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I Cruise Explora Journeys To See If It Lives Up To The Hype!
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Jun 3, 2025
Before boarding my Explora Journeys cruise, I had many questions, including if this new line would live up to the rave online reviews, who it is competing with, and who they were aiming at as I’d started seeing many ads targeting families with kids. So, as I boarded Explora II in Barcelona for an 11-night cruise, I was eager to discover more, and I did come away with clear answers, and one hurdle that had me thinking hard if I would cruise with them again. * Watch my Explora II ship tour: https://youtu.be/qIig4d1E0A0 * I Test Out If New Explora Journeys Lives Up To All The Hype https://youtu.be/IVXdyM5utWc For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * TeePublic Store: https://tipsfortravellers.dashery.com * Teespring Store: https://tips-for-travellers-youtube.creator-spring.com * Fourthwall: https://gary-bembridge-1-shop.fourthwall.com Book Cruise Port Excursions * Venture Ashore: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/excursions
View Video Transcript
0:00
before boarding my Explorer Journeys
0:02
cruise I had many questions including if
0:04
this new line would live up to the rave
0:06
online reviews who it's actually
0:08
competing with and who they were really
0:10
aiming at because I started seeing many
0:13
ads and promotions targeting families
0:15
with kids so as I boarded Explorer 2 in
0:18
Barcelona for an 11 night cruise I was
0:21
really eager to discover more and I did
0:23
come away with some clear answers and in
0:25
fact with one hurdle that had me
0:27
thinking really hard if I would cruise
0:29
with them again welcome aboard i'm Gary
0:31
Benbridge and as with all my cruises I
0:33
booked and paid for this trip myself at
0:36
the going rates via my usual travel
0:38
agent to ensure that I always offer
0:40
independent reviews and advice and I
0:42
will reveal later what the cruise cost
0:44
me because it didn't come cheap but
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first off who and what exactly is
0:50
Explorer Journeys calling itself a
0:52
luxury line it's owned by the A Ponte
0:54
family who also own MSse container ships
0:56
and MSC cruisers now at the time of
0:59
recording there are two ships in service
1:01
with six in total planned the ships
1:04
carry 922 guests at double occupancy in
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461 balcony cabins although because many
1:12
cabins have sofa beds maximum capacity
1:15
is higher now the ships have the same
1:17
layout and overall decor now unlike MSSE
1:20
they chose to have Explorer Journeys
1:22
mono language on MSSE cruises they do
1:25
everything in six languages on Explorer
1:27
Journeys they only use English overall
1:30
it's very European focused with the
1:32
onboard currency being the Euro dining
1:35
has European focus and so on but who are
1:39
they competing with who do they see as
1:42
their competition now I'll tell you my
1:44
thoughts based on what I actually
1:45
experienced through this but I thought
1:47
it important to establish who they see
1:50
as their competition upfront reading
1:53
interviews with the senior team
1:54
suggested they see it as an ultra luxury
1:58
line and this was actually confirmed
1:59
when they launched their loyalty program
2:01
and actually launched it while I was on
2:03
board my cruise their program offers
2:06
status match to nine existing cruise
2:08
lines they see as being equivalent all
2:11
are in the ultra luxury space seabour
2:13
region 7C's Silver Sea Crystal Ponant
2:16
Seadream Scenic Hepaglid and Ritz
2:18
Carlton yachts also I can see as I look
2:21
at pricing for next year and beyond they
2:23
sit in that comparable fair range more
2:27
on fairs later now let me talk about
2:29
what I found Explorer Journeys do well
2:31
what I thought they were rather average
2:33
at and things that didn't really work
2:35
and why including that potential deal
2:38
breaker for me so what did I like the
2:42
ships are stunning they look sleek and
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stylish from the outside and like a
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swanky five-star boutique hotel inside
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they say they're inspired by and worked
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with private yacht and upmarket hotel
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designers and I did very much see those
2:55
influences the ships are spacious they
2:58
have lots of choice of restaurants pools
3:01
fitness bars and lounges particularly
3:04
for a small luxury ship they have all
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balcony cabins in three broad categories
3:10
that they call ocean terraces pen houses
3:13
and residences all grades are actually
3:16
very plush and very luxurious now
3:17
because I want to dive more into the
3:19
explorer journey experience than the
3:21
ships and cabins here I've actually made
3:23
an indepth ship video tour and review
3:26
link at the end of this the second thing
3:28
I thought they did exceptionally well
3:30
was dining they offer a lot of choice
3:33
there are six restaurants and several
3:35
other places to get food or snacks and
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all but one of those restaurants is
3:40
included in the fair they have no main
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dining room and instead have two
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openseated restaurants which don't
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require any reservations one is Phil
3:50
Rouge offering French inspired
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international cuisine it's open for
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breakfast and dinner decentsized menus
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and I thought really good food the other
3:58
is the Mediterranean Yacht Club offering
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Mediterranean inspired dishes which is
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open for dinner and lunch on sea days i
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like the range of the menu and the
4:08
quality of the food at both by the way
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the menus don't change but they do have
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daily specials there are three specialty
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dining restaurants where you can go once
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per cruise though you can ask for more
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visits based on availability the first
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of those is Marble and Co a European
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steakhouse with good but fairly standard
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steakhouse menu as other lines next is
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Sakura an Asian fusion restaurant which
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is also open for lunch on port days this
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was my favorite restaurant with amazing
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Asian dishes and sushi the third is
4:42
Anthology it's a fancy Italian
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restaurant with a seven course tasting
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menu it costs €140 to dine there plus an
4:49
additional €60 if you want wine pairing
4:52
the food is good but personally I
4:54
wouldn't go there again as I felt it was
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actually overpriced next for casual
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dining there is their take on a buffet
5:00
venue the Emporium Marketplace it's more
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of a food hall concept with various
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stations like pasta pizza sushi carvy
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and so on what I really liked is the
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food at many of the stations is prepared
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to order and all food is served by the
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crew it's open for breakfast lunch and
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dinner so unlike the ultra luxury
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competition it means there is a casual
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dining venue in the evening which I
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really really liked the other places
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that you can get food or snacks were the
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following first Crema Cafe the coffee
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shop which is open from early morning
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until about 10 p.m at night with snacks
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relevant for the day next there's a
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gelatia and crepery out on the pool deck
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which was open just before midday until
