Nashna

We are active 76 and 78-year-olds. If we are lucky, we have another five years of cruising. We are a short-term target for the cruise lines. Explora is wise to anticipate the next generation of luxury cruisers. The cruisers who want the 7–10-night cruise today will be sailing on the 14-day plus cruises in ten years. It will be interesting to see if all the new luxury cruise lines will have enough clientele to be successful.

It appears that Explora Journeys is targeting the upscale working luxury market. This market is not likely to take 14- to 21-day sailings. I've had difficulty finding MSC YC and Explora itineraries that fit my needs. Perhaps they will have one ship dedicated to longer itineraries when they get more than three ships.

I was surprised that my one Azamara cruise automatically transferred over with my Celebrity/RCCl points to my new AZ booking. I didn't need to do anything; they suddenly appeared a few weeks after my initial AZ booking.

I'm afraid you are correct. It is the cheapest and the worst one on the market. We might just bring a six pack of decent non-alcoholic wines with us. It's about time cruise lines upped their game as far as non-alcoholic spirits go.

Thank you for posting. I am curious about your impressions sailing an older ship vs. the Edge Class. Our last three sailings were on Edge Class ships, and we are about to put down the deposit on the Eclipse. You did mention you preferred the dining choices on the Edge Class. Were there any other differences between the ships that you noticed?

Yes, you can. But, last year it was only Fre...and that is the bottom rung of Alcohol-free wines.

We did miss the vibe on Oceania that we experienced on Celebrity. We missed the Martini Bar entertainment and the great musical choices in the evening. O's after dinner choices were a pianist or a string quartet.

Good to hear that it's back on the menu. We were very disappointed in the quality of the meat as well as the thin steaks. We were on the Edge and Apex for a total of 19 days. The menu was set for 7-days and didn't vary. We just sailed on the Vista and really missed the lively Celebrity vibe. That is why I've been hoping that things improved since 2023.

Our last two Celebrity cruises in January 23 we felt the line had gone downhill. We then booked Oceania, Azamara and Viking. I occasionally come back to this site to see if things have changed. It appears that they have. Two questions...is prime rib back on the menu? Is lobster a surcharge? Are chair hogs still and issue or is Celebrity doing anything about them? We enjoyed the entertainment on Celebrity and miss that on other ships. We would love to go back if things are better...especially the menus.

We will be on Azamara's Onward's 12-Day Intensive Ireland cruise in July. While in Belfast, we intend to take the Black Taxi Troubles Tour and will reserve the Titanic Museum with the Discovery option. The museum has timed entries. Does anyone know how long we should allow for the museum? Can we wait until closer to the sailing to make these reservations?

Thank you for offering to do the hard work. Your spreadsheet is really helpful. I would like to bid on an upgrade if it is offered on our July 1st sailing. I will be following your spreadsheet closely for the next few months.

I'm so sorry to hear that Covid struck you both. Hopefully, it was a mild case. We are continuing our quest for a new favorite cruise line.

Is the golf cart transportation available to all guests or just the Residences? We also have sailed in the Yacht Club and enjoyed that perk. I would like to think that the food experiences on Explora on the island would be upgraded from what is regularly offered on MSC to their regular passengers. I recall sailing on Seabourn to Carambola and being treated to caviar, champagne, and a delicious lobster bbq.

Noggins... We are scheduled to sail on Explora II next January. I have read all eight pages of your post and have enjoyed reading about your experiences. Since you were not in one of the higher-priced staterooms, did you encounter any situations that might make you feel like a steerage passenger? When you mentioned having passengers arrive after you and be processed before you, is it possible that was due to their higher stateroom level? We sailed in MSC's Yacht Club and enjoyed that experience. However, there were times when we felt a bit too entitled.

ThThank you. Sadly, Nina, the concierge who was so helpful, had her contract shortened during our sailing and left the ship when we did. I also felt that there was something a little off on the Vista. I was surprised at the level of service in the Terrace Cafe. We took a sunset sail in Antigua and planned to eat outdoors in the Terrace as the excursion returned at about 7:00pm and we were dressed casually. At 7:00 pm, half the tables were not set, and the staff appeared rushed. We waited thirty minutes for our wine, then proceeded to the buffet. There were about ten people around the grill, waiting for their orders. We were told to come back for our order in 15 minutes. We opted to go back to our room and order room service. Seriously, it was like McDonalds with better food. When we got back to the table, our wine had arrived. We took our glasses and headed back to our room. We met the F & B Manager in the elevator, who asked how our meal was. When he heard about our experience, he asked for our room number and had a head waiter deliver the food and two bottles of wine to our room. He salvaged our dinner. We had a delightful meal on our patio sailing out of Antigua. If the buffet food isn't ready, O. should have waitstaff serving meals to the table instead of inconveniencing guests. The Terrace Cafe was visibly understaffed. The only other time we witnessed poor service was in Polo...again, the issue appeared to be understaffing.