Waltershipman

9 minutes ago, English Tim said:

I have now been given the get out of jail free card and so I am wondering and

Excellent 😉 ENJOY

14 minutes ago, uktog said:

No and I did not see many people wearing lanyards any time onboard. I’m sure guest services would put a punch in it if you are a lanyard user. Personally because I’m tagged up all the time I’m the office I love to be lanyard free on holiday. 

AGREED 

45 minutes ago, English Tim said:

Today is Window Cleaning day, so I’ve recently discovered, but fortunately my balcony doesn’t extend as far as some and I stayed reasonably dry!

 

Photo one is of my main breakfast dish and photo two is last night’s sunset.

 

it is a magnificent day today’s view is much better

The view and the smoked salmon look great

1 hour ago, johng75370 said:

We had a similar feeling after two Explora "journeys" and 3 Celebrity Retreats; both are good but Celebrity Retreat was not up to the same service level in terms of attentiveness and friendliness, and we never were that impressed with Luminae as a restaurant.  In most respects (taking into consideration size of ship differences) Explora is a better product from our experience.

 

Gary, you've been on Crystal and to me the Explora experience is closer to Crystal than Celebrity, in terms of passenger load, multiple dining options, and friendly service.  You'll see threads in this forum debating the comparison (I think of Crystal as a more high-end option than Explora FWIW, and similarly priced). 

 

Not sure how else to phrase it, but Explora is still in development and may end up quite different than it currently is.  With more established lines there is a lot more consistency to the product (e.g. in December the cafe on Explora had the Portuguese custard tarts "pasteis de nata" but not last week onboard, whereas you can always count on them being available and great on Crystal).  Likewise, have heard rumors that Explora's Anthology concept is on the chopping block; rotating different famous Michelin starred chefs through is hard, charging 190 euros sets a high expectation, and doesn't seem to be working out that well (we experienced two of those chefs, and one was amazing and the other time was worse than other options on Explora).  Entertainment was horrible early on, but now has improved a lot.  Reviewing Explora is a moving target!

 

Looking forward to seeing your writeup if you go on Explora; I appreciate your perspective.

Thanks much appreciate your input

Enjoy

5 minutes ago, English Tim said:

What none of us know is what it’ll be like when the ship is full.

Absolutely true hope you feeling better

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

My travel agent suggested for me to learn more about Explora Journey.  I read a few reviews, I saw some familiar contributors from other boards. I am looking at to consider Explora but need some comparisons to what I have been used too in the past. Any and all feedback would be appreciated. Full disclosure, I never ask questions unless I am seriously considering a brand. All the brands I will outline below I still enjoy but for specific cruises or experiences I want on a cruise.  I am booked for a 10 day Mediterranean Cruise in late 2025 on Oceania Vista. 

 

What I enjoy and want in my future cruises:

 

• Brands and Experiences I have Enjoyed in the Past: NCL Haven, MSC Yacht Club, Celebrity Retreat and most recently Oceania Cruise Larger Ships. In each case, the personalized service, dining, bars and amenities were better then standard cruise categories. 
• Personalized Service: Feeling like a guest vs. a number.  Service that does not feel like a cookie cutter.  
• Dining: Not rushed, attentive service, quality food, with the understanding it will never be Five Star since it is a floating hotel. I also realize food in general is subjective. 
• Semi-All-Inclusive: I have no need for airfare, I would prefer to arrange and do my own excursions, I would enjoy as I notice this brand has transfers from ports to city central, access to all areas including thermal spa, specialty restaurants, etc. 

 

Things I would like to know:

 

• What are the benefits or amenities differences between stateroom categories.  Early booking for specialty restaurants, early boarding, additional benefits for inside staterooms, butlers, and in-stateroom bar/soft drink setups.
• Those that have gone on the brands and categories I outlined above, how the Explora compared in you mind. 

 

I will continue to google, watch YouTube Video's, and call the reservations to clarify some questions.  Any information from those that have traveled this brand would be appreciated.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Greetings While you and I have never crossed paths on board. We have definitely seen each other on message boards

For a very detailed comparison between Oceania vista and EJ please take a look at my post from February when we sailed on the vista, having previously sail explore journey last october. EJ is far and away superior in many comparisons IMHO however it all boils down to what one is looking for. Food and ambiance much better on EJ as well as personal attentive upscale service.  Entertainment on Oceania much more diverse and more high end Although while on e j, we were treated too incredible steinway artists 

We have enjoyed the Retreat on Celebrity yet EJ better more luxurious experience. Specialty restaurants on O were excellent 

Best way for me to sum up is we just booked EJ again for next year. If you look at the thread for the comparison, it will be very informative because there are some definite drawbacks on the back of the house issues for explorer journey to consider although my recent booking and experience was excellent and evidenced significantly improved service.