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late afternoon thirdly at 4:00 every
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afternoon there's an excellent afternoon
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tea in the Explorer Lounge up on deck 11
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and fourthly room service which as well
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as a room service menu you can also
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order items from all of the restaurants
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when they're open i would say the food
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was amongst the best I've had at sea and
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very very competitive with those other
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ultra luxury lines that they're status
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matching the next thing that I also
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liked were the inclusions of course
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fairs are high but so are the inclusions
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included is as I mentioned all the
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dining except for Anthology alcoholic
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drinks wines soft drinks especially
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coffees were included as well while not
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as large a range as I've seen on my
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recent say Crystal or region trips it
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was an extensive list and wine drinkers
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especially I spoke to said the choices
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and options were very solid wi-fi is
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included it's very good as you can have
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three devices connected at any time it
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was fast and actually some of the best
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I've had at sea on any line gratuitities
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are included as is thermal spa access
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which has hot beds sauna steam room salt
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room and a hydrotherapy pool it's small
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and it could be a little bit difficult
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to get into though at some times of the
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day fitness classes were included and I
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liked that there were shuttle buses in
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all the ports that needed them that were
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laid on in terms of extras excursions
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were an additional cost and I'll come
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back to them later as a couple of key
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points on those then they had the added
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charge chef's kitchen cooking classes
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and also several specialtity drinks
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tastings called Journeys of Exquisite
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Experience with charges like Symphony of
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Champagne at €8 per person and Art of
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Nixology for €85 per person the fourth
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thing I really liked particularly
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because I travel solo is their approach
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to solo travelers they don't have solar
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cabins but solar fairs start from only
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15% search charge and upwards for and
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from what I could see looking ahead it
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never gets to more than about 50% at
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peak times also I like that the solo
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program on board had a lot of variety it
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was always hosted but instead of just
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having a meet up at the same time every
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day every day was a little bit different
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so sometimes solos met for breakfast
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others for lunch especially dining
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coffee afternoon tea and so on the other
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thing that I really liked as I mentioned
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earlier is status matching loyalty if
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you are an ultra luxury cruiser and you
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have high status you can move across or
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experiment with explorer journeys and
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get many perks even on your first trip
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what did I think was rather average
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especially versus ultra luxury lines
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there were three things that struck me
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as being average versus the others
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personally I did not find the service to
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be at the level of the more established
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lines they aspired to compete with
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although the guest to crew ratio is
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comparable at 1.25 passengers to one
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crew member most of the ultra luxury
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lines are either one for one or around
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about that level also I found service
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okay even when the ship was not selling
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full mine was only 75% full even then I
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could see and heard from others I spoke
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to that at times the service was not
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slick and that personal i tend to dine
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early and the service was fine but
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others ding later found it a bit erratic
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and slow this though I suspect will
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improve as a line establishes itself
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sizable number of the crew come from
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hotels not other cruise lines and I
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think there's still a learning process
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service is not bad it's just not as
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seamless proactive and certainly not as
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personal and personalized as many luxury
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lines so for example I noticed that
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unlike those lines where it's clear that
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crew are required to learn names there
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was very mixed usage of passenger names
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by crew and remembering my and other
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people's preferences but again I'm
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assuming this is going to evolve i did
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find it interesting when it comes to the
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cabins though that while on those ultra
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luxury lines they aspire to there's
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usually several cabin stews looking
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after you on Explorer 2 I just had one
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cabin stewart and I didn't see or
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interact with him much at all i was on
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an 11 night cruise and for days I would
