KJB416

I’m really looking forward to your thoughts while you’re on board. I’m similar in your age and travel experiences, and 100% agree that experiences are what you make of them. We are big fans of the ship, food and the staff; the spa and the back office control over everything needs work. I truly hope you have a wonderful time. I think there is a speaker in the tv and it does have ports to plug into. I didn’t bring anything with me to try it out, as they say you can’t do this, but I think I remember seeing something on the tv about speakers or ability to listen to music through the tv. I didn’t try it, so I could be wrong, but check the tv out for a way to connect your phone possibly.

When we were on the April 12th sailing, Abigail was the manager of Sakura. She has been on both of our cruises and is one of our absolute favorites! She goes above and beyond and made sure several of the staff gathered around and sang me happy birthday during breakfast on my birthday.

I’m looking forward to your trip and following along with you. I am using the BA Visa companion 2-4-1 business class fare in October for an Explora II cruise and I’ll look into Seat Spy and cross my fingers for the upgrade! Thank you so much for posting about it as I’ve not heard of it and I hope it’s compatible with the BA Visa companion ticket. Safe travels and we’ve used Modern Elite Wordwide as a car service 2 times recently and they are very professional and reliable. It may be more expensive than an Uber (I prefer Lyft), but I’m sure more comfortable. https://www.moderneliteworldwide.net. You could also check out the Belmont Shore (2nd street) area if taking a ride share is something you’re open to you once you land at your hotel. Nicks Restaurant is a favorite in that area.

I agree with Dr. Cocktail just ask for what you want when you get on board. They offer one bottle of alcohol from a list and one bottle of wine replenished as needed. We didn’t even open our bottle of gin. By the second evening, the bar waiters in different venues knew our drink orders and we had them fighting over us (in the best way possible) to get us our drinks as often as we liked. My very old school in-laws that travelled with us were so impressed with the service and we especially appreciated the restaurant waitstaff not removing anyone’s dinner plate until everyone was finished eating. You don’t find that in most restaurants anymore and that is a sign of excellent training and we most definitely appreciated it.

Rough number is 300+ for the next cruise our cruise supposedly had half travel agents out of the 500+ passengers, not sure how accurate that is, but seems definitely possible. The ship is full in a good way; second dinner reservations are not something we tried for.

We had a 1pm and 1:30 boarding time in LA and we got there around 12:30-12:45 and were put in seats and they had a first come first served sort of order. We were taken straight to our cabins by 1pm. Food and service has been excellent and everyone knows our name and greets you as such. We also love the resident entertainers and prefer their shows over the special guests. I think we have 590 on board. A lot of TA’s and those with cameras and recoding devices unfortunately, but it honestly has not deterred from our enjoyment of the cruise. The crew is what makes the trip so special and it’s been a very fun time with an enjoyable and friendly crowd of fellow passengers. I look forward to trying Explora II.

Wines you can pay for is attached. From what I remember, the same included wines are offered in all venues. Since I don’t drink wine I wasn’t really paying attention. EXI_EXPLORA_LOUNGE (1) (1).pdf

Per my request in February, 2024, Explora emailed me all of the drink menus and I’ve attached a couple here. These are just what the back office had and may not be accurate. I’ll be onboard right before you and will try and post here to give you a better idea of what’s on board. Or maybe we are on the same cruise out of LA on the 12th? On our last cruise they ran out of their one IPA on the second day and also fever tree tonic became hard to find and staff would have to go to other bars on other floors to get it. Hoping these things have been resolved. EXI_EXPLORA_LOUNGE (1) (1).pdf EXI_MALT_WHISKY.pdf

Thank you for the information. I emailed them last night asking about it again, since the sale price is significant. I mean, they would take an upgrade over a reimbursement, but it doesn't seem like corporate wants to do anything for paying customers. Just offering the free stuff to the TA and influencers.

we are on April 12 LA - Vancouver

Do you mind explaining more on the request for a reduction for the third time? My in-laws are booked on our April 2024 sailing and they paid full price for their OT4 cabin and so far Explora will not do anything for them even though the current prices for their cabin are 2k less and offer the OBC. I was able to transfer my April booking to another cruise in Oct 24 and rebooked the April cruise during the BF sale. It’s really frustrating dealing with their corporate office and if you use a TA they won’t discuss costs with you. My in-laws are 90 years old so will not hassle over the price, but it really bothers me that EJ slashed these prices after saying they would sail empty before lowering prices. I’m also told the cruise has 70% of cabins sold and I have a feeling there will be a lot of travel agents on board.

They did on our cruise in August.

