PaulMCO

It will really depends on the port and what kind of zoo it is.  There were 2 other big ships in port (4000 passengers each).  We were there last week and the process was get off the ship, and board a bus.  Arrive at a side terminal where immigration was located, clear immigration, get luggage, stand in customs line and clear customs.  For most -- get on bus with luggage and transport to the main terminal.  Catch taxi.

We were allowed to stay on the ship until 9:45 and arrived at the airport at 11:30 just in time for the start of check in.  At 12:15 in the lounge,  Our flight boarded at 3pm (3:42 depart)- AA to Miami.

Cruise line (Explora) - had a 1/2 day tour and cautioned us on this because it was schedule to return at 1:45 to airport but could be delayed because of the port issues.

My suggestion would be to be flexible and plan on doing siteseeing with taxi  if time allows, as port conditions could vary.

1 hour ago, maggie.1008 said:

Paul, thanks for the review. Hopefully you shared your thoughts with Heike. 

We did on our second mid cruise survey.   I also sent it to our TA who will talk and share with VP of sales.  Many of my comments are HQ driven and only solvable with Geneva directed operational changes.  I thought that they ship was well run.  When I mentioned the Champagne issue, our butler (Residence Host) said they will be making some changes here (ie. downgrading the selection).

I still like the cruise line and our biggest issue is the need to rotate menu selections.  Maybe as they grow they will do this.  As far as the complementary wines we did have a boatload of OBC that we could purchase whatever we pleased (but the issue was why serve 5 Euro wines on a so called luxury line)

@Shoeman1  thank you for the comparison.  I do not think I will return to Crystal.  I loved the staff, the food, the entertainment but the ship is just plain OLD.  And yes the beds and bedding on Explora were great.

1 hour ago, CJANDH said:

Thanks for that Paul. I have been trying to get information via My Account website. It lists the details of our booking but the links to destination services, etc. are not working. I have now contacted Explora to get that activated. Hopefully, I will get the help I need. Now, thanks to you, I at least know what I am entitled to: car from airport to my hotel in Miami and car from pier to my hotel in Bridgetown. Thanks again for your help.

Chris.

Good luck.  The Bridgetown one is definitely a plus.  I would be interested to see if they do anything from the airport to the hotel.  Maybe from hotel to ship??

@gymfreak I hope you are feeling better.  Have a happy and safe cruise.

20 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

I am booked in a Cocoon Residence in March. I haven't heard of the airport transfer. Did you know about it before you boarded? I am about to book a car for my transfer on debarkation and don't want to if I am to get this perk. Thanks for your honest review.

Thank you.  Yes we did.  You get one on both embarking and disembarking.  There is a limit of 50 miles.

We were local in Miami and did not need the embarking.  For this you would let Explora know your flight details and they will arrange the transfer.

Disembarking.  Two days prior you get the standard form asking you your disembarkation data and whether you need a transfer.  You complete it and we went down to destination services who arranges the transfer.  Let them know you are in a residence suite and they will arrange a private car/prepaid taxi to the airport or to your hotel.  They will charge your account and deduct the account for the amount of transfer. 

Internet: Starlink at sea works well.  I have been a beta tester of the system and it works as well or better than my home setup.  The only is some VPN blockage at sea.  I do not know if it is intentional or just a set up problem on Explora. 

Disembarkation.  We are in a Residence and had assisted disembarkation, complete with an included private airport transfer.  Bumped ahead of people in line at customs and car was waiting in customs and we did not have to be bussed to the exit as others had to.  Nice.

Improvements needed.

Restaurants – need to rotate menus, this fixed menu system will not work for any extended journeys and we will cruise other lines like Regent for variety on our longer Journeys.

Wines.  Better complimentary wines.  Compare your list with that of Crystal (and same with Cognacs)

Emporium – need some more variety, you have a grill, use it for other items like steaks and chops.

Crema Cafe – fix the coffee.  8g of coffee in the portafilter provides an extremely weak brew. Go to any coffee shop and the standard is 18g in the portafilter.  I do not care that Illy is a slightly darker roast/stronger blend but saving money on coffee is just plain cheap.

