Explora I -- Beautiful ship but needs improvements to be a 5 Star Cruise Line

[PaulMCO]

I will be doing this review in multiple parts, as to accommodate photos.

The complete review will be posted in the review section.

 

Before I get into details and such, we would like to state that we enjoyed the cruise immensely. Most of my critical comments are in the area of food and human factors, which are subjective. We have another cruise scheduled for next January on Explora II.  (Overall, 4 Stars).  We still think that Regent (and maybe Seabourn) is a superior brand to Explora, but it’s still nice to have a choice.

Embarkation.  Miami tends to be the worse port for embarking.  Being MSC owned they would generally use the old terminal C, but because it was occupied by MSC we used the smaller terminal D.  We arrived at 11am, and they have the seating organized into classes (Residence, PH and OT).  They had water and hot coffee/tea available.  Residence suites do have its privileges and we checked in which consisted of health declaration, passport scan, and photo.  We kept our passports, and were escorted to the ship’s lobby, offered juice or champagne.  Introduced to our butler and immediately escorted to our cabin, who gave us the nickel tour.  (5 Stars)

Safety Drill.  The safety drill is in two parts.  Part 1 watch the video and then dial the number they give you to confirm via phone. Part 2 go to your muster station, and they scan your card.  Being the clowns we are, had coffee in Crema just before the announcement, which appropriately was our muster place.  When they made the announcement, we had our card scanned and then went back to the cabin, watched the video and phoned home.  End of drill. (5 Stars)

The Ship.  Explora I is the prettiest ship without being gaudy (unlike Regent).  It is extremely functional with many pools and lounges – yielding a ship that does not feel crowded.  The lobby bar is exquisite and the idea of smaller lounges for enrichment and other talks works well.  There are tons of photos and blogger videos on the internet so I will not go into specifics. (5 Stars)

Our cabin – Cove Residence 8033.  In general, we like the suite.  Plenty of room and very well laid out.  The biggest negative is the bathroom, single sink, and very limited space.  I posted this earlier on another cruise critic thread so I will repeat:

What we like about the suite.

• ·        Great layout of the living space given the size constraints.
• ·        Big 65-inch TV in living space, 55-inch in the bedroom
• ·        USB - connections on every outlet (both A and C)
• ·        Lucent IP Phone with directory
• ·        Well done fit and finish -- we will see how it holds up after 5 years.  Already we noticed some wear and had maintenance in for cosmetic items.
• ·        Walk-in Closet has plenty of space, lots of drawers.
• ·        Daybed on the terrace (all suites have these).  My DW (moggyhill) loved the spa on the terrace.
• ·        Excellent A/C system with digital controls.
• ·        Full size safe - able to hold a laptop.

 

Do not like:

• ·        Our biggest dislike is the midget size bathroom - one sink, zero storage space. Door blocks the shower entrance when open.  You will need to keep it open as the ventilation in the small space will cause the mirror and everything to get wet with moisture.
• ·        Bedroom is too small -- easy to bang toes.
• ·        Large Sofa/daybed - great for naps. But uncomfortable after using it for a while for TV viewing, a sofa with chairs would have been preferred.
• ·        Location of the makeup desk, blocks entering the closet and toilet if being used.
• ·        TV does not allow connection of external devices. We know why, but blue tooth headphone access would have been a plus.
• ·        Electronic light system.  Never a fan of these on a ship, takes a while to get used to them and know how to operate them (I am an Engineer and very technically proficient) - by the time you fully understand them -- time to disembark.

 

The Service and Staff.  General Manager Heike has created a well-run ship that aims to please.  Always a yes, seldom a no (a few exceptions).  The staff at all levels have been excellent.  Our state room attendant (hosts in Explora speak) has been excellent.  Our Residence Host (Explora speak for butler) has been one of the best we have sailed with. (5 Stars)

Edited January 22 by PaulMCO

[PaulMCO]

FOOD.  Of course, this is a very subjective topic and as such it depends on your likes and dislikes (4 Stars).

