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EJ Itineraries very Disappointing

Hlitner

By Hlitner,
in Explora Journeys

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

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When the MSC folks announced they were developing a "luxury cruise line" we were quite excited at the prospect of a new luxury line from the same folks who gave us the amazing Yacht Club.  When they further said they were going to build 4 (perhaps 6) 900 (approximate) passenger vessels we were also excited since this is a reasonable size for a new luxury product.

 

But now, when we look at the constantly changing EJ itineraries, we see a line based on 7-9 day cruises!  This does not fit the profile of what we would call a "luxury line" and sounds more like a slightly upgraded version of MSC Cruises.  Those of us who do generally book with Premium or Luxury lines are usually looking for longer cruises (measured in weeks/months rather than a few days).  Perhaps EJ will gradually embrace longer (and more exotic) itineraries, but we are not going to sit around and wait.  For us, it means booking more cruises with lines like Seabourn, Silverseas, Oceania, perhaps Regent, etc.  These days we seldom book anything less than 14 days and prefer at least twice that length.  

 

If we wanted to book a 7-9 day cruise we would still look towards MSC's Yacht Club.  And yes, we do understand that it is possible to string together a series of EJ cruises and develop a longer itinerary.  But the downside of this thinking is that when fellow passengers are constantly embarking/disembarking, a lot of the longer cruise experience (which partially involves building relationships with fellow passengers and crew) is lost.

 

Hank

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Waltershipman Holiday Sharing Rare

Waltershipman

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12 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

When the MSC folks announced they were developing a "luxury cruise line" we were quite excited at the prospect of a new luxury line from the same folks who gave us the amazing Yacht Club.  When they further said they were going to build 4 (perhaps 6) 900 (approximate) passenger vessels we were also excited since this is a reasonable size for a new luxury product.

 

But now, when we look at the constantly changing EJ itineraries, we see a line based on 7-9 day cruises!  This does not fit the profile of what we would call a "luxury line" and sounds more like a slightly upgraded version of MSC Cruises.  Those of us who do generally book with Premium or Luxury lines are usually looking for longer cruises (measured in weeks/months rather than a few days).  Perhaps EJ will gradually embrace longer (and more exotic) itineraries, but we are not going to sit around and wait.  For us, it means booking more cruises with lines like Seabourn, Silverseas, Oceania, perhaps Regent, etc.  These days we seldom book anything less than 14 days and prefer at least twice that length.  

 

If we wanted to book a 7-9 day cruise we would still look towards MSC's Yacht Club.  And yes, we do understand that it is possible to string together a series of EJ cruises and develop a longer itinerary.  But the downside of this thinking is that when fellow passengers are constantly embarking/disembarking, a lot of the longer cruise experience (which partially involves building relationships with fellow passengers and crew) is lost.

 

Hank

Looking forward to meeting you on board. In fact we also sail on Oceania Vista in January

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Nunagoras

Nunagoras

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Well: Let us to have a deep look on this all:

 

Of course EJ is not ready for the prime time. Crazy would be my best description of them right now.

 

At a so limited market, the ongoing itinerary change almost made them KO for the next 3 years in the full luxury markets where pretty much everyone knows each other, apart than with Russians, local middle east elites, and Chinese alike. E1 didn't end up in China, perhaps because they don't have a local partner yet... 

 

But I'm still confident that they have a chance even on west luxe market, but only from 2026 onward: Crystal is running on very older ships. Azamara has also some very old ships in their fleet. EJ has wonderful brand new hardware. Come the usual 2026-27 booking season for mid-to-full luxury deployment some AZ-Cr clients might to jump ships. And more important: By late next year EJ should to be more well known within the 35-55 client base they so wish to carry. Time will tell... But they have lots of work in front of them, surely.

 

As for the current itineraries: Pretty mainstream, but they're more a remedy than everything else. They may to use E3-E6 for the longer itineraries while retaining E1-E2 with its first user bugs as they are for the short-haul new luxury venture. Time will tell.

Edited by Nunagoras
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bitob

bitob

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As a general rule, those who sale on luxury lines want longer cruises.

This is huge negative for many.

The demographic on shorter cruises is very different from the demographic on longer cruises.

The Explora cruise I booked was attractive because it was 14 days (an absolute minimum for us).  

 

The big attraction for us was the ship and the hype that went with it.  

Crystal's ships are indeed very old and Explora outshines them in every way but if the on board experience fails, the ship becomes irrelevant.  Crystal has announced it plans new builds, but of course that will take a while.