Crema Cafe – we love to have a snack and proper coffee after dinner.  Crema closes at 7pm, which does not allow this.  Seabourn on the other hand stays open to 11pm with coffee and small desserts.

Provide what is promised in a Residence.  You advertise Dom 2013, provide Dom 2013 for the sail away.  Yellow label is not Dom.

The shops – the merchandise is very limited and very boutique. Provide more common logo shirts, hats and other Explora specific items.  They make money and they are free future marketing for the Company. 

Creperie – this space is very under utilized (see photo at 12:45pm) and would be a perfect space for a pool grill.  It would allow closing Emporium at a normal time and the Pool Grill could stay open until 4pm to cover late tours. The many times we saw it being used heavily was when people would get a burger in Emporium and take it outside and eat it in the Creparie.

IT system.  Pre cruise experience is important and Explora is the worst at sea.  The Seatrade system is buggy, and reservations disappear.  The online APP is equally hard to use and provides incorrect and useless data.  Example is your account.  Every specialty meal item you order is shown on your APP account with zero charge, making it hard to find your balance and real charges.  In fact a balance is never even shown.

Some ship annoyances and safety issues.

The marble steps from the deck 5 elevator to the Crema area will likely cause someone to fall and break something.  You can go around the elevator and use a ramp, but this is not self-evident.

Oh, those sofa obstructions in front of the elevators are just plain annoying. Press the elevator button and of course the one that comes is on the other side of the sofa. 

FOOD.  Of course, this is a very subjective topic and as such it depends on your likes and dislikes (4 Stars).

What Works –

Marble & Company.  Probably the Best Steak Venue at Sea. From the appetizers to the desserts everything is tasty, fresh and of the best quality.  Sampled three of the steaks – ribeye, filet, and L-bone sirloin – all delicious.  Generally, we find fillets very tender but tasteless. Our fillets were extremely flavorful.  Appetizer the lightening potato is to die for with the dollop of caviar is superb.

Med Yacht Club.  Outstanding venue for both lunch and dinner.  The items we loved were the soups (gazpacho for lunch was so good), Osso Bucco (evening), lamb shank (lunch), and pasta of the day. The appetizers shrimps saganaki, fried calamari, iberico ham and beef carpaccio were all so good.

Sakura for Lunch. Not just for sushi or sashimi, it has other items.  Tried it three times on our cruise. Loved it twice, third time not so.  Depends on whether they have the proper fish and the Bento contents (they change them).  I love the yellow tail with jalapeno peppers.  The Bento box was a disappointing item.  Bento had a slab of brisket on a bun with a watermelon and nut salad (very sweet), fruits of watermelon and cantaloupe, two old pieces of sushi and two old rolls, and sweet tapioca pudding.  Yuck… my sugar probably jumped to over 200.

Emporium – This works well for lunch and breakfast.  Food stations provide freshly prepared woks (see photo), pasta, sushi (lunch), oysters (see photo), crabs, and mussels (evening), burgers, pizza, grilled fish/lobster (evening - see photo).  The restaurant works well for breakfast and lunch.  For dinner it was generally nearly empty and after 3 or 4 visits it lost its luster.

What does not work:

Fil Rouge – It is a faux French venue.  It took only one bad meal to say goodbye.  Was it the escargot (or snails in green cat vomit), the soupy hummus like foie gras, (see photos) or was it the gamy lamb chops.

Sakura for Dinner.  We were only able to get two bookings, did not try too hard for a third.  Sushi and sashimi were subpar.  No toro or yellowtail both times in the evening (yet it was available at lunch). We thought the quality was subpar compared to Crystal or Seabourn.   Lobster Pad Thai was horrible.  Noodles (see photo) overcooked, little peanut flavor or even could not find a lobster (the shell is for decoration), not at all spicy.  The best meal and the worst were the tempura softshell crabs.  The first trip was excellent to die for.  Second time soft and mushy, sent back for a second chance – came back the same way.  We also had the beef teriyaki – tough and tasteless.  I loved Umi on Crystal – this is no Umi.

Emporium for Dinner.  For dinner it was generally nearly empty and after 3 or 4 visits it lost its luster because except for one or two stations – the meals are basically the same. The raw oysters, sourced from Denmark, were very bitter.

