Latest news about Explora Journeys

[ljsanantonio]

frankhi—how did your EJ agent save you thousands?  

[happy cruzin]

6 hours ago, daleandrews said:

I added a tour the other week for a substituted port on our Glasgow to NYC trip and also found that there was absolutely no payment button that would "click" to enter payment information.  I sent Explora an email asking about this and they sent back an email letter with a link at the bottom for payment.  When I clicked the link to pay, however, and after selecting "credit card" and providing my card information, the site returned a page asking if I wanted to proceed to payment BUT the amount shown on that page was the total price of the whole cruise (which I had long since paid), not the cost of just the newly added excursion.  I wasn't going to click that (!!) so I emailed Explora again and was told that I had to delete the erroneous total cruise price on the page and insert the amount for the newly added excursion.  That worked but . . . the experience indicates that all of this is still pretty much a work in progress.  🙂 

We sail in November and I can log on to the website and see our itinerary and booking. But there are no tours/excursions listed. When did those open up for you to book??

[Stickman1990]

1 hour ago, happy cruzin said:

We sail in November and I can log on to the website and see our itinerary and booking. But there are no tours/excursions listed. When did those open up for you to book??

We sail next month and I still haven’t worked out his to access Tours on the portal let alone booking them. Managed to get ourselves checked in but can’t find anything about booking restaurants or tours online (not saying if isn’t there and happy if someone can tell me hod to access it) 

 

I’d talk to your TA or direct with Explora Journeys by phone and they San send you the list of excursions and the pricing - they did that instantly when I rang them

 

I’ve got to ask - do you really have 14 cruises booked with Explora as per your signature? - now that’s commitment!

Edited August 16, 2023 by Stickman1990

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, happy cruzin said:

We sail in November and I can log on to the website and see our itinerary and booking. But there are no tours/excursions listed. When did those open up for you to book??

Try this: Go to MY Account. Then To My Bookings. Then My Reservations. Click Duration (the days). Finally click experiences and they should all be listed.....

  We booked our tours for December, but to be sure we did it correctly we picked out what we wanted and called our Travel Agent to do the paying and booking for us.

Edited August 16, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[Stickman1990]

6 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Try this: Go to MY Account. Then To My Bookings.

Thanks - that’s where I fail - at Step 1 - my reservation isn’t attached to my profile and I can’t work out his to link it using my booking number (although we did manage eventually to complete the online checkin process and generate tickets and documentation

 

I’ll ring Explora Journeys today and get them to associate it then it should open up the options for me 

 

Early days issues I suspect…

[TER777]

It will eventually be fixed, but supposedly currently if you book excursions online you will pay for them at that time, that is you cannot use your shipboard credits to pay for them. Separately, was told today make sure you only have one booking number. If you have more than one, the onboard credits cannot carry over even though you are still onboard. Cannot not yet make restaurant reservations online. Just call. 

[frankhi]

3 hours ago, ljsanantonio said:

frankhi—how did your EJ agent save you thousands?  

The agent was able to use the promo 2 cat upgrade and 500 euro obc a second time. A TA I originally contacted said it could only be used once. The upgrade was from a Ocean Grand Terrace (GT)  to a deluxe penthouse (DP) which saved ~3+K USD. The EJ agent did the same upgrade on my first cruise, even, though I had it booked before the promo became available, so you might say saved another ~3+K.

[ljsanantonio]

Thanks. That is great! I will tuck that away for future travels. 

[frankhi]

3 minutes ago, ljsanantonio said:

Thanks. That is great! I will tuck that away for future travels. 

It seems like a lot of people just take their TA's word on things. When things go right it's because of the TA, when things go wrong it's because of the cruise line.

[happy cruzin]

3 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

We sail next month and I still haven’t worked out his to access Tours on the portal let alone booking them. Managed to get ourselves checked in but can’t find anything about booking restaurants or tours online (not saying if isn’t there and happy if someone can tell me hod to access it) 

 

I’d talk to your TA or direct with Explora Journeys by phone and they San send you the list of excursions and the pricing - they did that instantly when I rang them

 

I’ve got to ask - do you really have 14 cruises booked with Explora as per your signature? - now that’s commitment!

