Explora Journeys Daily Journal: How to Plan Your Day Onboard
Updated: Aug 31
One thing we genuinely appreciate about Explora Journeys is that they haven't abandoned paper.
Almost everything you need during your journey can be accessed digitally, but throughout our time aboard Explora III, printed information was still an important part of the onboard experience.
And we like that.
On embarkation day, useful welcome information was already waiting for us in our suite. Then, during turndown service each evening, the Explora Journeys Daily Journal for the following day appeared.
It quickly became part of our evening routine.
Come back to the suite. Find tomorrow's Daily Journal. Look at where we're going, check the restaurant opening hours, see what entertainment is planned and decide whether there is anything we actually want to organise our day around.
In this guide, we're sharing the real Daily Journals from every day of our Explora III journey, together with the welcome information we received when boarding and our personalised disembarkation information at the end.
If you have an Explora Journeys cruise coming up, this should give you a very good idea of what to expect.
Download all planners in PDF HERE
What Is the Explora Journeys Daily Journal?
The Daily Journal is Explora Journeys' printed onboard programme.
On Explora III, we received the following day's edition in our suite during evening turndown service.
The exception was embarkation day, when the first Daily Journal was already waiting for us when we arrived.
But calling it an activity schedule doesn't really explain everything that's inside.
Depending on the day, the Journal contains:
Today's destination and port information
Arrival and all-aboard times
Tender or gangway information
Weather
Sunrise and sunset
Restaurant opening hours
Bar and lounge opening hours
Pool and spa hours
Fitness activities
Sports
Entertainment
Live music
Enrichment and talks
Destination Experiences
Nautilus Club activities
Shopping hours
Important onboard notices
Practical information for the day
There is also a QR code if you prefer accessing the programme digitally.
So although it is called a Daily Journal, it really acts as a combination of daily planner, onboard directory and destination briefing.
What this article contains (clickable)
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Before the First Daily Journal: Welcome Aboard Explora III
Before looking at the individual days, there is another useful piece of printed information.
When we arrived in our suite on Explora III, we found a separate welcome and embarkation guide.
This included practical information you are likely to want during your first few hours onboard, including suite readiness, luggage delivery, where to eat on embarkation afternoon, the mandatory safety briefing and Wi-Fi setup.
There was also a useful overview covering subjects such as:
Dining reservations
24-hour In-Suite Dining
Dress code
Smoking areas
Sun loungers and pool towels
Destination Experiences
PressReader
Travel essentials
Wellbeing information
The dress guidance, for example, reflects Explora's generally relaxed approach during the day, with a more elevated resort-casual style encouraged in the evening.
It's a lot of information to absorb on embarkation day, so having it physically available in the suite is useful.
Explora III Day 1 – Embarkation Day in Genoa
The first Daily Journal was already waiting in our suite when we boarded Explora III.
And the front page immediately shows why we find these useful.
You have the day's destination, all-aboard time, gangway information, sunrise, sunset and weather before you even get into the programme itself.
On our embarkation day in Genoa, the Journal naturally focused heavily on getting settled into the ship.
There was a welcome onboard DJ, spa introductions, fitness sessions, a guided Explora III ship tour, destination information, sports and live music.
There were also some more unusual events connected to this particular journey, including appearances by Jannik Sinner.
By evening, the programme had already expanded considerably, with live strings, piano, cocktails, entertainment, DJ sessions and late-night music.
And this is something worth understanding before your first Explora journey:
Explora can feel very relaxed without being empty.
You don't have to participate in anything. But when you actually look at the Daily Journal, there can be a surprising amount happening around the ship.
The restaurant and venue opening-hours page is also particularly helpful on embarkation day because you are still learning where everything is and when different venues operate.
How We Used the Daily Journal to Plan Our Days
You certainly don't need to plan every hour of an Explora journey.
We wouldn't want to.
But the Journal makes it very easy to identify a handful of things you might want to build your day around.
A typical day could look something like this.
07:00 – Start the Day Slowly... or Not
If you're an early riser, activities can begin around 07:00.
Across our Explora III Journals we saw things such as:
Morning Awakening Yoga
Walk a Mile
Traditional Mat Pilates
Open-air fitness
Pickleball
Padel
Fitness sessions
Or you can completely ignore all of that and start with coffee.
That is also perfectly acceptable.
08:00 – Breakfast
Breakfast hours are listed alongside the rest of the day's dining information.
Depending on the day, options included Fil Rouge, Emporium Marketplace, Crema Café and In-Suite Dining.
Opening times can change slightly from one day to another, so rather than assuming yesterday's breakfast hours are the same today, we found the Journal useful for checking.
