ve come away with. We’ve got upcoming SB bookings, but taking a wait and see approach on Explora. But then again we’re the type of people who don’t feel “at home” hardly ever at a Ritz Carleton or Aman Resort, yet feel back home within hours of being onboard SB. Best I can say is experience them for yourself, as they both have good and bad depending on your tastes.

The third party can be anyone, not just travel agent. We’ve had this situation where getting the American Express “cruise privileges” benefits ($300 OBC) negates getting the $250 referral OBC.

They have a very good selection of non-alcoholic “adult beverages”, including some nice N.A. spirits from Australia. We didn’t care for the N.A. wines they were serving, but were very impressed with the French Bloom, a N.A. sparkling option. For N.A. beer I think it was Heineken (we prefer Tuborg’s N.A. offering, but at least they had options).

My brother will be on the maiden voyage for Explora II on Monday, and I’ll see if he can pass along what is on the launch. FWIW, it’s his first cruise and I can’t imagine a better starting point.

We almost always bring a couple special bottles with us, regardless of cruise line. It's only on Explora that the Caymus Special Selection Cab we brought was offered to other guests because some waiter thought it was one of the "included wines" because our waiter just left it with the others unmarked. At least Seabourn or Crystal has always properly handled wines in such situations.

A bit “apples and oranges” as the Seabourn complaints are coming from a higher starting point than Explora; Explora started low and has gone lower. The most recent SB list that is being complained about contains several that retail $15-$20 USD, and mostly covers the main requests (Malbecs from Argentina, Cabs from California, Pinot from Oregon, Rose from Provence, etc..). All cruise lines make changes/adjustments to optimize their business, so as they receive more feedback I’m hoping Explora moves their budget for wine higher. It was a negative from our two Explora cruises (one of a few factors) that holds us back from booking another one right now, but if there are included wines on Explora that work for us (along with reasonably priced premium wines) we’d be more likely to come back.

I think it’s an issue of them not keeping up when they print the bar menus posted on the Source app. When you are onboard the “revenue” wine list shows in the app, and I think that is the price regardless of which venue it’s purchased from. They used to have wine lists available through Source before boarding, but they’ve changed it to a real-time menu that only works when connected to ship WiFi.

It’s called the “Host Lifestyle Fund” and it can be added to your account (just ask one of the reception people).

Speaking for others on Team Lovie, hoping for a quick return to onboard life!

I'm in the same situation; we paid final in late August and tickets have not been issued yet (preventing us from booking seats). Thanks to your post I called and found out that for "flexible" tickets they set a later ticketing date (for our late November sailing the ticketing was scheduled for Oct. 10th). I was able to request early ticketing, and while I was told it may take a few days, I found that the tickets were issued within 10 minutes.

We’ve done one Cunard sailing in Queen’s Grill two years ago, so not as experienced or as recent with that brand as others here might be, but looking to go back. We were very happy with the QG restaurant - having our own table for the voyage, having custom requests delivered perfectly, and the staff and their professionalism. TBH, it delivered for us some of the best meals we’ve had at sea (standouts were the Crepes Suzette, the lamb, the Beef Wellington, and the incredibly deep wine list). Last place I think that does real flambé tableside at sea. If you’re in QG, don’t be shy in asking for (almost) anything you might want for any meal - if they have the ingredients and enough time they will make it happen. If you’re in Princess Grill it’s similar, but without as much flexibility in ordering off-menu. Cabin likewise was great, and butler service was not as good as “old Crystal” but was still good IMHO. Outside of the food and service in the Grills, it’s a big ship and has all the positives and negatives that go along with that. We’ve not been on Queen Anne (it was Queen Victoria). Loved that the ship likes to dress up and still has ballroom dancing, and that Cunard has a real theatre, with boxes. Overall we were charmed but did not find outside the restaurant the service was as personal or “intuitive” as Seabourn can be (at times). It’s a unique product and left us very impressed. Just too big of a ship people-wise overall for us. Please report back on how your voyage goes!

Checked my phone and had downloaded The Club menu from April on Ovation. Here’s what they were showing at that point: Remy Martin VSOP Frapin VSOP Hennessy VSOP Courvoisier VSOP Armagnac Cles Des Ducs VSOP Along with the usual complement of 5 single malt scotchs and 4 bourbons.

If you mean Explora for sharing with others the wine we brought, no. We just chalked it up to them being new and the staff not being trained properly. Explora is a good cruise option for shorter voyages, but OMG their included wines are really cheap, and their premium wines are incredibly expensive (from our perspective). Over time I hope they sort it out, but the two sailings we've had with them really made us appreciate Seabourn for details like this.

Personally, I’m thinking the percent of passengers who care about their wines and spirits is pretty high (maybe a quarter to half), and the worse the wine quality is the more people will bring their own. Let SB deal with keeping track who brought what, and where to store all the wine suitcases. We typically bring a special bottle or two also but may need to up that. At least Seabourn handles wines well; the Caymus Special Selection we brought onboard Explora was “generously” shared by the waiter with other tables as he thought it was just one of their included wines 😮 We’ve done three SB sailings in the past 12 months, and all of them had “typical” wine lists - nothing like the Encore list. If anything, they were slightly better than usual. I’m still hoping the Encore list was an abberation, and the only real issue here is the downgrade of cognac. Fingers crossed.

I’ve gotten it from Seabourn Square. They will print out a copy for you (not sure why they don’t have a stack preprinted). That usually works; have never found success asking cabin attendant or a sommelier.

FWIW, here is the wine list from Odyssey in Alaska in early July; much different than what @galeforce9 posted from Encore (mostly to the positive). I know there is some region-to-region variation, but the difference in these lists between Odyssey in July and Encore in August is not good for Seabourn maintaining their brand reputation. Seabourn should really drop the "fine wines" labelling, and let people decide for themselves if it suits their tastes and is worth coming back to in the future. On Odyssey in July we were happy with the included list overall, and had some that would be right in line with what we have at home. But we don't think of our typical wine at home as "fine wine" in any sense.

They should see it on their boarding pass in the Seabourn Source app, or on page 3 of the final docs they can download from the SB website. I think for most voyages now the boarding time is anytime after 12:30pm, but worth checking the app or docs for their specific voyage. After they board lunch is available and access to suites are often available by 2pm if not earlier.