7 Nights A Journey to White Isle Bohemia and Italian Riviera Romance Cruise

EXPLORA II - a winner

We just returned from 14 nights aboard Explora II. The cruise met or exceeded our expectations in every way. We are experienced cruisers & like to travel on Seabourn, Regent, Silversea. The ship itself is spectacular. Our cabin was spotless, spacious & well laid out with plenty of outlets, cell phone charger closet space & heated bathroom floor. All the ships public spaces were quite beautiful including the show lounge & bars. DINING: without any "main" dining room we were a bit concerned about specialty restaurants. No reason to. We ate basically wherever & whenever we liked. Reservations were simple & easy. Even when we went to Emporium everything was made to order. We got used to stopping up there for some oysters & drinks before sitting down in Fil Rouge to Marble & Co. The wait staff was responsive. Jaime hats off to you. All the bartenders were great but the ones in the beautiful lobby bar exceptional. PORTS: Its the Med. so some better than others but we have cruised so often that we usually just do our own thing. Give Explora high marks for having buses avail. if you needed one. SHOWS: what you would expect from a relatively small (950 pax) ship. Individual entertainers good & house performers not so good. CHILDREN: surprisingly many on board but you never knew they were there. OVERALL - very impressive. Would highly recommend.

An amazing cruise experience.

Explora II beautiful and stylish ship, wonderfully designed and a pleasure to be aboard. The team were excellent throughout the trip and we were on for two weeks, food and beverage options all superb, pools wonderful, restaurants ranged from good to excellent. Embarkation and disembarkation were utterly seamless at Barcelona Cruise terminal, plenty of team around to help and guide with luggage, check in, directions to restaurants, stairwells, lifts, cabins and muster drills. Restaurants Sakura (Asian) was favourite inside and outside, sushi amazing. Marble & Co (Steak) was OK, not the best steak I have eaten but acceptable, service was great. Fil Rouge (French) excellent and we ate here the most, the foie gras and the dover sole were both repeat orders, Med Yacht Club (Mediterranean), food a little predictable but well executed. Emporium Marketplace (Buffet) was the best buffet I have ever eaten at by far, large number of dishes across every station prepared/ finished to order, everything served over the counter to you and and ever changing range of options. Bars Sky Bar on 14 always good fun and with a DJ for several nights, Explora deck 11 normally quite quiet but always with some entertainment going on. Astern Lounge Deck 5 home of the daily quiz and the music quiz always fun and the comedian and karaoke also here. Great cocktails throughout the trip and I tested plenty. Loved the coffee shop on 5 super service, great coffee and other hot/cold beverage options, great selection of ever changing nibbles from early to late. Entertainment was great in parts, Jen Tierney who was on for our first week was truly excellent, west end singer, amazing voice, great set and great person. Sean fantastic rock set, Tucker great comedian. The ship entertainment team also good, but I do agree with the general sentiment that the shows were were good not great. The team were great from end to end, a few name checks Lidia our room steward always where you needed her to be, Hamza in F&B the best smile you have ever seen, Ivy in Fil Rouge just the right balance of impeccable service and cheeky attitude, Angela in the coffee shop friendly and quietly efficient, Reuben International Host, entertainment guru and all round great guy, Ray Cruise Director funny, fascinating and with a wealth of great stories, Blessing in the marketplace, the definition of anticipatory service. Sevram, Ritchie, Pritesh, Marco, Zama you all made our cruise fabulous. Pools Deck 5 Astern was our favourite but all the pools lack enough shade options for those who do not tan so much. Pool service was OK but could have been a little more anticipatory. Deck 10 conservatory could sometimes feel a bit stuffy even with the roof open, Deck 12 Helios you needed to be up early to get a bed there.... but always looked good. So to finish, will definitely book again with Explora.

Explora, Great for all

Explora Journeys was amazing. I booked my trip for me and my family and then told some friends. We ended up with 43 on the trip together. The entire group had a blast. The ship was perfect. The staff was perfect. The food was amazing. The cabins are huge. The included drinks selection was able. I had some "fancy" people with me and wine snobs and they raved about it. We met each evening at the Lobby Bar and got ready for dinner and the next day excursion, it was amazing how such a large group could easily enjoy meals without having to really plan anything. It was seamless. The chance to go to South Spain was great. Most have already booked their next Explora Journeys cruise. After doing 13 MSC cruises in the past and loving it, it hard to think about doing anything but Explora Journeys going forward. We highly recommend.