Morning – Go Ashore or Stay Onboard
On port days, the front page becomes particularly important.
It gives you information such as arrival time, all-aboard time, tender arrangements and other port-specific instructions.
If you stay onboard, however, there can still be a full programme of fitness, sports, enrichment and other activities.
Lunch
Lunch is another reason to check the venue hours.
Explora III has several dining choices, but not every restaurant necessarily serves lunch every day.
Depending on the day, options might include Emporium Marketplace, Sakura, Med Yacht Club, Shore Club on 11 at The Conservatory, Explora Lounge or In-Suite Dining.
If you're particularly interested in the food onboard, it's worth taking thirty seconds each evening to see what is open the following day.
Afternoon – Do Something or Do Absolutely Nothing
The afternoon programme can contain a surprisingly broad mix.
We saw everything from trivia, talks and sporting activities to wellness sessions, live sporting events and art-related experiences.
And then there's the alternative:
Find a pool. Find a sun lounger. Stay there.
Explora works equally well both ways.
16:00 – Afternoon Tea
One small detail we particularly like seeing in the planner is Afternoon Tea & Strings in Explora Lounge.
During our journey this was generally scheduled around 16:00–17:00.
It's exactly the kind of experience you can easily miss if you never look at the programme.
You see it in the Journal the night before and think: maybe we'll do that tomorrow.
Late Afternoon – The Ship Changes Gear
Towards late afternoon, the programme gradually starts shifting towards the evening.
This could include live music, talks, meditation, cocktail gatherings, sail-away sessions and DJs.
The sunset time printed on the front page can also be useful here.
Sometimes the best plan is simply working out where you want to be when the sun goes down.
Dinner
The Daily Journal lists opening times for Explora III's restaurants, including venues such as:
Anthology
Marble & Co. Grill
Sakura
Fil Rouge
Med Yacht Club
Emporium Marketplace
It also lists bars and lounges.
This makes planning dinner around evening entertainment surprisingly straightforward.
See a show you want to watch at 21:45?
You can immediately check which dinner times make sense beforehand.
Evening – There Is More Happening Than You Might Expect
Explora Journeys doesn't present itself as a cruise line built around enormous production shows and constant organised entertainment.
But that doesn't mean the ship goes quiet after dinner.
Our Explora III Journals included resident musicians, vocalists, strings, guest entertainers, comedy, quizzes, karaoke, DJ sessions and different performances in Journeys Lounge, Explora Lounge, Aster Lounge, Lobby Bar and Sky Bar on 14.
Some live entertainment continued late into the evening.
Again, you can completely ignore it all.
But the options are there.
Explora III Day 2 – Marseille
The Journal delivered during our first evening turndown service was for our next day in Marseille.
This is where the value of the Journal as a port-day guide becomes much clearer.
The front page gave us our arrival information, all-aboard time, weather and shuttle information.
At the same time, the onboard programme continued throughout the day.
Morning options included fitness, Pilates, pickleball, padel, board games, coffee and Sudoku, port insights and art-related enrichment.
Later there was afternoon tea, trivia, wellness, music and entertainment.
The evening programme included the Captain's Welcome, live performers and other activities around the ship.
You can also see how the restaurant hours shift to suit a port day.
Explora III Day 3 – Saint-Tropez
Our next Daily Journal covered Saint-Tropez.
This was a tender port, and the Journal clearly explained the tender procedure.
That kind of information is particularly valuable because procedures can differ from one destination to another.
The programme onboard again continued alongside the port day, with morning fitness and sports, afternoon activities, enrichment and a full evening programme.
The Journal also highlighted entertainment such as Cinema Nouveau, guest entertainment and karaoke.
And once again, the dining page makes it very easy to see what is available if you decide to return to the ship for lunch or stay onboard for the entire day.
Explora III Day 4 – Villefranche-sur-Mer
The next Journal was for Villefranche-sur-Mer, another tender destination.
Again, the first page included practical tender information before moving into the day's destination introduction.
By this point in the journey, looking through the Journal had become routine.
Where are we tomorrow?
When is the last tender?
What's happening late afternoon?
When is afternoon tea?
Is there anything in Journeys Lounge we want to see?
What time do we want dinner?
That's really where we think the printed format works so well.
You can flick through the whole day in a minute or two and immediately understand the rhythm of tomorrow.
The programme on this day included yoga, fitness, sports, art, enrichment, solo traveller gatherings, music, entertainment and late-night activity.
There was even a session about the design of Explora III featuring Explora Journeys President Anna Nash and members of the team behind the ship.
Explora III Final Full Day – Livorno
And then comes the slightly sad Journal.
The final full day.
Our last Daily Journal covered Livorno, with information about the port, shuttle service and documentation required for going ashore.