The no main dining room system.  There is no main/grand dining room as on other luxury and non-luxury lines.  It is a unique concept and should work great on 7-to-14-day cruises.  The issue is when you string multiple unique cruises to 21-, 28- or 35-day cruises.  WE would not like the repetition of the same menu for every venue.

The liquor and wine.  I have never had faux wine on a ship.  The available wines would usually suffice.  On Explora, the wine was faux and I had a hard time finding any that would suffice, even my rudimentary pallet.  The Malbec, Merlot, and Shiraz were undrinkable.  The Cabernet was OK.  The Austria Gruner was very sour with no after taste.  Liquor was fine, the gin we liked (Hendricks) was available.  A decent complementary Cognac was nonexistent.  (2 Stars).

Crema Café Weak Coffee – 8g of coffee provides an extremely weak brew. Go to any barista coffee shop and the standard is 18g.  I do not care that Illy is a slightly darker roast/stronger blend but saving money on coffee is just plain cheap.  Yes, we got them to make a special brew, but it did not always work.   Crema closes early at the dinner hour at is not open late – a big negative.  (2 Stars).

Creperie and Gelateria.  The Gelato was good.  The crepes were meh.  They really lacked any pizazz, and the saucy toppings were lacking.  If you have a creperie, do it right with lots of fresh toppings and fillings. (see photo)

Afternoon Tea.  Tea is done in the beautiful Journeys Lounge (see photo) Deck 11 forward).  Sandwiches and scones with clotted cream. 6 teas offered in bags and two loose teas (Earl Grey and Breakfast).  All was excellent. 

I will be doing this review in multiple parts, as to accommodate photos.

The complete review will be posted in the review section.

Before I get into details and such, we would like to state that we enjoyed the cruise immensely. Most of my critical comments are in the area of food and human factors, which are subjective. We have another cruise scheduled for next January on Explora II.  (Overall, 4 Stars).  We still think that Regent (and maybe Seabourn) is a superior brand to Explora, but it’s still nice to have a choice.

Embarkation.  Miami tends to be the worse port for embarking.  Being MSC owned they would generally use the old terminal C, but because it was occupied by MSC we used the smaller terminal D.  We arrived at 11am, and they have the seating organized into classes (Residence, PH and OT).  They had water and hot coffee/tea available.  Residence suites do have its privileges and we checked in which consisted of health declaration, passport scan, and photo.  We kept our passports, and were escorted to the ship’s lobby, offered juice or champagne.  Introduced to our butler and immediately escorted to our cabin, who gave us the nickel tour.  (5 Stars)

Safety Drill.  The safety drill is in two parts.  Part 1 watch the video and then dial the number they give you to confirm via phone. Part 2 go to your muster station, and they scan your card.  Being the clowns we are, had coffee in Crema just before the announcement, which appropriately was our muster place.  When they made the announcement, we had our card scanned and then went back to the cabin, watched the video and phoned home.  End of drill. (5 Stars)

The Ship.  Explora I is the prettiest ship without being gaudy (unlike Regent).  It is extremely functional with many pools and lounges – yielding a ship that does not feel crowded.  The lobby bar is exquisite and the idea of smaller lounges for enrichment and other talks works well.  There are tons of photos and blogger videos on the internet so I will not go into specifics. (5 Stars)

Our cabin – Cove Residence 8033.  In general, we like the suite.  Plenty of room and very well laid out.  The biggest negative is the bathroom, single sink, and very limited space.  I posted this earlier on another cruise critic thread so I will repeat:

What we like about the suite.

• ·        Great layout of the living space given the size constraints.
• ·        Big 65-inch TV in living space, 55-inch in the bedroom
• ·        USB - connections on every outlet (both A and C)
• ·        Lucent IP Phone with directory
• ·        Well done fit and finish -- we will see how it holds up after 5 years.  Already we noticed some wear and had maintenance in for cosmetic items.
• ·        Walk-in Closet has plenty of space, lots of drawers.
• ·        Daybed on the terrace (all suites have these).  My DW (moggyhill) loved the spa on the terrace.
• ·        Excellent A/C system with digital controls.
• ·        Full size safe - able to hold a laptop.