Lol…it’s days booked in my signature. 🥺

[jethapgun]

Hello - we are on the 10Nov sailing (2nd half of a Caribbean, San Juan to Miami 7 day). I was hoping once it was paid in full, we could see more excursions (and select them), but unfortunately could not. I called Explora Journeys and the representative walked me through the site, asked me what I saw, etc., but I was still unable to book excursions. He told me to contact my travel agent or he would book them for me.

 

I can view a small description of a total of 27 tours for 6 ports - if you include San Juan and Miami (+ the 4 islands). I'm not truly ready to book one of these, as they don't interest us and several are over-priced. I asked if they would be adding excursions and he said he didn't think so, but anything was possible. I understand that some of the offerings are more unique, but would like (a few) options of some more traditional tours - not necessarily the party boat - but a simple shuttle from St Kitts to Nevis would be nice. We've been to Ocean Cay a couple of times, and I'm pretty sure they had more than 4 choices for rentals/excursions, if you include 'rent the beach mat'. (Maybe they will be included, ha ha). A few days ago I was looking at one of the other luxury lines and they had 27 offerings just for St. Lucia. Was just wondering if anyone else is missing some of the traditional offerings and larger selection of tours? Thank you and have a great day!

[happy cruzin]

55 minutes ago, jethapgun said:

Hello - we are on the 10Nov sailing (2nd half of a Caribbean, San Juan to Miami 7 day). I was hoping once it was paid in full, we could see more excursions (and select them), but unfortunately could not. I called Explora Journeys and the representative walked me through the site, asked me what I saw, etc., but I was still unable to book excursions. He told me to contact my travel agent or he would book them for me.

 

I can view a small description of a total of 27 tours for 6 ports - if you include San Juan and Miami (+ the 4 islands). I'm not truly ready to book one of these, as they don't interest us and several are over-priced. I asked if they would be adding excursions and he said he didn't think so, but anything was possible. I understand that some of the offerings are more unique, but would like (a few) options of some more traditional tours - not necessarily the party boat - but a simple shuttle from St Kitts to Nevis would be nice. We've been to Ocean Cay a couple of times, and I'm pretty sure they had more than 4 choices for rentals/excursions, if you include 'rent the beach mat'. (Maybe they will be included, ha ha). A few days ago I was looking at one of the other luxury lines and they had 27 offerings just for St. Lucia. Was just wondering if anyone else is missing some of the traditional offerings and larger selection of tours? Thank you and have a great day!

Interesting…now I can see the “experiences” and I am also disappointed in the limited choices. 

[Dr. Cocktail]

2 hours ago, jethapgun said:

Was just wondering if anyone else is missing some of the traditional offerings and larger selection of tours? Thank you and have a great day!

Good morning!

 

It's funny - I will only book a ship's tour if I have obc to burn or if .... hmmmmm..... there is no other reason! (OK - I'm exaggerating - some shorter port stops need a ship's tour to manage the time constraints)

 

I always urge friends to go onto cruisecritic's parent company, TripAdvisor and look up tours for any destination. They're usually MUCH cheaper and offer a great selection. The "OMG, they'll get us back late and we'll miss the ship" argument holds no sway with me.  These companies know that if this happened, their online reviews would sink them and their business would disappear.  It's very different from arranging a tour with someone you find on the pier - I can honestly say that I can't remember being disappointed in any private offering that I have booked!

[java spot]

I have a question for someone on board about a couple of little things which do have an impact on my decision-making about what to pack.  Is there a choice of pillows in the suite? Are there down pillows of a variety of "strengths" (medium, firm, soft) and/or down alternative? Is it possible to change out? Also, I'm interested in knowing the brand of the soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion in the cabins,  From the images, I could only read gardenia but I will bring my own depending on what is reported.  Thanks so much to anyone who can answer these queries. 

[Critically Cruising]

49 minutes ago, java spot said:

I have a question for someone on board about a couple of little things which do have an impact on my decision-making about what to pack.

 

Another item.  I enjoy having well-shined shoes.  Does EJ provide shoe-shine service for their guests?  Would save me having to bring my own gear.

[Nunagoras]

5 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Good morning!

