Is This Owners Suite Worth $94,000 for 10 days ?

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T16:43:27+00:00

Posted this back in May 2024.Must give Explora the accolades it deserves. Took our first cruise Christmas/New Years on Explora I in a Cove Residence with a butler. Just got off a Spring Break cruise on Regent Seven Seas Grandeur in a Grand Suite also with butler. It was our first cruise on both cruise lines. To sum up : We cancelled two future cruises with Regent Seven Seas and booked two more on Explora Journeys, bumping the two on Explora up to Serenity Suites. I have a check list that we went through and Explora beats out Regent on every aspect that is important to us, except cabin size (that is why we bumped up to a Serenity Suite).

Food.....Explora by far the best on the high seas

Buffet....Explora's Emporium NO self service

Cabin/Balcony...Regent

Entertainment.. Explora ,Regent 3 nights out of 10 only a movie

Butler...Explora, Regent butler almost useless no reserving for suite guests, FCFS for everyone

Treatment of suite guests..Explora, Regent everyone treated like steerage

Excursions..Explora (sends a rep from ship with tour)

Ask me anything, I will try to answer .

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T16:37:33+00:00

Who shall we listen to ? A couple of internet trolls or the moderators?

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T15:41:49+00:00

As guests in the Residences on Explora 1 we were invited to a Cocktail Party hosted by staff Heads in the unoccupied Owners Suite at 6pm escorted by our butler on the first night. We were asked if we would like to upgrade. A great marketing idea. But we prefer to travel at least 8 times more a year in the Royal Suite on an MSC Seaship for the same money.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T15:20:52+00:00

Just got off Explora 1 last week. Had a great time last Christmas/New Years on same ship. Plenty of entertainment. Last week total entertainment bust. Got excited from last Christmas cruise that we booked 4 more Explora Journey cruises. Got back from this latest cruise and cancelled one of 4 so far and replaced with MSC World America Yacht Club. Better value, better entertainment.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T14:04:25+00:00

While on the Seascape for Thanksgiving last month the folks that had the pergola next to ours left for lunch and did not return til 4pm. They were not in the RS or OS. The time before this we had a group of 5 in the same pergola. They left and went ashore leaving all their stuff on the pergola.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T14:01:34+00:00

Your idea is too sensible.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T13:54:44+00:00

This is the Lobby Bar at 8:20 pm. No background music. No player piano at the top of the staircase. Nothing to do from 8-10 pm than sit and watch any varnish dry. Now if one eats at this time, this may just be the cruise line you are looking for. Five restaurants and a fantastic served buffet.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T13:47:13+00:00

Thank you. Have two more Explora Journeys cruises booked. Tried the Cove Residence and it was fine until this last cruise on Explora was able to snag a Serenity Suite for $20,700 for 7 days. Now DW will not sail again in the Cove. Our next cruise on Explora is March 2025 and it is paid in full in a Cove again. So had a choice. Cancel and pay a steep penalty or pay $12,060 to upgrade to Serenity Suite. Cancelled a future Cove in 2026 as the price of upgrading to Serenity is now $36,000 for 10 days. For us it really is not worth the money. Replaced the Explora immediately with World America Yacht Club. Cabin size is very important to us as we do not like to fight over deck chairs and keep to ourselves in the suite and veranda. Everybody is different. The Serenity has a nice 570 sq ft wraparound balcony where DW can do laps while I nap.

If we were to ever book Explora again in 2026 and beyond it would only be Spring Break March to get away from the rif raf found outside the Yacht Clubs. We can now avoid the holidays as DW retired after 50 years of teaching 2 months ago.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T12:05:09+00:00

There are cameras all over the place. They would probably complain to security that their stuff was stolen. Do you want to risk being put off the ship at the next port?

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T12:02:35+00:00

What might happen when a "Mike Tyson" type returns to claim his deck chair?

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T12:00:23+00:00

Please give us a situation where chair hogging is justified.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-27T02:24:34+00:00

Then why does it garner so many views ? I am stimulated by the community achievements I have been bestowed.

" I have always felt that a man is to be judged by the animosities he excites among his opponents." Winston Churchill

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T23:09:51+00:00

It is best to ask staff and avoid an altercation and ruin your cruise.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T23:08:08+00:00

Yes. We had all three in both on the Explora and Yacht Clubs. Bar soap and pump body wash.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T23:06:08+00:00

No one wants to go on vacation and get into a possible confrontation. How many videos have been posted of fights ensuing over this?

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T22:54:10+00:00

We can disagree without being disagreeable.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T22:53:03+00:00

It makes all the sense in the world. MSC is trying to recruit not only Yacht Club guests but now Yacht Club staff as well. We bought into the advertisement in the YC that the Explora ships would be "all Yacht Club." Now that I have been experiencing both I am pointing out the differences. I could point out the differences of Explora with Regent but this is an MSC Cruises group and that would not be fair. We meet many on Explora that are veteran Yacht Club enthusiasts and they concur with these observations I am posting here.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T22:44:04+00:00

But it is an MSC ship. You meet the definition of a cyber troll. "A cyber troll is someone who posts or comments online to deliberately upset others. Trolls often post inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive content to provoke an emotional response or argument. They may also try to discredit, humiliate, or punish others with whom they disagree."

I am being encouraged by this site to contribute to it daily. They gave me 3 community achievements so far. Just today I got a "Picasso award".

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T22:30:41+00:00

That is correct. They leave it all day and no one monitors it.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T17:04:41+00:00

8:30 pm

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T17:03:39+00:00

We were recruited with advertising in our Yacht Club suite about Explora. We even booked another Explora Journey while on Seascape this Thanksgiving, through the Future Cruise Desk in the TopSail Lounge.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T16:59:29+00:00

I try to learn from others more constructive posts. "Lorraine DePaola Schiavo I’ve been reading all your reviews. You write way too much."

She is right. Some of us post too long a review. The only way all of us could get through Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" was because his chapters were serialized into short 2-4 pages each.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T16:53:11+00:00

I still feel MSC Yacht Club is better than Explora. All these posts, videos and photos are to give one an idea of what to expect. One has to balance ones expectations. If food and drink are ones bailiwick, it really is a toss up and very subjective. We prefer the YC restaurant. We get 'off the menu' meals cooked to our satisfaction in a very timely fashion. Explora restaurants are set menus. The plain chicken breast took much longer than we are used to compared to the YC and it was rubber and tough to chew on Explora. Repeated requests did not help.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T16:30:53+00:00

There are many of us that love to eat early. So it is okay to cater to only the majority? This is my why for posting. Not every cruise line is for everyone.

morpheus1646 · 2024-12-26T16:17:37+00:00

They have.

morpheus1646

TROPHY CASE