 

What Works –

Marble & Company.  Probably the Best Steak Venue at Sea. From the appetizers to the desserts everything is tasty, fresh and of the best quality.  Sampled three of the steaks – ribeye, filet, and L-bone sirloin – all delicious.  Generally, we find fillets very tender but tasteless. Our fillets were extremely flavorful.  Appetizer the lightening potato is to die for with the dollop of caviar is superb.

 

Med Yacht Club.  Outstanding venue for both lunch and dinner.  The items we loved were the soups (gazpacho for lunch was so good), Osso Bucco (evening), lamb shank (lunch), and pasta of the day. The appetizers shrimps saganaki, fried calamari, iberico ham and beef carpaccio were all so good.

 

Sakura for Lunch. Not just for sushi or sashimi, it has other items.  Tried it three times on our cruise. Loved it twice, third time not so.  Depends on whether they have the proper fish and the Bento contents (they change them).  I love the yellow tail with jalapeno peppers.  The Bento box was a disappointing item.  Bento had a slab of brisket on a bun with a watermelon and nut salad (very sweet), fruits of watermelon and cantaloupe, two old pieces of sushi and two old rolls, and sweet tapioca pudding.  Yuck… my sugar probably jumped to over 200.

 

Emporium – This works well for lunch and breakfast.  Food stations provide freshly prepared woks (see photo), pasta, sushi (lunch), oysters (see photo), crabs, and mussels (evening), burgers, pizza, grilled fish/lobster (evening - see photo).  The restaurant works well for breakfast and lunch.  For dinner it was generally nearly empty and after 3 or 4 visits it lost its luster.

 

What does not work:

Fil Rouge – It is a faux French venue.  It took only one bad meal to say goodbye.  Was it the escargot (or snails in green cat vomit), the soupy hummus like foie gras, (see photos) or was it the gamy lamb chops.

 

Sakura for Dinner.  We were only able to get two bookings, did not try too hard for a third.  Sushi and sashimi were subpar.  No toro or yellowtail both times in the evening (yet it was available at lunch). We thought the quality was subpar compared to Crystal or Seabourn.   Lobster Pad Thai was horrible.  Noodles (see photo) overcooked, little peanut flavor or even could not find a lobster (the shell is for decoration), not at all spicy.  The best meal and the worst were the tempura softshell crabs.  The first trip was excellent to die for.  Second time soft and mushy, sent back for a second chance – came back the same way.  We also had the beef teriyaki – tough and tasteless.  I loved Umi on Crystal – this is no Umi.

 

Emporium for Dinner.  For dinner it was generally nearly empty and after 3 or 4 visits it lost its luster because except for one or two stations – the meals are basically the same. The raw oysters, sourced from Denmark, were very bitter.

The no main dining room system.  There is no main/grand dining room as on other luxury and non-luxury lines.  It is a unique concept and should work great on 7-to-14-day cruises.  The issue is when you string multiple unique cruises to 21-, 28- or 35-day cruises.  WE would not like the repetition of the same menu for every venue.

 

The liquor and wine.  I have never had faux wine on a ship.  The available wines would usually suffice.  On Explora, the wine was faux and I had a hard time finding any that would suffice, even my rudimentary pallet.  The Malbec, Merlot, and Shiraz were undrinkable.  The Cabernet was OK.  The Austria Gruner was very sour with no after taste.  Liquor was fine, the gin we liked (Hendricks) was available.  A decent complementary Cognac was nonexistent.  (2 Stars).

 

Crema Café Weak Coffee – 8g of coffee provides an extremely weak brew. Go to any barista coffee shop and the standard is 18g.  I do not care that Illy is a slightly darker roast/stronger blend but saving money on coffee is just plain cheap.  Yes, we got them to make a special brew, but it did not always work.   Crema closes early at the dinner hour at is not open late – a big negative.  (2 Stars).

 

Creperie and Gelateria.  The Gelato was good.  The crepes were meh.  They really lacked any pizazz, and the saucy toppings were lacking.  If you have a creperie, do it right with lots of fresh toppings and fillings. (see photo)

 

Afternoon Tea.  Tea is done in the beautiful Journeys Lounge (see photo) Deck 11 forward).  Sandwiches and scones with clotted cream. 6 teas offered in bags and two loose teas (Earl Grey and Breakfast).  All was excellent. 

