Our Final Word on EJ

[saminina]

There is only one spot to get the accurate head count.

[travelwide]

@jeffyd....can you let me know if they run out of lamb chops? On day 4 they were gone. Also,did they get new daily menus in the restaurants? Each restaurant has their own lunch and dinner menus but they do not change the selection on a daily basis. Every day it's the same lunch food and same dinner food in that restaurant.

This is where Regent and Crystal rise above EJ. 

[Stickman1990]

1 hour ago, travelwide said:

Each restaurant has their own lunch and dinner menus but they do not change the selection on a daily basis. Every day it's the same lunch food and same dinner food in that restaurant.

This is where Regent and Crystal rise above EJ. 

You’ve been on a few days and have worked your way through all the menus in the 4 restaurants and the options at Emporium? That’s impressive 

 

With the range on offer my feeling is you have a wider selection each day than you might find on say Regent or Crystal and if you like something then you know it will be there next time you dine in that restaurant rather than having to request it - to me that’s a good thing. From memory I believe Fil Rouge does have a daily special option  

 

We were on for almost 3 weeks and never tired of the menus and the diverse range of dishes on other - and the quality was amazing

 

We never ran out of lamb chops either 

[johng75370]

9 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

We never ran out of lamb chops either 

I believe it took until Day 5 for our "journey" to run out of lamb chops...but they were the best lamb chops I've ever had!

Edited January 10 by johng75370

[saminina]

It is a mental adjustment regarding the never changing menus.   You either adjust the thought process as laid out by Stickman or not.  

[travelwide]

@Stickman1990 We were on a 9 night cruise that finished on 12/22. At least John got one extra day to savor the chops. Not happy to hear that they still do not know how to properly provision the ship.

@samininayou are right...spend my money somewhere else. Will not adjust my thought process to eat from the same food choices.

Happy trails in 2024.

[Stickman1990]

1 hour ago, travelwide said:

@Stickman1990 We were on a 9 night cruise that finished on 12/22. At least John got one extra day to savor the chops

Just curious was this lamb chops outage across all the restaurants?
 

They normally have lamb chops in Marble (French) and at least Sakura and Fil Rouge (New Zealand) so that’s quite an impact across 3 restaurants 

[johng75370]

2 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Just curious was this lamb chops outage across all the restaurants?

Yes, total and complete.  I was on the same voyage as @travelwide, and one of our fellow passengers claimed to have gotten the absolute last one (or so they were told); maybe it was Day 4 after all, way too early regardless!   Was not the first and I would expect not the last cruise where there was a provisioning issue of some form - it’s an issue many established lines struggle with and Explora is still learning on a few fronts like this.

Edited January 11 by johng75370

[uktog]

It’s extremely hard for a new line to know their required order patterns accurately until they have a year of data. Then computer models tell them likely order patterns based on guest demographics. It’s an amazing piece of software the benefits of which go unseen by most guests. 

Restocking has been an issue and the MSC supply lines haven’t always delivered on time or quality. In Barbados we had to delay our departure several hours as the container with all the fresh supplies was still at sea!  The port agents and ship staff did an amazing job getting it offloaded from a container ship quickly and brought alongside but I’m sure there was some focused feedback about contingency timing to the land based supply chain staff from the onboard management 

 

As regards the “fixed menus” we had 19 nights onboard and never had an issue with choice. We enjoyed something new every night as either starter or entree and never even went to the Emporium at night as we had originally planned to do at least once 

Edited January 11 by uktog

[Dr. Cocktail]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

 

 

As regards the “fixed menus” we had 19 nights onboard and never had an issue with choice. We enjoyed something new every night as either starter or entree and never even went to the Emporium at night as we had originally planned to do at least once 

We were on for 9 nights and didn’t even come close to trying all the menu possibilities. In fact, we stayed calm by telling ourselves we could try more things on our return in three months!

[kozycz]

@uktog if I’m not mistaken you have done many Azamara cruises. We too have done Az and have always enjoyed. At this point, we’re looking for a small ship line with newer ships! I’d love to know how you think EJ compares to Az. We also just did a 16 night Panama Canal on Oceania Vista. If you have Oceania experience, would also be interested in your thoughts on that comparison. TIA! 

