EXPLORA III is, in our opinion, the strongest evolution of Explora Journeys so far.

After previously sailing aboard both EXPLORA I and EXPLORA II, we boarded EXPLORA III during her inaugural season with a very different perspective from a first-time guest. We already knew the restaurants, the service style, the suites and the overall Explora concept. What we wanted to understand was what had actually improved.

The answer is more than we initially expected.

EXPLORA III keeps most of what we already loved about the first two ships while introducing a better flowing Lobby and Crema Café area, the new Shore Club, a completely redesigned Helios area and several smaller changes that make the ship feel more refined.

Not everything is better. The new wellness area is one example where, for us, EXPLORA I and II still have an advantage.

This review is based entirely on our own experience onboard and comparisons from sailing all three Explora Journeys ships.

EXPLORA II was our introduction to Explora Journeys — and it became far more than simply another cruise.

In March 2025 we boarded EXPLORA II in Miami for our first-ever Explora Journeys experience and our first transatlantic crossing. Over 14 nights and 15 days, we travelled from Miami through the Caribbean before crossing the Atlantic to Madeira, Porto and finally Lisbon.

It was also our longest cruise at that point and gave us enough time to experience EXPLORA II properly: the restaurants, bars, pools, wellness facilities, entertainment, sea days and the slower rhythm of life onboard.

We paid for the journey ourselves and originally travelled simply because we wanted to understand what the Explora Journeys concept was really like. By the time we reached Lisbon, it had become one of our most memorable cruise experiences and the beginning of a much deeper interest in the brand.

This guide is based on our own journey, photographs, videos and experiences onboard EXPLORA II.

EXPLORA I was our second Explora Journeys experience, following our first journey aboard EXPLORA II.

That made this cruise particularly interesting for us.

The first time we sailed with Explora Journeys, almost everything felt new: the food, the space, the service style and the freedom of life onboard. When we later boarded EXPLORA I in Lanzarote for a short four-night journey, we wanted to find out whether that first experience had simply been unusually good — or whether Explora Journeys could actually deliver the same standard on another ship.

The answer was remarkably clear.

EXPLORA I felt almost identical to EXPLORA II.

The same relaxed atmosphere, the same dining philosophy, the same spacious feeling and the same sense that you could structure the day almost entirely around what you wanted to do.

Our four nights were far too short to experience everything properly, but they confirmed something important for us: our first Explora journey had not been a one-off.