What a great and comprehensive review. VERY much appreciated. Thank you for your effort putting this together. Really well done!

+ Get Well Soon!

52 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Or on the other hand you might find yourself eating a variety of choices off the same menu

Thank you. That is what I thought as well! I believe there is enough variety across all restaurants but only time will tell - once we cruise. Food is very subjective. 

1 hour ago, CJANDH said:

You might find that the never changed menus get a bit boring for a 14 night cruise.

Yes, you are correct. I read about it somewhere else that the menus do not change - at least as of right now. It might be a positive if the chefs can practice over and over the same menu items 😄

For now, I am not too concerned about it but I will for sure know and report back once we return🙂

Here is Explora's take on their entertainment concept - on purpose different than other cruise lines. Whether this is the right or wrong concet - everybody needs to decide for themselves. For us entertainment (big production shows are even small ones) is really low on the scale of importance. 

We are very excited to try this new brand in February 2025 for a 14 day cruise from San Juan, PR. We have been many times to the caribbean but the ship & concept conviced us to give it a try!

We are excited that they seem to be a bit different than their competitors. They might be what we are lookign for in a mid size cruise ship! Great ship design & great food (no self serv bufet) - we do not like buffets in general whether land or sea vacation!

The only negative I have seen as of now (without ever sailed on them yet) is the limited itinarary in the Caribbean and Med! We booked the 14 day caribbean (we are working in our early-mid 40ies and need long vacations to recharge throughout the year).

The main reason (besides ship design & food) why we chose this itinarary, is because it had 4 new stops for us: Trinidad, Tobago, Martinique & Bonaire! 

We have tried Celebrity Retreat in the past (always loved it but for their $$$ we can book any other luxury cruise) and are booked on Scenic Eclispe 2 next year as well for a remote warm weather destination in Indonesia to experience something completely different. So, Explora might be just the sweetspot in between these 2 other cruise lines for us.

1 hour ago, uktog said:

People cannot message you from the boards. Why not google Explora travel agents? 

😭
 

Well of course I can google it but I was looking for a recommendation from my fellow cruise critic board members 🙂

well, I guess that’s no option if there is no direct messaging possible. 
 

Thanks for the responses!

Hi folks,

Could anyone PM me any TA's who work with EJ? (direct message / pm if OK?)

Unfortunately, my TA does not have relationship with MSC and cannot offer any EJ bookings.

Thank you 🙂

I redeemed my BoFA points on their website and they showed up on my celebrity account after 3 days. I was able to use the OBC to purchase anything prior the cruise. 
 

and yes, if they don’t shown up you simply call the number stated above and they will fix and issues you might have with the online redemption. 

Does anyone know which tour operator / dive shop Windstar is using in Rangiroa for the drift snorkel in the tiputa pass?

Hi folks,

Our cruise on the Star Pride will leave San Juan on 3-7-20 at 7pm. Embarkation starts at 1pm.

We are wondering if we can leave the boat and go to the old town of San Juan once we embark the ship or do you have to stay on board after initial embarkation?

Thank you!

Room service maybe. But all restaurants are closed on deck BBQ night.

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Awesome - thanks!

Just returned: I highly recommend the 10 person catamaran sail in Guadeloupe. Sonia was an amazing guide on that tour.

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We just returned from the Wind Surf and I must say that food is good to sometimes very good but by far not even close to Celebrity's Luminae restaurant. Best restaurant hands down is Stella.

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Do you have by any chance some more information on why the beach BBQ event is not located on prickly pear island anymore in the BVIs? I saw in MarineTraffic that the ship is again today (12/28) anchored at Spanish Town and not in the Gorda Sounds.

I'm wondering if they will go back to prickly pear ever?

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Great report. Thank you for putting so much effort into it.

I just got off the phone with Wind Star and they said that they are only offering Scuba Discover Lessons on Tahiti itineraries.

Hey folks,

does anyone know if

a) Wind Star is still offering on their ships the Discover Scuba Diving program?

b) If they can certify you on board if you participate in this program so you one could do book some SCUBA diving excursions at some of the Caribbean stops?

Thanks,

Bart

Finally, a positive post! :D yay!

Normally, the problem sits in front of the computer. In celebrity's case it is really the broken website. :-) There are many known problems with their site. Just call them to get it done or your TA.

Dress choice no longer necessary... Celebrity is now the all kilt cruise line. Yes, 24 hours a day everyone is wearing kilts. It's a Scottish thing.

With undies? :D

just get a premium drink package and you'll be fine. All drinks included up to 13 USD per serving/glass - as many glasses as you want to and are able to consume. You'll only pay the difference in case a drink is more than 13 USD which are not that many - maybe some speciality Martinis. Cheers and happy drinking.

Just wear your birthday suit and you'll be fine :D. Yes, it is not that complicated. Wear something nice and not a tank top...

of course they are: Quote: Celebrity is one of six cruise brands operated by global cruise vacation company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE, OSE: RCL).

Despite all those negative comments regarding Celebrity on this forum, we had a quite nice first experience for our upcoming cruise on Jan 10 - on the the Eclipse. We just got a nice welcome email from our Concierge.

Not sure if everybody gets such a welcome email but it was nice to read. Looking forward to our cruise in JUST 5 days!

---------

The Celebrity Cruises family is delighted you have chosen to sail with us again. We look forward to welcoming you onboard the Celebrity Eclipse soon.

As your vacation is just around the corner, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I will serve as your dedicated shoreside Concierge. I work hand in hand with the onboard Michael’s Club Concierge to make your Celebrity experience as carefree as possible, and I am therefore happy to assist you in any way I can.

Please feel free to call or email me with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your upcoming vacation. It would be my pleasure to make arrangements on your behalf; no request is too big or too small.

In preparing for your arrival there are a few items that I would like to notate in your file. Please provide the following information so we can make sure all of your needs are planned for:

Expected arrival time

Preferred departure time

Please always feel welcome to contact me for any reason. Once again, we look forward to welcoming you, onboard the Celebrity Eclipse!

------

Do not get too excited. I work on a daily basis with Accenture in the automotive industry and they are not very exciting to work with. So, Celebrity's website COULD get worse if this is even possible. So, in this case relax, sip your cocktail and relax. Let's see what happens and enjoy your cruise :-)

Simply call them to get your tags in the mail. This is what we did and they arrived within a week. The website is broken when it comes to ordering online.