Explora Journeys Itineraries for all of 2025 and early 2026 now released

[Stickman1990]

The itineraries for the rest of 2025 and early 2026 are now up on the Explora Journeys website 

 

No big surprises with lots of repeat itineraries and no longer ocean journeys to other regions like Alaska or Asia but the good news is that many are included in the current sale which supposedly ends on 11 December 2023

 

You need to go into the Booking option to see them as once again the standard Explora website manages to hide them 

 

https://booking.explorajourneys.com/touchb2c/?searchVoyages={"dateFromVal"%3A{"local"%3A"2025-04-01T00%3A00%3A00.000"}%2C"dateToVal"%3A{"local"%3A"2026-03-31T00%3A00%3A00.000"}%2C"minAvlResultVal"%3A"OK"%2C"minAvlResultCtgVal"%3A"OK"%2C"shipsVal"%3A["EP"%2C"EX"]%2C"residency"%3A"US"%2C"resParams"%3A{"agencyIdVal"%3A202%2C"customerCounts"%3A{"adults"%3A2%2C"seniors"%3A0%2C"children"%3A0%2C"infants"%3A0%2C"juniors"%3A0%2C"youths"%3A0}}}#/

[Roel94]

Still after four cruises either changed or cancel somewhat concern

[KJB416]

I’d love to see Asia and the fjords of Norway/Baltic area included instead of the same old places. Alaska would be great too! 
 

Now, just hoping the quality does not change and they don’t keep messing with itineraries. 

[joseph123]

I have a booking for a 7 night cruise Feb 2025 on Explora II and see that there is an option leaving in Jan 2025 at essentially the same price for 9 nights. Same itinerary but leaves and returns to Miami vs leaving from Miami and returning to San Juan. Wondering if Explora would let me transfer the booking vs having to cancel and loose my deposit? I tried calling them but they do not have weekend hours and I see the sale is ending tomorrow. Anyone have any similar experiences with them?

[cruiserchuck]

8 minutes ago, joseph123 said:

I have a booking for a 7 night cruise Feb 2025 on Explora II and see that there is an option leaving in Jan 2025 at essentially the same price for 9 nights. Same itinerary but leaves and returns to Miami vs leaving from Miami and returning to San Juan. Wondering if Explora would let me transfer the booking vs having to cancel and loose my deposit? I tried calling them but they do not have weekend hours and I see the sale is ending tomorrow. Anyone have any similar experiences with them?

 

The Booking Terms and Condition allow one free exchange under certain circumstances.

 

"12.2 Furthermore, even after the confirmation invoice has been issued, the Guest is also entitled to exchange free of charge, once only, the purchased Journey (“Original Journey”) with another Journey (“New Journey”) on the following conditions:

        (i) the date of departure of the New Journey is within 180 days earlier or 180 days later than that of the Original Journey;

        (ii) the request for the substitution of the New Journey in place of the Original Journey is received by the Company not later than 120 days before the departure date of the Original Journey (200 days for Ocean Residences);

        (iii) there is availability of spaces on the New Journey;

        (iv) there is no specific restriction attached to the Original Journey Package which overrides the Booking Change Policy;

        (v) the New Journey Package has the same Journey length or a longer journey length than the Original Journey Package;

        (vi) the New Journey Package is booked in the same Suite Category or in a higher Suite Category than the Original Journey Package.

 

If the conditions stated above in this clause are met, the substitution of the Original Journey Package with the New Journey Package will be free of additional administration fees. If the above conditions are not met, the booking change shall not be approved, and the Original Journey Package is cancelled according to cancellation policies as described on paragraph 13 below.

 

If the price of the New Journey Package is higher than that of the Original Journey Package, the difference in price as well as in insurance premium will be borne exclusively by the Guest.

If the price of the New Journey Package is lower than that of the Original Journey Package, the price difference will be granted to the guest in the form of a Future Journey Credit which will be valid for 2 years starting from the issuing date."

 

[joseph123]

Thanks so much for this. I think I might be eligible, but will see what they say. I sent them an email and will call them tomorrow if I don't get a response.

[KJB416]

35 minutes ago, joseph123 said:

I have a booking for a 7 night cruise Feb 2025 on Explora II and see that there is an option leaving in Jan 2025 at essentially the same price for 9 nights. Same itinerary but leaves and returns to Miami vs leaving from Miami and returning to San Juan. Wondering if Explora would let me transfer the booking vs having to cancel and loose my deposit? I tried calling them but they do not have weekend hours and I see the sale is ending tomorrow. Anyone have any similar experiences with them?

You should book an option for the January cruise so you have the sale price secured and this holds the price for 7 days and then call them on Monday to have the February cruise transferred to January option cruise and they will transfer the deposit from

Fe over to January cruise and this should waive the admin fee. Are you in any cancellation period other than the admin fee?  
 

I have had success with using this transfer of booking but my TA had to handle it and it was escalated to a manager since mine was a little complicated.  

 

[joseph123]

Thanks for that advice! I put a hold on the booking and hopefully they will honor. I would get two additional days at sea for the same price.

[Wheelhouse]

If the newly offered 2025 and 2026 cruises are on the current sale then it would make zero sense to end the sale on Monday with only one day available to book the reduced price.  I would think this would indicate the sale will be extended again or renamed to a different sale.   There seems to have occurred a major change in strategy to align Explora with other lines who offer continuous sale pricing. 

[sasejm]

5 hours ago, joseph123 said:

I have a booking for a 7 night cruise Feb 2025 on Explora II and see that there is an option leaving in Jan 2025 at essentially the same price for 9 nights. Same itinerary but leaves and returns to Miami vs leaving from Miami and returning to San Juan. Wondering if Explora would let me transfer the booking vs having to cancel and loose my deposit? I tried calling them but they do not have weekend hours and I see the sale is ending tomorrow. Anyone have any similar experiences with them?

I changed from a 14-day Caribbean cruise booking to a 10-day Caribbean booking without any penalties. However, this was done last year so I don't know what the current policy is regarding  this issue.

[frankhi]

9 hours ago, Wheelhouse said:

If the newly offered 2025 and 2026 cruises are on the current sale then it would make zero sense to end the sale on Monday with only one day available to book the reduced price.  I would think this would indicate the sale will be extended again or renamed to a different sale.   There seems to have occurred a major change in strategy to align Explora with other lines who offer continuous sale pricing. 

The new schedule was available last week, just a little tricky to access on EJ's site. I booked a 2026 cruise (on sale and on their site) last Tuesday.

Edited December 11, 2023 by frankhi

[Wheelhouse]

The cruise that I booked with 30% off on the Black Friday sale now is 25% off on the new Total Luxury sale. I assume that the slight price increase would indicate that some additional bookings (but not too many) have occurred.

[Hlitner]

I look at their schedules and ask myself, why should I believe any future itinerary?  This company has, so far, shown a trend of major itinerary changes.  We took our chances when we only had to drive a few hours to the port.  But at this point I would not want to spend thousands on biz class air only to later be told, we cancelled your itinerary and are shifting the ship to Mars.

 

Hank

[joseph123]

Happy to report that after a few call’s and emails I was able to get my cruise changed to the same itinerary but leaving and returning to Miami in Jan 2025 with no penalty. Getting a 9 day vs a 7 day cruise now for the same price, $3,180.00 pp. What a great deal!