Explora cruises from the eyes of clients

[PutnamNY]

I didn't get a chance to write this last night properly. Our only interaction in booking the Explora 1 cruise has been via calling their travel advisors. During our interactions, we were attended by their advisors from the UK, USA and Australia. They seem to be using a VoIP phone and some were too hard to hear due to a hollowness in the call (speakerphone maybe?), however within a few calls, you will get a clear understanding on which advisor knows the game and is willing to work with you. We stuck with one and would call and leave a message at the extension. The advisor would call us back the same day or the next day. The overall interaction was extremely positive with them and we even got some OB credits etc. 

Now the website is a different story. If you had called any of their advisors, and then tried to login to your account via the website, it will error and lock you out. 

The website checkin was also error prone and had to call them to fix it. We are checked in but the iPhone app is still asking us to checkin. 

So, their website, mobile app, backend system plumbing is all not working properly. Hopefully they will fix it.

BUT, their customer support (EJ) has been nothing but EXCELLENT. 

[Whipsnade]

Stuck man is correct as usual. We have used one for thirty years and have always gotten far superior value than if we booked direct. Choose one who goes a lot of cruises rather than a one person operation. 
Re TAs and influencers:  when we were on in Aug and Sept at least 60% were no paying. Surprised they are still doing this. Getting very disappointed in Explora. 

[PaulMCO]

Agree with @Whipsnade chose one that does a large volume of business.  When things go wrong they can have influence and get things corrected from the top. 

 

Finding a good one is always an issue, our first TA was from one of the larger internet brokers.  After doing some substantial business we were given one their top TA's.  When he retired we looked for another TA and used a recommendation from our friends and we now deal with the owner of one of the larger TA groups.

 

There are lots of good ones out there, also some bad ones that provide little service.  I would not use social media to find a good one.  I would ask your fellow cruise friends on board who they use.   I always carry a few biz cards of my travel agent.

 

[vistaman]

On 1/30/2024 at 6:55 AM, Whipsnade said:

Stuck man is correct as usual. We have used one for thirty years and have always gotten far superior value than if we booked direct. Choose one who goes a lot of cruises rather than a one person operation. 
Re TAs and influencers:  when we were on in Aug and Sept at least 60% were no paying. Surprised they are still doing this. Getting very disappointed in Explora. 

And heavily abusing the free alcohol, especially the free Moët ,  and far too avaricious to grant one $ gratuity !  During my cruise a few Belgians always there when something is free 🤑 

[Wheelhouse]

Onboard now.  I think that I got an accurate passenger load of 616. 

[gymfreak]

49 minutes ago, Wheelhouse said:

 

Onboard now.  I think that I got an accurate passenger load of 616

 

We are onboard and also on the previous one and were told a total of 620 and an additional 26 b2b including us! 

[aero777]

1 hour ago, Wheelhouse said:

Onboard now.  I think that I got an accurate passenger load of 616. 

 

How was embarkation? I haven’t seen any details other than there is a shuttle bus involved. Thanks 

[Wheelhouse]

Embarkation was different.  We were processed onboard. I think it was just a function of this particular port.  It went smooth enough.  We did sit for a bit waiting in the heat before we were transported on the shuttle buses by numbered groups.  Water was provided.  Any arrival time given was meaningless as it was first come first serve on the transfers.  

[aero777]

2 hours ago, Wheelhouse said:

Embarkation was different.  We were processed onboard. I think it was just a function of this particular port.  It went smooth enough.  We did sit for a bit waiting in the heat before we were transported on the shuttle buses by numbered groups.  Water was provided.  Any arrival time given was meaningless as it was first come first serve on the transfers.  

Great info! Did they take your luggage at the taxi drop off area? 

[as3369]

3 hours ago, aero777 said:

Great info! Did they take your luggage at the taxi drop off area? 

We embarked today.  There are porters in the taxi area that pick up your luggage.  As stated earlier, the check-in time is useless as it is 1st come.  We sat outside in the heat for about 20-25 minutes before we boarded the shuttle bus.  The check-in is conducted in the lounge on deck 4.  You will be issued a number and offered a glass of champagne or a fruity beverage while seated waiting for your number to be called.  One of the easier check-in processes.  

 

Impressions on Day 1.  The staff are friendly and helpful.  The food in the Emporium Market lunch was excellent.  Dinner in the Med Yacht Club was disappointing in quality and service.  The restaurant was not busy, yet it took us 2 and a half hours for our meal service.  The only other luxury line I've sailed is Regent Splendor but after one day, I would give the nod to Regent.

