kelleherdl

Was Anthology fully booked last evening? Just wondering if the experience is being well received. We opted not to do it on Reykjavik to NYC. We’ll board again next week and still considering.

9 hours ago, florisdekort said:

Just found this…

 

Used it on our last cruise with my tighter than welcome dress shoes.  Welcome provision. 

21 hours ago, DisneyJen said:

I see burgers and onion rings for lunch in @DJ's DH future 😀

 

Current situation ... watching "Mighty Ships ... MSC Meraviglia" on Smithsonian Channel.

Find the video on the MSC Seaside. It takes you through a whole cruise with a lot of time on ‘turnaround’ day. Patricia, the MSC Port Operations Manager in Miami, is a gem and star of that show.

3 hours ago, Critically Cruising said:

 

You are not the only one.

 

Fool me once, shame on you.....

 

 

Anyone who read the description of benefits by suite level would know that butlers were only in the Residence level. It was all over EJ’s literature. 

17 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Which plan did you have? 

 

Yacht Club included, no streaming. Verizon unlimited, US/Canada/Mexico on iPhone.

33 minutes ago, davy jones said:

Does the onboard internet package support wifi calling and texting?

Yes, if your phone plan works for Wi-Fi calling in that country. We had no problem at sea. Texting was never a problem as I recall.

34 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

approx 500 --there are a lot of TA's among them too.

 

@Hlitner we just did a booking and ended up on Seabourn -- looked at SS, EJ, Crystal.  All but EJ had 7 day cruises that you could B2B and make a 14 or 21 day voyage. EJ went back and forth several time (example Athens to Venice and Venice to Athens at same ports) making them a non starter. SB was the easiest as the had a 7 day, 14 day or 21 day of these 7 day segments.

My thoughts exactly on the inability to put together a nice Aegean/Adriatic itinerary for E2 with the ‘new’ schedule.  If they had done something like the inaugural Caribbean E1 Miami to San Juan to Miami 2x7 we would have booked that. We wanted to keep our E2 cancellation deal so we went with a Rome to Barcelona to Barcelona 16-day extended journey. Several new ports for us and makes sense for the flights from US.

37 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

One of our favorite bar tenders (at the Lobby Bar) suggested I try a "Paper Plane."  Never heard of that drink and he explained that when he started working on EJ1, he noticed they had a liquor called Amoro.  Since he had never worked with that product he did some research and found the "Paper Place" cocktail.  It was OK, but probably would have been better appreciated by folks that like to drink an Aperol Spritz.  But I really enjoyed his friendly banter and insistence I try this drink :).  

 

Hank

This is a good point about the bartenders on EJ1. They are not bashful at all about challenging the guests with new drinks and variations on traditional favorites. They are not bothered at all if you let them make you something ‘new’, and you say you don’t care for it. It is a fantastic banter. It’s like there is no real restriction on their use of the liquor to ‘entertain’ the guests. They come with varied backgrounds from very sophisticated resorts from all over the world. The Lobby Bar is the centerpiece, but each will appear at other bars throughout the day, including the pool bars.

35 minutes ago, Khareef said:

So most of the staff is Italian and can't speak English?

Quite the contrary.  English is the primary, well only, language on Explora. At least on Explora 1 so far.

4 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

@Hlitner Hank  what are the hours of Crema do they stay open after dinner for a late night coffee.  That is one thing I love about Seabourn.

Crema closes at 6PM. All restaurants and bars can serve coffees.

36 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Plenty of signs everywhere. Impossible to get lost. 

I agree. Every elevator entrance had the deck plan. Your floor is highlighted. You enter any passageway off the elevator and very good signage directed you. I found signage on the ship to be excellent. I still miss the HAL elevator day of week carpets though. I may know where I’m at on the ship, but I don’t know what day of the week it is.😀

39 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

The Emporium staff is fantastic  as are the offerings . Total 1st class

 

I think its much better than Seabourn by a lot although  we totally enjoyed Seabourn too

They need to turn the heat up on the pancake griddle. It takes entirely too long to make my fresh blueberry pancakes. 😀. The young lady cook has never been to a Waffle House. 😀. She does do a wonderful job, and they are delicious. When she would see me coming each morning she would immediately start a couple. Their training is so rigorous she even temperature checks them to ensure doneness. Which to my thinking is over the top, but I can wait. 

