Belgian cruiser1

My wife and I have been on many MSC Cruises, but always booked the Yacht Club - but it seems that people who don't book this level, often have a long list of complaints. Have to add that - no matter the ship - it will always be the crew that make the biggest difference. Because our upcoming sailing on World Europa is one of 4 cruises we're doing this year (each with a different company), we decided it would be our first sailing that is NOT in the YC. Like the infinity verandas in Aurea, especially now that Aurea has it's own restaurant Les Dunes ... so we'll soon find out how many of the often heard complaints ring a bell with our upcoming experience this june. Fingers crossed, but for half the price of the same sailing in YC ... I am willing to "experiment" (and having free access to the thermal area is always a good idea if you sail in Europe 😉

I am honestly eager to see the real ship and the first reviews/video's by travel agents as soon as it will be sailing in the autumn, as we are now booked on her sister ship -Silver Ray - for Croatia in 2024. We also took advantage of an interesting price reduction on the condition that we paid for the whole thing all at once, so there's no way back for us. Heard a lot of good stuff about Silversea (although these forums can get everyone doubting his of her decisions), so we thought we'd give it a try. Truth is that the Nova and Ray are the first SS ships I love in terms of their set-up, overall shape, ... (was never too keen on the somewhat special shape of Muse, Moon and Dawn).

Had a good laugh lately when I noticed which "experiences" they offer at Zeebruges (close to where I live actually) - some of the excursions are quite creative, but the beautiful words don't really paint an accurate picture (looking herbs in nature reserve 't Zwin for instance and then cooking class, is likely to mean fighting off seagulls and pulling wellies out of the mud every ten steps). Still - they are trying to be different and to go off the beaten path.

I've been invited to a soiree hosted by an official representative from Explora Journeys this very evening, and hope to get some answers from him on many topics. If I get some clear input (mind you - I'm counting on it, having met that same gentleman before), I'll be sure to post them here.

Found a video on Youtube today, dating from about a week ago. Looks as if the ship's hull is fully painted as of now. Regarding the cancellations, have been worried about that myself - as I'm booked to sail on Explora 1 in march of 2024. Shame there's no news on their loyalty scheme either, as I am Diamond on MSC and these ships were always announced as "the whole ship will be like the MSC Yacht Club" ... so I did hope for some loyalty reward in one way or another.