Why Seasoned Luxury Cruisers Are Switching to Explora Journeys (and Who Shouldn't)

The question I keep getting

For years, the luxury cruise conversation with our regulars was predictable. Everybody had their line. They had status, a favorite bartender, and strong opinions about who does the better caviar moment. Nobody was shopping around.

That’s changed. Lately, a lot of the questions we get about Explora Journeys come from those loyalists, not from first-time cruisers. They’ve seen the ships, they’ve heard the buzz, and they want to know one thing: is it actually better, or just newer?

It’s not just our clients

Explora is making noise across the whole industry, and not by accident.

Start at the top. In 2024, Explora named Anna Nash its president. She’d spent about a decade at Aman, most recently as chief commercial officer, after earlier roles at Rosewood and Orient-Express. When a cruise line hires its leader from the hotel brand people plan entire trips around, it’s telling you exactly what it wants to be.

The marketing follows through. Explora sells an “Ocean State of Mind,” and its “Maybe” campaign, launched in New York in February 2026, pokes gently at the idea of cruising itself: “Maybe the best hotel isn’t a hotel.” “Maybe the best rooftop doesn’t need a city.” “Maybe the hottest spot in town isn’t in town at all.” There’s no buffet and no waterslide in sight. It’s aimed squarely at people who say they don’t do cruises, and it’s landing.

So are the reviews. Cruise Critic’s Best in Cruise Awards named Explora the best luxury cruise line in 2024, and again in 2025.

And Explora’s own team tells us what we’ve been seeing: the guests it’s winning come from Oceania, Regent and Silversea, and once they’ve sailed Explora, a lot of them don’t go back. It’s pulling a younger crowd, too. Explora says the average guest on board is 56, noticeably younger than on the lines it competes with.

Where it’s winning hardest is with travelers who want the full five-star, all-inclusive experience without paying yacht-line prices. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is gorgeous, and it charges like it. Explora delivers a lot of that same feeling, often for noticeably less per night.

Full disclosure: Erin and I haven’t sailed Explora ourselves yet. That changes in March, when we’re hosting a group on Explora III. But our clients have, and what happens next is what got our attention:

“We’ve never seen onboard rebooking like this with any other cruise line. Across our agency, nearly half of Explora clients book their next journey before they’ve even stepped off their first. That tells you how well Explora understands what its guests want.”

— Erin Lockwood, ABC Trips, an affiliate of Scott & Thomas

Still, liking a line and pretending it’s right for everyone are two different jobs, and only one of them is mine. So here’s what I tell people, minus the brochure voice. If you want the full rundown of the brand itself, our guide to Explora Journeys covers it. This piece is for people who already cruise at this level and are deciding whether to move.

Five reasons people are switching

1. Every single suite has a terrace

This sounds like a small thing until you’ve booked an entry-level suite elsewhere and ended up with a window. On Explora, every suite faces the ocean and has a private terrace. The smallest one, the Ocean Terrace Suite, is 377 square feet including a 75-square-foot terrace. There’s no “lesser” category to talk yourself out of.

On Silversea, most suites have verandas, but not all of them do. Regent comes close. Oceania’s older ships still have inside and oceanview cabins.

The ships also run about 1.25 guests per crew member, and the public spaces are big for the passenger count. Explora likes to say it’s built like a boutique hotel, not a cruise ship: instead of one crowded pool deck, there are pools spread across the ship and 12 bars and lounges, so people spread out. More on the passenger count below, because it cuts both ways.

What this means for you: the entry suite is a real choice, not a compromise. Put the money you’d have spent climbing categories into the itinerary instead.

2. It’s the newest fleet in luxury cruising, and it’s growing fast

Explora I launched in July 2023 and Explora II followed in September 2024. Explora III was delivered in July 2026 and sailed its maiden voyage from Barcelona in August. It’s the first ship in the fleet that runs on liquefied natural gas, and it’s longer than its sisters while carrying about the same number of guests. Explora IV is due in 2027, Explora V in December 2027 and Explora VI in August 2028.

New ships mean new places. Explora III opens the line’s first Alaska season in May 2027, and its first Asia season follows in 2027–28. There’s a 128-day world journey on sale for 2029, and in September 2026 the parent company signed a letter of intent to take the brand onto rivers.

