Miami
December 22nd, 2023
We had to be out of our suite by 8:00, so it was an early start. We said farewell to Patsy the poinsettia and hoped that the new occupants of the suite would take good care of her. I had thought about leaving them a note about putting her in the garbage can in rough weather, but they probably know that already.
When we went for breakfast, for my final eggs Florentine and a mimosa, we noticed that little gingerbread houses had popped up all over the Emporium.
We took advantage of being able to stay on the ship until 9:30, as we had a day at Fort Lauderdale airport to look forward to. We were delaying our disembarkation. We sat in the Explora Lounge relaxing until the announcement was made for us to leave the ship. This was better than negotiating the airport.
Disembarkation was a very smooth process, we left the lounge at 9:30, and by 9:40 we had walked off the ship, collected our luggage, gone through customs and immigration, and our taxi driver was placing our bags in the trunk of his car.
I guess we are not in Brooklyn any more. Disembarking from Queen Mary 2 in Brooklyn has taken over an hour in the past. And when you finally emerge from customs and immigration, there is not a taxi in sight.
Maybe I shouldn’t really blame Brooklyn. After all there were only 400 guests on board Explora 1. A much more manageable number.
Fort Lauderdale airport was quite crowded, but we were able to check our bags and go through security remarkably quickly. Our flight wasn’t until 6:30, but we used the time to catch up with emails and work that had gone by the wayside while we were living it up on board.
We are now on the plane home. It is also bouncing up and down. Or am I still feeling the motion of the ship?
I am so glad we had the opportunity to sail with Explora Journeys. We would love to sail with them again, and encourage our friends to do the same. They work hard at being different to a regular cruise ship, and that is annoying at times. However in terms of the suites, the décor, the Wi-Fi, and the food they are hard to beat. I loved every single minute of our journey. Bad weather cannot spoil an otherwise perfect cruise. Brian is totally sold on them.
When we get home we will need to unpack, do the laundry, and then pack again for our Fred Olsen cruise in January. I am excited about giving Fred Olsen a try. You never know, we may like it. But we will have to wait to find out……….Happy Holidays all!
Loved all ur blogs and this ship sounds interesting- maybe a different itinerary next time ?
Let us know. Have a happy healthy & safe New Year and thank you for being the world’s best travel agent, blogger & friend. 💕💕💕
You are so kind! It really was a great trip – but I still wish I was with you all on QM2 now. Have a wonderful time 🙂
Really enoyed your posts, it sounds a very interesting ship.
When we left QE at Fort Lauderdale last year we had the quickest ever disembarkation, far better than the west coast!
It’s good to know that your disembarkation from QE in Fort Lauderdale went well. Embarking on her in Vancouver last year was totally the worst we have ever experienced.
Thank you for your blogs. First thing I read with my early morning cup of tea. I look forward to your views of Fred Olsen. Being UK based and no longer flying I am looking for new cruise lines to try. Have cruised 8 cruise lines many times but never Fred. Just returned from Queen Victoria – still one of my best cruises ever.
Thanks for reading along! I have such mixed feelings about Fred, especially as we have to fly from the west coast of the US to get to London, QM2 is not going to be our transport this time as she is otherwise engaged. However, I love the itinerary, and always like to try something new.
Thank you for taking us with you. We normally cruise in PG on on the QV or QM2 and have been very tempted by Explora. It’s very interesting and encouraging to get your take on the experience. Good luck with Fred Ohlsen – not my favourite at all!
Thanks again for your insight
I think that if you look at what is included – drinks, internet, gratuities, port fees etc, the price point is very similar to PG. The Ocean Terrace suites, especially the bathrooms, seem to be a bit smaller than PG on QV and QM2, but are certainly very adequate. The food and pools are way superior, but I do miss the feel of being on an ocean liner rather than an upscale hotel. It’s nice to have a choice! Fingers crossed for the Fred cruise 🙂
Just finished reading your last few posts, what a great travel log. So interesting and informative and with such a personal touch. Perhaps Beverly Beckham could take some pointers from you. I think what interested me the most about Explora I was the concept of no main dining room but rather a collection of independently themed restaurants all serving top quality food. Thanks for taking the time to share.
I think one of my concerns about the 5 different restaurants was that one of our joys of cruising is meeting the people at our table in the main dining room, some of whom have become great friends over the years. A different restaurant every night just doesn’t have the same effect, but we were so lucky to meet 2 other lovely couples on board, and even if we were off doing our own thing during the day, we all met up for dinner at one of the restaurants or bars in the evening. I just loved that, and the best part was that each meal was amazing. We will still cruise on Cunard, I do love the feel of their ships, but this was certainly a wonderful cruise, and alas I will have to work on Brian who hates the Cunard wifi. That being said, I can’t wait until being on Queen Anne in May!