Yes, you’re correct and I don’t know what I was thinking about sushi only at lunch. Thanks so much for posting the menu since my in-laws are going with us in April and I sent the pictures of the menus previously provided, possible by you, and I couldn’t find the lunch menu for Sakura. Is it that you can sit at the sushi bar at dinner with no reservations? I can’t remember what it is about this and if it’s still available?

I would book Marble and Sakura on the first two nights and if you like them, then go to the reservation agent on deck 5 outside the Crema Cafe and see if you can get another nights reservation at each of those places. Go to med yacht club and Fil Rouge the other two nights. Sakura is open for lunch (Sushi bar only) so you can try that as well. We would hit the Emporium Marketplace (the buffet) for oysters, crab/shrimp and a cocktail pre dinner every night. We thought Emporium was great for breakfast and lunch. Their dinner offerings were very good as well, but with only 6 nights I’d just try to get in again to wherever you enjoyed most and if nothing stood out then go to Emporium for dinner. Enjoy your cruise

I get on the ship in LA and this is one of the experiences offered under my booking. You can also hire a private car service if you don’t want to take a taxi or Uber that is available at the terminal. Explora should offer a private transfer as well once you are on the ship.

I ordered twice from room service in an OT1 cabin. Once in the afternoon around 2:30 back from an excursion and nothing was open and the other was a late night need for carbs. Both times food was of excellent quality and delivery within 30 to 40 minutes. The only issue is there is really no place to eat in the OT1 cabin if you’re looking for a dining experience. I wasn’t, so it worked fine for me, but it’s pretty much eating on the bed or on the small sofa with plate on your lap or outside if weather permits. I’m not sure if there’s a different menu for the higher up cabins. It has been discussed previously, but I don’t remember what wa said about it. From what I remember, the menu had salads, shrimp cocktail, sandwiches, pasta and pizza.

You should book an option for the January cruise so you have the sale price secured and this holds the price for 7 days and then call them on Monday to have the February cruise transferred to January option cruise and they will transfer the deposit from Fe over to January cruise and this should waive the admin fee. Are you in any cancellation period other than the admin fee? I have had success with using this transfer of booking but my TA had to handle it and it was escalated to a manager since mine was a little complicated.

I’d love to see Asia and the fjords of Norway/Baltic area included instead of the same old places. Alaska would be great too! Now, just hoping the quality does not change and they don’t keep messing with itineraries.

The waiting is the hardest part! Congratulations on booking your first luxury cruise and treating yourselves to something special.

We were in 6032 and there was a high European presence on board (430 total passenger count I think, can’t remember exactly) and we did smell smoke at times from the creama cafe below but the music that came out if the creama cafe speakers was more bothersome to me. No other issues, but I have booked aft deck 7 and port deck 6 for my next two cruises. others have commented on deck 6 and most did not find an issue, but if there are smokers on board and weather is nice, you will most likely smell the smoke on starboard, midship deck 6 and possible deck 7/8.

I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have made these itinerary changes BEFORE offering a discount/sale. I mean I knew there was no way they could keep some of the ports, but why not get that all figured out before you offer a sale. I’m beyond frustrated with the corporate side of this company and I don’t see how TA’s can continue to promote them over other luxury lines with all the miscommunication and total lack of regard for the client.

I looked last night and several of the 20% discounts have increased to 30% and 40% now.

I’m looking at booking on the Explora II in late Oct 2024 due to the 20% discount, but I’m fearing delays like we had with Explora I. Anyone else concerned about this? I think mid August 2024 is the inaugural sailing.

Same for me on an April cruise we booked when on board and paid in full. Fortunately my cruise is only 20% discounted and the sale makes it only $380 less than I paid, and I will have a 15% penalty to rebook so not worth it and Explora did not budge when my agent called. I’ll be curious to see if you can get them to work with you since 40% is a significant savings. One thing I’ve been thinking about is what if I move my cruise to another booking? This appears to be a one time option with no admin/penalty fee charged if you move your current booking to another cruise, but I’m unclear on the before 180 days or after 180 days for the new booking. I’m thinking of booking a new deeply discounted cruise that is 7 months past my original booking. If I can move the April cruise to the new cruise, I can then rebook my original cruise at the 20% discounted price. I’m Just not sure all the work to do this makes sense for $380 in savings but it’s the principal of the matter. Have you thought about booking another cruise with them? You may be able to take advantage of the change your booking one time option if so, you can then rebook the December cruise at the 40%. Read the T and C and see if might work for you. Or, perhaps I’m interpreting it incorrectly and it’s not an option. I do feel your pain and I hope it works out for you.