Edited January 22 by PaulMCO

[PaulMCO]

Internet: Starlink at sea works well.  I have been a beta tester of the system and it works as well or better than my home setup.  The only is some VPN blockage at sea.  I do not know if it is intentional or just a set up problem on Explora. 

 

Disembarkation.  We are in a Residence and had assisted disembarkation, complete with an included private airport transfer.  Bumped ahead of people in line at customs and car was waiting in customs and we did not have to be bussed to the exit as others had to.  Nice.

 

Improvements needed.

 

Restaurants – need to rotate menus, this fixed menu system will not work for any extended journeys and we will cruise other lines like Regent for variety on our longer Journeys.

 

Wines.  Better complimentary wines.  Compare your list with that of Crystal (and same with Cognacs)

 

Emporium – need some more variety, you have a grill, use it for other items like steaks and chops.

 

Crema Cafe – fix the coffee.  8g of coffee in the portafilter provides an extremely weak brew. Go to any coffee shop and the standard is 18g in the portafilter.  I do not care that Illy is a slightly darker roast/stronger blend but saving money on coffee is just plain cheap.

 

Crema Cafe – we love to have a snack and proper coffee after dinner.  Crema closes at 7pm, which does not allow this.  Seabourn on the other hand stays open to 11pm with coffee and small desserts.

 

Provide what is promised in a Residence.  You advertise Dom 2013, provide Dom 2013 for the sail away.  Yellow label is not Dom.

 

The shops – the merchandise is very limited and very boutique. Provide more common logo shirts, hats and other Explora specific items.  They make money and they are free future marketing for the Company. 

 

Creperie – this space is very under utilized (see photo at 12:45pm) and would be a perfect space for a pool grill.  It would allow closing Emporium at a normal time and the Pool Grill could stay open until 4pm to cover late tours. The many times we saw it being used heavily was when people would get a burger in Emporium and take it outside and eat it in the Creparie.

 

IT system.  Pre cruise experience is important and Explora is the worst at sea.  The Seatrade system is buggy, and reservations disappear.  The online APP is equally hard to use and provides incorrect and useless data.  Example is your account.  Every specialty meal item you order is shown on your APP account with zero charge, making it hard to find your balance and real charges.  In fact a balance is never even shown.

 

Some ship annoyances and safety issues.

The marble steps from the deck 5 elevator to the Crema area will likely cause someone to fall and break something.  You can go around the elevator and use a ramp, but this is not self-evident.

 

Oh, those sofa obstructions in front of the elevators are just plain annoying. Press the elevator button and of course the one that comes is on the other side of the sofa. 

Edited January 22 by PaulMCO

[CJANDH]

42 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

We are in a Residence and had assisted disembarkation, complete with an included private airport transfer. 

I am booked in a Cocoon Residence in March. I haven't heard of the airport transfer. Did you know about it before you boarded? I am about to book a car for my transfer on debarkation and don't want to if I am to get this perk. Thanks for your honest review.

[PaulMCO]

20 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

I am booked in a Cocoon Residence in March. I haven't heard of the airport transfer. Did you know about it before you boarded? I am about to book a car for my transfer on debarkation and don't want to if I am to get this perk. Thanks for your honest review.

Thank you.  Yes we did.  You get one on both embarking and disembarking.  There is a limit of 50 miles.

 

We were local in Miami and did not need the embarking.  For this you would let Explora know your flight details and they will arrange the transfer.

 

Disembarking.  Two days prior you get the standard form asking you your disembarkation data and whether you need a transfer.  You complete it and we went down to destination services who arranges the transfer.  Let them know you are in a residence suite and they will arrange a private car/prepaid taxi to the airport or to your hotel.  They will charge your account and deduct the account for the amount of transfer. 

 

Edited January 22 by PaulMCO

[CJANDH]

Thanks for that Paul. I have been trying to get information via My Account website. It lists the details of our booking but the links to destination services, etc. are not working. I have now contacted Explora to get that activated. Hopefully, I will get the help I need. Now, thanks to you, I at least know what I am entitled to: car from airport to my hotel in Miami and car from pier to my hotel in Bridgetown. Thanks again for your help.

