Many words have been written about Explora Journeys by people who don’t seem overly familiar with cruising and parrot the company line that their ships “redefine luxury cruising”.
Notions put forward to support this theory include the boutique-hotel feel, the absence of a main dining room, the level of fine dining and an (undefined) Europeanness. But, sorry, these are all features found on other luxury cruise ships.
Let me tell you straight, Explora Journeys might be a new company, but its cruise ships are in broad terms conventional. At times, you might think you’ve strayed onto a Viking or Silversea or Scenic ship.
The decor springs no surprises: suave, and somewhat bland and monochrome in the latest fashion, leaning towards Nordic. You won’t be alarmed by colour or bling.
No surprises when it comes to restaurant choices either: a steakhouse, a French restaurant with well-dressed sommeliers, a pan-Asian restaurant masquerading as Japanese. And despite “redefine” claims to the contrary, there is a buffet venue, albeit a very upmarket one.
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And yes, its ships also have a scattering of bars, a cafe, gym, wellness centre with sauna and salt cave and nice staff to bash you with seaweed and rocks, and staterooms of several different types, because every cruise ship has graded levels of indulgence.
So aboard Explora II, why is it that I feel a sense of unfamiliarity and confusion? A few days go by, and I can’t quite pin it down. Then I have one insight: this ship has fewer and smaller lounge spaces than you might expect.
Not a bad thing. The guests skew younger and they aren’t sitting around drinking whiskey in dark corners. They’re galloping on the treadmills set up outside with a view over the ship’s stern.
They’re off exploring on land seemingly until the last minute, as if daring the ship to leave without them. Or they’re at the Helios Bar, also outside, soothed by the breeze and a complimentary cocktail. Who needs a lounge with buttoned sofas and potted palms?
And of course, how could I have missed it, there’s no central swimming pool deck. Praise be, isn’t that a good thing, too?
The pool deck on luxury ships never matches up to the lovely decor inside. It’s always dull and always the same: a rectangle of water surrounded by sunburnt people turning the pages of the latest murder mystery, and always the same four loud-talking guests monopolising the hot tub.
Explora II, which was launched in September 2024, is clever and chic. It has not one but four pools and, while that doesn’t redefine luxury cruising, it certainly reassesses it. Each has its own bar – tick. Each has its own sunbeds and lounge chairs, some arranged to socialise, some arranged to ignore the world – tick.
And yes, each is small, but they aren’t just rectangles, and they’re positioned to borrow half the blue from the sea beyond – big tick. Astern Pool, a semicircular infinity pool at the stern. Atoll Bar (okay, it is rectangular) near the ship’s centre. The Conservatory Pool – a cinema at night – whose sliding glass roof is handy on chilly days.
My favourite is the kidney-shaped Helios Pool at the front of the ship, which hardly anyone seems to know about, and which makes me feel like a figurehead as the ship surges forward into the Mediterranean. Bonus, it’s adults only.
In 2023, MSC Cruises, the owners of Explora II, launched into the luxury end of the cruise market with its sister ship Explora I. They’re ambitious: four more ships are coming and each cost €500 million ($877 million) and it shows.
The ships carry 922 passengers, which is a lot for luxury-end vessels but seldom apparent given the ship’s broken-up layout and multiple pools, restaurants and smaller lounge spaces.
Among them, Explora Lounge is the traditional observation lounge – nothing redefined there, not even afternoon tea. Lobby Bar is the most visually striking thanks to its atrium location and huge wall of backlit bottles, but has limited seating.
The ship has no such thing as a lobby, really. Reception desks have been so discreetly located that you must go hunting for them.
Guests have a choice of six restaurants. Hard to see why you’d pay the whopping surcharge for Anthology given the rest are inclusive and of a very high standard. Even the buffet venue Emporium Marketplace is impressive, with numerous cooking stations guaranteeing freshly made dishes.
Fil Rouge does sterling French cuisine; Med Yacht Club is Mediterranean. Marble & Co. Grill is for me the best of the lot and apparently for many others too, since repeat bookings are hard to get.
The most delightfully decorated but least impressive (relatively speaking) is Sakura. “Asian” restaurants on cruise ships will forever disappoint savvy Australian palates. Don’t take it from me though: other guests rave about its lobster pad Thai, Penang beef and miso black cod.
All three of those dishes are staples on luxury cruise ships, and certainly nothing is redefined about the dining experience. Nor is it in staterooms, which are as sleek and comfortable as you’d expect on a luxury vessel, with Italian mattresses and linens that make you feel as if you’re on a baroque church cloud, floating amid angels.
But Explora Journeys is shifting luxury cruising in some ways. It has dispensed with most cruise-ship entertainment because really, who misses a spangled dance routine? And it has the only Rolex boutiques at sea, though that would hardly seem a reason to book a cruise.
There are reasons, though. The ship is sophisticated and elegant but without much pretension, which allows for indulgence and relaxation. A lot is included, from unlimited oysters to unlimited champagne and its variety of top-notch dining.
Atmosphere is hard to define, but this might be the most serene ship I’ve been on. Maybe it’s the absence of big lounges or an obvious reception area, or the way the restaurants are divided into separate rooms. Maybe it’s the daily yoga and meditation classes or the very well-insulated staterooms.
Another thing that’s different is the hearty enthusiasm of the passengers, all of whom seem to be up early, riding cycling machines and downing green vegetable pick-me-ups before a day out hiking Greek mountains.
I reckon this cruise line is for a new and vigorous generation of, often, still-at-work cruise-goers.
It’s luxury cruising in all the ways you expect, but made to seem refreshing and unusual. Big thumbs up.
THE DETAILS
Cruise
Over the next two years, Explora Journeys will extend its itineraries from Europe and the Caribbean to North America (including Alaska), Greenland, Central and South America, the Arabian Peninsula and Asia. Its third ship Explora III sets sail in mid-2026 with three others to follow.
A seven-day “Journey through Legendary Marvels” Mediterranean cruise return from Piraeus (Athens) visits Patmos, Istanbul, Kusadasi and Mykonos. Departs September 28, 2026, from $7760 a person including dining, beverages, Wi-Fi, and gratuities. See explorajourneys.com
The writer travelled as a guest of Explora Journeys.
Brian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.