 

It's funny - I will only book a ship's tour if I have obc to burn or if .... hmmmmm..... there is no other reason! (OK - I'm exaggerating - some shorter port stops need a ship's tour to manage the time constraints)

 

I always urge friends to go onto cruisecritic's parent company, TripAdvisor and look up tours for any destination. They're usually MUCH cheaper and offer a great selection. The "OMG, they'll get us back late and we'll miss the ship" argument holds no sway with me.  These companies know that if this happened, their online reviews would sink them and their business would disappear.  It's very different from arranging a tour with someone you find on the pier - I can honestly say that I can't remember being disappointed in any private offering that I have booked!

True, but bear in mind the distance from port to main attractions. For example in my own Lisbon no need to a ship tour whatsoever. Ship will dock right in the center of the city near the central railway station which is one of the city's landmarks by itself!... Barcelona is another one. Ship will dock just round the main attractions, you'll just need an inexpensive shuttle provided by the port's authorities there, or you can hop on the HOHO straight away. Now think on places like Civitavecchia for Rome. Here the problems do start. Of course you can use the trains, but it is quite risky and booking independently is quite risky as well, unless you're on a cruise with an overnight there.

[TER777]

23 hours ago, java spot said:

I have a question for someone on board about a couple of little things which do have an impact on my decision-making about what to pack.  Is there a choice of pillows in the suite? Are there down pillows of a variety of "strengths" (medium, firm, soft) and/or down alternative? Is it possible to change out? Also, I'm interested in knowing the brand of the soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion in the cabins,  From the images, I could only read gardenia but I will bring my own depending on what is reported.  Thanks so much to anyone who can answer these queries. 

I don’t know about the pillows other than my bed has 4, 2 quite firm and 2 what I’d describe as medium. 
 

The products look to be private label. Mandala Blue by EJ. On the back label 2 brands listed: EJ and Culti Milano. 

[TER777]

5 hours ago, TER777 said:

I don’t know about the pillows other than my bed has 4, 2 quite firm and 2 what I’d describe as medium. 
 

The products look to be private label. Mandala Blue by EJ. On the back label 2 brands listed: EJ and Culti Milano. 

Yes, they said when I asked. There is a pillow menu. Just ask your room host for it. 

Edited August 18, 2023 by TER777

[java spot]

Thanks so much! @TER777

One more question. Strangely I did not see a refrigerator in the suites when gawking at all of the posted videos of the ship.  Is there a fridge there? 

[sasejm]

1 hour ago, java spot said:

Thanks so much! @TER777

One more question. Strangely I did not see a refrigerator in the suites when gawking at all of the posted videos of the ship.  Is there a fridge there? 

This is what is posted on Explora’s website for the ocean terrace suites description:

• “Private refrigerated mini-bar, replenished according to the guests’ preferences.”

Edited August 19, 2023 by sasejm

[uktog]

4 hours ago, java spot said:

Thanks so much! @TER777

One more question. Strangely I did not see a refrigerator in the suites when gawking at all of the posted videos of the ship.  Is there a fridge there? 

I have seen one video showing it, it’s in the tall unit by the terrace door 

[TER777]

34 minutes ago, uktog said:

I have seen one video showing it, it’s in the tall unit by the terrace door 

Correct

[TER777]

14 hours ago, TER777 said:

Yes, they said when I asked. There is a pillow menu. Just ask your room host for it. 

Correction. Ask your Suite Host. 

[Pitts27mf]

If possible, several of us would like to hear about the experience of an Explora Journey - ambiance, food, how you like each dining venue, activities during sea days, level of service in dining venues and oherwise throughout the ship, and would you book an Explora cruise again. This would be so helpful for those of us who are considering an Explora cruise. In the meantime, all the very best for a great time onboard your cruise!

[johng75370]

11 hours ago, TER777 said:

Correction. Ask your Suite Host. 

To what extent is Explora trying to enforce their new “language” (journey not cruise, host not crew, fueling not dining, etc)? 😃 Seems like the sort of thing I would violate left and right, so just wanting to know ahead of time if there are consequences for referring incorrectly about things like the trivia ritual 🤫.

Edited August 19, 2023 by johng75370