Good luck. There are some very attractive pricing on some of EJ offerings 

Hope my input assists you

ENJOY

12 minutes ago, English Tim said:

Heike has very kindly offered us the adjoining  suite, which has an interconnecting balcony door, so Rosy can keep her distance.

SWEET THAT'S GREAT

23 minutes ago, Sidney68 said:

Day 3

 

sleeping really well on this trip, in fact I didn’t wake until 8.30 am which is unheard of for me usually being an early riser. Dinner last night at the Med Yacht Club was I would say average. We shared a selection of tapas as a starter and both had the pork for our main course, there was no issue and perhaps just a poor choice but it wasn’t as nice as some of the other dishes I have sampled thus far. 
 

The entertainment last night was good, both singers have great voices and the show was well attended. After this we took to the Astern lounge to enjoy two talented guitarists‘Josh and Raffael ’who had the small audience up dancing and having fun. The bar staff were very attentive, may be a little too attentive 😉

 

I promised to update on the sunset yoga class. I was very impressed, a knowledgeable instructor led the class of very mixed abilities, which he did with care ensuring that everything was adapted to meet the needs of each. He went around adjusting poses something that is often missed but is so important. I followed the class with a spin session on one of the techno bikes which was excellent. The gym is small, clean and well equipped on par with that on RSS Explorer and of higher quality than that on Seabourn. To add to the experience I was lucky enough to witness a large dolphin pod (around 30/40 I would suggest) jumping and playing in the surf - amazing! 
 

Today is a sea day and whilst the weather is a little cool and no sun as yet, I have still managed to sit by the astern pool in deck 5 which is lovely. Sat here watching the ocean from the infinity pool is fantastic and very relaxing. There appears to be numerous talks and activities onboard for those who wish to avail themselves, I have a few highlighted of interest including a salsa dance class, a talk on green energy advancement, a weighted Pilates class and a some time in the wellness centre. I definitely won’t be bored! 
 

A couple of personal views/observations in case of interest; as others have said the restrooms are so hard to find?! I frequently lap the deck trying to find them - hey one way of getting the steps in I suppose! 
 

On previous cruises I have noticed that doors in common areas are extremely heavy and I have always been slightly concerned at how anyone with even slight mobility issues cope with them. Onboard Explora 1 many are automatic opening or have a sensor and are level so this helps accessibility. I am sure someone who perhaps has needs in this area will be better placed to comment, but it struck me as a positive.

 

I am really not a fan of the small bathroom. This is definitely the most compact of bathrooms I have ever had, even on entry level suites. The design is not great, the bathroom mirror steams up and don’t even try to get more than one of you in at a time. It feels a little like an enlarged airplane cubicle (ok slight exaggeration but you get my drift) and my partner and I are getting rather good at playing human Tetris! Seabourn and RSS definitely excel in these areas.

 

The laundry room is adequate with two dryers and separate washers. Washing tablets (but not fabric conditioner) are provided. However a major design fault is the ironing board which pulls out from a unit right in front of the door! There is no signage and as such as I opened the 

door I took out a fellow guest who was minding his own business ironing his shirt for dinner!!! I have reported and will obviously take more care next time but someone could be injured. The other guest also commented that the iron plate was not clean and therefore likely to mark items if you didn’t use a cloth between the item and the iron itself. 

Loved the automatic doors to public restrooms big plus

12 minutes ago, Noggins said:

What rotten luck, Tim - hope you're feeling better very soon.

But it does give the opportunity to return to the debate around books in the room and whether they are carefully curated EJ books or just past guest leftovers. Tim, do you have any books in your room?! If so, are any in English and worth a read?

