kelleherdl

I’m onboard Explora II right now and have been since Sept 23. We received a printed version afternoon prior to the next day EVERY DAY. So yes the program is routinely updated through the day on the app, but printed version is there for everyone still without asking. Same high quality stock.

If you work on a special drink with one bartender a new bartender will call the original mixologist. At least they do that for me. Your experience may differ. 😀. And since EJ moved about 50% of the Explora I bartenders to launch Explora II, you may find that a special drink from E I is now waiting for you on E II.

I can confirm, from a reliable source on board, start date is October 16th. We will disembarking that day, so we won’t see the announcement on the ship.

They do change, by region of sailing and we found out quality of the food supplied to the ship. We boarded Explora II in Tarragona ready to order Dover Sole at Med Yacht. It was off the menu for that sailing. Chef was not satisfied with quality of fish supplied. There are also some one offs per week, like Lobster Thermidor.

Explora II has added ‘bespoke’ shade for several of the loungers at the aft pools. They are set up in the morning and taken down in the afternoon. This is in addition to the permanent cabanas. The Helios Pool on Deck 12 forward is still the wide open sunning area, thus my favorite. If you don’t mind moving with sun, the side loungers along both sides of deck 12 are still an option.

Hi Frank yeah we are doing the inaugural of World America, 7-day Eastern Caribbean out of Miami. our next Explora Journeys ‘Journey’ is Feb 21, a 14-day San Juan to San Juan Caribbean. The Future Journeys advisors on EJ work for EJ. They book Explora Journeys. While EJ is owned by MSC Holdings, they are a separate company. I suggest you find a TA who does a lot of MSC bookings and are certified by Explora. So MSC Future Cruise Consultants probably know very little about EJ, other than ‘it’s like Yacht Club;’ which it isn’t. 😀 thanks for the offer of the first drink. JW Blue isn’t on the free list so I’ll have one of them. 😀

Cocktail and MOTS will get a kick out of this. We knew at least three of the bartenders from Explora I last year. Two of them surprised me last with special treats. I routinely challenge my bartender to prepare me a true Prohibition Era whiskey sour. Those who pull down a Bourbon immediately fail. The two I’m speaking about knew from social media and word of crew mouth that we were on this sailing. We saw both of them for the first time last night. This is a true story. They had independently concocted unique new recipes for a ‘whiskey sour.’ So if you sail Explora II in the next few months ask Vivek at the Med Yacht bar for a Sour Dennis, or Darryl at the Explora Lounge for a Sour Cherry. Both were excellent.

You will certainly enjoy EJ I'm sure, even in the lowest level suite we book. 😀 Believe what everybody says, Explora Journeys is decidedly different from the Yacht Club experience. If being escorted and things like that on MSC are super important to you, EJ will disappoint. However, you don’t need it on EJ. You are not venturing out into some mass market ship environment. If you enjoy the idea of going out to the variety of restaurants each night, EJ is for you. But if your comfort level leans toward the predictability of YC Restaurant, well there’s that. We happen to love both situations depending on the nature of our vacation. The friendliness and cordiality of the crew is very much the same. I was told that the folks at MSC YC who monitor service quality were very involved in setting service standards for EJ hosts. And I can happily state that even the quality of EJ onboard entertainment has markedly improved from the inaugural sailings.

We are on Explora II right now. I must say, compared to our first sailings on Explora I last year, my wife and I found that this year it’s been much easier to strike up conversations and meet folks. This cruise is heavy North Americans with maybe 30% European (my very questionable estimate). As to solos, on our 12-person excursion to Avignon yesterday, two solo ladies were among us. Don’t take that as a statistical estimate of the number of solos onboard, as it could be due to sampling error.😀

We still sail Yacht Club half the time, mostly for family or group sailings. We are on Explora II now for 23 days. We sail Explora for the newer itineraries. Yes, we cobbled together 3 legs of short cruises for an ‘Extended Journey’, but not a bother at all. We loved the two sailings we did last year on Explora I, again both were newer itineraries for us. We have another one booked on Explora II for her inaugural Caribbean season. I can say my opinions on Explora is that all the promise of continuing to improve the sailing experience is truly happening. They did the launch of Explora II right. The inaugural crew was half split from Explora I. Our experience so far is very much like our experience on sailing Yacht Club on a new ship. The are so many ‘hosts’ on this sailing who remember us from Explora I last year. In my opinion the issues from the Explora I inaugural season have definitely been addressed. The entertainment in all venues has been significantly improved. The issues with Helios Pool have been addressed with a major redesign. Most importantly half of the ‘beverage hosts’ from Explora I are on now. 😀 Clearly, the overall host training prior to Explora II launch is a major success so far. Even though this is only the second sailing for Explora II it truly feels like a seasoned staff. I have only observed minor maintenance type work around the ship. Explora II sailed finished. Any specific questions fire away. but after all the lauding on Explora II we return home for a short group cruise in Seashore Yacht Club in November and looking forward to the World America inaugural sailing in April. We also we happily book our event cruises in Grandiosa Yacht Club when she homeports in Port Canaveral next year. So as you can see for us it’s not either/or Yacht Club versus Explora Journeys, but what is our reason for booking.

