Latest news about Explora Journeys

[uktog]

26 minutes ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Aaaah - I’ve only just sorted my cancelled Explorer 2 cruise 😞
 

I can still see them though 

Thats good to know - I have seen the "voucher" is only valid for 12 months so if we were limited to one ship and have existing commitments elsewhere, we would struggle.  Lets hope it is just a website issue

[Dr. Cocktail]

I am frankly shocked at their compensation offer - it's basically meaningless.

 

The bare minimum that they should be offering is a full refund and a free cruise for the number of days that this one was.  Travel agents were already reluctant because of MSC's reputation and this will only serve to seal the deal.  If you don't have luxury agents on your side, it's game over.

[Belgian cruiser1]

28 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

I am frankly shocked at their compensation offer - it's basically meaningless.

 

The bare minimum that they should be offering is a full refund and a free cruise for the number of days that this one was.  Travel agents were already reluctant because of MSC's reputation and this will only serve to seal the deal.  If you don't have luxury agents on your side, it's game over.

 and you have every right to - we've also had to move heaven and earth to get some rightful compensation, and this ... is peanuts (beats me how they expect to build loyalty this way, whereas they did hire so-called top executives from rival companies ... or maybe that was all smoke and mirrors ?)

[uktog]

It gets even better, my travel agent tells me sh called today and was assured the cruise was not cancelled.  She helped the agent on the phone.......

They have found the email Explora sent - it was sent overnight to a generic email address which for a large cruise agency is frankly appalling. Something like this should be a priority escalation route that is used 

I have advised my agent I do not think the 30% is acceptable and will she communicate this to Explora

Edited July 7, 2023 by uktog

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

I am frankly shocked at their compensation offer - it's basically meaningless.

 

The bare minimum that they should be offering is a full refund and a free cruise for the number of days that this one was.  Travel agents were already reluctant because of MSC's reputation and this will only serve to seal the deal.  If you don't have luxury agents on your side, it's game over.

"Champagne wishes and caviar dreams"  put on hold.

[morpheusofthesea]

Every cruise guru in the travel industry warns of inaugural cruises.

[uktog]

2 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Every cruise guru in the travel industry warns of inaugural cruises.

But some people didn’t book an inaugural it became the inaugural 

[Belgian cruiser1]

and people who booked a cruise in august, will not have expected that to become the inaugural either

[morpheusofthesea]

19 minutes ago, uktog said:

But some people didn’t book an inaugural it became the inaugural 

Our most popular butler Vishnu D. told us that the first month of any ship's start is not the time to book a cruise. The staff are not a 'working crew', yet. It takes time. We booked with that in mind for December 2023. I hope we gave it enough time ?

[Roel94]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Our most popular butler Vishnu D. told us that the first month of any ship's start is not the time to book a cruise. The staff are not a 'working crew', yet. It takes time. We booked with that in mind for December 2023. I hope we gave it enough time ?

Wanted my birthday..when that was cancel I went over a year out.most ships are late. Ones thst are not have other problems. I can wait.

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Every cruise guru in the travel industry warns of inaugural cruises.

 

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Our most popular butler Vishnu D. told us that the first month of any ship's start is not the time to book a cruise. The staff are not a 'working crew', yet. It takes time. We booked with that in mind for December 2023. I hope we gave it enough time ?

We agree and have oft posted here on CC that it is wise to avoid new builds until they are a few months old.  We booked a late September Explora 1 when we thought the ship would be sailing by May.  So now, perhaps it will be sailing by August which means we would be on the ship when it has only been sailing less than 2 months.  And we now wonder will it even be cruising by late September since this last minute cancelation gives us pause.

 

Hank

[uktog]

I could have waited too I thought we were two months clear and were happy to accept rough edges (we’ve November booked as well). It’s the late realisation there’s an issue and the very poor recompense that hurts most folks 

[Bongomeme]

I agree! I am not scheduled until September but for a 20k plus purchase a little communication from MSC would be expected.  I am sure they don’t know exactly when the ship will be ready . Still they could reach out to those of us booked in near future. Maybe a “we appreciate your patience “ , “we are working hard to finish the detail”  not difficult, just a wee bit of customer service would feel like they value us and will make things right. ( how about shouting everyone a welcome dinner at the posh restaurant?”. Good luck to all

[theotherKennyB]

45 minutes ago, Bongomeme said:

I agree! I am not scheduled until September but for a 20k plus purchase a little communication from MSC would be expected.  I am sure they don’t know exactly when the ship will be ready . Still they could reach out to those of us booked in near future. Maybe a “we appreciate your patience “ , “we are working hard to finish the detail”  not difficult, just a wee bit of customer service would feel like they value us and will make things right. ( how about shouting everyone a welcome dinner at the posh restaurant?”. Good luck to all

I am on the now inaugural August 1st sailing and they sent me an email yesterday:   

 

"Unfortuentally we have had to cancel the Maiden Journey on the 17th July from Southampton, 
The good news is your Journey booking is unaffected and will be departing as scheduled as the new Maiden Journey for Explora 1 on 1st August,

Please see below statement with relation to the cancellation and delay of the Maiden Journey.  

I am writing to inform you that we had to take the decision, together with the shipyard, Fincantieri S.p.A., to update the coming into service schedule for EXPLORA I.

While the ship is fully ready and our team of hosts is eagerly awaiting to welcome you among the very first guests, our ship builders have identified a critical issue that must receive immediate attention.

Certain materials from a third party supplier do not meet the required certifications and we therefore could not take delivery of the ship as planned on 6 July 2023. We are working together with Fincantieri on resolving the situation to ensure that EXPLORA I will meet the highest standards, as the safety and security of our guests and hosts is, of course, of utmost importance to us.