Chris.

[gymfreak]

2 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

The marble steps from the deck 5 elevator to the Crema area will likely cause someone to fall and break something.  You can go around the elevator and use a ramp, but this is not self-evident.

I am currently on the ship and two nights ago fell down these steps. Inured my left side and head and few other bumps and bruises. Just beginning to feel a bit better and not wince when turning over. I was somewhat lucky because it could have ended much worse.

I received instant excellent care from the medical team.

Will definitely avoid this route for the rest of the cruise!

[PaulMCO]

1 hour ago, CJANDH said:

Thanks for that Paul. I have been trying to get information via My Account website. It lists the details of our booking but the links to destination services, etc. are not working. I have now contacted Explora to get that activated. Hopefully, I will get the help I need. Now, thanks to you, I at least know what I am entitled to: car from airport to my hotel in Miami and car from pier to my hotel in Bridgetown. Thanks again for your help.

Chris.

Good luck.  The Bridgetown one is definitely a plus.  I would be interested to see if they do anything from the airport to the hotel.  Maybe from hotel to ship??

 

@gymfreak I hope you are feeling better.  Have a happy and safe cruise.

[LostAtSeaForever]

19 hours ago, gymfreak said:

I am currently on the ship and two nights ago fell down these steps. Inured my left side and head and few other bumps and bruises. Just beginning to feel a bit better and not wince when turning over. I was somewhat lucky because it could have ended much worse.

I received instant excellent care from the medical team.

Will definitely avoid this route for the rest of the cruise!

We were on November cruise and a man in our party also nose dived on those stairs. Luckily he was ok. They are very slippery. 

[Shoeman1]

Paul , we were on Crystal in November and Explora in Jan.  We found Explora to be superior to Crystal in many ways.  

1.  The Sapphire suite on "new" Crystal is a disaster.  There is at least 4" step to the both doors on bath, a disaster in the making.  Internet was off-on and poor selection of channels, forget bluetooth, etc.  TheCrystal  closet could hold enough clothes for 7-10 days if  you pack lightly, guess the world cruisers will be using the dry cleaning...To make matters worse when you walk into the tiny closet you must step to the L to close door and pull out shelves. Only one telephone. The shower on Crystal  is huge and the water spigot from end of shower hits the front and water escapes to the floor.  No great place for makeup, no makeup   The lighting is beyond understanding, and there is no way to have a small light in bath at night.  Explora solved this issue.

2.  Food is subjective and we found Explora to be more up to date.  Juice bar in AM, Servers giving you requested food rather than passengers touching, by far the best baguette, delicious and varied pastas, and superb sorbets (not as sweet as Crystal). Agree that there is nothing as good as Uma Uma. I am a coffee afficienado and no issues, in fact some of the iced coffee drinks were wonderful

3.  Service was terrific in both.

4.  Beds and linens far superior on Explora

5.  We feel like Crystal is an assisted living home on steroids..Far younger crowd on Explorer

6. Agree shops are expensive such as Rolex, Cartier, and nothing in reasonable price range

7.  We find Explora to be inline with high end resort...

 

Nice to have choices isn't it?

[maggie.1008]

Paul, thanks for the review. Hopefully you shared your thoughts with Heike. 

[PaulMCO]

1 hour ago, maggie.1008 said:

Paul, thanks for the review. Hopefully you shared your thoughts with Heike. 

We did on our second mid cruise survey.   I also sent it to our TA who will talk and share with VP of sales.  Many of my comments are HQ driven and only solvable with Geneva directed operational changes.  I thought that they ship was well run.  When I mentioned the Champagne issue, our butler (Residence Host) said they will be making some changes here (ie. downgrading the selection).

 

I still like the cruise line and our biggest issue is the need to rotate menu selections.  Maybe as they grow they will do this.  As far as the complementary wines we did have a boatload of OBC that we could purchase whatever we pleased (but the issue was why serve 5 Euro wines on a so called luxury line)

 

@Shoeman1  thank you for the comparison.  I do not think I will return to Crystal.  I loved the staff, the food, the entertainment but the ship is just plain OLD.  And yes the beds and bedding on Explora were great.

