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My Explora II Ship Tour: Hits, Misses & That Unusual Venue
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Jun 7, 2025
Explora Journeys is the new luxury cruise line launched by the Aponte family that also own MSC Cruises, and so many of you have been asking for my thoughts about their ships. And in this ship tour I am going to look at the ship’s hits and misses based on my cruise on their newest ship, the 922 passenger 461 cabin Explora II. I’ll take you round the outside decks, through the dining venues, bars, lounges, and other facilities, including something unusual that only 2 other luxury ships have. And finally, I'm going to show and review the cabins. 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 * Shore Excursions Group: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/shoreexcursions My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com
View Video Transcript
0:00
explorer journeys is the new luxury
0:02
cruise line launched by the a pontto
0:04
family that also an mse cruisers and so
0:07
many of you have been asking for my
0:08
thoughts about their ships so welcome
0:10
aboard i'm gary benbridge and this i'm
0:12
going to look at the ship's hits and
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misses based on my cruise on their
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newest ship the 922 passenger 461 cabin
0:20
explorer 2 i'll take you around the
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outside decks through the dining venues
0:25
bars lounges and other facilities
0:27
including something unusual that only
0:30
two other luxury ships have and finally
0:32
of course i'm going to show you and
0:34
review the cabins from the outside the
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ship looks sleek and modern explorer
0:38
journeys say they're going for a
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yachtlike look i'm not entirely sure
0:42
that they've achieved it but you can see
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where the inspiration comes from so
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let's explore those outside decks the
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ship is absolutely designed for warm
0:51
weather cruising and they've taken an
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approach that increasing numbers of
0:55
modern cruise ships have including
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virgin voyages for example with generous
0:58
amount of outer deck space but it's
1:01
spread around the exterior decks with
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many different spaces and tucked away
1:05
areas rather than large open spaces
1:08
crammed with lounges one miss though for
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me especially for a luxury ship is
1:12
there's no full prominard deck right
1:14
around the ship here is what i actually
1:16
discovered exploring the outside decks
1:19
starting at the top highest and up on
1:21
deck 14 is the sky bar it overlooks the
1:24
rear of the ship it's a beautiful place
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to go on sailaway as they have a dj that
1:28
plays here but also it's a great spot to
1:30
enjoy the views on sunny sea days
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there's also a hot tub up here the first
1:35
of many also on deck 14 is the fitness
1:38
and sports area this is a well stocked
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open air gym here with rowers bikes and
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workout benches which include weights
1:45
they also have two courts for paddle
1:47
tennis and also for basketball down on
1:50
deck 12 you can stroll right around the
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ship if you're missing a prominard deck
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but there's also a walking and running
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track that weaves around most of this
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deck too what about swimming pools there
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are four main ones as well as several
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large hot tubs dotted around the ship on
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deck 12 at the front of the ship is the
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adult only helios adult pool and bar
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which is the only adult area on board
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this is important to note because
2:15
explorer journeys are targeting families
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more than any other luxury line also on
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deck 12 towards the rear are two large
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rectangular hot tubs overlooking each
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side of the ship down on deck 11 is the
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main pool this is the conservatory pool
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and bar it's a goodiz pool with comfy
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seating around it there are also two
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large covered hot tubs on either side
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there's a big screen here where they
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show movies formula 1 and so on
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on deck 10 is the atal pool and bar it's
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at the rear of the ship with seating
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covered areas and a good decentsized
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pool then down on deck 5 is the fourth
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of the main pools this is the stern pool
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and bar it's also at the rear of the
3:00
ship with seating covered areas again
3:02
and an infinity plunge pool it's a great
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space to be on sea days so that's the
3:07
outside decks now let's dive inside the
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ship first the interiors look very smart
3:12
and luxurious the ponte family worked
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with yacht and hotel designers not the
3:17
ship designers that others use and they
3:19
got personally involved in the detail of
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the designs and the decor when entering
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the ship for the first time there is a
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real sense of wow factor as you embark
3:29
on deck four or deck 5 into the grand
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two deck lobby with a feature staircase
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it felt a little bit like what viking
3:35
has done with their statement staircase
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most of the interior venues on explorer
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ships are on these two decks four and
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five and then the rest are up on deck 11
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so let me start with one of the main
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interest that most cruisers have the
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allimportant restaurants and dining all
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but one of the restaurants are included
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within the fair there are six
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restaurants so a lot of choice for a
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small ship luxury cruise line but there
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are also other places to get food at
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various times of the day there's no main
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dining room and there's several
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specialtity restaurants as well the
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alternatives to the main dining room are
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both on deck 4 and they're next to each
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other and neither of these restaurants
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require any booking there's field rouge
4:20
which is a frenchspired international
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cuisine restaurant which is open for
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breakfast and dinner i like to have
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breakfast here and has a really good
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menu range for dinner then there's the
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mediterranean yacht club next door which
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as the name implies focuses on
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mediterranean inspired food it's open
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for dinner every day and on sea days