[Waltershipman]

3 minutes ago, kozycz said:

@uktog if I’m not mistaken you have done many Azamara cruises. We too have done Az and have always enjoyed. At this point, we’re looking for a small ship line with newer ships! I’d love to know how you think EJ compares to Az. We also just did a 16 night Panama Canal on Oceania Vista. If you have Oceania experience, would also be interested in your thoughts on that comparison. TIA! 

Information would be extremely helpful.  We were in EJ in October and loved it and head out on oceania vista at end of month. Went onAz many years ago and truly had a great time and while the cabins were small we were fine.

 

Would consider Az again if were felt we would enjoy food et al

 

Thanks

[kozycz]

27 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Information would be extremely helpful.  We were in EJ in October and loved it and head out on oceania vista at end of month. Went onAz many years ago and truly had a great time and while the cabins were small we were fine.

 

Would consider Az again if were felt we would enjoy food et al

 

Thanks

We cruised Az last August/September. We had a wonderful trip! We went with another couple who has done other Az cruises with us and another couple for their first time. They absolutely loved it. We all thought the food was very good (high praise from the newbies as she works for a high end steak house in the Boston area), the service was excellent, we had no issues with dropped or shortened port stays. It was a great relaxing vacation! We did Oceania Vista this past November for a Panama Canal cruise with 2 other couples. In short, the ship is absolutely beautiful! We had a Conciege level veranda. Plenty spacious with a phenomenal bathroom! The food was excellent, maybe just a few misses between the 6 of us. Service was okay, I’d say! At dinner placing a drink order before our food order was hit or miss. We developed our own work around on that! We just asked for the sommelier first. Drink service poolside was not as spot on as Azamara. We felt there were ample choices for all meals, and we were able to get 5 additional speciality restaurant reservations on board. This was in addition to the four we booked before sailing. We did lose two ports due to circumstances outside of Oceania’s control. One was replaced with a different port, the other became a sea day! The entertainment was similar to Azamara which we enjoyed several nights. Just a side note, we found the other PAX to be a bit grumpy (maybe they were hot, it was extremely hot, but as expected) and not as friendly as the many people we’ve met on Az. We’ve met many lovely folks on Az. All that said, we are considering another Oceania. Overall I think we’d choose Az over Oceania, especially if Az gets a new ship but keeping our options open. Hope this helps! 

[Waltershipman]

17 minutes ago, kozycz said:

We cruised Az last August/September. We had a wonderful trip! We went with another couple who has done other Az cruises with us and another couple for their first time. They absolutely loved it. We all thought the food was very good (high praise from the newbies as she works for a high end steak house in the Boston area), the service was excellent, we had no issues with dropped or shortened port stays. It was a great relaxing vacation! We did Oceania Vista this past November for a Panama Canal cruise with 2 other couples. In short, the ship is absolutely beautiful! We had a Conciege level veranda. Plenty spacious with a phenomenal bathroom! The food was excellent, maybe just a few misses between the 6 of us. Service was okay, I’d say! At dinner placing a drink order before our food order was hit or miss. We developed our own work around on that! We just asked for the sommelier first. Drink service poolside was not as spot on as Azamara. We felt there were ample choices for all meals, and we were able to get 5 additional speciality restaurant reservations on board. This was in addition to the four we booked before sailing. We did lose two ports due to circumstances outside of Oceania’s control. One was replaced with a different port, the other became a sea day! The entertainment was similar to Azamara which we enjoyed several nights. Just a side note, we found the other PAX to be a bit grumpy (maybe they were hot, it was extremely hot, but as expected) and not as friendly as the many people we’ve met on Az. We’ve met many lovely folks on Az. All that said, we are considering another Oceania. Overall I think we’d choose Az over Oceania, especially if Az gets a new ship but keeping our options open. Hope this helps! 

Excellent info thank you 

[uktog]

I have not been on Oceana, so my comparisons are purely with Azamara where we have over 40 voyages. They were our go to cruise line, but over the last two years there have been a number of changes and consistency of standards has become for us a major issue.  That said we do have two Azamara Cruises booked in the coming months and are looking forward to them. 
 

First major thing to bear in mind is that an entry level  OT1 on Explora  is the equivalent of the entry level suite on Azamara, so you have to ignore  the Veranda and smaller rooms - almost 75% of the ship.
  

