Explora Journeys Explora I - The 'next big thing' in luxury cruising?
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- #cruiseship #explorajourneys #explora1
Is this ship the 'next big thing' in luxury cruising? Explora Journeys' Explora I hopes to be. Let's give you a full top to bottom tour of this brand new ship and you can see why they might just pull it off!
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VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE:
We were invited on board as guests of Explora Journeys as Ambassadors of Panache Cruises, the UK luxury cruise provider. We paid for our own transport to the ship and received no fees or remuneration for producing media during and after this voyage from either of the aforementioned companies. Any resulting videos have been produced without influence or expectation from Explora Journeys or Panache and we had complete editorial and artistic freedom. Neither Explora Journeys or Panache have had prior preview of this content and are watching for the first time along with you. All our videos contain our personal and unbiased opinion. Please ask us if you want to know more or visit www.asa.org.uk for more information on blogger/vlogger disclosure requirements. Thank you and we hope you enjoy the content as much as we did creating it. Rich and Helen x
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Thank you so much for watching! It really does mean the world to us! Please give this video a THUMBS UP, please SUBSCRIBE and please leave us a comment too as that's extremely important to us (and it also encourages CZcams to suggest it with other viewers who might be interested), and also we’d LOVE to hear from you. R&H x
The staircase gives me a post-modern version of the grand staircase aboard the 1926 Île-de-France. I like the throwbacks to yesterday throughout the ship. Otherwise, post-modern at its post-moderne’d’est. That pool on the edge of the lido windows really grabs my attention. I love the idea of being right up against the ocean from many decks above while swimming.
Thanks for watching again 👍❤️
Wow , fantastic!
Yes, it really was!
Thanks for watching 👍
It's a beautiful ship for sure, I will be very interested in future videos. My brother in law is now a TA, he's been selling a lot of MSC cruises (the marmite of cruise lines is how he describes them) and was invited on a back to back cruise on Explora, he had some interesting comments, both good and bad, interestingly about the same dining venues, mostly regarding the very good food, but the inability to deal with demand if the ship is full, not something you want to hear on a 5 figure cruise.
I’d totally agree about MSC being ‘marmite’. 😆 The ship wasn’t full when we sailed so it would be interesting to see how they coped with a full ship.
Wow! What a luxurious ship. Thanks for shining a light on this marvelous 🛳️ 😊
Our pleasure Warren. Have a lovely Christmas! 😊
We were on the ship this past September. Amazing ship, amazing room great food and some of the best sushi we’ve had. The issues we had were with some of the service and some of our expectations. Food between dining hours was scarce and difficult to come by. Another experienced couple said this was the only cruise they had ever been on where they were hungry at times. The service was always friendly, but not outstanding - it never felt like Silver Sea or Seabourn where they would bend over backwards for any request. One glaring (but small) thing is no bits or canapés in your room daily. Malt Whiskey bar and the Chefs Kitchen are spectacular. Spent each night in Malt Whiskey. One thing we couldn’t get over, in a funny way, was how horrible the mashed potatoes were - never put potatoes in the blender because you get wall paper paste. Chef David I. The Chefs Kitchen was a massive highlight. Not sure it pushes aside Silver Sea or Seabourn, but its in the would go on again category.
Fabulous summarised and very balanced review. We agree with you on much of this and the mash is quite celebrated but yes, if you like home mash (spuds, dash of milk and lump of butter) then I’d agree. 😆 Agree about the lack of things like pillow chocs and canapés. Our experience review will give you our little gripes. 👍
Wow. Rich & Helen this is an excellent & detailed tour of this beautifully designed ship. Wow.
Thank you ☺️
I can't even afford the Yacht Club on regular MSC cruises, so this is waaaay beyond my possibilities. But damn, that ship is gorgeous. I wish a very happy time to every each of you that would go aboard. Thanks for the visit !
Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Yes she’s pricey but step on board and you’ll see why. Literally no expense spared. 😀
@@visitwithus I have no doubt :-) But for now, I’m more the « 5 days cruise / balcony cabin » type. Budget and schedule don’t allow me more. Still I enjoy and review (I’m a cruise channel for French people) everything with enthusiasm :-) There’s joy for everyone, that’s the best part of cruising, in my opinion. One day maybe, those ships will be for me also, but for now I’m happy with mainstream cruise lines :-)
We will be travelling soon! Thanks for sharing! wonderful!
Thanks for watching 👍
Have a wonderful cruise ❤️
Enjoying this video at breakfast before the family descend at lunchtime to begin Christmas celebrations ! As you know, despite never having done an ocean cruise, absolutely love your channel and the quality of content and information you bring to us. I think the editing of this one must rank as one of your best !
