JTor

Context: I sailed many times on old Crystal but my first NC cruise is 2025. I have been on Explora once (Jan. 2024). Unless the company changes dramaticallly, I will never cruise Explora again. OP was concerned about cabin size. This is just not an issue for us. We don’t spend time in the cabin. It’s a place to sleep, that’s all. Food, service, itinerary, entertainment and deck experience are WAY more important to us. The onboard experience on Explora was fine. The food was amazing. The ship is new and looks great. However, we will never sail with them unless something dramatic changes because they are SHOUTING VERY LOUDLY that they do not care about passengers. Website is a mess. Call for help, you don’t get it. We would not have been able to board at all if my agent didn’t escalate and escalate for us. No onboard future booking concession. No loyalty programme. Post cruise we filled all the forms and asked to be contacted. Waited 6 weeks, nothing. Wrote to their customer service department explicitly…. nothing. I don’t think they could communicate any more clearly that WE DO NOT MATTER TO THEM. I would rather be on an older ship in a smaller cabin but giving my money to a company that is at least willing to PRETEND they care. We’ve had good experiences with Silversea, Regent, Crystal and Oceania in the past - things weren’t always perfect but efforts were made to resolve any problems and we felt the companies valued our business. I know Star Clippers isn’t in the luxury sector but wow, we were booked with them when the tsunami hit Thailand and they were AMAZING at taking care of us. Explora? I feel they do not value my business at all. So why would I give them my money?

We are taking our first Viking river cruise from Canada and purchased with “included” air and paid the $100/person fee that was supposed to allow us to have the flights we wanted. First, we are about to cancel the Viking air and our agent has confirmed we will each get credited back just over $1000 which was the “air” portion of what we paid. This may not be the case with Americans as was suggested above. Why are we cancelling? Because I called and spent 2 hours trying to be very patient with the person who answered the phone…. clearly not a TA…. every question I asked resulted in “I need to ask my supervisor, let me put you on a short hold”. I was trying so hard to be nice and patient but “can I email with you” or “can I give you parameters and you can get back in touch with me” both were answered “no”. I just don’t have the time to stay on the phone and walk her through every option I’ve already looked up myself to see if Viking will allow it and how much extra they will charge. Any “deviation” incurs an extra $100 fee above what we already paid and every stopover $200 and they add these together and it’s all per person. Beyond that, the fine print says you may not get airmiles for your flights. Plus they won’t use certain air partners (we are Star Alliance and our best connections were with Turkish but Viking won’t work with them). It’s just easier to do it yourself or work with a real TA who doesn’t waste your time. Second, about Premium Economy (or Business for that matter). If you are price motivated or working with a budget these options will really never be “worth it”. They are designed for people who are not paying for themselves and want more comfort that the company will pay for, since they arrive well-rested and ready to work. As I get older, sleeping on an overnight flight becomes worth “a price above rubies”, and I sometimes choose to save my pennies for these categories of flight, but any time money is an object it will never be worth it from a pure financial perspective. Everyone on the plane is going to get to the same place and often the surcharge is MORE than you would pay to stay in a hotel overnight if you arrive a day early to “recover”. So if money is tight and time is more available, this can be a better option - just plan to fly a day early, stay in an affordable hotel, and you’ll still start your cruise feeling relaxed.

Thanks

Hi, sorry I can’t find this info anywhere. If we go into a bar or lounge for entertainment, games, etc is there anything there we can order that is included? Tea, coffee, iced tea, water…..? or is everything an up charge? If so, do they frown on people going to the soda fountains and bringing the free soda into the bar/lounge areas….? It seems very non-intuitive to me that non-alcoholic drinks are “included” but only in some locations not others…..

How can we find out if there is a connecting door before we agree to cabin?

Thank you both!! What’s the usual timeframe for opening advance bookings? I looked for a repositioning in 2026 but not listed yet

Hi Disney pros! appreciate your advice for our first Disney cruise. We are 2 adults late 50s , 38 past cruises and lately on luxury lines. We love the Disney parks and want to experience the magic on a cruise but a bit concerned about the number of kids and general crowds as we’ve been spoiled on luxury lines. Can’t imagine getting on and off again in 3 days so wondering about back to back or a repositioning cruise? Itinerary not important although prefer warmer weather and a visit to one of the private islands would be nice. Price sensitive for this booking so not concierge. What ship and/or sailing do you suggest?

Thank you for these posts. We are taking our first river cruise Nov2024 from Budapest to Bucharest. Anything we should be monitoring on that part of the river? I always wanted to sail through the “Iron Gates” so will be disappointed if we go on a bus

English only and bare minimum of announcements. Muster drill, captain once a day and right before sailaways, and disembarkation. I think that was it. We liked it. we met many Europeans on board who seemed to be having a good time. Not sure how it would be if someone truly spoke no English though

Oh and I forgot they morph into DJ every night after the late show which is much more contemporary music

My guess is you will find enough you like the entertainment is lower key, no big production shows. There’s a trio that plays classic rock, and several of the cabaret-style shows on our sailing featured your genres eg Whitney Houston and a sort of Fun Songs night with 80s and disco. The karaoke night was also mostly in your era. Of course there are other shows you might choose to skip. There is a fair bit of piano but so many bars and spaces, it’s easy to avoid if not for you. We had a magician, no comedian, but I’m sure the entertainers vary by sailing.

Thanks. I was shocked. Regardless of other discounts the message being sent is disrespectful its not about the money more the sense that one’s business is not valued

We were on Explora recently. Music isn’t “current” but there is a lot from the 90’s at least….

We cruised early January and loved the ship (website not so much), but were quite shocked when we tried to book a future cruise on board to get the usual discount. Quoted exactly the same price I could find from my phone without being on board or having cruised with Explora before. Got home and my TA confirmed they are NOT offering any onboard discount. The company has not contacted me since I got off either so it seems I also have not been enrolled into any kind of loyalty programme. Is this correct? they provide NO INCENTIVES AT ALL to cruise with them a second time? If so I really wonder what they are thinking….!? (and this doesn’t fit with the ‘We’re not a cruise it’s like a luxury hotel” concept either - every luxury hotel line I know of is VERY HAPPY to enrol me in their loyalty programme….)

I don’t tend to use TAs for any other segment of travel but for cruising they DO make a huge difference. It’s not a made up story.