As 2022 gets under way, luxury advisors are eagerly anticipating the launch of a new luxury cruise brand, Explora Journeys, setting sail in spring 2023. “I think Explora will be formidable competition in the market,” believes Tom Baker, president and partner, CruiseCenter in Houston, TX.
Owned by MSC Group, this new “luxury category” brand promises a vibrant, cosmopolitan European experience with a high level of service. Launching first in May 2023, the 63,900-gross tonne Explora I, will offer 461 suites. A second vessel, Explora II, will set sail in spring 2024.
In addition, two more sister ships are on the horizon for launch in 2025 and 2026, respectively. That’s a $2 billion-plus fleet investment. Is that original delivery schedule still holding? Luxury Travel Advisor asked Explora Journeys and the answer is "yes.”
Creating a Luxury Lifestyle Brand
Citing a long-held desire by Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman, MSC Group, and his wife, Alexa, to create a new luxury lifestyle brand, “we are bringing a vision and a dream to reality,” emphasizes Chris Austin, chief sales officer, Explora Journeys.
Describing the new brand as “a full guest-centric experience,” Austin explains that what advisors now see for the brand directly resulted from focus group research conducted with tens of thousands of consumers and travel advisors. It’s all about “the art of listening,” he tells us.
Hardware-wise, steel was cut for Explora I last October and construction is in progress at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard near Naples, Italy. The ship's "inaugural journey" is an 11-night voyage from Barcelona to Athens on May 31, 2023. That's one of eight such designated inaugural journeys.
First Year Highlights
Destination highlights? During its first year, Explora I will sail to the Scandinavian fjords and the Baltic region, Iceland and Greenland, the U.S. East Coast and Canada, the Caribbean,South America and Hawaii.
Luxury guests will go ashore at such popular destinations as Bordeaux and Saint-Tropez, France and Reykjavik, Iceland, to name just a few. But the ship will also take travelers to far-flung and remote spots, too.
For example, Explora I will journey to Norway's remote Lofoten Islands; Kastellorizo, a less visited destination in Greece’s Dodocanese islands; and Bozcaada, an Aegean island in the Cannakale Province of Turkiye (formerly Turkey).
Also, think of festive, says Austin, pointing to Explora I's Christmas or New Year's journeys for 2023-2024 within the Caribbean. In January and February, the ship starts sailing around South America. “Think of overnights, as well, in destinations like Rio [de Janeiro] where we’ll be in February. Guests will be able to go to Carnivale and experience that.”
In addition, he points out that during the first year, Explora I will also sail from Vancouver to Hawaii and Hawaii back to Vancouver.
Focus group participants said they desire "slower and deeper" itineraries, according to Austin. So, Explora I’s voyages will start at seven nights minimum, offer nonconventional arrival and departure times and offer many overnight stays.
“It means that they don’t want to have a vacation after ‘having a vacation,'" Austin notes. Simply put, luxury travelers often do so much on vacation, that they arrive home tired and feeling they need another, more relaxing, yet immersive vacation.
While the voyages are seven nights minimum, they can be eight or nine nights, too, and are combinable so travelers can build their own itinerary length. “We don’t home port,” notes Austin. “We seldom revisit a port, so you can combine those two sevens to make 14, or two sevens and an 11 to make a longer 25-night journey."
As for the unconventional arrival and departure times, “on our inaugural voyage, when we arrive into Saint-Tropez, we don’t drop anchor until noon,” he says. So, guests enjoy gorgeous sailing along the Provence coastline while having breakfast or doing whatever they choose.
“After the ship does drop anchor, guests can visit beach clubs in Saint-Tropez or Chartres or have a late lunch or whatever, but we’re not departing from Saint-Tropez until 11 p.m.,” Austin stresses. Guests have both a daytime and an evening experience ashore, and also the ability to travel farther inland—offering activities not possible with an earlier ship departure.
Austin says the focus group participants also asked: “Can you give us an overnight on each of the journeys?” So, when possible, the new brand will do that.
In addition, the focus group participants cited the value of a sea day. “It’s all about creating an ocean state of mind,” Austin acknowledges, adding that Explora Journeys plans to give guests time to enjoy the beauty of the ocean and to understand the passion that the brand’s founding family have for the ocean.
By cruise industry standards, the ship's double occupancy capacity will be about 900 guests. But advisors won’t see Explora Journeys using that typical industry terminology for capacity; rather, they will stress 461 suites. Nor, will advisors hear the words "cruise” or “voyage" from Austin or his team. “We’re changing some of our nomenclature on purpose,” Austin stresses. “We’re a trader of journeys.”
He says that approach typifies far more than just a cruise. It covers all elements of the travel experience. “So, it’s a “journey of your mind,” he says. “It’s a journey of connecting with others. It’s a journey of discovery of the places we’ve been” and so on.
Noting that that nomenclature reflects the focus group feedback of what appeals to luxury guests, Explora Journeys also describes ship balconies as “terraces.” Guests are served by "hosts," not crew members, and shore excursions are instead called “destination experiences.”
The Ship Itself
Spanning 14 decks, Explora I's architecture and style will reflect the vision of both superyacht and luxury hospitality designers. Each ship's 461 oceanfront suites and residences will have floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces.
“Our ship is designed to be 100 percent all-suite, all-oceanfront and all terraces,” Austin says. Again, the focus group participants said that “they wanted space, they wanted choice and they wanted their privacy."
The top-of-the-line accommodation? That’s one Owner’s Residence, spanning 3,014 square feet. Also, the ship will offer 22 Ocean Residences, 67 Ocean Penthouses and 371 Ocean Suites. For multi-generational families or friends traveling together, Explora I will have a robust number of connecting suites—82 in total. Also, "when you look at core space, we’re going to have the largest lead-in suite in our category,” Austin explains. “That suite is 377 square feet.”
Water is a strong focal point for the ship’s design. The new luxury ship will offer more than 26,910 square feet of deck space, 64 private cabanas and four pools. Three pools are outdoors and a fourth is all-weather with a retractable glass roof.
Guests will also discover both indoor and outdoor whirlpools on the promenade deck. Explora I will offer a full-service spa with both indoor and outdoor spaces, plus a state-of-the-art fitness center.
Austin says luxury travelers can expect anticipatory service, with a guest-to-crew ratio of 1:25-to-1. On the culinary front, the ship will offer nine dining experiences, including room service. “They’ll span a wide range of culinary choices,” he says—everything from “Mediterranean to Pan-Asian to international to a steakhouse” and so on.
Within 10 shipboard lounges—both interior and al fresco—guests will have plenty of places to spread out, relax and socialize. Enrichment will unfold in all lounges, fueled by “the power of storytelling," according to Austin. But, he adds, the focus groups were clear about what they didn't want, telling the brand: “Don’t build a big theater, don’t put on Broadway shows."
Operationally, Explora I and its sisters will have ship-to-shore power capabilities to avoid CO2 emissions while at berth and be powered at sea by marine gas oil. The vessels will also be RINA DOLPHIN-certified for reduced underwater noise. The ships' design will incorporate a provision for battery storage, allowing for future hybrid power generation, as well as the latest selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology. That will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 90 percent. Single-use plastics will not be used onboard nor offered during land-based experiences.
For those advisors who like to compare "the numbers," each Explora Journeys' ship will be 813 feet long, have a 105-foot beam and rise 184 feet above the water line. In addition, each will offer 178,680 square feet of total public space, 67,275 of that outdoor public space.
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