 

One other annoyance was the 8 or so announcements for the muster drill.  The volume was so loud that many of us were plugging our ears.

 

I was pleasantly surprised that they had the Explora Ship model for sale in the shops. I didn't think they would have one, but it is my one "must" purchase on cruises.  

[Whipsnade]

They have learned nothing since we were on board in September. Too bad. Must beautiful ship at sea. Food and service mediocre and not improving. 

[as3369]

5 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

They have learned nothing since we were on board in September. Too bad. Must beautiful ship at sea. Food and service mediocre and not improving. 

Really surprised on the food quality as many previous posts raved about the food. Out of 4 orders, 2 were wrong and the 3rd sent back because not cooked to order.  The menu is fixed as it is on Regent.  However Regent offers so many more selections to choose from.

 

Also the included liquor selection is very limited.  We only visited the lobby bar for a pre dinner cocktail and not sure of the other offerings.  

[Stickman1990]

20 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

They have learned nothing since we were on board in September. Too bad. Must beautiful ship at sea. Food and service mediocre and not improving. 

Interestingly we were on the same cruise but felt that the food was excellent and the service as well - no real surprise that opinions vary on dining options but I’m surprised that you felt service wasn’t good 

 

We felt all of the venues presented menus with plenty of choice (we were onboard for 17 days and never tired of the options and enjoyed several dishes multiple times) and the quality of the food was top notch - our favourite restaurant was Sakura but we were equally dining in Marble, Fil Rouge and Med Yacht Club. We ate breakfast and lunch many times in Emporium with one dinner there 

 

The included wines and spirits worked for us - plenty of options and brands were ones we felt were the same as we’d find on lines like Crystal, Regent and Silversea. Back in September they did have room for improvement on some of their cocktail prep but when friends returned in December they advised that had been remedied 

 

We are look forward to returning to Explora - we wouldn’t rebook if the food and service wasn’t at the right level - as only being a lovely ship in terms of hardware would not be enough to get us back 

[Whipsnade]

We felt the same in September. But have now changed. We are on Symphony now for first time in four years. Food and service  heads and shoulders above Explora. NC are real pros, even better than OC.  Explora servers, as nice as they were had no ship experience and little restaurant experience. We were in Explora for a month and had the same menus every day except Emporium. On Symphony in Waterside they change every day. 
I hear Explora still giving away half the ship to TAs and “influencers”.  Crystal wouldn’t dream of that. To top it off the 40% price reduction applies only to Ocean suites and not to higher categories. Guess they are trying to attract MSC customers. Not for me. We plan to cancel three Explora cruises we booked on board as they are more expensive than Crystsl. Too bad. A lovely ship. 

[Wheelhouse]

2 hours ago, as3369 said:

Really surprised on the food quality as many previous posts raved about the food. Out of 4 orders, 2 were wrong and the 3rd sent back because not cooked to order.  The menu is fixed as it is on Regent.  However Regent offers so many more selections to choose from.

 

Also the included liquor selection is very limited.  We only visited the lobby bar for a pre dinner cocktail and not sure of the other offerings.  

We also ate at the Med Yacht Club last evening and thought the food and service were excellent.  The only hiccup was my wife’s soup was incorrect.  She loved the octopus appetizer and the Dover sole.  I would order my beef fillet again exactly as it was presented. We tried 3 different bars over the course of the day and evening and had no problem finding satisfactory options.  
 

I agree the muster drill announcements were ear piercing. I was in the lobby bar at the time and  carefully observed all the hosts present.  They had no reaction like it was commonplace. 

[Wheelhouse]

One observation in my promised comparison to Oceania Vista would be in relation to pool seating. With four pools on Explora and only one on Vista, I don’t see any problem here with the chair hogging that seems to be causing major headaches onboard Vista’s Caribbean itineraries.    
 

On our Montreal to Miami Vista voyage I did not see one person under age 50 and the average age was probably 75. Though it’s somewhat itinerary driven, Explora seems much more varied in age. 

[Whipsnade]

People have been complaining about the ear splitting musters since August. One would think they would have corrected by now. One more sign that management is not  paying attention. 