48 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

 

Had an amazing dinner at Sakura. Service was 5 star excellent. Food was lovejy. Loved the lamb outstanding.  Daniella the host and person in charge came to our table introduced herself and welcomed us warmly. She previously worked at Regent. 

 

 

Agree with you on Daniella and Sakura.  Our first evening at Sakura was very much less than satisfactory. Food was great, but service was slow and confused.  I really think our experience that night was an unfortunate confusion over some of the orders. Daniella was right on it when we voiced our concern. She graciously requested we come back and she assured us our next experience would be top notch. She even saw us at breakfast at the Emporium and repeated her commitment to us having a superior dinner at Sakura. We dined at Sakura two more nights. Both evenings were outstanding. 
 

edited after seeing the recent posts.  All four in our party were very much paying passengers. 

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

P.S. We only booked one 'bus' tour with EJ and plan on it being the only one we will be getting off the ship for. From reports if this tour is popular or unpopular with the guests on board, EJ will be employing the old 'bait and switch' tactic and we will sheepishly be asking how much for the private limo tour when they cancel the bus one.

We only booked one bus tour thru EJ. I’ve wanted to see the Bay of Fundy for literally 60 years. Every Canada trip I took before skipped the Bay of Fundy. The tour description was totally undersold, both in tour scope and inclusions. An example. We were told the tour would conclude with a cup of chowder at a famous Bay restaurant. The stop included a BOWL of seafood chowder, a whole lobster roll, a homemade cookie and a canned drink. All at 4pm before dinner. 😀. Almost spoiled Sakura that night. 

21 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

The surprise, for us, was the ridiculous design of the restaurant.  It is a relatively large venue with a very attractive bar and two attractive large lounge seating areas (with nice sofas and chairs).  The bar and seating areas takes up a lot of space....but for what?  The bar is only open during dining hours (6:30-9), has no entertainment, is not mentioned in any onboard info, and seems to be entirely unused.  According to two of the waiters, these areas have never been used by anyone!  Ever!  But they take up space that could have been used for at least another dozen tables (which might be needed when the ship if full).   To my untrained eyes, this just seems like a terrible waste of space, and I would love to know what was in the minds of the designers and cruise line when they planned the venue.   

 

 

My personal opinion was that they intended this space to be a very Spanish-style Tapas Bar. We were fond of Vivek, the bartender in MedYacht. When we asked if we could dine from the regular menu at the bar we were told by the ‘whatever they want to call the head host’ only tapas would be served at the bar. I guess that included the lounge seating. So again a very European twist that we would need to adapt to. We were then seated at a very nice table in the main dining area. A table number I will keep to myself for future use. 😀. But as you said, No One used that space at all. Maybe if they had adapted to us there would have been others who have have used it. 

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Thanks for posting the Naming schedule.  It actually sounds like an interesting, once in a lifetime day, and will feed our interest in the industry..

 

I would attend as well.  
 

one other thing.  We got to be the first cruise to enter New York Harbor and pass the Statue of Liberty, which I really valued. One thing I had hoped to see, but did not was the fire boat salute. When you departed port, did Explora I get any sort of salute?

Just now, Azulann said:

Enjoying your trip report.

Your description of the ship as modern, neutral decor with floor to ceiling windows is good to know. I hate being on a ship that reminds me of a Vegas or old country club decor. I like being able to see the sky and sea  and know I am on a ship, not some draped , low ceiling space where they serve food. 

Glad you are having  great meals in various venues.

Every dining venue has window views of the ocean. NO public space, other than the Journeys Lounge is devoid of an ocean view.  Wonderful. Even the shops have great windows.

