Yacht Club vs Explora Journeys

[Jorhammer]

9 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Having thought about this you are on the right track. One gets so much the same in MSC Yacht Clubs for a lot less.

That’s good to hear. I am planning on taking DW for our 20th on the Explora. But that’s 5 years from now. YC will do for now. Thanks for the response and merry Xmas.

[morpheusofthesea]

I have the same problem with uploading photos and videos of this experience on Explora as I had on MSC Seascape. They will just have to wait to dump at the end of this cruise. This is one of the many macbooks I got as year old stock on Celebrity Cruises during restart using up OBC.

  We docked this morning at Key West and there were no torches and pitchforks greeting us. Found Duval Street much cleaner than the last time we were here on MSC Divina in 2017. It was cold this morning as Dw did not bring enough warm clothing in any of her 14 suitcases. Found the prices much better on Duval Street than in the port shops as one gets off the ship. There is a sign when one gets off the ship with an arrow pointing to take the left which forces one to pass all the more expensive port shops than just go straight 3 blocks to Duval Street. DW bought a "darling" sweat 2 piece for $110. On Duval street one shop was filled with sweat shirts or pants for $5 each.

[morpheusofthesea]

On our introduction escort to our cabin butler Anil made mention of the Mandala Blue fragrance piped into the air system of the ship. Like buying a new car and getting the 'smell' that comes with spending a lot of money on the purchase helping make it worthwhile until it wears off. Same thing with us worrying that we over spent on this cruise. Gotta say that the staff are trying their hardest to convince us we made the right choice.

[morpheusofthesea]

Every time this captain leaves a port, she plays on the ship's public address system Andrea Bocelli's "Time To Say Goodbye", the entire song.

 Notice the egg omelettes are thicker and fluffier like a souffle. The English Muffins are different as well, the chocolate croissant was the same but the blueberry muffin was blander not as sweet as MSC. I judge a food by my desire to have another and using all my will power to resist.

  

[morpheusofthesea]

Last night was pretty good entertainment wise in the Journeys Lounge. Three hours of non-stop amusement. Guest performer with 7 piece house back-up band who played a set of popular pieces follow by a short break, a welcome from the Captain and department heads, another different set of Celtic music and a rap up with a comedian (Explora's first comedian). There were just about 50 guests for the first set in attendance which grew as the night progressed. Felt it was just like Le Cabaret Rouge which on the first evenings little attended and not yet discovered by passengers.

   Reports of too much creaking of this new ship are unfounded ( at least not in our cabin which is all that matters). We had a disturbing creaking sound in the master bedroom behind the desk in the Royal Suite on Seashore which prompted earplugs.

[morpheusofthesea]

Just like MSC YC I love to use the MSC for Me shower products, here it is Mandala Blue. I use them until I break out in a rash and am forced to switch back to the products I use back home. The towels are larger about 4 '. "They are so plush I can hardly close my suitcase" Yogi Berra

  There are 600 hosts (staff) on board. a 1:1 ratio the best in the hospitality market. It shows.

  Here is another difference between Yacht Club, one needs a butler more to navigate the 'atmosphere' outside the YC. Here there is not a greater need.

[Mark_T]

37 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Here is another difference between Yacht Club, one needs a butler more to navigate the 'atmosphere' outside the YC. Here there is not a greater need.

That is probably going to be one of the more challenging assessments at the end of your cruise, does the butler + suite deliver sufficient extra enjoyment to upgrade on a future cruise, or not... ?

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

That is probably going to be one of the more challenging assessments at the end of your cruise, does the butler + suite deliver sufficient extra enjoyment to upgrade on a future cruise, or not... ?

Quite true. it is still too soon to access. So far the suite is too small, most like the Royal Red Sophia Loren Suite on Divina with no room for my Diva. I was fooled by the 732 sq ft /226 balcony compared with the RS on Seaships 655/355. This 732 figure included the balcony . Factor out the 226 and the suite is considerably smaller than RS on Seaships. In order to access the balcony from either the bedroom or the living room one must manually open and close the sliding doors which the older we get the harder here on Explora. On Seaships the RS & OS we have push button access.

  So far every time we have called an elevator, we get an vacant car. Many pluses and minuses.

Edited December 24, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[travelwide]

Agree with the sliding doors. They need more time to be broken in. We hardly ever met anyone on the elevators.

6010 needs to be reclassified to a lower level cabin category. It is not large. Regular balcony in YC is bigger than the one on Explora. 

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I was fooled by the 732 sq ft /226 balcony compared with the RS on Seaships 655/355. This 732 figure included the balcony . Factor out the 226 and the suite is considerably smaller than RS on Seaships.

How does the size compare to the largest Explora suite that doesn't come with a butler?

Edited December 24, 2023 by Mark_T

[morpheusofthesea]

Captain Serena is giving her talk this morning in the Journey Lounge. Notice she does not walk around with a bodyguard like Captain Kate on Celebrity. She has been in this business 34 years, married to a Croatian and captained container ships. Made a life choice between a family life or a life at sea. Did not feel for her it was right to combine and have both. Though mingling is part of the captain's job description ,she can not mingle as much with passengers on certain itineraries as Alaska and British Columbia with narrow passages and must stay on the bridge much of the time being more dangerous.

 For 12 years she captained Regent Splendor.

Edited December 24, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[mafig]

Captain Kate walks around with a bodyguard?

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, mafig said:

Captain Kate walks around with a bodyguard?

Perhaps he is just an officer who does double duty ?  Could  have been because of the "wider audience" that was attracted by Celebrity's once low prices?

Edited December 24, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, Mark_T said:

How does the size compare to the largest Explora suite that doesn't come with a butler?

