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All SERENITY RESIDENCES receive as a welcome gift a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne (Vintage). All RETREAT RESIDENCES receive as a welcome gift a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne (Vintage). All COVE RESIDENCES receive as a welcome gift a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne (Vintage). The inaugural season of the 922-guest vessel is scheduled to spend its inaugural season offering itineraries in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. In the final stages of construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, the new Explora II is set to enter service on August 11, 2024.
Ocean RETREAT Residence
Explora I - Cruise Ship Review Condé Nast Traveler - Condé Nast Traveler
Explora I - Cruise Ship Review Condé Nast Traveler.
Posted: Thu, 09 Nov 2023 21:32:41 GMT [source]
The double-height Lobby Bar in the center of the ship, located on decks 4 and 5, evokes a sumptuous grand city hotel. I adored this statement-making lounge for its decadence and glamor. It’s contemporary and light, with an elegant long bar, glowing backdrop of rows of luxury spirits and a shiny Steinway grand piano. The space features a neutral color palette with peach marble coffee tables spaced between cube chairs and sofas.
Journey Together Gatherings (shipboard family program)
The most notable of which is Anthology, which brings in guest chefs to create a quarterly tasting menu. During my journey, Michelin three-starred Ristorante Uliassi, located in Ancona, Italy, created an 8-course menu focusing on Adriatic seafood—the pasta with an infusion of fig leaves was exceptional. However, each dining establishment I tried left me satisfied, including the surprisingly excellent all-day dining venue Emporium Marketplace, which had made-to-order wood-fired pizza and an indulgent raw bar. The house champagne is Moet & Chandon Imperial, options like Nikka Whiskey and Johnnie Walker are included at the Malt Whiskey Bar, and the wine list offers hard-to-find bottles at a surprisingly fair price point.
OUR SHIPS
I didn’t get to try it, but passengers that did said it was extraordinary, with technical dishes such as raw red shrimp with mandarin extract, pineapple and sage flowers and seabass with roasted mango, morel mushrooms and butter sauce. MSC EXPLORA-class vessels' initial cost was EUR 495 million (USD 600M) per unit. This also delayed Explora Journeys' boats 3 and 4 deliveries that were rescheduled for 2026 (from 2025) and 2027 (from 2026), respectively.
Instead of Veuve Clicquot, guests in the higher-end suites receive a bottle of Dom Perignon Vintage 2013. In September, I had an overnight on the new Oceania Cruises' Vista ship, which quickly topped my list of best cruise staterooms I've ever stayed in. Explora I will sail Northern Europe, as well as New England and Eastern Canada this summer and fall, before continuing south to the Caribbean.
ALL CRUISE LINES (1543 SHIPS)
A well-equipped spa has several treatment rooms, plus all sorts of amenities such as a sauna, hydrotherapy pool, Himalayan salt cave, and a salon. A fitness center — bustling at most hours throughout my trip — is stocked with the latest Technogym gear. Explora I is the first big ship with a dedicated outdoor fitness area, too, on deck 14, where one afternoon a group of go-getters were busting it through a boot camp — though they just as easily could’ve been playing pickleball on the outdoor court nearby. The tasting-menu venue Anthology is the most ambitious, with menus designed by culinary superstars who commit to three-month rotations aboard the ship.
All OCEAN PENTHOUSES receive as a welcome gift a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne (Grand Vintage). All DELUXE PENTHOUSES receive as a welcome gift a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne (Grand Vintage). All PREMIER PENTHOUSES receive as a welcome gift a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne (Grand Vintage).
Explora really wants you to know that unlike most cruise giants, they are family owned and European.
For whatever reason, this spot picks up a lot of wind and it’s shaded, too, making it feel dark and underwhelming, wedged between crew utility areas and the front of the ship. Deck 5’s Astern Pool & Bar is another show piece, just on a smaller scale. This glamorous wake infinity pool wouldn’t be out of place in Bali, Cabo or Mykonos -- though you will likely hear Explora Journeys compare it to a super yacht. The pool is surrounded by plush double day beds sunken into the shallows of the water, with a sultry wake sightline.
A Luxury Hotel at Sea: Check Out Our Photos of Explora I - Cruise Critic
A Luxury Hotel at Sea: Check Out Our Photos of Explora I.
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:35:26 GMT [source]
Luckily, Explora I has the Conservatory Pool, a lovely space with a retractable glass top so people were able to have pool time despite the chilly weather. This is the only pool onboard that has outdoor dining, as you can order bento boxes from Sakura, the ship's Asian fusion restaurant. The infinity edge Astern pool perhaps drew the most oohs and aahs. The loungers throughout Explora I are more posh and plush than I've seen on any other luxury ship -- you melt right into them. I could only imagine the selfies that you'd take from the pool as the ship sailed into Positano or St. Barths (one hardy couple stuck it out for chilly San Francisco). Explora Journeys is owned by the Aponte family, who intended the ship's vibe to encompass the luxury they feel on their own yacht and personal vacations.
Citing delayed delivery (due to supply chain issues affecting the Fincantieri shipyard), MSC canceled 12x voyages (including 10x Mediterranean). In July 2023, the ship's delivery was delayed (CruiseMinus) and the Maiden Voyage was rescheduled for August 1st. MSC opened bookings for Explora Journeys (Explora 1's inaugural cruise season/2023) in January 2022.
We loved the approach that the line took to a traditional Broadway show, opting to fill the stage with faux candles and a singer with an excellent voice. Garanger said the line brings in special flour for its homemade pizzas. Baguettes and bread are made twice a day, as opposed to once, so all the baked goods are fresh. The Atoll Pool was also inviting, with the same posh loungers, most in the water so you could dip your feet. That shift in the music heard onboard, from standards to more Generation X favorites, is deliberate.
Explora I is the much-anticipated first cruise ship by Explora Journeys that debuted in August 2023. Explora Journeys is the luxury cruise line -- or luxury lifestyle brand -- by the Geneva-based MSC Group, with a further five ships in the pipeline. Luxurious, serene, and spacious, each of our 461 ocean-front suites, penthouses and residences have been created with refined European elegance, comfort and simplicity as the focus to offer a real ‘Home at Sea’ to our guests. The huge TERRACE covers the ship's full width and has an outdoor infinity pool, shower room, 3 daybeds, a dining area (6-seat table), lounge area (cushioned sofas and chairs). The ship's only extra-fee restaurant, Anthology, has a first-at-sea concept featuring rotating menus from MIchelin-starred chefs. On our sailing, San Francisco-based chef Claude Le Tohic had prepared the menu; previous guest chefs have included Emma Bengtsson from New York's Aquavit and Mario Uliassi from Italy.
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