Thanks Nik. We do try and improve each and every video and we were really pleased with this one. Thank you for watching. Happy Christmas! ❤️
Your subscribers are really ticking up! Congrats! Love your content - Merry Christmas from Kentucky.
Thank you kindly. 😊 We grow slow and steady but we’re happy with that. Merry Christmas to you too! 🥳
This was top quality, thank you for the video.
Thank you for watching and for your kind comment ☺️
Popping this on the bucket list….and I’m off to Google it. That’s a wonderful ship and that was a great tour. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching. ❤️
You created an excellent video about a gorgeous ship. I’m looking forward to your future vlogs. I hope her service and food matches the design. Thank you for a thoughtful presentation.
Thank you so much! The upcoming experience review and dining guide will complete the review so keep a look out for those. 😊
Stunning and superbly edited as usual. Looking forward to food review!
Thank you! ☺️ The Dining Guide will be worth the wait.
Looks gorgeous.
We must step up a level or two in the future.
Make cruising 'special' again 😍
Well it’s a pricey step up but there are deals out there and yes, she is gorgeous. 😍
Hi really great video
We are on this beautiful boat on Jan 19 for 12 nights - we are getting really excited
Thank you 🤩
And thanks for watching. Hope you have a fabulous cruise 🚢 ❤️
Best ship video ever! ❤
Thank you! 😊
Hi Rich and Helen. It looks like a tough life, but, someone has to do it. It is , as always, very professional, informative and constantly interesting. We had better start saving. Graham and Susie Mc.
Thanks Graham and Susie. Hope you had a fab Christmas and a Happy New Year to you both ❤️
Oh wow 😮
Indeed. A stunning ship! 😍
Thank you for showing us something that isn’t usually on CZcams. I hope you get a great number of views 😀
Thank you Tony. Have a lovely Christmas. 😊
This vessel does truly look amazing i do like the muted colour scheme throughout and it seems to have just the right of outside space for guests
Yes, she has a very relaxing colour scheme. Thank you for watching. ☺️
I am looking forward to discover this beauty i 1st of march from Bridgetown to Miami. I can’t wait 😊😊😊
Thanks for watching 👍
We hope you have an amazing cruise 🚢 ❤️
I have a booking for 2025👍 Thanks for your video.
Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for watching 👍
Wow , stunning
She certainly is! Thank you for watching. 😊
Happy Christmas @@visitwithus
@@jenserikjohansson6228 Thank you and to you too. May you have a peaceful, healthy and prosperous 2024. 😊
Very well done.
Thank you kindly!
I saw this ship docked last week in Curacao (Willemstad) and it was so beautiful in reality. It looked to me as a luxury yacht
It is beautifully proportioned. 😍
I was on the ship from Copenhagen to Hamburg, the ship is beautiful, the huge hot tubs are outstanding and the food was amazing! The quality of the wood veneer in the suites is a bit cheap and I guess there will be a lot of scratches and breaks in a few months. I loved the cruise on the Explora 1............and as always a great video from you guys ♥
Thank you 🤩
Thanks!
Thank you so much Jason! We really appreciate your support. Happy Christmas! ❤️
I was about to look that ship up and book and then you said kid friendly. NOPE not at those prices! Nope
Well, it’s not overrun with children but if you were looking for strictly adult only, this is not it. 🙂
But at these prices, wouldn't they be well behaved highly educated and cultured kids...not middle and working class stony-brokes?
Then go on Virgin or Viking. Some people like to go on a luxury cruise and have kids. I’m glad you wont be going on this cruise!
@@jonnieinbangkok not sure if kids from well off parents are much better behaved lol
This is kind of upper middle class no?
Just back from 9-night Caribbean cruise on Explora1. Absolutely superb from start to finish....but only at 30% occupancy (lucky us).
That must’ve been the ‘journey’ after ours. Did it depart Miami? At 30% it must’ve felt really exclusive. 😍
@visitwithus Departed Barbados to Dutch Antilles. Felt very special and exclusive with so few onboard. Almost like a private yacht!
@@user-iw3sn5ls6h Oooh that sounds perfect! 😍
Beautiful videos
Thank you Stephen. 😊
Wow, that just leapt ahead of Emerald Azzura for me, which I didn't expect. Thought I'd like a smaller ship, but this looks insanely good...over to the website to see if it's in budget...I could well be disappointed 😂😂
It was as a lovely ship but quite expensive. Did you find any bargains?
I hope you have a marvelous and enjoyable Christmas! And maybe it is just me however I am thinking the Rolex boutique will get the attention of one or two other cruise lines and may a different watchmaker.