[sstern]

Love your partners shirt, am yisrael chai

[frankhi]

On 1/22/2024 at 5:41 PM, gymfreak said:

I am currently on the ship

Please post which San Juan terminal you dock at on 1/25.  Thanks

[gymfreak]

18 hours ago, frankhi said:

Juan

Morning

we are docked at 4E

See you soon!

Vicki

[frankhi]

So I assume that's San Juan Cruise Terminal. Thanks....I have to drop my rental at sju, and then I'll Uber there 🙂  I just noticed I booked this cruise 1/9/23, so over a year in the making.

[gymfreak]

10 minutes ago, frankhi said:

So I assume that's San Juan Cruise Termina

Yes it is. Just started the debark now for guests leaving. We all have to clear immigration and nobody can board again before 11.30 so we shall explore the city

[frankhi]

Thanks, that's perfect for me, planning on arriving around 1:00

[PutnamNY]

We will be cruising for the 1st time after 30yrs. We researched a lot and found Explorer 1 to our liking based on the YouTube videos. There seems to be a hit or miss or critical opinion on these boards. If you folks are currently on the ship, can you please share some input. I don't eat asian food, so the asian restaurant is out of question (sea food allergies). However the steak house seems to be good. Just curious?

 

Thanks.

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, PutnamNY said:

I don't eat asian food, so the asian restaurant is out of question (sea food allergies). However the steak house seems to be good

Don’t discount Sakura entirely - the lamb chops from NZ are very good and I’m sure there are other non seafood dishes on offer - so maybe consider at least trying it 

 

In not onboard at the moment but when we were back in September we felt the dining options were amongst the best we’ve enjoyed at sea on most of the luxury lines - we can’t wait to return 

[kool kruiser]

10 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Don’t discount Sakura entirely - the lamb chops from NZ are very good and I’m sure there are other non seafood dishes on offer - so maybe consider at least trying it 

 

Not only the terrific lamb chops but there are also a number of other non-seafood (meat and veggie) options for mains. Similar situation for starters, including a fantastic crispy duck dish. Sakura is definitely NOT just a seafood eaterie but rather a varied pan-asian option, which is very highly recommended.

[kelleherdl]

2 hours ago, kool kruiser said:

Not only the terrific lamb chops but there are also a number of other non-seafood (meat and veggie) options for mains. Similar situation for starters, including a fantastic crispy duck dish. Sakura is definitely NOT just a seafood eaterie but rather a varied pan-asian option, which is very highly recommended.

I’ve had the steak multiple times at Sakura.  Excellent. 

[JTor]

Thank you to the OP for a thorough review.  I was onboard early January and agree with many of your comments, pretty much all of the positives.  My DH and me actually LOVED the coffee, perhaps it’s subjective.  I agree the included wine list could be improved but I did NOT find any of the wines “undrinkable” or “faux” - we felt there was enough variety to find something for most dishes (but could improve; also, knowledge of wine servers was variable, some great, others need more training). Overall we felt everything on the ship was good to great and the only MAJOR fails for us were the website (agree with you in spades on that) and the lack of a library.

[shrkdive1]

@PaulMCO thanks for your review.  We had similar experience on the January 31st - Feb 9th cruise which we just departed.  We loved the ship, crew and restaurants but agree the biggest downfall was that the restaurant menus did not change during the entire 9 night cruise!   We would have liked to see the menus change at least mid way.

 

Our second issue was that we pre booked our excursions 60 days in advance of sailing.  We unfortunately had 4 of our excursions canceled.  One was weather related but we learned the other 3 were canceled due to lack of participation.  For us that is unfair as each was canceled the night before the excursion with no time to rebook something else.   Lastly we booked a catamaran snorkel and they put 60 passengers on a boat that should only have had 30.  Not enough room for everyone to sit and took for ever to get everyone into the water.

[shrkdive1]

Forgot to mention that when they refunded us for the 4 canceled excursions they would only refund in cash (USD or Euros).  I didn't want that much cash on me and would have preferred they just credit my credit card but they would not.

 

For those that don't use USD or Euro the passenger would then have to convert to their own local currency and incur additional FX charges.