John117 Posted July 17 #1 Share Posted July 17 We have a gty suite booked and having paid the final payment I have received an email telling me to check in which will save a lot of time at the port. When I login to my account I can at last see my two bookings and there are lots of places to click to start check in but that leads to an almost blank page. Sometimes I receive an error message which is in poor English but seems to be telling me to try again the day after my cabin has been allocated? Has anyone else experienced this problem? I have emailed EJ but no reply as yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bongomeme Posted July 17 #2 Share Posted July 17 Same situation, gty cabin. I called Explora and the agent said you can not check in until 60 prior to sail date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John117 Posted July 18 Author #3 Share Posted July 18 11 hours ago, Bongomeme said: Same situation, gty cabin. I called Explora and the agent said you can not check in until 60 prior to sail date. I have now reached to 60 day point and receiving emails every day telling me to check in. When I login it also advises me yo check in and there are numerous buttons to click but it doesn't work. A virtually blank screen is displayed. I rang Ej this morning and explained all this and was told I should be able to check in. The lady the spoke to her supervisor who said I have to wait till 7 days before when cabins will be allocated. Don't get a warm feeling that EJ have sorted themselves out yet after almost a year of operating? I now have a similar problem book restaurants where the tab shows it is available but nothing is!!!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sthrngary Posted July 18 #4 Share Posted July 18 @John117Please consider that there is a difference between Restaurant, Excursions and Check-in. Restaurants and Excursions you should be able to call. Check-In, that is another story. Allow me to set this up. The website for Explora Journey is the topic of many, many threads here. It is obviously a horrible website which we can talk in depth about. However, that is for another thread. For now, I would like to share my suggestion knowing others may be different and have way more experience then I do. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt. On Check-In, keep on trying. However, I have cruise many, many lines/brands. When I do every single thing on online check-in, from Passport to Pictures; when I get to the port, in the majority of the time, I have to do it again. I just smile and think, not very efficient. Yet all I care about is getting onboard. The amount of time to check in at the port and to do it online is small. The concern is having everything you will need to check in when you get to the port. Don't get frustrated, just check in at the port. That is my thoughts and I will do that myself. The much bigger issues is how this makes us all feel about a luxury brand. These kinds of issues happen all the time. One would hope however, when cruising a "Luxury Brand" they would have put more thought it to it. The good news is all is forgotten when your board as I said above. Good luck and keep us in the loop. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PaulMCO Posted July 27 #5 Share Posted July 27 Are doing the check in using a browser or the APP. We could not get the browser to work, did the APP with no issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John117 Posted July 27 Author #6 Share Posted July 27 Problem solved as 52 days out I have been allocated a cabin. I haven't been notified as yet but found it by chance when logged in to my account. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bongomeme Posted July 27 #7 Share Posted July 27 (edited) Thanks John 117…I am 62 days out (with a gty ot1) and hoping the check in works in 2 days. Have a great trip. ps are you happy with the cabin assigned to you? May I ask which one you got? Edited July 27 by Bongomeme 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claret and Blue Posted July 28 #8 Share Posted July 28 The website is a shambles! A mixture of incorrect information, missing information, incoherent error messages, and error messages when actually a change has been made. Hardly fills you with confidence ahead of a luxury cruise. Excuses like we are a new company don’t wash! They had all their experience & learnings from running the MSC line FFS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sthrngary Posted July 28 #9 Share Posted July 28 6 hours ago, Claret and Blue said: The website is a shambles! A mixture of incorrect information, missing information, incoherent error messages, and error messages when actually a change has been made. Hardly fills you with confidence ahead of a luxury cruise. Excuses like we are a new company don’t wash! They had all their experience & learnings from running the MSC line FFS! @Claret and Blue On every cruise brand, their is a reoccurring topic that won't go away. On Oceania Cruises it is that the Lobster on the outside grill is way over cooked and they ALWAYS cancel ports of calls. On the NCL Haven it is that the Menu in the Haven restaurant never changes from meal to meal and they only allow you one lobster tail per entre. Regents Seven Seas Cruises it is that the caviar