Explora I is the private yacht that you dream about. Admittedly, outside, it does look like a cruise ship, 14 decks in all, 248 metres long, 32 metres wide. But it’s only got 461 suites, all with private terraces, and she can only carry a maximum of just over 900 passengers, for whom there are 640 crew.
A private yacht, by definition, gives all the privacy and seclusion that you can possibly want. And this is what Explora I offers. Wherever you go on the ship, you can always find an area that has nobody there. It’s all yours. On the last night of a recent seven-night cruise, for instance, we found an outside deck with nobody on it, and we sat and watched the sunset and the little white crests of the waves, private on a yacht.
The story about Explora Journeys is that the mighty MSC, Mediterranean Shipping Company, has grown from its humble beginnings in 1970, when an Italian seafaring captain, Gianluigi Aponte, bought the MV Patricia. Now MSC owns 609 container ships (and leases a further 200 or so). It’s the world’s largest container company, and there are 23 MSC-branded cruise ships. The company’s into ports, it’s into infrastructure and logistics, and travel management and an affinity with Formula 1.
MSC remains 100 percent owned by the Aponte family, Gianluigi, his wife, their two children, and spouses. They wanted a luxury ship—one could say, correctly, a private yacht, to share with luxury travellers. Hence Explora Journeys. Built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, Explora I entered service July 2023: she’s already got a younger sister, and before long there will be a total of six in the first wave of Explora Journeys yachts.
Apart from the space, what makes Explora I stand out in the realm of seaborne travel? The interiors are designed as one. The décor of the entire ship is in various shades of mushroom, from pale to dark. In suite 8001, for instance, the colour scheme followed through, and one carpet, a mid-mushroom, had recesses that looked like waves. The suite, right in the bow of the ship, came with dining inside, and out on the terrace, it had a significant hot-tub-for-two. There were at least 30 well-chosen hardbacks. There was a folding chess board that looks like an Italian shopping bag (everything’s so stylish). Dyson, Frette, Riedel, Swarovski—name your brand, and it’s here. Toiletries, especially for Explora Journeys, are Mandala Blue, from Culti, Milan. The suite also came with a personal Technogym fitness bag.
Explora Journeys partners with Technogym and there are two branded fitness centres on board, an enormous professional interior one with Technogym trainer, on the 10th deck, and another up, outside, on the 14th floor deck. You can keep fit very well here. Take stairs between decks, rather than taking lifts, run or walk the blue-marked circuit on the 12th deck, or swimming in one of the four significant pools (one has a double-height pull-over, glass roof, and an end screen at least 20 feet across for viewing real-time of special world events).
And now for food and drink. There are so many bars that even though we tried in a week’s cruise to get to them all, I know we missed some, which was a shame because all food and drink is included in Explora Journey rates. On the eating side, a favourite is Emporium Marketplace, a served buffet with at least 20 stations and people at each serving you what you choose. Some aficionados ate there automatically at lunch—inside, or perhaps outside on an adjacent deck, and for singles, it was a nice retreat for dinner. The many options in the evening included Asian-Japanese, an excellent American-type steakhouse, Mediterranean-Italian, and French haute cuisine (it’s definitely a good idea to book ahead).
Most cruise ships have very formal, heavily-stepped theatres and invest in mega faded-Broadway shows. Explora I’s main auditorium is more relaxed, with an almost-flat floor, and much more friendly. The company prefers more intimate entertainment, with the number of performers counted on one of the hands you have just had manicured in the onboard spa.
Friendly is a word that comes in again and again when thinking Explora Journeys. There’s an on-board Galleria d’Arte with two professional gallerists who tweak the hangings to give new perspective to the Lichtenstein, Warhol, and other at-the-moment works shown, many of which may already have “sold” stickers. The gallerists are there to talk art, and they also host cocktails in the gallery.
Any spell on Explora I flies by and product recognition means many sailings are fully booked—act now if you’re interested in the Monaco Grand Prix, 6 to 8 June 2026, when because of the Aponte affiliation this is the only ship allowed into harbour then. It should be noted that on all sailings off-boat excursions aren’t included in the price. Wherever, stay aboard and luxuriate, and educate with the occasional curated whisky tasting or art experience.
