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I wonder if they're going to add family suites that accommodate 6 or 8. I don't think they're going to lengthen Explora 3, and I don't think there's much room to expand offerings for children. Instead I think that means the focus would be on cabin designs, which they could change to cater to families more easily.

I feel like Explora should have used the exact same systems as MSC, and used the combined scale of the two entities to justify higher IT/software engineering spend so that the entire cruise management user experience could be handled digitally (and I really do mean everything: even a cruise move or a change of cabin should be automated... I have wasted so many hours on the phone working on such changes, and it must eat into margins a great deal to have me on the phone as much as I am). The Royal and Celebrity systems are obviously integrated; they didn't feel any need to create an entirely new architecture for those two brands. Explora wasn't such a unique duck that they needed their own backends.

Saw an interesting comment on YouTube from @lindsayslivealittle: "Explora 1 and 2 are not what we would consider specifically kid friendly. However, they offer a kids program and have small area specifically for kids that we will show in our ship tour. But they did tell us Explora 3 will have a much larger kids area and designed more for families." And I noticed that the MSC Cruises Wikipedia page is suggesting Explora 3 will be about 10% larger, coming in at 70,000 GT (note however that the linked source article does not confirm this): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSC_Cruises Has anyone else heard or read of rumored or confirmed changes for Explora 3 and beyond? Are we expecting these be an "Explora Plus" class?

I'm already feeling priced out of Yacht Club, yet prices for similar options on other lines are at times a literal order of magnitude higher. Feels like an industry-wide correction on demand is overdue, but because MSC YC is a great product and because it would still be a lower price than competitors, I think YC prices might only continue to rise, even if prices come back to earth with other lines.

I've read some reports that the table spacing might be different in the Aurea area, and we've personally had great service in Aurea, never finding the oft-derided service from Bella and Fantastica customers.

We haven't sailed with Explora yet, but we really like larger cabins, so for us we were shopping for a Grand Penthouse. But the pricing is all wrong relative to the Ocean Terraces. For us, an Owners Suite or Royal Suite in the MSC Yacht Club is a much better value, so that's where we've stayed for now. Weird though that we should probably be a target customer for Explora and I just can't make the leap.

Precisely, @no1talks. It's ok if Explora isn't for everyone, that doesn't mean it won't work for many. Dude, it's ok if you're not their target customer.

Oh, that's interesting. When I try to do a mock booking, I only see GTY cabins, so I haven't seen this. They make it seem like that category is just a standard size cabin based on the sq ft and description. Also annoying: if we had chosen one of the aft cabins originally, I'm assuming we would have been upgraded automatically to the Sanctuary Collection?

After sailing in MSC Yacht Club and DCL Concierge, I understand the direction that Princess is going, and I'm excited about this change, especially for future classes of ships. We are currently booked on the Sun Princess, which will be our first time with Princess, eager to see the new ship. We are in a Premium Deluxe Balcony cabin, because we liked the idea of the larger balcony and because we knew Princess had up to this point been a more egalitarian line and we wouldn't need suite benefits. We booked with Premier, and we were planning on buying access to the Sanctuary once onboard. But now with the announcement of the Sanctuary Collection, I'm leaning toward switching to a Sanctuary Collection Balcony cabin. It's only a bit more expensive (since we were already planning on buying Sanctuary passes anyhow). But I am not sure I want to give up the larger balcony... Princess really needs more interesting cabin choices like you can find on Celebrity, MSC, NCL, and Royal. I don't think I should feel regret about upgrading to the best offerings, but I kinda feel like I'll hate having a balcony without loungers. Also, why doesn't Princess have any cabins with their own whirlpool? They're prevalent on MSC. And it really seems like their should be a duplex option on the Sphere ships.

Probably some groups in Line app? Or maybe there's a group WhatsApp?

Genoa's a great city, and anytime the port is located that close to the city center it gets bonus points. Very walkable city, and depending on where your hotel is, you can walk to the port.

Good idea for a thread. Seascape/Seashore Aurea sundeck is great with the 2 whirlpools and having its own bar. Thermal spa on Seascape/Seashore is large and very similar to the Meraviglia-class ships.

Makes sense. It's wild when a regular balcony room on another line costs the same as a Royal or Owners Suite on MSC. But despite the low prices for these rooms, you can often find last-minute availability for these cabins (probably in part due to the issue you've pointed out about deposits being too low for these suites and people changing their plans late).

Surely Princess Cruises would be happy to move your cabin (for the appropriate fare difference, of course) to a Reserve Collection Mini Suite without requiring cancel/rebook.

The only difference I'm aware of as someone who has not sailed on any Fantasia-class ships is that 2 of the Family and Executive Suites on the Divina and Preziosa can connect, whereas there are no connecting options on the Fantasia and Splendida.

https://cruiseradio.net/four-msc-ships-will-cruise-from-north-america-next-summer/ No Magnifica in North America next Summer, Seascape confirmed with 3- and 4-night itineraries that the Magnifica had been doing.

Based on this reddit thread: It looks like the 3-day/4-day Magnifica itineraries will be swapped with the Seascape, hence why all the Seascape bookings were canceled. So the Seascape stays in Miami, doing short Ocean Cay + Bahamas + Key West cruises. Given that the Magnifica ends its World Cruise in Marseilles, I'd assume they'll keep the Magnifica in the Western Med for Summer '25.

Yeah, I don't think it's anything concerning, just somewhat surprising and might mean some interesting and new itineraries for some ships.

Magnifica sailings also canceled.

Not until the Fall.

Anyone have a summary of the schedule changes for Summer '25? I thought someone here had mentioned the Divina will be changing? And folks this week received notice that their Seascape Apr-Aug '25 sailings have been canceled. Will the Seascape be heading to Europe for a stint? Or maybe the Canadian Maritimes?

They might say everything is great and they're changing nothing, then suddenly announce a bunch of changes. They just probably don't want to announce things before they are ready to roll them out. But also, yes, they're probably still largely content with their product launch and may not be aiming to make large changes just yet.

Sure, but the fossil market is already captured. Explora's cost of customer acquisition is going to be highest with the fossils. MSC knew before even entering the market that they'd need to find ways to carve out new segments / differentiate themselves, because the market is a very crowded oligopoly that has many substitutes (like Four Seasons on land).

This has been hit-or-miss for years. Depends entirely on your cabin stew and how much they'll go out of their way to help, is my understanding. Maybe try to find a deckhand that openly discusses how much they hate MSC and ask them to bring one down for you 😅

School districts stagger breaks throughout the entire Jan-Apr period. And also, more and more parents will take their kids out of school without worrying about missed days.