Dr. Cocktail

Unfortunately, it was an issue. We were the absolute first persons to board the ship in Barbados and made a beeline to the Destinations Experiences desk. While we were able to get one excursion, the other two we wanted were already sold out. People on the back-to-back had been able to book them on the previous sailing. We were able to get on the second on a waitlist but didn't make it onto the third. And that was with us being #1 on the waitlist. They actually asked us to come to the staging area as they had one slot available and were waiting for a possible no-show but the final people showed up moments before departure. I would recommend arriving early at your departure port to have the best chance.

Happy Wednesday! I'm rolling my eyes at the dissing of TripAdvisor as they're the parent company of Cruise Critic! In fact, I'd be tempted to trust them more as you're not getting the input of "true believers" here who will accept no criticism of their favourite product. On my recent Apex sailing to Norway I found the ship to be noisy and crowded with basically no "enclosed" lounges to have a quiet drink. The main dining room food and service were mediocre to frequently poor and only occasionally good. Our only decent meals were in Eden. The Oceanview Cafe is a madhouse and finding a table during peak times is kind of ridiculous. I am not new to Celebrity and have over 250 nights sailed. I will agree with the luxury lines listed here but will add my new favourite, Explora Journeys. They are having some pretty decent promotions and it really is what I feel that a luxury cruise should be.

I will add to Mikes' excellent post. Our first excursion in Martinique was superb - decent enough snorkeling but a superb seafood luncheon with wines and cheeses on the way home. Not crowded and excellent. The other two were "standard" snorkeling excursions but with easily 1/2 the number of guests onboard as the major cruise lines. The low number of passengers really made socializing very pleasant and the crew were spectacular in handling a medical emergency on one of the trips.

Mike, Mike, Mike .... you have to push past the heartburn..... We'll have to start training you before your next go!

I know I'll be judged but .... we would take *ahem* libations to our numerous beach stops. We would use the Grey Goose in our cabin with the tonic and other mixers in our fridge. The cocktail shaker, I mean Explora water bottle, would happily go in our Explora tote bag and ultimately ashore. As the bottles were placed in the garbage, they were all magically replaced each time the room was serviced. We were never told that we were at our limit!

I made a sarcastic comment about my gut! I think that it was misinterpreted ..... The E shorex's are extremely strict in numbers carried .... ie similar itineraries but with far fewer people.

Hi Catherine: Greetings from midtown Toronto! We stopped in St. Vincent and did the snorkelling excursion that went to Bequia. The waters were RIDICULOUSLY choppy and Gravol/Dramamine was everyone's best friend (you're talking to someone who did the Drake Passage in a 4000 grt ship!) and the stop literally gave you enough time to change your mind. I would say that if you have obc to burn - Explora excursions are fine as they're very expensive. Otherwise, find your own tours on CC's parent company, TripAdvisor.

Gentlemen: (boys?) I don't want it being said that I never gave you anything .... https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/stateroom-details.php?ship=Explora-I&cabin=7116#google_vignette

I think 🤔 that there are two big things at play here… 1) With many cabins available in the OT category, there’s no reason to get people to free up their existing cabin for others to book. That’s a big thing about upgrades - they’re a double benefit for the company - “resell” the existing cabin and make money on the upgrade. 2) At this early stage of the game for Explora, you don’t want to “train” people to not pay full price for a PH and above. They want to preserve the value (different use of the word) of these big suites. I’m seeing this now on Air Canada and their upgrade bid program. The minimum bids to upgrade are not much less than if I had paid for Business Class in the first place. On my recent flights to and from Europe, they left plenty of seats empty in Biz. .

Same here .... we were upgraded from a PH to a higher category PP because of a noise issue. But to the best of my knowledge, there are currently no complimentary or paid upgrades available. (If I was going to be technically 100% accurate, if you book a PH, you get the next higher category of PH)

Is that amount too high or too low? He does state that he paid the amount himself and did not let Explora know in advance but I guess we'll never know. But... you can make a LOT of money on YouTube having over a million followers. This video has now been watched 411 00 times - again a HUGE money generator. That's easily $12 000 right there + his sponsors.... Gary Bembridge who is the most watched YouTube cruise reviewer most certainly pays his way for all of his trips.

Unfortunately, single sinks only in all categories under the Owner’s Suite!

I found that this is the first review that really captured the onboard “feel”. I actually wouldn’t have minded it being longer so he could have included the Med Yacht Club and Marble & Co.

This was just posted by one of the most watched travel vloggers - he has over 1 million followers. He actually paid for his voyage and didn't notify Explora in advance. I've seen his videos before - he comes across as a 2024 version of Robin Leach on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous! It provides some excellent info but is a bit disingenuous on pricing. I'm amazed that it was posted 22 hours ago and already has almost 250 000 views!

I'm late to this party! As a certified (certifiable?) Explora booster, you will have a great time! We sailed twice this past year and have three more booked. It is a work in progress but already in fine form. The food is great and your fellow passengers also interesting and easy to talk to. We generally wore chino's and a polo or button down to dinner and there was no problem. Shorts and T's into the Emporium. Enjoy! ps .... there is no better fit from how you describe yourselves!

Pods yes, steamer no!

On our two voyages (see - I’m using the correct terminology!), I would say that at age 60, we tacked slightly older than the average. LOTS of people in their 40’s and 50’s as well as many in their 60’s and early 70’s. One can’t always judge a book by it’s cover but I don’t think that there were many in the 80+ category. We saw one scooter and very few people with assistive devices.

Mike: I’ll hold your wine 🍷 glass while you’re doing your double downward dog! For the life of me, I can’t actually remember what you were drinking …🧐

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/07/new-entertainment-program-for-explora-i-revealed/ Interesting that they will now be employing veteran cruise directors who will have a greater understanding of what passengers want. The former corporate heads of Entertainment and Onboard experiences appear to be gone.

Yes and yes! Have had ports cancelled and have arrived in port where tours are cancelled. If the tour goes and you don’t, you’re charged. Your safest but possibly undesirable option is to cancel before the deadline. On a recent Celebrity cruise, ALL the tours left in the morning in Geiranger to the scenic lookouts where visibility was such that you couldn’t see beyond a few hundred feet. People were NOT happy….

Gary: I hear you but …. (and this is directed at many on these boards!) …. post Covid, it’s a different world out there. We all know that I’m an Explora cheerleader as I simply love the onboard product. I’ve given up trying to do ANYTHING on the Seabourn website for my upcoming cruise as it’s basically nonfunctional. Our friends who are Regent Gold were treated ABONIBABLY by Regent this past week regarding their upcoming sailing. I’m hoping that they post their story on the Regent boards. All the cruise lines are feeling the same pressures and are having just bizarre customer service issues. My point? It’s messy out there!

We all know that I’m an Explora cheerleader in spite of the ridiculous web site but… It’s SPECTACULAR in comparison to the My Little Pony Seabourn website….. a train wreck! No excuse for either site!

140 Euros for the dinner and 60 for the wine but agreed, still too pricey!

Oh, you're asking for a heated (cooled?) debate on this one! I'm a 60 year old guy who still frequently wears a jacket to dinner and had no problem in any of the venues. It was all pleasantly tilting into the cool zone!

This is a great video of the ship's arrival in Barcelona ... if you scroll to the 5:00 mark and beyond, you will easily see how all the back decks line up and where the hot tubs are.