Obviously, with being a newer ship, and having a more efficient layout Explora  wins handsdown in terms of the room and public space experience.  Azamara, particularly on onward out because they have taken out one area of general public space that could be used during the day and made a bar only included for those buying the top drinks package, is very short of public space. It only has one swimming pool and two tubs available to all guests. There is a second large hot tub, but that is on a private deck only available to guests in suites or by paying an additional fee.

We found no difference in the friendliness of guests between Azamara and Explora  we also found the crew to be equally attentive, although explora crew has the edge in terms of professionalism.   The Azamara crew do try very hard. Sometimes they enthusiasm gets in the way of the maintenance of consistent standards.

 

The biggest difference, without a doubt is the food explora food is in a different league is consistently well served and at an appropriate temperature  we found the Emporium on much more pleasant experience than the windows café, which is the equivalent on Azamara

On Explora , apart from the Michelin star restaurant, there is no charge for their more special restaurants marble grill and Sakura and the other two restaurants which are technically “main dining room walk ups” are lovely well laid out venues with the standard of food and service at the level of Aqualina or Prime C on Azamara, but the difference is there is no charge to eat there. 
 

The included drinks on Explora are of a higher calibre to those on Azamara. So, for example, if you wanted to drink a beefeater gin on Azamara, you would have to pay extra for that or buy a package for the whole Cruise that upgraded your drinks, whereas on Explora drinks like that and champagne are included for all.  The included wines were also of a much better quality on Explora although I appreciate some people still find them not to their liking, but they were far better than those offered on Azamara.

Our experience of the included excursions was that for a Caribbean cruise, which is what we will compare offering on. Though slightly more expensive on Explora it was far better, much smaller groups and much more professionally delivered.  Azamara in that part of the world can often feel like the jolly trip they providers deliver to Cruises of 6000 guests and that’s what you’re to have also!

 

To entertainment, where Explora is still trying to fully sort out their offering. They certainly have the venue capacity to offer a much wider range of options in an evening than Azamara does, and where they were providing entertainers brought in for the Cruise, they were of an equal standard to those that Azamara contract with.
However , the two resident singers are opposed to four on Azamara where very poor and lacked the musical skills that we are used to Azamara. That said we know Explora are looking at their entertainment options so hopefully that changes if it hasn’t already. 
 

There were enrichment speakers. I would say again, broadly similar standards between the two lines which did disappoint as I was looking for some more to the standard offered by Viking. We have been fortunate on Viking to have had excellent speakers, although I appreciate that can sometimes be timing and some Cruises just get better speakers than others.  
 

So to sum up, I would say that if you see Azamara as around a 4.5 star experience, Explora would be a much more solid 5 overall with food, being at least one to 1 a half stars above. 

[Waltershipman]

36 minutes ago, uktog said:

I have not been on Oceana, so my comparisons are purely with Azamara where we have over 40 voyages. They were our go to cruise line, but over the last two years there have been a number of changes and consistency of standards has become for us a major issue.  That said we do have two Azamara Cruises booked in the coming months and are looking forward to them. 
 

First major thing to bear in mind is that an entry level  OT1 on Explora  is the equivalent of the entry level suite on Azamara, so you have to ignore  the Veranda and smaller rooms - almost 75% of the ship.
  

Obviously, with being a newer ship, and having a more efficient layout Explora  wins handsdown in terms of the room and public space experience.  Azamara, particularly on onward out because they have taken out one area of general public space that could be used during the day and made a bar only included for those buying the top drinks package, is very short of public space. It only has one swimming pool and two tubs available to all guests. There is a second large hot tub, but that is on a private deck only available to guests in suites or by paying an additional fee.

We found no difference in the friendliness of guests between Azamara and Explora  we also found the crew to be equally attentive, although explora crew has the edge in terms of professionalism.   The Azamara crew do try very hard. Sometimes they enthusiasm gets in the way of the maintenance of consistent standards.

 

The biggest difference, without a doubt is the food explora food is in a different league is consistently well served and at an appropriate temperature  we found the Emporium on much more pleasant experience than the windows café, which is the equivalent on Azamara

On Explora , apart from the Michelin star restaurant, there is no charge for their more special restaurants marble grill and Sakura and the other two restaurants which are technically “main dining room walk ups” are lovely well laid out venues with the standard of food and service at the level of Aqualina or Prime C on Azamara, but the difference is there is no charge to eat there. 
 