What this means for you: if you’ve done the classic Mediterranean loop on your usual line three times, Explora is adding itineraries faster than most established brands can refit their ships.

3. No formal nights. Ever.

Explora’s evening dress code is “elevated resort-casual,” and that’s it for the whole voyage. After 6pm the restaurants ask for no sportswear, caps or flip-flops, which is a bar most of us clear without trying.

Oceania skips formal nights too, and Regent and Silversea have both moved to “formal optional” on longer sailings, so nobody forces a tux on you there either. But if packing a jacket you’ll wear twice is the part of cruising you’d happily lose, Explora simply doesn’t have it.

What this means for you: a lighter suitcase, and dinners that feel like a good European hotel rather than a gala. Relaxed doesn’t mean sleepy, either: there are two shows every night, at 8:30 and 9:45.

4. It’s inclusive, and nothing important goes missing

This one needs honesty, because it’s where the brochure oversells. The fare includes unlimited drinks, including fine wines, Champagne and premium spirits. It also covers wifi, all gratuities, group fitness and wellness classes, the spa’s thermal area, and the port shuttles into town.

On Explora III, six of the seven restaurants are included: Fil Rouge, Med Yacht Club, Sakura, Marble & Co. Grill, Emporium Marketplace, and the poolside Shore Club at The Conservatory. So are Crema, the all-day café, and 24-hour in-suite dining.

That’s excellent. It’s also roughly what Regent gives you on board, and close to Silversea. Explora isn’t more inclusive than the top of the market; it matches it. The pull for switchers is that you give up very little of what you’re used to while getting the terrace, the new hardware and the relaxed evenings.

What this means for you: coming from Regent or Silversea, your bar tab and tipping habits don’t change; what changes is everything around them. Coming from Oceania, you’ll notice the difference at the bar: its base fare doesn’t include alcohol.

5. You don’t have to start your status over

This is the one that gets people off the fence. Explora Club, the loyalty program, will match your status from more than a dozen other cruise lines. The list reads like a who’s who of luxury cruising (Regent, Silversea, Crystal, the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Oceania, Scenic, Ponant) and it reaches as far as Princess and Celebrity. A few examples from Explora’s conversion chart:

• Regent: Gold, Platinum and Titanium match to Gold; Diamond and Commodore match to Platinum
• Silversea: 250 or 350 days match to Gold; 500 days matches to Platinum
• Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection: Gold Elite and Elite match to Gold; Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite match to Platinum
• Oceania: Gold and Platinum match to Gold; Diamond and President’s Circle match to Platinum

The ceiling is Platinum, so nobody gets matched straight to Diamond. You can only use the match once in your lifetime, and it takes about 10 business days to process. Our Explora Club review has the full tier breakdown.

What the tiers are worth: from Silver up, you get 5% off the fare on future journeys (it doesn’t combine with group or net fares, so on some sailings we’ll price it both ways). Gold adds an extra complimentary laundry bag each journey. Platinum gets a laundry bag every day, plus 100 in credits for Ocean Wellness and another 100 for Destination Experiences.

No luxury-line status? There’s another way in. Explora also matches status from MSC Voyagers Club, the loyalty program of its sister line, MSC Cruises: MSC Gold becomes Explora Gold, and MSC Diamond becomes Explora Platinum. MSC, in turn, runs its own status match that accepts the big mainstream cruise lines and hotel programs such as Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott. Where you land depends on your status, and each match is a one-time move, so ask us before you start.

I tried it myself before writing this. I don’t have status with any luxury cruise line, so I sent MSC a screenshot of the hotel status that comes with my Amex Business Platinum card. A couple of days later, MSC approved me for Gold and dropped 4,300 points into my account as a welcome. MSC Gold matches straight to Explora Gold, and just like that, I get an extra 5% off Explora sailings. Total effort: one screenshot and one form.

What this means for you: the thing that usually keeps a loyalist loyal (years of earned perks) mostly comes with you.