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it's also open for lunch in both these
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venues the menus do not change but they
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do have daily specials there are three
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specialty restaurants up one deck on
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deck 5 now you're limited to one visit
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per cruise then you can go to them more
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often subject to
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availability first is marvel and co
4:58
which is a european inpired steakhouse
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which as you would expect has pretty
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good stakes and is a great looking venue
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next is my favorite restaurant sakura
5:07
which is an asian fusion restaurant open
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for dinner but importantly it's open for
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lunch on port days it's a really great
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place to go for sushi bento boxes on
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lunch i loved going there for lunch the
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third special restaurant is anthology
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it's an italian special restaurant it's
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expensive it cost me €140 to go there
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plus another €60 if i'd wanted the wine
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pairing for more casual dining there's
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the emporium marketplace up on deck 11
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which is open for breakfast lunch and
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dinner so unlike ultra luxury lines it
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does have a more casual dining option
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for dinner it's a spin on a buffet and
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is more like a food hall with different
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stations themed around things like sushi
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burger pasta and so on much of the food
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is freshly prepared to order and all of
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it is served by the crew it's a great
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venue and a nice take on buffet style
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dining for other food options if you
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didn't have enough already you first got
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kma cafe it's on deck 5 and was one of
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my favorite lounging areas crema cafe is
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a coffee shop it's extremely popular
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especially coffees are included in the
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fair as are all drinks by the way and
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they also have food and snacks based on
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the time of the day and also what's good
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it's open till about 10:00 at night then
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for more snacks there's the geleria and
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crepery near the conservatory pool on
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deck 11 open from roughly midday until
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late afternoon with a great selection of
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telato waffles and crepes you also have
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a great afternoon tea that's served
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every day in the explorer lounge on deck
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11 then of course you can have room
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service and what's good about that is
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you can also order from the restaurants
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if you're ordering in the evening when
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they're open so let's move on to the
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lounges and the bars on the lower level
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of that grand lobby i mentioned earlier
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is the lobby bar it's a greatl looking
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bar and a focal and popular meeting spot
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on the ship around the lobby bar is
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guest relations shore excursions desk
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and the shops more on the shops later
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also on deck four at the front of the
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ship is the journeys lounge this is the
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theater with a large bar here as well it
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has a cabaret theater layout and feel
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rather than being a traditional theater
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it's a beautiful venue hosting the port
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enrichment talks and the evening shows
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one deck up on deck 5 is the stone
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lounge and bar this is where they host
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some of the talks with the smaller
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audiences like the senior officers q&a
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trivia sessions and it's also the
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nightclub after 1000 p.m to find the
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other lounge and bars we need to head up
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to deck 11 where we have the explorer
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lounge this overlooks the bow of the
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ship has windows on three sides and it's
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really great venue for sailing it's also
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the venue where they have that fantastic
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daily afternoon tea that i mentioned and
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in the evening they have live music on
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the port side entrance to the explorer
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lounge is the malt whiskey bar which as
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the name suggests focus on whisies and
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connected to that is a cigar lounge with
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a large cigar selection one of the
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biggest that i've ever seen at sea so
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what are the other facilities on the
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inside of the ship there is a casino
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it's on deck four and while not a
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particularly large casino it has three
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tables including blackjack and roulette
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and a range of slot machines also on
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deck 4 are those shops i mentioned
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earlier these are all very upmarket
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brands in fact on explorer 1 it even has
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a rolex shop you don't have that on
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explorer 2 but you do have other
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high-end brands up on deck 5 is the
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galleria de art art gallery this isn't
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your usual park west cruise ship art
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gallery auctioning artwork but more of
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an exhibition space on explorer 2 this
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was photographs of undersea life by
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hussein ara khan next to that is the mse
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foundation desk mse runs a foundation