The included drinks on Explora are of a higher calibre to those on Azamara. So, for example, if you wanted to drink a beefeater gin on Azamara, you would have to pay extra for that or buy a package for the whole Cruise that upgraded your drinks, whereas on Explora drinks like that and champagne are included for all.  The included wines were also of a much better quality on Explora although I appreciate some people still find them not to their liking, but they were far better than those offered on Azamara.

Our experience of the included excursions was that for a Caribbean cruise, which is what we will compare offering on. Though slightly more expensive on Explora it was far better, much smaller groups and much more professionally delivered.  Azamara in that part of the world can often feel like the jolly trip they providers deliver to Cruises of 6000 guests and that’s what you’re to have also!

 

To entertainment, where Explora is still trying to fully sort out their offering. They certainly have the venue capacity to offer a much wider range of options in an evening than Azamara does, and where they were providing entertainers brought in for the Cruise, they were of an equal standard to those that Azamara contract with.
However , the two resident singers are opposed to four on Azamara where very poor and lacked the musical skills that we are used to Azamara. That said we know Explora are looking at their entertainment options so hopefully that changes if it hasn’t already. 
 

There were enrichment speakers. I would say again, broadly similar standards between the two lines which did disappoint as I was looking for some more to the standard offered by Viking. We have been fortunate on Viking to have had excellent speakers, although I appreciate that can sometimes be timing and some Cruises just get better speakers than others.  
 

So to sum up, I would say that if you see Azamara as around a 4.5 star experience, Explora would be a much more solid 5 overall with food, being at least one to 1 a half stars above. 

Excellent analysis thank you  ill let you know how it gies after our upcoming oceania vista cruise since EJ remains fresh in us

 

Enjoy and thanj you 

[kozycz]

40 minutes ago, uktog said:

I have not been on Oceana, so my comparisons are purely with Azamara where we have over 40 voyages. They were our go to cruise line, but over the last two years there have been a number of changes and consistency of standards has become for us a major issue.  That said we do have two Azamara Cruises booked in the coming months and are looking forward to them. 
 

First major thing to bear in mind is that an entry level  OT1 on Explora  is the equivalent of the entry level suite on Azamara, so you have to ignore  the Veranda and smaller rooms - almost 75% of the ship.
  

Obviously, with being a newer ship, and having a more efficient layout Explora  wins handsdown in terms of the room and public space experience.  Azamara, particularly on onward out because they have taken out one area of general public space that could be used during the day and made a bar only included for those buying the top drinks package, is very short of public space. It only has one swimming pool and two tubs available to all guests. There is a second large hot tub, but that is on a private deck only available to guests in suites or by paying an additional fee.

We found no difference in the friendliness of guests between Azamara and Explora  we also found the crew to be equally attentive, although explora crew has the edge in terms of professionalism.   The Azamara crew do try very hard. Sometimes they enthusiasm gets in the way of the maintenance of consistent standards.

 

The biggest difference, without a doubt is the food explora food is in a different league is consistently well served and at an appropriate temperature  we found the Emporium on much more pleasant experience than the windows café, which is the equivalent on Azamara

On Explora , apart from the Michelin star restaurant, there is no charge for their more special restaurants marble grill and Sakura and the other two restaurants which are technically “main dining room walk ups” are lovely well laid out venues with the standard of food and service at the level of Aqualina or Prime C on Azamara, but the difference is there is no charge to eat there. 
 

The included drinks on Explora are of a higher calibre to those on Azamara. So, for example, if you wanted to drink a beefeater gin on Azamara, you would have to pay extra for that or buy a package for the whole Cruise that upgraded your drinks, whereas on Explora drinks like that and champagne are included for all.  The included wines were also of a much better quality on Explora although I appreciate some people still find them not to their liking, but they were far better than those offered on Azamara.

Our experience of the included excursions was that for a Caribbean cruise, which is what we will compare offering on. Though slightly more expensive on Explora it was far better, much smaller groups and much more professionally delivered.  Azamara in that part of the world can often feel like the jolly trip they providers deliver to Cruises of 6000 guests and that’s what you’re to have also!

 

To entertainment, where Explora is still trying to fully sort out their offering. They certainly have the venue capacity to offer a much wider range of options in an evening than Azamara does, and where they were providing entertainers brought in for the Cruise, they were of an equal standard to those that Azamara contract with.
However , the two resident singers are opposed to four on Azamara where very poor and lacked the musical skills that we are used to Azamara. That said we know Explora are looking at their entertainment options so hopefully that changes if it hasn’t already. 
 

