Speeches are made, champagne bottles are smashed, ship’s godmothers are named and Sister Sledge do an energetic turn on the rear pool deck while a drone display lights up the night. I am on the inaugural voyage of the latest ship from Explora Journeys and it’s clear the company is keen her launch does not go unnoticed.
Explora Journeys is the luxury cruise line of the ubiquitous MSC Group, the world’s largest shipping company, still privately owned by the Italian Aponte family. Numbers one and two of the Explora family are already at sea, while four, five, and six are taking shape in the Sestri Ponente shipyards in Genoa. The shipyard, the designers, the family, even the officers, go some way to explaining the style and glamour of Explora III. They are Italian, and so is she.
The president of Explora Journeys however is English, the impressive Anna Nash, formerly of Belmond, Rosewood, and then Aman hotel groups, and it is her hospitality background that really counts here. Nash is keen to bring the standards, and often the experienced staff, of ultra-luxury hotels to ocean travel. ‘Maybe the best hotel,’ runs their new marketing line over handsome images of Explora III, ‘is not a hotel at all.’ And for once a branding exercise might actually be on to something. If 5-star hotels are our measure, then Explora III is in a class of its own.
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Stay
No one speaks of cabins on Explora III, only suites, which is probably fair given their size. My Cove Residence Suite was a spacious two room affair with a palette of natural tones and elegant dark wood trim. It came with a dining table for four, a dressing room, a marble-lined bathroom, a deep balcony with loungers, and a hot tub as well as a welcome bottle of Moet & Chandon on ice.
There were luxury touches like a designer chess board, binoculars, a pillow menu, and a library of sophisticated books. I looked forward every evening to the gentle knock on my door of my butler, formally dressed in a tailcoat, to check if there was anything I needed. A few levels up from my suite is the Owners Residence, Explora’s most sumptuous offering, designed by super-star Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola with flowing marble surfaces and oak parquet.
Spanning the width of the ship, this super suite is 1,969 sq ft with 1420 st ft of balcony, plenty of space for a steam room, a full-sized bath, a whirlpool, an outside shower, two bedrooms, and a dining table for eight.
Dine
Like its sibling ships, Explora III has more top range dining options than many medium-size cities, let alone hotels. There are seven restaurants, from Anthology with its tasting menus (the only restaurant to carry a supplement) to the vast Emporium Marketplace whose ‘stations’ offer everything from full-on roasts to poke bowls, freshly rolled sushi, and oysters on ice. I loved the Med Yacht Club with its New England yachtie vibe – all brass ships instruments and models of famous craft.
Fils Rouge is more formal, a proper grown-up French restaurant while a curving backlit onyx staircase takes you up to pan-Asian Sakura with sweeping ocean views. Don’t miss their melt-in-the-mouth wagyu beef tataki or the exquisite Makrut Lime Pavlova. Much in demand is Marble & Co Grill, a high-end steak house with a more masculine feel. For a casual lunch there is the poolside Shore Club. Finally, The Chef’s Table offers private dining with a private chef.
Drink
Champagne, cocktails, premium spirits, and excellent wines are all liberally served onboard as part of your fare. But sommeliers are on hand to guide diners who want something more particular; with over 350 labels, Explora III claims to have the largest wine cellar at sea. In The Cellar, a wood-lined sanctuary, passengers can undertake a tasting journey through some top vintages like Pétrus, Château Le Pin, Harlan Estate, and Screaming EagIe.
As for the bars, I lost count, possibly the result of all that champagne. One of the most glamorous is in the central atrium, a soaring space with lashings of marble — Sahara Noir, pale Perlato di Sicilia and deep green Verdi Alpi — beneath two colossal Venier chandeliers from Murano. But the most fun is the Sky Bar, on the ship’s top deck. At night, underway, beneath a great umbrella of stars, this has to be the coolest place at sea.
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Wellness
Dedicated to encouraging what Explora likes to call an Ocean State of Mind, the fragrant oasis of the spa, where everyone seems to ooze a calm serenity, offers a Finnish sauna, a salt room, a steam room, an ice scrub, hydrotherapy, whirlpools, and sensory showers. If that doesn’t do if for you, perhaps you should try the Sava Sound Pod, “which uses low-frequency sound and vibration for deep meditation and recovery.” There is also a full menu of custom massages, facials, body rituals and treatments, as well as a beauty salon.
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Do
With Jannick Sinner as a brand ambassador, it is hardly a surprise that there are plenty of fitness options – a running track, a well-equipped gym, pickleball, padel, and basketball courts. If you are more stretchy than sweaty in your exercise tastes, there are yoga, Pilates and meditation classes as well as five swimming pools, one reserved exclusively for adults. For the decadent passengers, there is a casino as well as a cigar lounge, while younger travelers will enjoy the fun and games of the Nautilus Club.
On deck five, the Clarendon Art Gallery has original works that range from £500 (approx. $677) to almost £500,000 (approx. $677,650). The curators offer classes about art and artists, as well as talks about famous art scandals and investment strategies.
Finally, the whole point of a ship, unlike those dull 5-star hotels, is that they take you places. Explora Journeys is focused on shore excursions that hope to escape the predictable. In Alaska you can hop a helicopter up to the Mendenhall Glacier. In Amazonia, you can take a pirogue down the Kourou River to a local lunch of Guianese specialities. Upcoming itineraries include Norway, Iceland, the east coast of the United States, the Caribbean, and South America. Beyond lies Alaska, the islands of the Pacific and Japan.
Eight nights’ all-inclusive from £3,325pp (approx. $4,506).