Thanks for watching 👍
Merry Christmas to you and yours too
MSC is actually the first cargo line in the world by a long shot!
Thanks for watching.
Looks beautiful and a super video as always. So interested to hear if the service and food live up to the stunning design and quality of the ship. This has been where MSC seems to have fallen down with their bigger ships.
Thank you Robin. We spent a full week on board and I’m happy to say the service was excellent.
@@visitwithus That's great to hear - looking forward to the other videos...
Ships look so familiar to the original Celebrity ships Zenith, Mercury etc!
We love a ‘traditional’ looking ship 😍
Please do a cabin review for us, thanks. Nice looking ship.
Thanks for watching. Cabin review in progress. ☺️🥂
Hi Rich and Helen. Happy Christmas from Montreal. I enjoyed this video presentation. I noticed you upped the quality and production value. I like the floating edits on screen and not necessarily have voice over to go with it. I think it was either a Regent Video or a Seabourn Video or maybe a Silver Seas Video, that I had said was the best video you had produced up till that point, in production value. It was the very classy and chic video, if you remember. The ship is lovely. But I think Regent Seven Seas and Silver Seas and Oceania still holds the Ace Cards in their ships for beauty and elegance, yes? I would place Explora above Azamara for sure, and Saga. Regent, Silver Seas and Oceania are also still high on the elegance and Style list, as well. I don't think you can compare Explora, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania, or Silver Seas in the same basket. I would imagine that Explora is a lot less a hit in the pocket book, rather than Regent, Oceania and Silver Seas.
Hi Jeremy! Long time no see! Thanks for popping by, we’ve missed you. 😀 yes, I’m continually looking for ways to increase the quality and style of the videos so thanks for noticing. Have a lovely Christmas!
This looks fantastic. Could you tell me what the dress code is? We prefer the resort casual of Seabourn to the dress up of Silver Seas. Your answer may be the thing that makes us want to cruise Explora I.
We found it to be smart but reasonably casual. Most people dressed nicely in the evening but no formal evenings 👍
Good video as usual. Was it full of kids? We always holiday adults only. (We have 4 kids!)
Haha. There were a few children on our voyage but we rarely saw them (apart from the four year old we were travelling with - we saw quite a bit of her 😂😂😂)
We don’t know if it will start to attract more families as the live establishes itself and becomes more popular. We were on one of the early sailings and the ship was only a quarter full so the whole ship was very quiet. We are hoping to sail on the new Explora II later this year or early next year to see what the ships are like now they have been sailing for a while 👍
Thanks for watching.
The ship looks amazing. Were there a lot of kids on your sailing.
Probably about half a dozen. And we really didn’t see them about very much. There was a very good kids club to keep them occupied 👍
Thanks for watching 😊
The cruise industry is changing. There are more & more”small ship cruise lines” us baby boomers are turning to. Mainstream cruising has become well, a nightmare with bigger & bigger ships. I’ll have to give them a try!
With more and more people cruising there’s probably room for both, but we, like you, prefer the smaller ships if possible. Hope you get to try Explora one day, they are an interesting addition to the small ship, luxury market 👍
Rolex boutique at 2:30 looks very interesting in that there's not a single landside Rolex boutique in the world that will sell you a new watch off the shelf. Every buyer is put on a multi-year waiting list or has to be a proven past buyer who's spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at that store already.
Indeed! And yes, we saw people coming out of the store with a brand new Rolex. They have a large range of stock available to buy then and there 👍
A Breitling shop and I'll be there! ;-)
Haha! I think all the brands were Italian except Rolex? I think Breitling ‘missed the boat’ here. 😆
@@visitwithus 'Breitling Boutiques' are their preferred route market now, I believe.
The Explora is for a public with good taste, due to its high luxury.
Thanks for watching 👍
Is that St. Kitts in the background around 10:42? I might be wrong thinking it is.
Tbh we can’t remember but we did have a port call there so you’re probably right 👍 Well spotted.
Thanks for watching.
@@visitwithus I’m from St. Kitts (base in the Uk) and it was very familiar looking in the clip. Now that you said the boat docked there, I’m almost certain it is St kitts. Thanks for your response and I enjoyed your tour 😀
Trying them next year-could you tell it was owned by MSC? Announcements in several languages?
Hi Cheri. Thankfully you don’t get the multi-language announcements. It’s all English. No, it doesn’t feel ‘MSC’ at all. More akin to Silversea or Seabourn.
We would like to try Explora though are worried about to many children on board, we normally sail Silversea, Seabourn, Azamara to avoid this, did you notice many children on board?