Unfortunately, the time required for the works to be carried out will extend the vessel’s stay at the shipyard a couple more weeks. Therefore the delivery of EXPLORA I is now scheduled for 24 July 2023 resulting in the new maiden journey leaving from Copenhagen, Denmark on 1 August 2023.

As a consequence, the initially scheduled maiden journey on 17 July 2023 from Southampton, UK is cancelled.

Please let me know if you have any further Questions.

Regards,

Matt"

[daleandrews]

We are booked on the September 2 cruise out of Glasgow to NYC and had a similar assurance that no cruises other than those in July will be affected, sent by Explora after our TA sent a "what's going on" query yesterday.  It is maddening that this problem occurred so late, and more than maddening for those who lost out on a July cruise.  If this is the LAST problem and all will be well in the next couple weeks Explora will be correct in assuring that the other cruises will be unaffected.  Nothing to do but trust them at this juncture and wait and see.  Though I admit that relying on the assurances is rather like watching the box that contains Schrodinger's dead or alive cat.

Edited July 7, 2023 by daleandrews
Grammatical mistake!

[saminina]

9 hours ago, uktog said:

Major UK agencies have not yet been advised and one is not very happy at all.I

Regarding major UK agencies.  We booked our Explora cruise with one.  Just made final payment and the name of agency is listed on the credit card charge, not Explora.  Deposit was listed as Explora.  Never have I seen the booking agency appear on credit card statement.   What gives?  

 

I asked the agent and am not happy with the response.

Edited July 7, 2023 by saminina

[uktog]

1 minute ago, saminina said:

Regarding major UK agencies.  We booked our Explora cruise with one.  Just made final payment and the name of agency is listed on the credit card charge, not Explora.  Deposit was listed as Explora.  Never have I seen the booking agency appear on credit card statement.   What gives?  

 

I asked the agent and am not happy with the response.

Always have the agency name on credit card charges when we book - same happens with Viking, Azamara, Celebrity so I dont read anything into that.

[nrc]

My travel agent just called to tell me that my Explora 1 8/8-15 cruise from Iceland to Denmark has been cancelled.  She's trying to find out how they plan to compensate the passengers.  For me, it means cancelling 3 flights and two hotel reservations, and figuring out how to spend the time before we fly home on 8/26.  I really do know better than to book a maiden voyage....

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, saminina said:

Regarding major UK agencies.  We booked our Explora cruise with one.  Just made final payment and the name of agency is listed on the credit card charge, not Explora.  Deposit was listed as Explora.  Never have I seen the booking agency appear on credit card statement.   What gives?  

 

I asked the agent and am not happy with the response.

There is also another red flag one should consider. Should your travel agency go bankrupt will the insurance you took out on your cruise pay for their default ?  Do not recall any travel agency covered by travel insurance, only cruise lines.

  Your post had me go back to our credit card statement here in the US. Our travel agent that has our credit card on file has every Celebrity and MSC listed NOT the travel agency on every statement.

Edited July 7, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

There is also another red flag one should consider. Should your travel agency go bankrupt will the insurance you took out on your cruise pay for their default ?  Do not recall any travel agency covered by travel insurance, only cruise lines.

There have been plenty of threads on Cruise Critic explaining how UK travel agencies operate.  When you book with them, you get ABTA and ATOL protections, but you also are stuck with 100% non-refundable deposits and the travel agent is the cruise line's agent, nor yours.  [BTW I'm not sure if US and Canadian residents who book with UK travel agents even get the ABTA and ATOL protection.]

[morpheusofthesea]

12 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

There have been plenty of threads on Cruise Critic explaining how UK travel agencies operate.  When you book with them, you get ABTA and ATOL protections, but you also are stuck with 100% non-refundable deposits and the travel agent is the cruise line's agent, nor yours.  [BTW I'm not sure if US and Canadian residents who book with UK travel agents even get the ABTA and ATOL protection.]

Interesting. This ABTA and ATOL. There is a similar idea touted by insurance companies here in the US that sell tax sheltered annuities to school teachers in our State of Florida. The insurance companies 'intimate' that they are backed by the taxing authority of the State of Florida should any one insurance company go bankrupt 20 or 30 years down the road when we retire. I called the State insurance commissioner's office and the secretary was well versed. She said that all the insurance annuity companies pay into a fund set up by the State of Florida, but once that fund is exhausted the State will not use its funds to make anyone whole. Returns could be pennies on the dollar. They could all just be 'paper tigers'.

Edited July 7, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[johng75370]

Here’s an article from the FT that points to having to replace the fire resistant panels throughout the ship as the cause of the delay:  

https://www.ft.com/content/8cfa4fdf-6d8d-486f-8be9-e14cafb36a43

 

[TER777]

16 minutes ago, johng75370 said:

Here’s an article from the FT that points to having to replace the fire resistant panels throughout the ship as the cause of the delay:  

https://www.ft.com/content/8cfa4fdf-6d8d-486f-8be9-e14cafb36a43

 

Darn. Can’t access. What does it say?

[rd_cruise]

3 hours ago, TER777 said:

Darn. Can’t access. What does it say?

 

[downloaded article removed - copyright violation]

 

[rd_cruise]

18 minutes ago, johng75370 said:

Here’s an article from the FT that points to having to replace the fire resistant panels throughout the ship as the cause of the delay:  

https://www.ft.com/content/8cfa4fdf-6d8d-486f-8be9-e14cafb36a43

 

Wow. Thanks for sharing.