 

I think the real competition now is the new builds on Regent and Silversea -- gorgeous ships with a great onboard experience.

 

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

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Great minds think alike :).  We are also on the O Vista, but not until late March.  We have no plans for any future EJ cruises (even if we truly like the product) because of the short itineraries.

 

Hank

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Waltershipman Holiday Sharing Rare

Waltershipman

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11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Great minds think alike :).  We are also on the O Vista, but not until late March.  We have no plans for any future EJ cruises (even if we truly like the product) because of the short itineraries.

 

Hank

Very interesting  finding EJ pax also booking  O Vista

 

I will keep you posted

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sasejm

sasejm

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We are having our two-week Explora II booked cruise canceled by Explora. I looked at the available Explora 1 cruises, excluding the upcoming Caribbean cruises that we are currently booked on one of them, and there is absolutely nothing that appeals to me. If I don't see anything on Explora II's upcoming itineraries, I'll be looking at Silversea, Regent, and Seabourn, rather than rebook another Explora cruise. 

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Mr Luxury

Mr Luxury

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28 minutes ago, sasejm said:

We are having our two-week Explora II booked cruise canceled by Explora. I looked at the available Explora 1 cruises, excluding the upcoming Caribbean cruises that we are currently booked on one of them, and there is absolutely nothing that appeals to me. If I don't see anything on Explora II's upcoming itineraries, I'll be looking at Silversea, Regent, and Seabourn, rather than rebook another Explora cruise. 

Wise move

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

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59 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Very interesting  finding EJ pax also booking  O Vista

 

I will keep you posted

We are equal opportunity cruisers.  In fact, we still mix mass market lines in with both Premium and Luxury products.  DW and I are capable of adapting to various levels of quality as long as feel we are getting good value.  The new O ships got our attention because they do not suffer from the negatives of the older "R" ships, such as very tiny cabin bathrooms and showers built for toothpicks.  Even the mass market lines have their pros.  We usually can find the positive aspects of most ships, although our recent HAL voyage has completely turned us off to that line.

 

DW tells me that our upcoming EJ cruise will put us on our 17th cruise line and O will be #18.  Although we do have hundreds of days on some lines, we really enjoy the variety found by using different lines, ships, and itineraries.  Too us it is all fun :).

 

Hank

 

 

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Waltershipman Holiday Sharing Rare

Waltershipman

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1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

We are equal opportunity cruisers.  In fact, we still mix mass market lines in with both Premium and Luxury products.  DW and I are capable of adapting to various levels of quality as long as feel we are getting good value.  The new O ships got our attention because they do not suffer from the negatives of the older "R" ships, such as very tiny cabin bathrooms and showers built for toothpicks.  Even the mass market lines have their pros.  We usually can find the positive aspects of most ships, although our recent HAL voyage has completely turned us off to that line.

 

DW tells me that our upcoming EJ cruise will put us on our 17th cruise line and O will be #18.  Although we do have hundreds of days on some lines, we really enjoy the variety found by using different lines, ships, and itineraries.  Too us it is all fun :).

 

Hank

 

 

Agreed variety cimbined with quality are big fun

 

I had a long response typed but lost it before posting. We too have experience with many lines. Our 1st experimce with the R  ship was with the now defunct Renaissance line. We were on it on Azamara. O in 2004 and most recent in a penthouse which was lovely on the Sirena after their remodel.  Gave up HAL many years ago.

 

We have enjoyed Celebrity most recently in January of this year as our 1st post Covid test run  and loved it. We have been pleased on O and our trip on Vista wil be our 3rd O cruise 

 

I am sure we share a lot of similar thoughts so it seems 

 

Btw when I set up the CC account it said to create a name not my own so i created my name Shipman as in Ship man because of my love for being on ships  and Walter brcause thatcwas my last dogs name 

 

Hank, all the best

 

David my actual name 

 

 

 

 

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uktog "Live from...." Rare

uktog

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2 hours ago, florisdekort said:

Explora’s new itineraries are incredibly disappointing. Even if we love our upcoming cruise (20 October - 3 November), there’s absolutely nothing we’re interested in booking as far out as they’ve now scheduled (spring 2025).  

Couldn’t agree more Floris. Goodness knows what we will spend our vouchers on (if we ever get them back) 

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Dr. Cocktail Great Review Rare

Dr. Cocktail

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2 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Has anyone seen any prices for the revised itineraries ? 

 

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

It seems that the prices will not be published for the time being. You can only know how much the cruise you like cost via your TA.

According to my travel agent, all will be revealed on September 7.

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