Do not like:

• ·        Our biggest dislike is the midget size bathroom - one sink, zero storage space. Door blocks the shower entrance when open.  You will need to keep it open as the ventilation in the small space will cause the mirror and everything to get wet with moisture.
• ·        Bedroom is too small -- easy to bang toes.
• ·        Large Sofa/daybed - great for naps. But uncomfortable after using it for a while for TV viewing, a sofa with chairs would have been preferred.
• ·        Location of the makeup desk, blocks entering the closet and toilet if being used.
• ·        TV does not allow connection of external devices. We know why, but blue tooth headphone access would have been a plus.
• ·        Electronic light system.  Never a fan of these on a ship, takes a while to get used to them and know how to operate them (I am an Engineer and very technically proficient) - by the time you fully understand them -- time to disembark.

The Service and Staff.  General Manager Heike has created a well-run ship that aims to please.  Always a yes, seldom a no (a few exceptions).  The staff at all levels have been excellent.  Our state room attendant (hosts in Explora speak) has been excellent.  Our Residence Host (Explora speak for butler) has been one of the best we have sailed with. (5 Stars)

I have found the wines a singular disappointment.  I am usually pretty easy with wines, but found most of the reds undrinkable. Only the Cab tasted decent.  Tried the Gruner on the white list -- hard to find a poor one -- but Explora did.

3 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Now you tell me!

 

That explains my situation…..

 

As much as I am a cheerleader for Explora on these boards and LOVED the on board experience, there really is no excuse for the website. While EVERY cruise line’s sites have their quirks and known hacks, they’re at least mostly functional.

And after your cruise begins -- you might find as we did that your next cruise will disappear.

The issue is simple and I do not know why they are having issues fixing it.

Open and account is creates one with your email.

Book a cruise it creates another account with your same email and you cannot see your booking

Customer service consolidates everything and all is well

Check-in using the APP - guess what happens another account is created.

You cannot win...

5 hours ago, LkGcruiser said:

I’m curious if they offered any discounted spa services for port days in the daily’s perhaps, as other cruise lines do.

Their daily is a one sheet, with zero advertising for shops, casino, or spa.

I will take another opinion -- though somewhat the same.

Best food and variety of food - Regent by far

Friendliest staff - Seabourn/Explora

Best shows and Entertainment - Regent (though we enjoyed old Crystal)

Most inconsistent cruise line - Silversea

Best Itineraries for longer cruises -- Seabourn

Best Vibe of the Ship -- Explora by far

Best ship for a short Cruise - Explora.

Our big issue with EJ has been the food.  Not that it is bad, it is good but for a longer cruise it would be boring.  Menus are fixed and never change.  Even in the Emporium.

For someone under 50 looking at a Luxury line for a short 10 day cruise -- this is the demographic that Explora is targeting.

1 hour ago, frankhi said:

Would you be able to rank them on entry level (balcony) cabins? I know EJ and SS are ~300sqft interior + 70sqft balcony. Thanks

They are comparable. Toured an OT1 with the TA's on this cruise.   I have yet to go on Nova or Ray, but they have a similar space and utility.  The SS bathroom is bigger.  The Veranda on Explora is nicer with the day bed.

On 1/14/2024 at 3:35 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

So there's 'fresh' and there's 'fresh.'  We're spoiled for fresh lobsters since for two weeks every July we are in Acadia National Park and have lobster every day – lobster that had breakfast in the ocean that morning!  I wonder when those oysters left their beds?

found out the sources of oysters.  First was Italy, then from France.   Current batch is from Denmark.

On 1/12/2024 at 9:44 PM, as3369 said:

Does the Emporium offer fresh oysters every night?

Yes they have (dinner only) but do not get your expectations very high, they are not the best with a bitter after taste.  Have tried them three times.  I am trying to find out where the current lot are from.  
 

@Host Jazzbeau and the sushi is frozen.  One day they would have yellow tail and next day magically it appeared.  

Every cruise line is doing this now including sister line Regent which is doing a 2 cabin upgrade promotion going out to even 2026.  Seabourn 25% off (even applied to 2025).  SS is $4000 off..

