Explora Journeys is redefining the geography of luxury cruising by making extended port stays—sometimes lasting until the evening—the cornerstone of its Mediterranean itineraries.
Traditional cruises are driven by a logic of territorial conquest: calling at as many ports as possible, checking off capital cities, and setting sail before nightfall to avoid paying docking fees. Explora Journeys has built its offering around the opposite approach. The EXPLORA II, which will begin service in September 2024, remains docked in Casablanca, Málaga, and Madeira until the markets close and the local restaurants come to life. It’s as much an architectural statement as it is a philosophical one—spending the night at dock as a statement of principle.
The Mediterranean that EXPLORA II sails through is not the one found on mainstream itineraries. Patmos rather than Mykonos. La Gomera rather than Gran Canaria. Syracuse rather than Palermo—or rather: Syracuse and Palermo, but in an order that leaves time to visit the Vucciria market and understand why Sicilian cuisine is a synthesis of three overlapping civilizations. The itinerary doesn’t list the stops as destinations: it weaves them together like a dramatic narrative.
The ship as a hotel at anchor
EXPLORA II is modeled after a specific concept: a private yacht, not a cruise ship. All suites face the sea and feature private terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows. Eleven distinct dining experiences coexist on board—six restaurants, a “Chef’s Kitchen” with a rotating menu, and twelve bars and lounges—with in-suite service available 24 hours a day. There are five indoor and outdoor pools, all heated.
It is not the accumulation of amenities that defines this proposal, but their relationship to the outside world. The spa, the pools, and the suite terraces are designed so that the horizon remains visible—so that the ship never becomes a space cut off from the very thing for which it sails.
The Explora fleet draws its legitimacy from a distinct heritage: the Aponte family, shipowners for three hundred years, of which the MSC Group is the direct heir. EXPLORA I launched this line in July 2023; EXPLORA III, powered by liquefied natural gas, will join the fleet in July 2026, followed by EXPLORA IV in 2027, and then two additional vessels in 2027 and 2028 — each equipped with environmental technologies that the company has not yet specified in detail.
Gastronomy as a criterion for admission
The stops organized by Explora are designed with cultural engagement in mind rather than tourist consumption. In Lisbon, the 16th-century azulejos are not viewed in a national museum but in a historic convent, alongside artisans. In Málaga, the Picasso Museum opens for a private tour—the difference between an hour in line and a guided interpretation of the artwork from the family’s collections is considerable. Near Naples, the itinerary combines a visit to Pompeii before the influx of tour groups with a wine tasting featuring wines from the vineyards of Vesuvius: volcanic soil that gives local grape varieties a distinctive minerality that local winemakers have touted since Pliny the Elder.
In Palermo, a patrician residence offers an immersion in the culinary traditions associated with the Duchess of Palma—a reference to the Sicilian landed aristocracy, whose culinary history constitutes a well-documented body of knowledge, distinct from the standardized island folklore promoted by tour operators. In Tangier, the workshop in the souks does not offer a generic “Moroccan cooking class” but rather the preparation of a tagine under the authentic conditions of a home kitchen in the medina. It is this difference in approach that changes the nature of what one learns.
The itineraries range from four to nine nights—a flexibility that allows travelers to tailor their trip to the time they have available rather than adhering to a fixed schedule. The Mediterranean as envisioned by Explora Journeys is one of detours: Lanzarote for its black lava fields, where Malvasia winemakers cultivate their vines in individual, hand-dug craters; Santorini viewed from Fira rather than from the deck of a ship anchored two kilometers away; Syracuse for the best-preserved Greek theater in the Western world, where performances of Aeschylus and Sophocles have been held every summer since 1914.
What EXPLORA II offers is not a cruise in the conventional sense. It is a way to cross the Mediterranean at a pace that allows you to truly experience it.
EXPLORA II (launching in September 2024): suites with unobstructed ocean views, private terraces, and floor-to-ceiling windows. 11 culinary concepts, 6 restaurants, 1 Chef’s Kitchen, 12 bars and lounges, and 24-hour room service. 5 heated pools (indoor and outdoor). 4- to 9-night itineraries. Fleet planned through 2028 (LNG-powered EXPLORA III, July 2026).
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