15 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

 

I have to smile when I recall being on a Seabourn cruise that ran out of Diet Coke.  A bar tender said to me, “we run out of things like Coke, but we never run out of caviar.  That might sum up the attitude on luxury lines.

Depending on how many of the cabin mini fridges were stocked in NYC before you boarded there is likely plenty of Diet (Zero) Coke on board. We had four in our fridge that we shared with friends. We also had two Fever Frees in the fridge as a stockpile once the bars ran out. 😀. There was never a shortage of Moët .

8 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This is a sea day, but there are very few “activities” on the ship.  This morning there is a lecture on travel photography.  There is supposed to be a 2 1/2 hour Chefs Kitchen class on making pasta.  That venue can only hold 12 passengers and the cost is 150 Euros.  Nothing in the daily schedule mentions the cost although an asterisk indicates there is a fee.  The chef cancelled the class because sea conditions are too rough to be work with knives and hot water.  
 

Something we are noticing is that quite a few things involve big fees, but finding out the cost is not always easy.  They have added some culinary tours (in the ports), and they sound amazing until one learns that the cost can be 600+ Euros per person.

I did the pasta class on the last cruise. Chef David is great. He was very clear that classes will be cancelled when sea conditions make knife work by amateurs a risk. We did do our own ingredient chopping. We made a ravioli and a tortellini. I took the course to minimize my reluctance to make my own pasta at home. Chef David was very much into helping us to do these recipes at home. He even commented that we need no more than the KitchenAide pasta attachment to make great pasta, as it’s what he uses in his own home kitchen.

10 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Funny thing is that when we had drinks at the large Lobby Bar, the

cocktail napkins were printed with the MSC logo.

I believe this is not completely true. The new style of onboard items like napkins and wooden swizzle sticks is the EJ lotus with MSC logo in the center. These were brand new on the previous cruise. It is very clear from the MSC logo on the bow, the earlier thoughts about no co-branding are not true going forward. 

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We hope you are correct.  In this blog we certainly see the difference between the "cup is half full" vs "the cup is half empty."   🙂

 

Hank

I’d like to the demographics of the Half-full versus Half-empty based on actual current or prior Explora I passengers versus planned or never passengers. I posit that the ‘actual’ passengers will skew towards the Half-full. Personally, I’m in the 8 out of 10 range.

16 hours ago, happy cruzin said:

Delayed embarkation is a valid concern!
 

I have the same thoughts about our embarkation in Miami November 3rd being glitchy, since it’s the first time for EJ to disembark and embark in Miami. 
 

Hope I am wrong….but we will see! 

Apples and oranges from New York.  Explora I is being certified for US ports in New York, not Miami. CG and CDC/PHS will be in New York.

On 9/17/2023 at 9:57 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Hopefully it will not be a Caribbean cruise that stops at Ocean Cay. Wouldn't want you to have a 'conniption' over not being able to dine on a special menu for Residences only at Ocean House.

I’m looking forward to the EJ inaugural Caribbean, which does include Ocean Cay. I’m anxious to be using the better beach without the ‘gen pop’.  Also curious how the menu will be modified at the on-shore ‘self-order’ buffet. 

On 9/16/2023 at 12:44 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

How is the evening entertainment? 

Actually pretty nice. Think night club acts not Broadway. The ship’s show band is very good. They back up the invited vocal artists at the Journey Lounge and can be seen at the smaller lounges, either as a quintet or trio. The main lounge evenings are themed vocals. Last night was ‘broadly’ speaking an evening of modern Scandinavian pop music. The ABBA medley was a huge hit last night and very well done. These shows will be regionally themed. This is really the main dancing venue. The smaller lounges, Astern and Explora have either piano or vocals. I don’t think either are permanent ship musicians, but brought on for cruise segments. Nice music to accompany lounge conversations.

45 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Revisited. Any special confectioner kiosk on board like Venchi?

No. Actually, very little retail. At least where I am willing to buy anything. You’ve of course heard of the very high end shops. Crema cafe does have some nice chocolate bark available afternoon.