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literally not see him at all now the
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cabin was well sorted it was cleaned but
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that kind of added touch ability to
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fine-tune service request changes
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additions and that kind of just was not
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possible which it is on other lines the
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second thing that I thought was at par
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at best was enrichment and port talks
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with other ultra luxury and luxury lines
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now I really like they have a dedicated
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port speaker not someone from the shore
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excursion team doing a port talk selling
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basically excursions now I was really
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fortunate because I had Karen Warl who's
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better known online as Cruise Ship Karen
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at cruise shipkaren.com now she spends
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many months on the ship giving really
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high quality and detailed port talks but
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friends cruising on their other ship
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reported that they had a way less good
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experience with those talks they also
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had a guest speaker on board talking
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about his experiences working on tours
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of rock bands the hotel director gave a
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couple of talks like on photography and
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classic cars we also had a
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representative for the Orca organization
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because we were setting an area with
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whales doing whale watching an arts and
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crafts program and those of course
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chef's kitchen cooking classes I
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mentioned earlier now the enrichment I
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felt was fine but it's a pretty standard
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program in the category and it's
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definitely below some of the ultra
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luxury lines like Crystal for example as
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they get established hopefully they will
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have tested out and identified more
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speakers across the program certainly of
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the level of a Karen Warl I think they
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definitely need to do so what did I
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think they were weaker or less good at
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including that potential deal breakaker
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for me there are a few things they did
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less well the first of those which
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hopefully they will get sorted is the
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pre cruise experience and the website
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which is a bit clunky and doesn't really
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work that well for example I was unable
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to book my shore excursions through the
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website because I'd used a travel agent
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i struggled and had issues to book
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dining online and had to speak to them
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to basically sort that out the
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information sent out was a little bit
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contradictory at times before the cruise
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the onboard app though worked well and I
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was able to use that i could look at the
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day program i could make reservations
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for dining tours and I could also check
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my account so the app was kind of okay i
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do have in the less good category though
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entertainment and the daily program of
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activities when I go on smaller ultra
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luxury and luxury ships I don't go for
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the entertainment as they have less
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resource and scale but even so I felt
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explorer journeys was on the weaker side
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versus the others first of all the shows
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in the Journeys Lounge they have a group
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of singers and a live band which is
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great and they put on very standard
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cruise themed singing performances
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but knowing from what I had read that
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the line hopes to attract way more Gen X
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so people aged 45 to 59 their shows felt
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really off for that for example the
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shows included Motor City with Mottown
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You Don't Mean a Thing with Swing and
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Rap Pack and Song Book which was Billy
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Joel songs now even for me as a baby
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boomer I found those kind of routines
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song choices kind of a little bit off
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not quite hitting my sweet spot the
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guest artists were very standard cruise
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fair and they work on lines like
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Celebrity and Horror in America 2 we had
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a violinist a magician and a West End
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Broadway
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singer they were fine they weren't
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anything special there was live music
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around the ship with pianist and
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guitarist in the lobby and in the
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explorer lounge so some live music not
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as much as on others the rest of the
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program was light with a few dance
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classes daily one daily trivia some
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sports events and a celebrate DJ at the
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Sky Bar on deck 14 they would play some
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recorded boring music in the stone
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lounge each evening before dinner
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coupled people would dance in the
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explorer lounge as well when they had
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the pianist or guitarist playing up
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there but it wasn't a key focus at this
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stage the itineries are not as diverse
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as their competition they have a smaller