There were a handful of children on our soaking but it was during term time so this may have been a contributory factor. However there is a very good kids club on board which kept the ones on our cruise very well (and quietly) occupied.
We wouldn’t imagine it would attract lots of families so I can’t think this will be a huge issue.
Thanks for watching.
Hello, thanks for the ship tour Helen and RichI have a question about the noise and music. On the Celebrity Edge class, the music is very loud everywhere. You can hear the party music and daytime entertainment 3 decks below the pool deck, even in your cabin. You can also hear the conversations and music from the restaurant terrace from 5 decks below. How is it on the Exploa 1 in the cabin and balcony? Can you hear music and noise from the pool or buffet restaurant (e.g. chairs being moved, footsteps, etc.)? Below your cabin on deck 5 is the terrace of a restaurant. What about the noise here (clinking cutlery, conversations, music,...)? Thanks in advance
We found the ship generally to be very quiet, even the over the tannoy announcements were quiet. There was background music on occasions but we never found it overwhelming. It was a very relaxing ship ☺️
Thank you for your answer. Glad to hear, that it seems to be a calm ship. I will check the cruises of Explora. Have a nice day. Jill@@visitwithus
That's an interesting looking ship, but I hope they brought in a lot of outside expertise to develop the product because MSC can barely do regular cruising with any kind of consistency, let alone luxury cruising.
They have brought in a lot of expertise from the lines like Oceania and Azamara but I suppose time will tell if this has an impact. Have to say our experience was very good and very different to our one experience on MSC.
Interesting. That's good to hear. They def have some stiff competition. Be interesting to see how it shakes out. @@visitwithus
Did you see any families onboard during your sailing? Wondering if our kids would be alone in their kids club.
We travelled with a four year old and there were a few other youngsters on board. The kids club team were great but suppose it would depend on the time of year/itinerary as to how many children would be on board.
Thanks for watching 👍
Es un crucero apto para solteros?
There were singles on when we were on board 👍
Question- are the pools salt water or regular?
The ones we went in were salt water.
salt water and excellent. No chlorine after tang !
Did is miss something? No staterooms?
Not in this video I’m afraid. There are plenty of room tours on the Posh Travel Blog CZcams though so take a look at their channel 👍
I wonder if the Rolex store will have exhibition-only signs.
Watches seem to be getting fazed out. Looking at the time only requires your mobile or smartwatch, although I suppose some fashion accessories are still in vogue.
I was wondering the same Maybe @visitwithus could confirm? We were on Celebrity Apex last year and the Cartier store had terribly low stock (although they were going to restock the week after we got iff typically and the list of what they were getting was impressive)
Thanks for watching Wayne. The Rolex store had loads of stock of many varieties and the watches on display were all real and for sale. Incredible!
They had plenty of stock in the store Robin. Given the world wide shortage we were amazed! 😲
@@visitwithus That just made booking our next cruise very attractive.
Can you actually buy a Rolex at sea? Or do you to be on the waitlist???
You can actually buy a Rolex from the shop. We saw a few being sold on our cruise.
@@visitwithus what a miracle.
Great narration and voice. But it’s not “amount of marble finishes” but number…
Thanks for watching. Yes, you’re absolutely right. I’m normally so careful with these things… 🙂
Cabins?!?
No, suites 😁
You’ve piqued my interest. Adding them to our list.
Thanks for watching Sara! Have a lovely Christmas. 😊
"Circus" Of The Seas this is not. Explora Journey is a proper, modern Luxury Liner. Not plastic and gaudy like those other cruise ship monstrosities.
👍 Thanks for watching.
it was one of my worsest cruise ever! mistakes everywhere - penthouses with a far too small bathroom , no separate restroom and in view of the high fares F&B operations not luxurious at all !! inclueded wines very bad , very expensive for something special
items free on other cruise lines do occur extra's : never again !!
We stayed in a basic veranda suite and were generally happy with the accommodation and found the dining and wine choices to be very good indeed. Sorry you had this experience but we would definitely cruise with them again.
Diametrically opposite to my 25 night experience in March 24. Stunning design with highly professional crew drawn mainly from Asian 5 star hotels. World Class cuisine catering to more than the bland Nth American palette. I suspect you work for the opposition.
Oh cool! A new luxury cruise ship line, this is going to be …. What was that? Did you say MSC?? NOOOOOOO
Haha, our initial reaction too. But, apart from MSC in the branding (don’t know why on earth they did that!) we didn’t notice very many other similarities.
Thanks for watching 👍
Overrated
Thanks for watching.