There were enrichment speakers. I would say again, broadly similar standards between the two lines which did disappoint as I was looking for some more to the standard offered by Viking. We have been fortunate on Viking to have had excellent speakers, although I appreciate that can sometimes be timing and some Cruises just get better speakers than others.  
 

So to sum up, I would say that if you see Azamara as around a 4.5 star experience, Explora would be a much more solid 5 overall with food, being at least one to 1 a half stars above. 

Thank you so much! I will take your thoughts into consideration as we look to book our next cruise! 

[kozycz]

7 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Excellent analysis thank you  ill let you know how it gies after our upcoming oceania vista cruise since EJ remains fresh in us

 

Enjoy and thanj you 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Explora vs Oceania! Enjoy your upcoming cruise! 

[kool kruiser]

Just to add, generally endorsing uktog's views, Explora is, in our view, a class above AZ.Everything is more upscale, food sensational, service tip top and ship beautiful. To be honest, overall we were not wowed by entertainment on either line but enough to keep us happy.. AZ really beats Explora hands down on itineraries. We would be happy to be on either line..

 

[Waltershipman]

24 minutes ago, kool kruiser said:

Just to add, generally endorsing uktog's views, Explora is, in our view, a class above AZ.Everything is more upscale, food sensational, service tip top and ship beautiful. To be honest, overall we were not wowed by entertainment on either line but enough to keep us happy.. AZ really beats Explora hands down on itineraries. We would be happy to be on either line..

 

Great to know  and Az pricing is lower generally 

[jeffyd]

@travelwide - I just had amazing New Zealand lamb chops at Sakura last night and it was day 6 of the journey and the last night for most people. We are currently docked in Cartagena, Columbia and are doing the next leg of the journey which is 8 more days ending in Barbados. Yes, the menus don’t change but like others have said, there is so much variety on every menu, we have not been dusappointed. 
 

We LOVE this ship and the experience! The food is excellent and the service is the best we’ve had of all the luxury cruise lines. It may help that the first leg of the journey only had 510 people and we hear this next leg will have only around 480. But the attitude of every crew member to be willing to help is the best we’ve seen. In talking to them, many of them have come from high end hotels and airlines with an emphasis on customer service. It really shows and has enhanced our experience. EJ is not perfect but we’d go on them again in a heartbeat. Happy cruising to all! 

[Waltershipman]

13 minutes ago, jeffyd said:

@travelwide - I just had amazing New Zealand lamb chops at Sakura last night and it was day 6 of the journey and the last night for most people. We are currently docked in Cartagena, Columbia and are doing the next leg of the journey which is 8 more days ending in Barbados. Yes, the menus don’t change but like others have said, there is so much variety on every menu, we have not been dusappointed. 
 

We LOVE this ship and the experience! The food is excellent and the service is the best we’ve had of all the luxury cruise lines. It may help that the first leg of the journey only had 510 people and we hear this next leg will have only around 480. But the attitude of every crew member to be willing to help is the best we’ve seen. In talking to them, many of them have come from high end hotels and airlines with an emphasis on customer service. It really shows and has enhanced our experience. EJ is not perfect but we’d go on them again in a heartbeat. Happy cruising to all! 

ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH ALL YOU SAID  and yes the lamb is definitely delightful 

[gymfreak]

1 hour ago, jeffyd said:

we hear this next leg will have only around 480.

We board in Barbados on 19th January, do you think this will be the possible passenger count for that leg? Good to hear your experience so far , it sounds wonderful and we can’t wait to find out for ourselves.

[uktog]

4 hours ago, Waltershipman said:

Great to know  and Az pricing is lower generally 

Just make sure when comparing prices, unless your accepting a lower level experience that you set the Azamara price at a club continental suite and you add in $27 a head per day drinks package plus the cost of unlimited WiFi 

[Waltershipman]

5 minutes ago, uktog said:

Just make sure when comparing prices, unless your accepting a lower level experience that you set the Azamara price at a club continental suite and you add in $27 a head per day drinks package plus the cost of unlimited WiFi 

Perfect thanks so very much

I appreciate your guidance 

 

Cruise well