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fleet they're very focused on the
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Caribbean and the Mediterranean which of
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course are strengths of MSC as a group
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so if you're really well traveled you're
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mostly going to be choosing this line to
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experience the line because you're not
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likely to find very different and new
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itineraries although they are definitely
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trying to go to more out of the way
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ports and as I look further ahead as new
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ships launch they're going to start
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including South America and parts of the
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Middle East again two areas which MSE
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also operate in and know quite well
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excursions I felt were disappointing
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overall they appeared to be partnering
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with Inter Cruisers based on the various
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buses and things I saw and they arranged
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tours for many other cruise lines now I
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didn't find the excursions that
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innovative or exciting and I think they
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relied a lot more on kind of panoramic
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touring i felt the other luxury and
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ultra luxury lines offer way more
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immersive and diverse tours which I
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think premium guests many of which are
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very well traveled are actually seeking
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i spoke to loads of people who are not
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very excited by the tours that they did
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i want to talk about the potential
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biggest downside for me one though that
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will be a huge upside for other
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travelers and this is the focus on kids
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and family now the Aponte family are
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extremely pro- family and believe and
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talk about the importance of families
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spending time together and of course on
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vacation they see Explorer Journeys as
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part of that in the materials they talk
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about we will happily welcome younger
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guests on board Explorer Journeys they
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offer infants under the age of two years
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to sell free children and teens up to
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the age of 18 will pay at most half the
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rate of adults certainly talking to the
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people that run the Nautilus Club the
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kids club on my ship they're definitely
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seeing a rapidly increasing number of
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kids coming on board they were getting
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up to 10% or more in some of the
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Caribbean sailings in the peak periods
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and even on our cruise which wasn't in
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school holiday time we had 24 kids but
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the selling after which was on East
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Holidays the number more than doubled
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that they're even adding more kids club
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space on the new ships coming on
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Explorer 3 and four they definitely
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intend to be a luxury cruise line that
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encourages families to cruise with them
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now other than Crystal which has some
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space allocated to kids clubs for peak
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holiday settings only Explorer Journeys
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offers a real and full luxury offer and
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program for families for me personally I
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prefer kids and teen free cruising and
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if that's you too I would avoid booking
15:55
in school vacation and seasonal holidays
15:58
and perhaps look for longer cruise
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lengths like say repositionings because
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you have less families on that by the
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way there's only one adult venue on the
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ship that's the Helios Pool and Bar on
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deck 12 however if you're looking for a
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luxury multigenerational or family
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cruise this seems like a great option
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now the other downside is of course cost
16:18
the trip is costly my 11 night Canary
16:20
Islands cruise as a solo traveler in an
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ocean terrace balcony cabin should have
16:24
cost me £8,250 that's £11,000 which is
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$1,000 a night i booked during a launch
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of the itinerary sale and got 30% off so
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it actually cost me $770 a night as I
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look ahead I can see fairs at least at
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that level and rising so I'm looking at
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booking another Explorer Journeys trip a
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transatlantic repositioning from Miami
16:43
to Barcelona which I won't be traveling
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solo on now this starts for the cheapest
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cabin at Ocean Terrace 01 from $1,000
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per cabin per night for two people
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that's £750 so it's pricey it's in the
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probably in the slightly lower range at
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the moment of other ultra luxury lines
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entry- level pricing is higher than
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luxury lines like Oceanania and Viking
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but it's very much an ultra luxury kind
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of pricing it's a pretty costly endeavor
17:09
and despite those misses if you are
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looking to cruise luxury I feel they
17:13
offer a real and appealing alternative
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to Seabororn Silver Sea Regent and
17:17
Crystal if nothing because they feel
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fresher more youthful and you will also
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likely be mixing with even more diverse
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nationalities on board because the
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nature of the group now as I mentioned
17:28
at the start I review and dive into
17:30
Explore Journeys ships in a dedicated
17:32
video so why don't you join me over
17:34
there and understand much more about the
17:36
ships the hits and the misses
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