Adrian

When we got off the Oceania Vista in February my DW tested positive for Covid so she obviously caught it while om board.  You just got on so your contact point seems pre cruise perhaps 

Be well Tim 

12 minutes ago, English Tim said:

Yes

Thank you be well quickly

13 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

So sorry to hear that - best wishes for a speedy and full recovery 

 

I guess you can give us some feedback on the medical care and costs involved 

 

Also interested on where they let you order from for dining - that gets dealt with differently on the various lines 

 

 

Ouch

Do you have covid. And yes interested in the quarantine protocol and reasons. Hope you feel better wishing you all the best

1 hour ago, RJ2002 said:

Agree 100%.  
 

We almost never have dinner in a ship’s lido venue, but we did one evening on Explora.  Delicious, and the seafood options in particular are a step up at night vs. what is offered at lunch (which is quite good as well).   I especially enjoyed the chilled crab legs.   

When we were on board we did the Emporium often  however it was not until late in the cruise that we had dinner there. It's excellent and yes best at sea for certain . Great food with lovely service as well.

5 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

We did have Claude overseeing the dinner. Amazing dinner.

Amazing and fantastic you were very fortunate

On 5/10/2024 at 7:53 AM, paulh84 said:

Would you consider Explora as an actual luxury line or more of a small premium line like Oceania or Azamara? I was considering Explora for an upcoming cruise but went with RC Yachts instead. It seemed like the consensus was Explora falls quite a bit short of a true lux line like Silversea or Seabourn. 

I rank it luxury

38 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Am I getting this right?  The passengers on O tend to be older and more suffer mobility issues? Are the O demographics similar to Holland America?

Sort of yes passengers on O at least in our case significantly older than EJ with lots of mobility issues on O. It's been many years since we sailed on HAL which at that time had even older passengers than O with even more mobility issues. Ej had a more robust group although many older as well but no visibility mobility issues.

There were some younger passengers on O but not many and it was generally an older group 

Hope that clarifies. Enjoy 

1 hour ago, ksmcali said:

This has been a very interesting thread.  We (my husband and I) are Gen-X and have never sailed a luxury line....yet!  We started on Carnival long ago for our honeymoon, tried Holland America and Royal Caribbean, before migrating to Norwegian for many cruises in The Haven there.  It provided a level of luxury for us that still presented lots of kid friendly activities for our daughter.  Most recently, as our daughter is now older and about to graduate high school, we've moved over to Celebrity in upper level suites in The Retreat.  Again, it provides an overall family fit for us at this point in our life.  But, daughter is about to head off to college and we will be empty nesters able to travel anytime of the year, although as mentioned earlier, likely not for more than 10ish days, since hubby still does have a job.  We're mid-40s looking for a luxury line that we can enjoy, but don't want to be the "youngsters" onboard.  I certainly don't mind an older demographic, but prefer not to be the anomaly, which was the case for us when we sailed Holland America.

 

I had originally planned for Oceania to be our first "Just You and Me Again" luxury cruise, as it seems to fit our profile most.  But, Explora Journey has piqued my interest.  Certainly after reading through this thread, I do feel like we may be their target demographic.  The cabins certainly look attractive and shorter 7-day itineraries (few and far between on other luxury brands) fits our needs, as it allows for us to better squeeze it into his work schedule.  I've been following along with reviews since the ship set sail and was a little put off by the negative comments, but was hesitantly optimistic that the kinks would get worked out.  I popped over here today specifically because some else posted on the Celebrity boards how much they enjoyed their Explora Journey cruise.  Thank you all for the advisement!  I think I'll keep a close watch on EJ 2025 itineraries!

Forgot to mention that Explora journeys is much more luxurious 

58 minutes ago, ksmcali said:

This has been a very interesting thread.  We (my husband and I) are Gen-X and have never sailed a luxury line....yet!  We started on Carnival long ago for our honeymoon, tried Holland America and Royal Caribbean, before migrating to Norwegian for many cruises in The Haven there.  It provided a level of luxury for us that still presented lots of kid friendly activities for our daughter.  Most recently, as our daughter is now older and about to graduate high school, we've moved over to Celebrity in upper level suites in The Retreat.  Again, it provides an overall family fit for us at this point in our life.  But, daughter is about to head off to college and we will be empty nesters able to travel anytime of the year, although as mentioned earlier, likely not for more than 10ish days, since hubby still does have a job.  We're mid-40s looking for a luxury line that we can enjoy, but don't want to be the "youngsters" onboard.  I certainly don't mind an older demographic, but prefer not to be the anomaly, which was the case for us when we sailed Holland America.