[vistaman]

7 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

We felt the same in September. But have now changed. We are on Symphony now for first time in four years. Food and service  heads and shoulders above Explora. NC are real pros, even better than OC.  Explora servers, as nice as they were had no ship experience and little restaurant experience. We were in Explora for a month and had the same menus every day except Emporium. On Symphony in Waterside they change every day. 
I hear Explora still giving away half the ship to TAs and “influencers”.  Crystal wouldn’t dream of that. To top it off the 40% price reduction applies only to Ocean suites and not to higher categories. Guess they are trying to attract MSC customers. Not for me. We plan to cancel three Explora cruises we booked on board as they are more expensive than Crystsl. Too bad. A lovely ship. 

I am really looking forward to my Symphony in early June !

Explora did hire a lot of people previously working  in the Emirates, Qatar . 

It is ashame and insulting to paying pax all those TA and more are still there "in large quantity" 

[Whipsnade]

Agree 100%. So now they are going to try to fill ship with low paying MSC pax and still charge us full rate for PH category. We have three Explora cruises booked in Sept at $2300 per day. I can go on Symphony on equally nice itin at that time for $1750 per day. Guess what we will be doing??!!

All these cruise lines need to learn we now have many options in the luxury category and we know how to do math. 

[as3369]

Day 2 Experience:  We ate all three meals in the Emporium Marketplace and rate them excellent.  Banana pancakes, eggs florentine, fresh smoothie and fresh squeezed juices for breakfast.  For lunch I had made to order salad and homemade ravioli.  Dinner included fresh lobster and oysters along with jasmine rice.  Entertainment was a Billy Joel tribute in the Journey lounge which we enjoyed.

 

We opted not to leave the ship for Saint Lucia and spent the day reading around the pool and playing table games with friends.

 

The suite is particularly quiet and lovely to sleep in.

[Wheelhouse]

We ate last evening in Fil Rouge and it was a bit of a clunker.  My wife felt that her lobster was mostly lobster helper.  I can’t say that I have ever seen a smaller piece of Maine lobster and I spent the first 20 years of my life in New England. 
 

As we were boarding on 31 Jan, we ran into Heike from Azamara.  For those interested she was just leaving and will be back in 3 months.

 

Today the luminary Dr Lori, an art historian, spoke on shipwrecks and she was excellent.  My wife was very familiar with her from You Tube and the Discovery Channel. 
 

Trivia is at 6pm and is well attended.  An additional earlier session would be nice. 

[maggie.1008]

Hopefully Heike will be on our Hawaii to Vancouver cruise on April 27th. 
I would love to know the passenger count for this cruise. 

[Wheelhouse]

18 minutes ago, maggie.1008 said:

Hopefully Heike will be on our Hawaii to Vancouver cruise on April 27th. 
I would love to know the passenger count for this cruise. 

I was told 616 and have not waited in a single line yet.  There is plenty of room on this ship.  Elevators arrive immediately.  We are on for the next cruise also and I have heard there will be less passengers. 
 

Though they do not wear stickers on their foreheads, I have not met a single person yet who has appeared to being a travel agent or influencer.  
 

 

[as3369]

23 minutes ago, Wheelhouse said:

I was told 616 and have not waited in a single line yet.  There is plenty of room on this ship.  Elevators arrive immediately.  We are on for the next cruise also and I have heard there will be less passengers. 
 

Though they do not wear stickers on their foreheads, I have not met a single person yet who has appeared to being a travel agent or influencer.  
 

 

Agreed..we haven't seen anyone doing video tours (influencers) but really wouldn't know who may be a travel agent.  We always plan our next cruise while at sea and looks like we may be returning to Regent Splendor in June to visit Iceland.

[Wheelhouse]

I thought that I would make some additional comparison between Explora 1 and Oceania Vista.  Of course both are brand new.  Vista has a beautiful library and Explora has none.  This might be important to some people and meaningless to others.  Oceania’s future ship Allura will have a lesser library and the space will get a gelateria.  
 

The lack of a pool grill on Explora is unusual, but there is an extremely large bar area at the Conservatory pool which is mostly unused that could easily be partially converted to a grill area. 
 

4 pools on Explora and only 1 on Vista makes Explora a much better choice for warm weather cruising. There is zero problem getting good pool seating on

Explora and the current cruise has more passengers than any previous ones.  We were on Vista for a cooler weather cruise and it was obvious the lack of pool seating and shade would be a big problem.  Vista also carries more passengers.  

 

On a cost basis 16 days on both in a basic veranda cabin (OT3 on Explora vs Concierge Veranda on Vista) is pretty similar.