My first cruise surprised me…I was a skeptic who thought this would be a “one-and-done” experience, but quite the contrary, my cruise was delightful and a mode of travel I plan to frequently use in the future. Even so, there were some shortcomings…minor ones, but shortcomings nonetheless. Here are five areas for improvement on my first cruise onboard the luxurious Explora Journeys’ Explora I vessel.
My First Cruise: 5 Things I Disliked
I already pointed out seven things I loved onboard, but in the interest of fairness, I want to point to seven things that could have been better (ultimately, I could only come up with five). Compared to the positive, these issues are far more minor. Even so, and in the interest of creating a better product onboard, I offer this feedback
1. Limited Breakfast Hours
Since I do intermittent fasting at home (and like to on the road as well), I typically do not break my fast until 1:00 pm. Unfortunately, breakfast was not available past 10:00 am in the restaurants or 10:30 am from room service and I think that is far too early… especially from a room service menu. Finer hotels are able to offer 24/7 breakfast on the room service menu and I think Explora Journeys should as well. At the very least, something like an omelet or English-style breakfast should be available around-the-clock.
2. Limited Gelateria Hours
The ice cream parlor closed at 4:00 pm each day. That’s too early. I understand that might be to combat excessive demand in the evening hours, but I certainly would have enjoyed an ice cream after dinner and the restaurant selection was more limited than that gelateria.
3. No Fresh Milk
The coffee was excellent…the milk, not so much. I realize that stocking fresh milk is more difficult in that region, but the H-Milk (ultra-homogenized or ultra-high temperature) with a shelf life of months instead of days onboard is not great.
4. No Ab Machines In Gym
Sit-ups work in a pinch, but it would have been lovely to have a torso and ab-crunch machine in the gym: both a big part of my workout routine, so in that sense their lacking made my workouts incomplete.
5. No Berries
I eat berries every day…my “sweets” are in the form of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. I understand that berries are not cheap, but I’d love to see berries available onboard…at least for breakfast. The only berries I saw were as toppings on desserts and the (very) occasional sliced strawberry in a fruit salad. One day I did ask for a special bowl and my request was granted, but it was a very small bowl.
TLDR: My annoyances are downright trivial compared to all that was excellent onboard. There were no dealbreakers. Even so, I think extending breakfast gelateria hours are very low-hanging fruit that could make the experience better for all guests onboard.
Some of these come across as just being cheap. I haven’t followed this trip as closely as most of yours but I seem to recall that this was very much a pricey ship. If that’s the case, does it really matter if people get ice cream in the evening? Sure, the company would rather have you pay for a drink than get a free cone but cruises are all about indulgence.
Hours are well-intentioned if the intent is to give the breakfast kitchen staff and the ice cream staff a much needed break in the workday .
Breakfast until 10 am or 10:30 am is reasonable to the kitchen staff and most customers .
Ice cream until 4 pm is reasonable considering dinner and cocktails will be soon , and the ice cream staff may be needed elsewhere .
Many times in the military one arrives outside mess hall hours , and then one needs to open a can with a p-38 .
But this is a cruise, an industry not noted for caring at all about employees. Why have an ice cream location that just sits empty? It’s not out of concern for overworking your crew.
If I were the Captain or the cruise line , I would indeed care about the employees .
This cruise line takes care of its employees…they even get internet, which I understand is an industry-first.
Nice to see that there has been some progress. In my youthful days as a travel agent at the port of Miami that was very much not the case.
Why can’t they just shift the hours? 12 to 7 or something more reasonable.
12 to 7 for breakfast would be way too late .
Berries are antioxidants rich and freeze well. Gelato is supposed to be thrown away at the end of the day,it may as well be carried to the main kitchen and offered to guests and crew. Imagine my surprise the first time in Eastern Asia and having savory porridge for breakfast.
Berries are probably the worst fruits in terms of shelf life. They spoil and get mushy very soon so I understand how difficult it is to keep them fresh when you don’t have them supplied on a daily basis.
