As you plan future holidays/vacations I wanted to share with you an exciting new option with Explora Journeys. The feeling I have after spending 3 weeks on Explora I last month is that this new brand is truly setting a new standard in luxury & lifestyle hospitality, and I’d love to tell you more.
Explora Journeys is launching a distinctive European lifestyle experience for the discerning traveller, creating a category of their own; a true boutique resort at sea, where the address is the ocean. Through the art of listening, it has been designed with guest centricity - offering more space (the highest space-to-guest ratio in their category), and much more privacy than any other cruise brand. In fact, they don’t think of themselves as a cruise line, they offer transformative ocean experiences with a hotel philosophy, delivering to you lots of choices with slower and more immersive Journeys featuring lesser-known and off-the-beaten-track experiences.
It’s part of why they talk about Discovering your “Ocean State of Mind.”
Explora Journeys really sets itself apart with its ocean experiences. Their first two ships, EXPLORA I and EXPLORA II, feature longer days in port and overnight stays, throughout Africa & Indian Ocean, the Arabian Peninsula & India, Canada & New England, the Caribbean & Central America, Iceland & Greenland, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, United Kingdom & Ireland, Pacific Coast & Hawaii and South America.
The ships have been designed as if they are super-superyachts by a team of superyacht maritime architects in partnership with Fincantieri, the world's finest luxury shipbuilders. Their maiden journey commenced in the Summer 2023, showcasing their stunning new ship, EXPLORA I.
Explora Journeys is the vision and the dream of the Aponte Vago family, owners of the largest, privately owned shipping company in the world.
They have built and launched over 650 ships (with another 100 on order), and their legacy on the world’s oceans has lasted over 300 years. Now, with the launch of their passion project - Explora Journeys – MSC Group are entering the luxury lifestyle hospitality space.
With the utmost thoughtfulness and mindfulness about not only today’s discerning travellers, but those of the future, Explora Journeys differentiates itself by focusing on the essence of discovery, and those who crave it. Experiences onboard and on land are wholly guest-centric, developed in response to what guests want.
The team at Explora Journeys know that for travellers who want to sail with purpose…who want more space, choice, design, and privacy…who appreciate the Swiss gold thread of luxury…and who hold our planet’s oceans in the highest regard, not just any ocean liner will do.
Every private guest space is a home at sea; an all-suite ship, and each suite is oceanfront with a large terrace offering an abundance of amenities. Foodies will be delighted by eleven onboard culinary experiences, across eighteen sophisticated and varied venues.
Explora Journeys’ ships also offer a comprehensive and holistic well-being experience both indoors and out, both onboard and in select destinations whilst the Hosts onboard are passionate hospitality experts who wish to deliver intuitive personalised service, never obtrusive.
Travellers who holiday with Explora Journeys are those who long to be left exhilarated and not exhausted. Explora Journeys offers a different pace: slower, deeper and with more opportunity for immersion. You may even have a sense that you can touch the impossible; to reach out and fulfill a transcendent need that resonates deep within your being.
The land experiences this team has to offer are also remarkable, with the goal of fostering profound personal enrichment. Think camping on a polar ice cap in Greenland…whale-watching from a whirlpool in Norway…helicoptering over the colourful UNESCO World Heritage Site Iguazu Falls in Brazil, and much more. The Explora Journeys team has created something where luxury becomes joyful, personal, and transformative – whether onboard, exploring destinations with purpose, or reminiscing about the trip long after you’ve returned home.
If I’ve piqued your curiosity perhaps you'd like to join me on my next Explora adventure, scheduled for October 6, 2024 for a10 Night Sailing Roundtrip from Barcelona Oct 6th, 2024 to Malaga, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Portimão, Tangiers.