The ship was still very much operating as normal.
There was another complete programme of activities, dining, wellness and entertainment.
But now the language starts changing.
There are farewell cocktails.
A farewell celebration with the senior officers.
Future Journeys information.
And reminders that tomorrow is disembarkation day.
The evening still included live music and entertainment, including the Voronkova Sisters performing a programme ranging from Beethoven to Nirvana.
So the final day doesn't simply stop because everyone is preparing to leave.
You still have one more evening onboard.
The Daily Journal Is Also a Port-Day Planner
Looking across the full set of Explora III Daily Journals, one of the things we hadn't really appreciated beforehand was how useful the front page becomes for planning port days.
Our Journals included destination-specific information for Marseille, Saint-Tropez, Villefranche-sur-Mer and Livorno.
Depending on the port, this included:
Arrival time
All-aboard or last-tender time
Gangway information
Tender procedures
Shuttle information
Local documentation requirements
Destination information
Destination Experience suggestions
Weather
Sunrise and sunset
So even if you aren't particularly interested in organised onboard activities, there is still a reason to look at the Daily Journal every evening.
Restaurant and Bar Opening Hours
This may actually be the section we checked most often.
Explora III has a lot of restaurants, bars and lounges, but the opening hours vary throughout the journey.
The Journal puts everything together on one page.
You can quickly see whether Sakura is open for lunch, what time Fil Rouge serves breakfast, when dinner begins at Marble & Co. Grill, when Emporium Marketplace closes and which lounges remain open late.
It also includes the day's hours for pools, whirlpools, Ocean Wellness, fitness facilities, retail and guest services.
It is effectively your onboard opening-hours directory for the day.
Paper Planner or My Explora Journeys App?
You don't actually have to choose.
The printed Journal itself includes QR codes allowing you to access the day's programme digitally, and the My Explora Journeys app provides useful information while you're moving around the ship.
We like having both.
The phone is convenient when you're already out.
The paper Journal is better when you're back in the suite looking at tomorrow.
And there is something rather nice about returning in the evening and finding the following day's programme waiting for you.
Not everything needs to become another notification
And Then Comes Disembarkation Day
Unfortunately, every journey eventually produces one piece of paper we'd rather not receive:
the disembarkation information.
Before arriving in Civitavecchia, we received a personalised Explora III disembarkation letter.
Unlike the standard Daily Journal, this document contained information specifically relevant to us.
It included:
Our assigned disembarkation group
Our scheduled departure time
When we needed to vacate the suite
Luggage instructions
The deadline for placing luggage outside
Onboard account information
Immigration and customs information
Breakfast opening hours
Having this physically in the suite is particularly useful.
On the final evening you are packing, checking luggage, deciding what needs to remain in your hand luggage and generally pretending the cruise isn't actually ending.
One clear piece of paper containing the important information makes everything easier.
What We Like About Explora Keeping the Daily Journal
Could all of this exist exclusively in an app?
Of course.
But we're glad it doesn't.
There is something very natural about finishing your evening aboard Explora III, coming back to the suite and finding tomorrow waiting for you.
You can look through the entire programme without notifications, menus or screens.
Maybe you find something you want to do.
Maybe you discover a restaurant is open for lunch tomorrow.
Maybe you realise the last tender is earlier than you expected.
Maybe afternoon tea sounds like a good idea.
Or maybe you look at twenty different activities, put the Journal down and decide your entire plan for tomorrow is:
Breakfast. Pool. Lunch. Repeat.
That's also a perfectly good Explora Journeys day.
Explora Journeys Daily Journals From Other Ships
Explora III is the main focus of this guide, but we'll continue building this into a wider collection of Explora Journeys Daily Journals and onboard information.
We also have material from our journeys aboard other Explora ships, and we'll add more as we travel.
That should gradually make this page useful not only for guests preparing for Explora III, but for anyone curious about what everyday life with Explora Journeys actually looks like.
Before Your Own Explora Journey
If you have an Explora Journeys cruise coming up, have a look through the real planners above.
Don't use them to try to schedule your future cruise hour by hour.
Your itinerary, entertainment and activities will be different.
Instead, use them to understand how an Explora Journeys day actually works.
Look at the variety of activities.
Look at the restaurant hours.
Look at how port information is presented.
Look at how much — or how little — you can choose to do.
Then when you finally get onboard, we'd recommend a very simple evening routine:
Come back to your suite. Find tomorrow's Daily Journal. Pour a drink or make a coffee.
Spend five minutes seeing what tomorrow brings.
Then decide whether to follow the plan...
...or ignore it completely.
Both can make for a very good day aboard Explora III.
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