Explora Jouneys has an up to 40% off sale (during black Friday it was 50%).  Cruise booking are soft and they are trying to fatten their 1Q 2024 booking and revenue guidance.

43 minutes ago, breadandbutter said:

Thanks for replying?

How is it overall?

Are there any complimentary exercise classes?

Thanks.

Enjoy.

We are enjoying the cruise.  Some misses but the good outweighs the bad.  Not going to do a review yet. Still another 8 days. 
 

You can see the fitness classes on tomorrow’s program.  

Yes.  I will check. But I did hear 300 off and 200 on in Cartagena.  So that would mean around 550.  

On 1/7/2024 at 11:46 AM, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

Thanks for taking time out of your vacation to post!  I have certainly been a cheerleader for Explora and had a great time with some reservations.  But - I fully agree that the bathrooms are an epic fail.

It's sort of unbelievable that the Penthouses have the same bathroom as the OT's, let alone the Residences.  Add in no electrical outlet, no nightlights, the open door that blocks the shower entry and a mirror that fogs in two nanoseconds (for the engineer in you!) and you think: "what were you thinking when you designed this!!!"

Yes but it does have a USB-A and C connections - next to the toilet.  I guess it is for extended toilet breaks...

Did not realize the door issue until I tried it.  Yep..  and the fogging.

Guess what showed up today. Cheers...   🙂

Since I promised to post photos of the Cove Residence in #22, I will post them now.

Overall size is 600 sq  ft.  We are enjoying the suite.

What I like about the suite.

Great layout of the living space given the size constraints.

Big 65 inch TV in living space, 55 inch in the bedroom

USB - connections on every outlet (both A and C)

Lucent Phone with directory

Large Sofa/daybed - great for naps.

Well done fit and finish -- we will see how it holds up after 5 years.

Walk-in Closet has plenty of space, lots of drawers.

Daybed on the terrace (all suites have these)

Full size safe - able to hold a laptop

Do not likes

Biggest dislike is the midget size bathroom - one sink, zero storage space

Bedroom is really too small -- easy to bang toes

Location of the makeup desk, blocks entering the closet and toilet if being used

Jetted tub on deck -- does anyone use these.  A second daybed would have been preferred.

TV does not allow connection of external devices.

Electronic light system.  Never a fan of these on a ship, takes awhile to get used to them and know how to operate them (I am an Engineer and very technically proficient) - by the time you fully understand them -- time to disembark.

We are letting our butler try to resolve the issue first.  He understands the issue and will address it with Housekeeping and the Stores. Then if no resolution will escalate to the GM. 
 

@Host Jazzbeau  pillows are firm, down, and memory foam. They only could find one down. 
 

Both the pillow incident and the champagne has my DW in anger mode.  Her disappointing meal in Fil Rouge did not help.  I am a fatalistic person having travelled in some of the worse hell holes in the world. It takes a lot to get me riled.  

We are currently on Explora I and this cruise has not gotten off to a good start.  Since this topic is wines etc.. I will discuss the Champagne.  We are in a Residence and the so called perk is Dom 2013.

Needless to say we were disappointed to see yellow label Veuve Brut ($65 retail) as a substitute.

Our butler hinted that other guests have complained.

The ship is near full and there are issues with lack of supply -- like pillow choices (none). 

Our TA had to step in again for more Explora BS..

Received this two days before boarding.  Needless to say we were fully paid and just another back office screw up.

Dear Guest,

Yes but the two Category upgrades also include an upgrade to a PH, which in our case was a 3K savings.  Reduced deposits was at less than 10%.

You just have to factor the "free" pre cruise night (we all know it is not free) into the mix.  You do get the extra amenities of wifi logins and early bookings of excursions.

Always good to check....  and they did raise the price for one we were looking at...

Seabourn has their Sail Away promotion - we saved 4K and 5K on two bookings

Silverseas had a Christmas sale -- only saved 1K

Explora had a 50% off Black Friday sale... (they did raise prices prior)

7 hours ago, frankhi said:

The escalation and pull with EJ is just the story your TA relayed to you, right? 

Probably not a "story"

In our case my TA call the head of USA sales who then call Geneva, to get some action.

My issues were resolved in a day.

I received an immediate apology with a some additional OBC for the inconvenience