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which supports marine welfare and
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various aid groups and this desk inform
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guests about the programs sells
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fundraising merchandise and takes
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donations there is of course a spa with
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hairdresser barber nail bar and the
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usual treatments there's also a
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free-touse thermal spa area which is hot
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beds sauna steam room salt room and
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hydrotherapy pool it's small and could
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be a little bit difficult to get into at
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times though as well as that open air
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gym i mentioned there is a fitness
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center on deck 10 with modern equipment
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it was not large and i did find it could
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get rather busy on c days fitness
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classes are included in the fair on two
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decks are guest laundry rooms these are
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very popular with a couple of washing
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machines dryers and of course space to
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iron on deck 11 is the chef's kitchen
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where they run added charge cooking
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classes connected to the chef's kitchen
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is a dining room where they do host
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occasional special dining events for
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example the captain hosted dinner there
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for around about eight guests once per
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cruise i was actually really fortunate
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to be invited to one on my trip before i
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get into cabins what about that unusual
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venue they have for a luxury ship one of
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the things that explorer journeys has
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that most luxury cruise lines don't is a
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kids club it's called the nautilus club
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and it's for kids aged from six up to
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teenagers of 17 because there's only one
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venue on explorer 1 and two the times
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that they use those venues are divided
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between those two groupings on the next
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ships though they will have separate
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kids clubs by those ages they do run a
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full kids program and they do have quite
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a lot of kids on board in the key school
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vacation and holiday times
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now let's talk about the cabins i
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mentioned there's 461 cabins or with
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balconies and the ship holds 922
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passengers at double occupancy although
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a couple of things to note many of them
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do have sofa beds to accommodate
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families and there are good number of
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interconnecting cabins again with an eye
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for people traveling together something
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that's interesting is that not all of
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them have twin beds that can be made
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into double beds many have fixed queen
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or king-size beds so it's very important
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if you need twin beds that you make sure
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you're booking a cabin that is possible
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to do that they call their cabins homes
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at sea and they have three broad
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categories: ocean terraces pen houses
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and residences let's talk about them in
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more detail ocean terraces are the
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entry-level more standard balcony cabin
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in layout and size they are though a
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good size comparable to other new luxury
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cruise line ships they do have different
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grades from ot1 to ot4 which is
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basically based on location they do also
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have ocean grand terraces which have
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bigger balconies then there are the pen
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houses with the key difference between
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the ocean terraces and the pen houses
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being that those have a separate seating
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area and a separate dining area in the
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higher pen houses grades they also have
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a completely separate bedroom so they're
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effectively one bedroom suit they have
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four types of pen houses regular pen
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houses deluxe pen houses premier pen
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houses and grand pen houses then you
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move up to the residences which are
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larger than the penous they have bigger
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balconies all the balconies have hot
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tubs on them some of them at the rear of
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the ship with wrap round balconies they
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also have butlers or residence hosts as
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they're called in this category are cove
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residences retreat residences serenity
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residences cocoon residences and then
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there's the massive owner's residence
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which also has a large dining room it
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has a plunge pool which faces the rear
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of the ship very glitzy and large all
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the cabins have many amenities including
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fully stock mini bar espresso machine
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kettle refillable water bottles
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binoculars robes premium toiletries and
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so on explore ships really are really
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beautiful they look great from the
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outside they look great and have good
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choices on the inside but to find out
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more about the pros and the cons of
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cruising on explorer journeys join me
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over in this video where i dive into
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that detail see you over there
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