I’m actually surprised one of your complaints isn’t “shore time.” I followed your cruise closely because my travel goal for 2024 is to complete Caribbean bingo of sovereign countries. In doing so, I’ve fallen in love with the region, but I generally despise the area around cruise ports (which I avoid because I fly). With the exception of Virgin Gorda, it didn’t seem like you really enjoyed the destinations (obviously you enjoyed time with your son).
Having done this, what are cruises to you? An efficient way to tick off countries, or just an enjoyable boat ride with good food? Or did I misjudge your writing and did you really enjoy the whole package?
You are correct that I didn’t really care for any of the shore stops except for Virgin Gorda. I would have enjoyed being in St Johns, Antigua on a Sunday to go to church, but I never found the coffee I was seeking and while the Pitons in St. Lucia were beautiful from a distance, I certainly botched that.
Like you, I want to efficiently visit sovereign countries and these island nations are perfect for cruises like this. I had thought that the cruise itself would be just okay (but tolerable with a sauna and steam room twice a day and all food included), but the cruise itself turned out to be a delightful surprise. Great food and service, great room, and great amenities.
So while I hope to “kill two birds with one stone” whenever I cruise (visit new countries and enjoy the onboard experience), I would take this same cruise again, even if it meant no new countries.
Thanks for responding!
I’m inspired. If Explora has a cruise ex-BGI that stops in St. Vincent and Dominica, maybe I’m a buyer.
One tip from me if you do another cruise. Rent a car. Even if you’re only on shore for a few hours. Driving in the Eastern Caribbean is easy and fun, and when you have the freedom to go wherever you want, the islands take on a different persona. Great food, beautiful and empty beaches. Things are even kind of cheap, or at least not expensive. I HATED the Caribbean until I started renting cars.
Matthew what say you and I take an all-male cruise? We can share a room, if you know what I mean.
Fresh milk, they should keep a cow on the lower decks eh
LOL. Well, picking up milk in the port stops would be good enough.
“H-Milk (ultra-homogenized or ultra-high temperature) with a shelf life of months instead of days onboard is not great” – I grew up in rural Asia so used to the taste.
I agree about breakfast hours ending too early. People on vacation should sleep in. Nowadays with so many working flexible hours from home, some might still be sleeping by the time breakfast closes.
Myself I haven’t eaten breakfast since 17. There is no reason why one needs to eat “breakfast” food when they get up or eat immediately when getting up. Food wasn’t plentiful for most in the pre industrial era. Our bodies are designed by God obviously to eat when we can and not at set times.
Our bodies are the result of an evolutionary process from a time when food was not always immediately available. Or, that man in the sky thing, whatever. . .
Oh stop…
Very disrespectful.
No ab machines? No berries? No fresh milk? Come on, you can do better than this. You sound like an 80-year old grandma in Boynton Beach (formerly from Queens). How about annoyingly large crowds making your enjoyment of advertised amenities impossible? Absurd drink prices? Or that these ships roll more than you think in rough seas?
There were no crowds and alcohol was free…
I think the point is there was nothing of substance for me to complain about.
I’m just not that interested in sitting around onboard with too much time to eat too much food. I’d rather be walking around some picturesque old village. That said, for the same reason, cruises are a good way to get extended families to spend time together.
We have taken several all-inclusive multi-generational family trips and the limited hours for certain elements of dinning is typical of that type of business model.
I will forgive the lack of berries but not the shelf-stable milk – YUCK!
Winter pricing for your cruise is a shockingly good value for what that line offers.
Like Matthew, I never had much desire to go on a cruise. Until I made the first one three years ago and I loved it. And it was a basic three-day Carnival leaving from Miami with a single stop in Nassau.
Last September I did a one-week MSC leaving from Athens, and the route was magnificent: Santorini, Kusadasi (Turkey), Haifa (Israel – yes, I was lucky and managed to go to Jerusalem), Limassol (Cyprus) and Mykonos. Spectacular, perfect for a family or large group, wonderful food and shows and above all, the cost benefit was incredible, much cheaper than doing it on my own. I’ll definitely do it again.
May we please have a current abs pic to assess how ripped you’re still looking post-cruise without the abs machine onboard?