This is so funny. When this came up two days ago I was going to post this. A little birdie had also leaked this to me. I was told this was part of the plan to maximally use Ocean Cay even when a big ship was not in. Take the ship island concept out of the box and include the possibility of short destination type stays. Even more out of the box, educational, research, and conference stays.

There is a lot of coverage with pictures of the naming ceremony and initial short sailing from Genoa to Civitavecchia on the social media platform of Meta.

Excellent. I can see my pool loungers swooning over those towels now. I don’t sail Seashore until November 3rd, so I hope they have them on board for sale as well. I know you are on Seascape so it might not be the same. The shop should require you present your YC wristband to purchase them. 😀 We’re sailing Explora 2 next week and my TA says they have some really smart EJ/America’s Cup merchandise on board. I’ve asked several times to check if there are poster prints for the Barcelona defense, but don’t know the answer yet. I’ve collected America’s Cup posters for 44 years.

I just can’t get over the pretentiousness of cruise passengers who object to what EJ calls its crew members. Just like, I can’t believe Disney World still persists in calling its employees Cast Members. The height of silliness on their part. 😀 You can trust those of us who have sailed EJ; it’s perfectly acceptable to ask your favorite ‘bartender’ where he’s from. 😀

I need to check this out. My recollection was that MSC was assiduously avoiding selling any Yacht Club logo items. I’d love to change the towels on my home pool loungers to the YC Blue.

If the OP’s concern is related to any issue with visiting the food order stations and/or carrying food to your table, or any other concern I can assure you the Hosts will help you anyway they can. The Hosts in the Emporium for breakfast and lunch are the same who will be serving you in the evening in the menu restaurants. They will come to know you early in your journey. I personally have not needed help in the Emporium and haven’t specifically asked, but I am certain the Hosts there will be happy to help you as much as you desire.

They are so used to the corporate cruise lines and their inertia/lawyer-centric decision making. Were it not for the fortitude of the Aponte family to restart as soon as possible after COVID we might still not be cruising (joking of course). To think that MSC/EJ would not forge ahead with a well considered corporate strategy is a difficult concept for some. Explora 1 has been sailing for one year. E2 sails next week. Within 5 years there will be three more ships in the fleet. Let’s see then if there is still lack of itinerary diversification. We’ve sailed twice already. We have two more cruises in the next 6 months. All were/are two weeks or longer with unique itineraries. I have no doubt that we will be taking our bucket list cruise of the South Pacific on an EJ ship in the coming years.

Another positive for Port Canaveral! The tent is always up and staffed prior to terminal door opening! No reason for YC guests to fend for themselves. The porter leads know how to handle the YC guests’ luggage. Always identify yourself as a YC guest; whether to traffic direction, porters or terminal staff.

It’s an extended journey on EJ2 of three unique itineraries all somewhat centered on Barcelona. So much for the comments several months ago about not being able to construct a ‘longer cruise’ in EJ with the modified itineraries.

No problem at all storing away clothes from two large and three small suitcases for a 16 day cruise. The hanging space was adequate for both of us. I only took two blazers, really only needed one though. We are packing over the next few weeks for 23 days. We will pack for ~10 days and plan on using the self-service laundry. There is nice drawer storage as well. There are shelves in the armoire by the balcony door and some in the dressing area in addition to the admittedly limited drawer space. Shoes fit well on the floor and shelf in the men’s hanger area in the dressing area. An 8-day should be a piece of cake.

Yes! MSC should release its 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 ….. sailings immediately, 😀

6022 is right above the Crema smoking area.

My recollection is that Explora 1 did have the European obnoxious ‘spa’ music at the Helios pool at least, my preferred sunbathing area. Unfortunately, I haven’t lost all my hearing. I may actually bring my earbuds on a Med cruise next month.

We sailed Preziosa in Europe for two weeks last year. We had previously sailed Preziosa for two weeks three years ago in the Caribbean. We also sailed Divina several times and personally enjoy the YC difference on the Fantasia-class ships. But we understand that some who prefer the Seaside and Meraviglia - class ships prefer the more contained and more expansive YC experience. That said, we found that our overall experience on the Fantasia ships was just as appealing as the larger/newer ships. I find the Pool One area and bar/grill is far more friendly and personal on the Fantasia-class. I strongly suggest you speak with the YC Director. Most of them have also directed or were managers in YC’s on the larger ships. I know them to be very receptive to comments on your feelings about the ‘difference’ in the YC experience. I’m sure they will do what they can to make the rest of your cruise as pleasant as you expected.

Time will be saved for the checkin if you either print the cruise ticket (the one with the QR/barcodes) OR save your MSC for ME app QR code. (Save that QR code to your cell phone wallet or photos). These are your ‘tickets’ to board the ship following in terminal checkin. You will save the time needed for the checkin agent to have your ‘ticket’ printed. If you follow all the FAST TRACK checkin instructions, print or save the QR code to your phone, and are sailing with passports your checkin at the terminal takes less than a minute per passenger, even if you need a new photo taken.