I happen to take with me the Technical Characteristics of the Explora 1. RS4 decks 7,8,9,10 754 sq ft  [603 +151]. I was on a three way call with my travel agent as the ship was still under construction and the rep said that the larger cabins were on the lower decks in the same category. The penthouse PH2 is supposed 506 sq ft with 151 or 226 balcony. It was so early on when I booked and the 754 was bandied about and I was lead to believe the 226 was in addition to the cabin. That was then, this is now. The butler takes care of more cabins than just ours, perhaps not as many as Yacht Club, but the exact number is a trade secret.( but that maybe untrue as it is a secret).

[MsTabbyKats]

Seriously....a psychiatirst is on staff?  Is he by appt only....or just wanders around and mingles?

Enjoy your trip...I'll be following

 

[morpheusofthesea]

12 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Seriously....a psychiatirst is on staff?  Is he by appt only....or just wanders around and mingles?

Enjoy your trip...I'll be following

 

No. The psychiatrist is a guest lecturer. DW spoke with the guest performer having breakfast this morning in the Emporeum Buffet. He was hired just for this week. He gets off in San Juan and transfers to a Princess ship.

[morpheusofthesea]

Today is a sea day. Pleasantly surprised at no lines in the Emporeum Buffet. There is a staff waiter every few feet and a supervisor to watch as well. As soon as we selected a table away from group tables of 8 or more, a waiter comes by to get us drinks. Since we brought our own bottled Fiji water (we read there MIGHT be a problem getting commercially bottled water on board ). We made a special request of getting AquaPenna still bottled water for our cabin. Being our first time on Explora and ALWAYS having good luck with our requests via our travel agent through to MSC we were still apprehensive about drinking any ship distilled water having experience a distiller malfunction years ago on a cruise ship. So we purchased two cases of Fiji water factory sealed and two new duffle bags and check them through with our checked luggage. It was overkill because there was 18 liter bottles of Aqua Penna still water in our cabin when we arrived. Our butler brought it all to our attention immediately saying he will replace each one as it was consumed. So when the supervisor noticed our water glasses not filled immediately after seating he darted a menacing glance at the waiter nearby who with special hand gestures told the supervisor we had other plans.

Edited December 24, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[morpheusofthesea]

 Get the impression that staff on board have no idea that they have a sister organization called MSC Cruises. .Talk about Yacht Club and they have no idea what you are talking about. Everyone of the staff is laser focussed on their job and their own performance. As if they are under a microscope every minute. Like they might have been told there are secret examiners from corporate posing as passengers. Every staff member goes out of their way to stop and converse with a passing guest, not chancing the guest might be the secret "shopper" or "undercover boss".       They only have 4 month contracts and some staff early this morning assembled on the staircase of the Lobby Bar for a holiday remembrance photo.

Edited December 24, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[no1talks]

5 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"So when the supervisor noticed our water glasses not filled immediately after seating he darted a menacing glance at the waiter nearby..."

 

5 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"...who with special hand gestures told the supervisor we had other plans."

So, @morpheusofthesea, are you telling us your cruise is turning into a John Hughes film?

[morpheusofthesea]

1 minute ago, no1talks said:

 

So, @morpheusofthesea, are you telling us your cruise is turning into a John Hughes film?

Stay tuned. DW is making me feel it is more like “Nightmare on Elm Street “.

[no1talks]

20 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

"Stay tuned. DW is making me feel it is more like 'Nightmare on Elm Street'."

Then it's a good thing you stick to the walk-in showers.

[morpheusofthesea]

DW is just too spoiled by Yacht Club. She is comparing everything. This experience is not Yacht Club. It is supposed to be better, it is not. I am dwelling on all the pluses that are the same. She doesn’t like to wait in lines to get a seat in a restaurant or a lounge for a show. For example, YCers have reserved seating in the Chora Theater and one can have their butler escort one earlier to the theater to get hard to get seats. If the show is really good we sit in the theater for the second show. On Explora the Entertainment Manager /cruise director asked us to leave and wait outside the theater. We never hear the word “NO” or “please leave “ in the YC. We are always accommodated in the YC. It is not as if the shows are sold out. Just at our ages we like to go from one comfortable seat to the next and preferably one of our choosing since we are paying top suite prices.

[morpheusofthesea]

This ship has a very small casino of about 10 slot machines and two blackjack tables tucked off to the side outside the Journeys Lounge behind closed glass doors and not very busy. Don't think this cruise line has a brisk casino upgrade program like on the Seaships allowing access to Yacht Club booking cabins outside the YC.

  After tonights 'thrown  together' Christmas Spectacular of the only two vocalists singing a set of Christmas songs, we went to the Astern Lounge where a latin trio band played favorites very similar to Uptown Lounge on Seaships. There was nothing much going on after 10 pm and no one complaining.

  Had turkey on the menu for dinner. Busy night in the restaurants. Only two choices for dessert, had both.

  Same offerings in the Emporeum Buffet as yesterday for lunch had the fried rice and oriental noodle dishes, tried a pannini and 3 desserts.

Edited December 25, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Mark_T]

9 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

DW is just too spoiled by Yacht Club. She is comparing everything. This experience is not Yacht Club. It is supposed to be better, it is not.

It is the paradox of true luxury lines that when every guest is 'special' then no guest is 'special' in relation to the others...

 

We've had similar experiences on the smaller Regent ships

 

I think we are starting to see the answer to the 'was it worth upgrading to the suite with butler...' question.

 

Hope it turns out to be an enjoyable experience overall though.

 

 

[morpheusofthesea]

49 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

It is the paradox of true luxury lines that when every guest is 'special' then no guest is 'special' in relation to the others..

No truer words have ever been spoken...