 

I had originally planned for Oceania to be our first "Just You and Me Again" luxury cruise, as it seems to fit our profile most.  But, Explora Journey has piqued my interest.  Certainly after reading through this thread, I do feel like we may be their target demographic.  The cabins certainly look attractive and shorter 7-day itineraries (few and far between on other luxury brands) fits our needs, as it allows for us to better squeeze it into his work schedule.  I've been following along with reviews since the ship set sail and was a little put off by the negative comments, but was hesitantly optimistic that the kinks would get worked out.  I popped over here today specifically because some else posted on the Celebrity boards how much they enjoyed their Explora Journey cruise.  Thank you all for the advisement!  I think I'll keep a close watch on EJ 2025 itineraries!

Having sailed on both Explora Journeys and recently on Oceania Vista I am able to report that at least on our cruises there was a different passenger demographic. On EJ there were generally older passengers me included in 70s however very active. On O there were a significant larger number of older  passegers some with mobility issues which is not a judgement nor problem just true. One of our table mates on O was a 90 year old man who still worked was very active and an absolute gem. Age is relative.  I prefer nice kind folks of any age.

14 minutes ago, maggie.1008 said:

I guess I am some folks 😜

Love some folks

23 minutes ago, English Tim said:

Well, we are getting ever closer and this morning we complete online check-in for the flight and leave home very early tomorrow morning so will have to have finished packing tonight, as I find it very easy to forget things. It’s not packed the night before. I put all my electricals, like iPad and power leads in my backpack on the day of Travel and then it should be fairly easy to load them into the Taxi.

 

I am a volunteer guide at the local hospital, so this should keep me busy this morning, which is a good thing as I tend to get a little bit excited, even at my grand old retirement plus age! Later I have to pick up all my medicines from the chemist, which I tried to do yesterday but the doctors had forgotten to order them. I said what am I supposed to do for my diabetes, If I run out of medicine and they didn’t have an answer to that.

 

We have checked in for our Hotel in Long Beach and they promised an upgrade if available at check in , so will report on that tomorrow.

 

Have a great day, everyone.

 

ps I really don’t know why, when I dictate my posts, they never put a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, which I find really frustrating.

Happy cruising looking forward to both your posts and observations 

22 minutes ago, Ashercat1 said:

A few photos of sailing into Astoria, Oregon

Do you know the passenger count

Enjoy

7 minutes ago, Nashna said:

We are active 76 and 78-year-olds.  If we are lucky, we have another five years of cruising.  We are a short-term target for the cruise lines. Explora is wise to anticipate the next generation of luxury cruisers.  The cruisers who want the 7–10-night cruise today will be sailing on the 14-day plus cruises in ten years.  It will be interesting to see if all the new luxury cruise lines will have enough clientele to be successful. 

All I can say as a former passenger it's pretty darn great

19 minutes ago, Nashna said:

It appears that Explora Journeys is targeting the upscale working luxury market. This market is not likely to take 14- to 21-day sailings. I've had difficulty finding MSC YC and Explora itineraries that fit my needs. Perhaps they will have one ship dedicated to longer itineraries when they get more than three ships.

Will also attract a younger group of passegers 

16 minutes ago, Nashna said:

It appears that Explora Journeys is targeting the upscale working luxury market. This market is not likely to take 14- to 21-day sailings. I've had difficulty finding MSC YC and Explora itineraries that fit my needs. Perhaps they will have one ship dedicated to longer itineraries when they get more than three ships.

Great Nancy 

We booked an 8 night 2025 cruise and will spend a few nights in Miami

All the best to you let us know about your EJ further thoughts

18 minutes ago, Ashercat1 said:

6 days. This is my first Sailing on Explora Journey.  I have a 14 day cruise booked for December 2024.

 

 

Good morning this is day two of the cruise. So far everything is lovely. Ship is beautiful, service is great, food is divine. And accommodations are super comfortable. Going to post several pictures from yesterday beginning walk onto ship and a few around the ship photos.

Wonderful beautiful fantastic

43 minutes ago, Noggins said:

we were on Sirena - in a PH - when she first went to Cuba. An emotional FDR was first ashore. (and we had a fascinating tour that day - another lifelong memory made) We were also on Marina's the maiden crossing. A lovely ship, we thought at the time - but we always had a soft spot for the 'R's.

EJ eclipses all of those, of course. It's in a different category. But comparisons are relevant nevertheless.

Agree 

Enjoy and we will keep in touch I am sure