English Tim

I have enjoyed several Scenic river cruises and on each one we have had a wonderful time. The crew are always fantastic. that is great because your holiday will be in their hands. What is not always so good is the service from Shoreside Operations and I would most definitely sign up to a good travel agent who can ask all these questions for you. On our upcoming cruise from Bordeaux, we selected our own transportation and pre-cruise Hotel, which we booked and paid for independently, as I didn’t like the flights that we were offered so I opted for Eurostar, which is a very nice train, from London to Paris and another train from Paris to Bordeaux. They are providing transfers between the two stations and from our home to London for the start of the train journey and from the airport to our home at the end of the cruise. we were happy with the flights that were offered for the return journey and so they will take us to the airport and then back home. If making any pre-or post cruise reservations yourselves, Scenic will not provide transfers. All we had to do was choose our method of transportation, within the budget that was included and they organised it all for us. Having a good travel agent means that everything that you were told will be done, actually happens.

Thanks for your reply, I think we might take the chance.

We have the opportunity to book an F1 guarantee on the Grandeur and wonder if anyone has had such an opportunity in the past and what you have ended up with?

These are two totally different products, but if you’re thinking about service, then I am sure that they all offer similar standards. We have never known bad service, from carnival to Seabourn. River cruising can be a personalised experience, with very little entertainment, but based on a sort of house party.

“Thanks for the feedback, we’ll reconsider”. that is probably what I would’ve said.

This was always a major worry for me, as to whether the crew could cope with anything like a full ship. We noticed a difference between service and facilities for 400 and 600, particularly for breakfast. However, when we went to Fils Rouge for breakfast, there were only six people in the restaurant, so worth trying. Incidentally, I had freshly squeezed orange juice every day, once side is covered it was available.

That is where it will probably be from and you will have to disembark by 9 am at the latest. When we went there, we had to take a bus to the Venice terminal and from there you could do whatever you liked.

When we left the ship a couple of weeks ago, clearance was very quick, but as Explora doesn’t have a standard terminal, they have to go to whatever is available, which occasionally causes problems. In our case we were first off the ship, taking our own bags, but it took about 20 minutes for the immigration computers to load, then it was very quick, and although there was a bottleneck shortly afterwards, Heike said that they had five agents working that day and most people reported that they didn’t have any issues. Got an Uber within about 10 minutes and got to Fort Lauderdale airport about 45 minutes later, so we had plenty of time for our 11.20 flight.

The last time I looked, Miami was not in the Mediterranean! 😉

One section of the wardrobe is full length and the other, half length. There is plenty of space in the bathroom but a heated mirror would be useful. There was definitely no nightlight that we could see, so we used our own. Perhaps I should’ve asked the steward, but we didn’t see him on the first day. There was no washing line in the shower, which we were disappointed about. Sitting area was a decent size I think a whole suite was very well laid out. We managed to eat in one of the speciality restaurants each night, although my belt of Covid meant room service for four nights, but sometimes from the Marble and Sakura menus.

Yes, there is a coffee maker in the suite and yes, I was being considerate. Reference restaurant bookings, we were unable to make any prior to boarding. The only ones requiring reservations were Marble and Sakura. Rules may change depending upon occupancy. I would say that on most nights we ate where we wanted.

Having now returned to cold England, I’ve had time reflect on our cruising experience. We had a wonderful time, made extra special by the tremendous service from a willing crew and the food was wonderful. Our only concern is that if the marketing is very successful and the number of passengers is doubled, certain aspects of the ship may be a problem. On the second section of our cruise there were far more people in the buffet around breakfast time and this occasionally was an issue. With even more people I think lunch and breakfast could be a problem. Secondly, if the weather was cold or wet, I don’t think there are enough indoor facilities to satisfy the number of people. Only time will tell.

I have just completed my first Explora Journeys cruise. I usually choose either Seabourn or Silversea, but have been on several others. Would it be worth having a forum to discuss luxury cruising, rather than a specific brand? I’d be happy to help with the moderation.

As you will see from my report, we had a fantastic cruise and Explora will be on our top four list for future cruises, always dependent on price and itinerary. I am a little bit concerned that if the ship were full, the buffet would be too busy but that remains to be seen. Having climbed to good levels in loyalty programs, there are quite a few perks that we missed, so that would also enter into our negotiations. There seem to be far too many biased posts, which is alarming. What the average cruiser needs is an accurate reflection from people who have experienced a great product, but not from people who have been in the past and are yet to experience what it’s like when the ship has more people and sometimes when they are clearly not as friendly, as on our last segment there were quite a few people drinking a lot and their behaviour reflected that.

Our ocean Terrace was above a row of those and all I saw the whole cruise was once someone’s leg sticking out as he put his sock on, so all the furniture is underneath, but there’s a bit of space at the front. These balconies got more sun, due to the fact they are sticking further out, but didn’t necessarily get a view sideways.

I’m a cruise has finally come to an end and we are very sad to leave our lovely room . The crew looked after us very well, including the medical staff who looked after me when I had to be confined to my cabin. We disembarked the ship at 07.00 and were the 1st to leave with our luggage, which we took to the immigration desk, where we had to wait at least 15 minutes for the computer to load. The officer told us that they rarely use that terminal, which might have accounted for the slow computers. The Uber software was extremely slow but after about 10 minutes we were in our car heading for Fort Lauderdale Airport. The journey took about 45 minutes, including the driver missing the turn at the airport the fare was about $45. We were very confused at the airport, as the officer said they don’t fly direct to Washington and it turned out we were in the American Airlines line, not JetBlue! We arrived at the airport in good time and now await our flight. In closing, I would recommend the ship to anyone, as long as they don’t require an expansive amount of entertainment. It is a great source of relaxation and the crew are magnificent. The food was as good if not better than we have tasted on any cruise ship.

We have a nightlight which is charged with the USB, but then lasts the whole cruise coming on only when there is movement

Two loungers wouldn’t fit on a standard balcony.

I wonder if anyone can help me with a solution for what this pictured socket is for, which can be found in the bathroom. None of my devices fit the socket, except possibly my iPhone or iPad. If I want to charge my shaver or toothbrush, I have to use a socket outside the bathroom, which I find unusual. The second image is of the control for the underfloor heating, which we love.

What is the difference?

I hope that is a genuine answer and not marketing spiel.

Explora will be in our top four for when we search for a cruise, which is usually based on convenience, expected hot weather and price. Maybe, I’m trying to give an honest appraisal I have come across as a bit negative, but generally we have had a wonderful time and been looked after extremely well.

I guess the best solution would be to find the number for room service and then call it directly from the location you require the service. Calling from the room not an option as it would wake my wife. with regard to going somewhere for a drink, several days the upper decks have been closed leaving very few options. We love the Sky bar and the ever popular Irene

Thanks for such a useful contribution to the thread.

I’d be interested to read about your experiences when you have a lot more passengers on the ship. Ours have been completely different during this one week sector, but that is partly due to the change in demographics of the clientele. it is not a niggle, when they close the open decks and take out of the equation many of the bars all afternoon and evening. It makes life quite challenging. I’d be interested to read your survey of the 200 others that you refer to in my post!