tasting in your stateroom is not as good as it once's was. Explora Journey not to be out done it is they down graded the complementary champagne quality in the stateroom and the horrible website that frustrates the new luxury clients they are attempting to capture. Prior to my retirement, before my brain got somewhat fried as is obvious with my spelling/grammar, I remember a statement I heard and used when training team members. It when like this, "Will you rate your over all purchase experience, purchase, and enjoyment of a product or services based solely on one small aspect (5%) or on the other 95% which accomplishes your goal?" This question I had to ask myself some years back, when I did my first Luxury Cruise on Crystal Cruises. This was before Crystal went out of business and came back with new owners. Crystal Corporate office and land based team were in my humble opinion not quality. Yet when you went on the ship, from the first step off the port dock, the experience on the ship was great. Oh how I wished ALL consumer touch-points were of equally quality. But it was NOT. I cruised anyway and it was lovely. No excuses for the website and online reservations for Explora Journey, NONE. Unacceptable and frustrating which as the many say does not represent the luxury image they are attempting to portray. However, "it is easier to fix a website then the overall experience on the ship and journey." Therefore whether it be over cooked or limited access lobster, below average experience with land based team, caviar amenities, or in this case a horrible website; evaluate the whole product because for what ever reason, the final cruise might just be a positive big surprise. Just my thoughts and allows me personally to manage my expectations. Not saying others should agree or disagree. Just a lazy Sunday morning with a great cup of coffee, French bulldog named Otis Redding by my side and laptop in front of me. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Dr. Cocktail Posted July 28 #10 Share Posted July 28 6 hours ago, Sthrngary said: Therefore whether it be over cooked or limited access lobster, below average experience with land based team, caviar amenities, or in this case a horrible website; evaluate the whole product because for what ever reason, the final cruise might just be a positive big surprise. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. I am aware of my reputation here as an Explora cheerleader but the website, while frustrating, is only one part of the equation. I have been doing my registrations and stuff for my upcoming Seabourn cruise and lemme tell you, the website is NOT much better than Explora! Have I abandoned all hope for a successful Seabourn sailing? Big "no"! I'm sure that the website will be all forgotten within my first 54 nanoseconds after embarkation. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claret and Blue Posted July 28 #11 Share Posted July 28 1 hour ago, Dr. Cocktail said: I am aware of my reputation here as an Explora cheerleader but the website, while frustrating, is only one part of the equation. I have been doing my registrations and stuff for my upcoming Seabourn cruise and lemme tell you, the website is NOT much better than Explora! Have I abandoned all hope for a successful Seabourn sailing? Big "no"! I'm sure that the website will be all forgotten within my first 54 nanoseconds after embarkation. Of course. Me too, but that does not excuse crappy IT!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Dr. Cocktail Posted July 28 #12 Share Posted July 28 1 hour ago, Claret and Blue said: Of course. Me too, but that does not excuse crappy IT!! 100% .... but unfortunately, it's not isolated to E..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claret and Blue Posted July 29 #13 Share Posted July 29 …but as this is the EJ forum and as I’m going on an EJ cruise please forgive me for calling this out. The fact other cruise lines have poor websites too is not a justification to follow suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted July 29 #14 Share Posted July 29 3 hours ago, Claret and Blue said: …but as this is the EJ forum and as I’m going on an EJ cruise please forgive me for calling this out. The fact other cruise lines have poor websites too is not a justification to follow suit. A defence if I can call it that is that the cruise lines with website and other e commerce issues are all using Seaware software. It became the go to provider in recent years. It evidently is extremely good at managing the whole experience onboard (things guests won’t be aware or immediately see but which do affect your experience). However there are elements that are flaky as all lines have discovered and fixes can be challenging. I do not think Explora chose to follow suit as you put it. At the time they and others made the choice to use Seaware all the challenges hadn’t surfaced. Fixing them take time. Explora could make the experience a lot better by allowing the guest to do more of the interactions themselves without demanding only the travel agent handles it. Other lines (eg Azamara using the same software) do let me book excursions and pay using either my credit card or on board credit without going through the travel agent or call centre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now