I was first aboard Explora Journey’s new cruise ship. Does it beat the competition?
A first-look at the newest luxury hotel-at-sea cruise ship concept by Explora Journeys
You join me on a horizontal skyscraper in the Mediterranean. This is the newest cruise ship in the world. The paint has barely dried. Not a scuff or blemish can be found anywhere along her 268 metres and 14 storeys. She is also in contention for being the most luxurious vessel of her type. But as this is technically a ‘shakedown’ ahead of the first official voyage, and a champagne bottle has yet to strike her bow, all I can think of is the Titanic. The 450 passengers are comprised of lifestyle media, influencers and travel agents: Gluttonous, freeloading guinea pigs. Are there enough lifeboats? Will a cryogenically-unfrozen James Cameron appear in a submersible 85 years from now at my floor-to-ceiling cabin windows with an underwater Panavision camera, or whatever Hollywood uses in the year 2111?
Fortunately there are no icebergs off the coast of Italy, France or Spain. Certainly not in the oppressive height of August heat. We are sailing aboard Explora Journeys’ third ship, the not-so-imaginatively-titled Explora III. Our three-night voyage will take us from Civitavecchia, 37 miles north west of Rome, to Barcelona, via Portofino. In Barcelona, she will finally have a jeroboam of French fizz smashed against her hull, which should ward off any superstitions of her going down.
Explora III: a new era for cruise
Explora Journeys is a bellwether for what has become one of the fastest-growing trends in luxury travel. Since 2015, the number of luxury cruise passengers has tripled from 400,000 to more than 1.2 million last year, with the number of berths on ships growing to keep pace. The industry is expected to keep growing at this rate, which is why Explora is set to build another three ships in the next two years. That’s some serious momentum. Explora Journeys, which is part of the vast Italo-Swiss family-owned MSC Group (container shipping, passenger travel and logistics), only unveiled its first cruise ship three years ago.
Explora III differs from its two forebears in that it’s powered by sustainable liquified natural gas (LNG), and to accommodate bigger fuel tanks, this ship is 19.2 metres longer than her sisters. Vertically, that’s allowed for more suites and public spaces, including the addition of a wine tasting room, a private dining room, and an alfresco cigar lounge. There’s thick carpet, exquisite chandeliers hand-blown in Murano, and acres of Italian marble. There are more swimming pools than I can count, a sleek spa, a Technogym-packed fitness centre and, on the top floor, in the shadow of its big funnel, the ship has a Jannick Sinner-inaugurated padel court.
A cruise with culinary credentials
Explora III has seven standalone restaurants; the most notable of which are Marble & Co (top notch steak), Sakura (sensational pan-Asian food set in an oriental fantasia), and Anthology (a crisp dining room serving melt-in-the-mouth wagyu, for an additional cost of £141pp). The house wines were all quite passable, but the weighty carte will direct you towards four and even five-figure vintages, should you wish.
There are a variety of suite sizes available, trimmed in beige, chocolate and dark wood. Mine is bigger than most London flats and has a hot tub on its balcony. The ‘mini bar’ is anything but: You can choose from a list of premium spirits and full size bottles are delivered to your room at no added cost. Most of mine will go home in my suitcase. My room also includes an impressive library, from the predictable Assouline coffee table crunchers to some surprisingly anti-MAGA literature; Mary L. Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough: How my family created the world’s most dangerous man, and James O’Brien’s How to Be Right. A chum of mine who’s also on board found Stormy Daniels’ memoir in his room. After this was mentioned to someone with the ear of Explora’s grande fromage, the book was swiftly and secretly removed. My pal’s gutted: He hadn’t got to the critical chapter yet.
Cruise five star hotel with a changing view
At the top end of the suite scale is the Owner’s Residence which stretches the width of the ship from port to starboard; 183 sq m of indoor space, and a further 132 sq m of balcony, overlooking the cabana-peppered stern. Boasting a steam room, whirlpool and Patricia Urquiola-designed furnishings, it’s yours from £38,800 for an eight-night cruise. Similar sums can be spent at the onboard Chopard, Cartier and Rolex boutiques, or the casino if you’re really feeling bold. Then there’s the Clarendon-run gallery, which has an assortment of Lichtensteins and Lowrys. A red dot next to a Mr Brainwash painting suggests that someone among my cohort had €91,800 to spare, and a total lack of taste.
With a passenger capacity of 922, Explora III can accommodate a couple of hundred more than Silversea’s newest ship, the Silver Ray, and the Crystal Serenity. With some 700 staff on board, it equates to more than one staffmember per passenger – 1.32:1 if we’re precise – a positively regal ratio yet par for the course in this elevated sector.
Aman at Sea launches next year
I was new to cruising up until a few months ago, when I spent 11 days on the Silver Ray, visiting some of the same ports as on this trip. It’s difficult to choose a winner when it comes to facilities and food, though Silversea felt a bit more homely and the charming staff were more relaxed. Maybe that’s because they’ve been on board longer.
Explora is a little bit more bling. Prior to May, when I took the Silver Ray to the Monaco Grand Prix, my only other experiences of cruising had been in the dead of winter; taking a Cunard from Southampton to Hamburg to visit the Belsen concentration camp; and joining a burlesque dancer friend on the Silja line between Stockholm and Helskini to watch her writhe around naked in an oversized champagne coupe. Different vibes. Because of MSC’s sponsorship of Formula 1, unlike Silversea it’s able to moor an Explora ship inside Monaco’s harbour walls on grand prix weekend. Also this summer, Explora II hosted the Ferrari Cavalcade from Venice to Athens, with Ferrari owners paying up to $100,000 to be part of this VIP car tour. In partnering with the world’s most glamorous sport and automotive marque, Explora is targeting a younger, international, monied clientele. A Saga holiday it is not.
Where would Titanic’s First Class be?
The old-fashioned image of cruise ships catering to those in St Peter’s waiting room, or flume-festooned floating theme parks geared towards kids, or Magaluf-on-the-Water booze cruises, has been superseded by smaller ultra-luxury cruises that have far more in keeping with the White Star Line ocean liners of yore. The most high-profile First Class passengers that went down on the Titanic would, today, be on their own Lürssen megayachts.
But others would, I’m sure, feel right at home aboard the current generation of luxe cruise ships. Silversea and Crystal established the bar, and Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons have also joined the party. Aman at Sea is launching next year. Explora sets out to be the Rolls-Royce to MSC’s BMW; sumptuous materials, sexy mood lighting, attention to detail, and oscietra on every menu. They each offer a twist on the same philosophy; a five-star hotel where the view changes every day, and from which you can see a sybaritic tranche of the world without having to pack and unpack more than once.
Adam was a guest of Explora Journeys, which offers eight nights’ all-inclusive sailing on the Nordic Discoveries and Geothermal Wonders cruise from Southampton to Reykjavik, departing on September 9, from £3,325pp. (explorajourneys.com).