Want every line’s conversion on one page? Our free 12-page Explora Switcher’s Briefing has the full status-match chart, the MSC route, what’s included versus extra, and the honest list of who shouldn’t switch. Get the briefing →

The honest part: who shouldn’t switch

This is the section Explora won’t write, and it’s the one I’d read first.

If you want a small ship. Explora’s ships carry about 900 guests. That’s more than any Regent ship (700 to 750, or 822 on the new Seven Seas Prestige) and any Silversea ship (392 to 728). The space per guest is generous, so it rarely feels crowded, but it isn’t an intimate small ship.

If Regent’s included shore excursions are the reason you sail Regent. Regent includes unlimited shore excursions in every port. Explora doesn’t: its Destination Experiences are paid extras. On a port-heavy itinerary with a couple of excursions a day, that difference adds up fast. Do the math on your actual sailing before you assume Explora is the cheaper fare.

If you want every restaurant included. Anthology, the tasting-menu restaurant, costs €165 per person, plus €70 for the wine pairing. The Chef’s Table and The Cellar are paid too, as are the “ultra-exquisite” wines. On Regent, every specialty restaurant is included.

If you want ice and penguins. Explora has no expedition ships. For Antarctica or the high Arctic you want a line built for it, which is why we send so many travelers to Seabourn’s Venture and Pursuit. Our expedition cruise line comparison is the place to start.

If you like getting dressed up. Some people love a formal night, and Explora simply doesn’t do them.

If you want flights included. They aren’t. Explora’s optional Sky & Sea fare bundles economy flights, a hotel night and transfers, but premium cabins are up to you. Regent’s top fare does include air.

One more thing, which some will count as a plus: Explora welcomes kids from six months old and has the Nautilus Club for ages 6 to 17, but it aims to cap children at about 100 per sailing. For multigenerational families, that’s a real reason to switch. If you’d rather not share the pool with kids, Explora III’s Helios Pool is adults-only, and the calendar is your friend too. Summer and holiday sailings bring families; off-season, there are often hardly any children on board. An Explora rep told Erin she’d sailed nine nights last December with not a single child on board, and the Christmas sailing that boarded as she left was full of them.

The cheat sheet: Explora vs Regent vs Silversea vs Oceania

These are the three lines Explora tells us its new guests come from most. Ocean ships only; fares and policies change, so check the details on your sailing before you book.

How to book it right

Pick the itinerary first, then the ship. All three sailing ships share the same terrace-suite formula. Explora III is the newest, with the Shore Club and the Conservatory, so it’s the one I’d favor when the itinerary works. But don’t bend a trip around a ship.

Book the Ocean Terrace Suite unless you have a reason not to. Because every suite has a terrace, the entry category isn’t the compromise it is on other lines. Move up to a Penthouse or Residence for more space and extras, not because the base suite is lacking.

Move early on the debut seasons. Alaska in 2027 and Asia in 2027–28 are each launching with one Explora ship. If either is on your list, that’s a limited number of suites for a first season people have been waiting for.

Request your status match before you sail, and use your best status. Because it’s once per lifetime, match from the line where your tier is highest. You’ll need a screenshot or scan of your current status, and it’s done through your My Explora account or Explora’s guest services.

If you love it, rebook on board. Plenty of our clients do. Booking your next journey on the ship doesn’t cut your advisor out: the booking stays with us, and so does everything we do for you around it.

Let us price it. Explora bookings through us typically come with $150 per person in onboard credit through our Virtuoso partnership. Depending on the sailing, we can sometimes add more, like a better rate or an upgrade, and that part lives in your quote.

Want to try it with us first?

If you’d rather dip a toe in than commit to a long voyage, Erin and I are hosting a week in the Caribbean aboard Explora III, Miami to Barbados, March 14–21, 2027. Six ports, including Bequia, a small island most big ships can’t reach. It’s a good way to judge the line for yourself, with people who’ll tell you honestly what we think by day three.

Tell me where you sail now

Send me your current cruise line and status tier (hotel status counts, too), and a trip you’re considering. I’ll tell you what your status matches to, price the same kind of sailing on Explora against what you’d normally book, and give you a straight answer on whether switching makes sense for you. Request your quote here, or if you’d rather talk it through first, start here.