Ocean travel has been gaining immense momentum in the hospitality realm, particularly among luxury hotel and resort groups looking to expand their reach and bring their five-star experiences to new demographics and new domains. As the competition heats up and shipyards around the world cut steel to start the construction of new vessels, one brand is already leading the reimagination and transformation of this spirited industry.
Explora Journeys was founded in 2021 under MSC Group and has been making impressive strides with its two remarkable ships, designed to be “homes at sea,” with four more to come by 2028. At the helm of this mission to redefine ocean experiences for a new generation of luxury travellers is Anna Nash, the president of Explora Journeys, whose personal relationship with seafaring served as her North Star for this latest adventure. In an exclusive conversation with Robb Report Hong Kong for Leaders of Luxury, Nash dives into the beauty of unhurried exploration, creating a connection with the ocean, and having an “ocean state of mind.”
Nash’s connection to the water began long before joining Explora Journeys, and reaffirmed a return to her roots, so to speak. “I grew up in the southwest of England, and I used to go to school every single day on a little tiny passenger ferry, so water has always been a constant,” she shares in conversation with Robb Report Hong Kong. “I also learned to sail from a very, very young age. I find water very grounding—very freeing. Every time I go back to my hometown in Devon, I want to do a walk along the coast. For me, water has always been a part of my life. It gives you that sense of freedom. It calms you down immediately. So, for me, this opportunity to further build on my career in ocean travel felt like it was meant to be.” (In a charming aside, Nash lets us in on a little “secret”: her first role out of university was actually with Orient Express, so her career in hospitality had started on the rails and on river cruising. “I’ve always been, in a way, enticed by travel that involves movement,” she says with a smile.)
Nash, who was appointed to her current position in September 2024 after most recently spending a decade-long tenure at Aman as their chief commercial officer, chief marketing officer, and chief communication officer, found the opportunity that Explora Journeys offered to be a perfect match, and the next step on a ladder where she could blend her many years of experience with a vision for the future of travel. “I’ve always been interested in people and bringing people together and that emotional connection that the travel brings. I first started in hospitality, really beginning in communication, [which] then led to brand strategy and leadership. Where I am now, this provides a once-in-a-career opportunity to brand-build and redefine ocean travel. It brought an opportunity to bring everything that I had learned in over 25 years of land-based hospitality and bring that to ocean travel,” she affirms.
At just four years old, Explora Journeys is certainly a newcomer to the ultra-luxury hospitality industry, but the Aponte Vago family, who created the brand, can lay claim to over 300 years of maritime history; its latest seafaring venture embodies a full-circle moment. “Our brand is a relatively new brand, and it’s a brand that was created by the Aponte Vago family on a white sheet of paper. We have the ability, as a family-owned brand, to really start from scratch and build something that has never yet been seen before,” Nash expounds. “Our guiding vision is the Aponte Vago family, but also this mindset that we created called the ‘ocean state of mind.’ It’s a very personal feeling. Every guest will have their own reasoning and their own feeling of the ocean state of mind. But we know that it’s that sense of discovery, that sense of being relaxed, that sense of being away from the pressures of everyday life. It’s a very personal experience.”
With MSC Cruises as a sister brand, Explora Journeys gains maritime wisdom, design, and know-how, with the freedom to strengthen ocean travel through an ultra-elegant lens, allowing for a stronger focus on innovation and guest experiences. “We were built on the art of listening. We created the brand after doing intense research about what customers would want to see in ocean travel,” Nash elaborates. “For me, continual listening has to stay focal to our vision to make sure we don’t move far from what we know our customers want: privacy and space.”
Explora Journeys’ ocean state and mind, the high level of personalisation, privacy, and space can all be found aboard the two operational vessels in its collection, Explora I and Explora II. Each comprising 461 oceanfront suites, penthouses, and residences, alongside five heated pools, six restaurants, 12 bars and lounges, outdoor sun decks with private cabanas, extensive wellness facilities, and an impressively high guest-to-host ratio of 1.25:1, guests aboard the vessels become part of a like-minded community, surrounded by state-of-the-art amenities, complimentary inclusive experiences, and warm hospitality. Cuisine, refined experiences, and transformative well-being are core philosophies and central to the guest experience aboard the Explora ships; Nash adds that “we have six standalone, independent restaurants on the ship or with full à la carte menus, which is quite different to traditional cruising. We’ve got ocean wellness and the spa, so there is enough for our guests to do, on extended journeys.”
Its Grand Journeys comprise a series of itineraries in 2025 and 2026 that takes travellers across the greatest oceans and continents in the world. Explora I completed a journey in April that took guests from Miami to Barcelona, stopping in Bermuda, Portugal, and Spain, and another voyage while Explora II sailed from Puerto Rico to Portugal earlier this year, with land experiences in St Barths, Antigua, and Portugal. More Grand Journeys crossing the Atlantic are scheduled, as are itineraries for the 2026–2027 winter season, including adventures in the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula, the Caribbean, and the Amazon. “We offer a variety of different destinations and different lengths of journeys,” Nash explains, as there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to travel. “It’s about finding that flexibility. It’s finding that sweet spot for our guests. We have journeys that sometimes start at four nights, seven nights, 14, and 21, and we don’t repeat ports within those periods, so our guests can stay on for extended periods. Grand Journeys are longer voyages with more time at sea. We will still have those incredible port visits, we will have the tours on land, but actually, we spend more time at sea, which gives all our guests the time to really switch off. We have a variety of activities throughout the day, so Grand Journeys combine the best of time on shore but also spending that quality time on the ocean.”
