A $1,000-a-Night Cruise Line Is Built for Bringing the Kids
Explora Journeys, the latest brainchild of MSC Cruises, aims to be a sophisticated solution for luxury-loving families, with caviar everywhere and child care galore.
Explora I
Source: Explora Journeys
One morning aboard the 922-passenger Explora I, eating eggs with caviar for breakfast, it dawned on me: I had probably eaten 3 ounces of the delicacy in less than a week. I was sitting in a plush banquet in the French-inspired restaurant Fil Rouge, onboard the first ship of a new cruise line called Explora Journeys, which has been incubating for more than six years. For almost as long, industry insiders—most notably the owners—have contended it would significantly change high-end cruising.
Explora is the latest line from MSC Group Inc., the privately held Geneva-based global container shipping company that also owns the megaship-focused MSC Cruises. To date, Explora represents an investment of €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion), a sum that covers the cost of building Explora I along with five sister ships that are due by 2028. (The next ship, Explora II, is set to arrive this August.)