With the growing inclination of travellers wanting to spend more time at sea, opting for longer journeys, a new way of living is also on the rise, where home, work, and leisure are blended into one. Nash has witnessed the shift in her own guests and believes Explora Journeys is well-equipped to meet the changing expectations and demands. “We definitely see this trend of guests wanting to spend more time on extended journeys, and we will see them stay in our highest suite categories, which gives them a wider sense of space, larger oceanfront terraces, some with Jacuzzis and water features in their suites or on their terraces as well. It feels like a home at sea. It comes down to the amenities such as satellite WiFi—being able to connect [and] disconnect. It’s [about] giving them the freedom to […] do what they need to do.”
As Nash reflects on what luxury means to her, she cites something that is oft desired but finite to each individual: “Luxury for me is time—time is something that we’re all chasing [and] the older we get, the faster it goes. Finding those pockets—time out, time to decompress, and perhaps time to spend with your loved ones… For me, time is the absolute luxury.” (And in our books, perhaps just as important as having time is having the freedom to choose what to do with your precious time, certainly another luxury afforded aboard Explora Journeys’ ships.)
Shaping the narrative on refined ocean travel is no small task, and Nash doesn’t like to use the term “cruising” when describing Explora Journeys’ mission—she considers the heightened experience that the brand provides to its guests as transcending the typical image that people have of the cruise industry. “I still believe there’s a slight stigma attached to cruising and that it’s perhaps not what people imagine it to be,” she says, citing examples of common misconceptions rife among the public perception of cruises, such as long queues when boarding or disembarking the ship, subpar dining experiences, and rushed excursions and schedules. “For us, it’s completely the opposite. We really try and talk about ocean travel, and how we’re reimagining that experience. We describe ourselves in the simplest of terms as a floating hotel whose address is the ocean,” she explains, noting that the brand was born in Geneva and is a “European brand built on ultra-elegant sophistication with Swiss precision. We will take our guests on a very slow, unhurried journey. It’s about an ease of travel—a very unhurried way of exploration, with the ocean as your constant companion. It brings more connection to the ocean, which, of course, is what we’re all about.”
She’s not fond of the word “luxury,” either, to describe meaningful hospitality: “I feel that [the word is] very transactional for me. Hospitality has to be about an emotional connection, […] that experience that our teams provide for our guests. I would say that hospitality has evolved from that opulence, that overexaggeration sometimes of interiors, or that overexaggerated, inauthentic service to something that truly comes and is delivered from the heart.”
Now more than ever, travellers are on a quest to seek emotional connection. Embarking on a journey at sea creates a visible change, Nash asserts, noting that “there’s this incredible difference between land-based hospitality and ocean travel. I’ve witnessed the difference of our guests when they leave the shore behind and they enter the ship; you can see their shoulders drop, they instantly relax, and they have a longer time to connect with our hosts and our staff on board. [A] natural bond is built, and I see that when a service is delivered with a smile, a smile is delivered in return. And there’s this incredible relationship that’s built, sometimes friendship, between staff on board, our hosts on board, and our guests.”
Being on an Explora Journeys vessel encourages guests to leave the world behind, and emboldens them to feel equal, Nash explains, in a way that cannot be replicated in land-based hospitality. “In a hotel, you often see people in a hotel walking very fast through the lobby with their heads down, [but] that doesn’t happen on a ship. You’ll see that people’s faces and heads are up there, alert—they want to talk, they want to chat. I still can’t quite put my finger on it. What’s happening? But there is this magic that is created, and I think it only happens at sea.”
“I think that the world is very focused on digitisation, on tech, heads down in phones,” Nash adds. “I think what we’re all missing is that genuine connection, that ability to converse, have conversation. And the great thing is with the ship is that it provides adventure. Every day starts with a sunrise over the horizon. Now you can fill that day exactly how you wish. It’s an unstructured day with us, but it also ends with a beautiful sunset. And within that day, sunrise to sunset, a lot has happened, and that gives people the ability to have something to talk about, to chat with other guests about, to chat with our teams about. What is missing is this conversation and getting away from our phones. I really believe that we provide that in an authentic way that doesn’t say, ‘Put your phone down,’ but there’s so much going on throughout the day [that] it really, genuinely gives something for our guests to talk about.”
“I believe that cruising is an industry that has its best years yet to come,” Nash concludes. “As a new brand, Explorer Journeys is still in its early chapters, and the horizon for us is incredibly bright. We talk about Explora Journeys as journeys—not cruising—because journeys bring a sense of adventure. It starts with the anticipation. It then has that enriching journey, that adventure in the middle, and then the end, and, of course, that longing to return.” After all, in Nash’s own words, “If I could be anywhere in the world right now, it would be at sea.”
All original images by Chris Yau shot exclusively for Robb Report Hong Kong, others courtesy of Explora Journeys.
