On any evening, you can find succulent fois gras, classic Dover sole, fresh Maine lobster and Black Angus prime beef on a menu on the new Explora 1. You can head to an oyster bar, enjoy a sushi platter or find a specialty topped with caviar, and it’s all included.
On Explora Journeys‘ new ship, the extensive choices in the five complimentary restaurants always include gourmet choices you’d only find on menus for a once-a cruise gala dinner on most other ships. Here’s a sampling based on a week on board in the Caribbean:
Explora features two themed restaurants you can dine in any night at any time without needing reservations, along with the buffet- style Emporium Marketplace. For two other specialty restaurants, advance reservations are essential. The pan-Asian Sakura and the steakhouse-styled Marble & Co. allow guests to make one reservation each per week on board. The only specialty restaurant that comes with an extra charge brings you a multi-course meal inspired by guest chefs brought on board in the region.
Sakura features pan-Asian fare and–as its name suggests– the restaurant has a whimsical décor featuring cherry blossoms in the ceiling. Japanese, yes, with its separate sushi and sashimi menu and a dedicated Sake sommelier. But it’s got a range of other specialties from Thai to Chinese and another menu called In a Veggie Mood. A go-to favorite appetizer is the duck salad featuring tender and savory duck confit and cubes of watermelon. Also hard to resist is the lobster pad Thai, which pairs well with an assorted tempura plate.
On another visit, I enjoyed a very credible miso roasted black cod filet enrobed in a hoba leaf. It was every bit as good as a similar black cod specialty of a well-known celebrity chef ,whose restaurants ashore feature prices that could put a dent in your budget. Here, everything is included.
The restaurant features a busting dedicated open kitchen where chefs are constantly on the move preparing everything to order. I went to the window on the way out and thanked them for their painstaking preparations.
Marble & Co. Grill is Explora’s steakhouse-inspired restaurant that features a unique dry aging room for beef and a cellar of exclusive red wines. It’s a relatively small room, so reservations are definitely recommended. It avoids the usual cliches of how big do you want your beef and the menu has a good balance of seafood as well. We started out with a crab salad and a lobster bisque and the entrée was a fresh tuna steak crushed fingerling potatoes with Normandy butter, chives, caviar and crème frache. In addition to the complimentary wines, there’s an exclusive cellar of hard to find extra-cost vintages for a splurge.
Med Yacht Club features cuisines from around the Continent, focusing on dishes from Italy, Spain and Greece in a nautical ambience influenced by beach-side Mediterranean restaurants. An antipasto platter to share and Catalonian patatas bravas were irresistible starters on our first visit to the restaurant that’s lined with sleek ship models. For an entrée, a classic Dover sole “ala Puttanesca” was deboned by the waiter at the table with great flair. Another evening, appetizers included a delightful beef carpaccio with Parmigiano Reggiano and grilled arugula. That was followed by a Tyrrhenian sea bass, with saffron fennel, hazelnuts lemon confit and herb salad. Delightful.
Fil Rouge, the French-themed restaurant, is the largest on Explora, but it’s divided into areas that create the feel of several individual bistros. There is generally a fish of the day that’s brought on from the port the ship is visiting. On a stop in Antigua, I actually saw the crew wheeling a tank of fresh-caught red snapper to the gangway and had one grilled that evening. Another any-day specialty you’d be unlikely to see on other cruises is langouste Thermidor. There are also a 72-hour beef short ribs and veal Wellington would be right at home in the steakhouse, but vegetarians are not forgotten with multiple choices labelled plant based, vegetarian and gluten-free.
Emporium Marketplace is the all-day dining venue with 18 cooking stations including daily rotisserie, pasta made to order, carving station, the Oyster Bar, Sushi bar, patisserie, fromagerie and fresh juice bar. There’s always a daunting range of choices, with daily stir-fry combos, soups, curries, toasted sandwiches, and freshly made salads. High marks for the pizza straight from the oven with a puffy, flavorful crust and garnishes added after cooking to preserve their flavor. The deli selections of meats and cheeses are intriguingly European and include such specialty delicacies as aged Spanish Iberico ham.
Gelateria & Creperie is a treat bar and it’s just a little too tempting because it makes a convenient place to stop for a dessert after lunch at the Marketplace. But you can enjoy it whenever you feel like it throughout the day. It’s located in The Conservatory, a pool area with a weather-protected retractable roof and whirlpool with an infinite view. Belgian waffles and huge crepes are freshly made to order and can be topped with a range of fruit, organic brown sugar and Swiss chocolate. Among the fillings for crepes are Italian hazelnut cream and Madagascar vanilla Chantilly, with your choice of toppings,like toasted almonds and pistachios. There’s also a daily selection of fresh-made Italian-style gelatos and sorbets.
The Crema Café is the natural central meeting place on the ship, with a team of baristas churning out Italian-themed coffee specialties and counters showcasing fresh baked croissants, cakes and cookies along with custard canelés, and biscotti. Warning: the fresh-made Portuguese custard tarts, pasteis de nata, are addictive. During the day, the lounge chairs on deck outside the café are an excellent place to hang out in the shade, although the area also one of the dedicated smoking areas on the ship.
Anthology, the cuisine showcase restaurant, is the only extra-cost dining room on the ship. Every few months a different Michelin-star chef is scheduled to set the menus in the intimate dining room. Michelin two-star chef Emma Bengtsson, chef at New York City’s Aquavit restaurant, is arranging the Anthology menus through March, 2024. Dining at Anthology is priced at 190 Euros a person and you can opt to upgrade from complimentary wines to a premium wine pairing for another 75 Euros a person. Seating is limited and advance reservations are essential. On my cruise in the Caribbean from Miami, no reservations were available for Anthology, because it was full every night.
Another cuisine opportunity for a hands-on experience is Chef’s Kitchen. On sea days, the tucked-away culinary theater opens for up to 12 guests who can don aprons and caps for a cooking lesson making everything from béarnaise to bouillabaisse. There’s an extra charge for the experience, which varies according to the lesson.
And while a good range of premium tipples on the ship are included in the fare, there are opportunities to splurge. There are rare cognacs, Scotches and tequilas on the bar menu that are not included in the drink package and the add-on additional prices can be reasonable to remarkable. While a snifter of Remy Martin XO can be had for an extra 22 Euro surcharge, the rare Hennessy Paradis is priced by the drop, at 30 Euros a centiliter, with the ultra-rich Richard Hennesy coming in at 120 Euros a centiliter.
Overall, the dining on one of the first cruises of Explora 1 was exceptional. But a caveat is that this was an early cruise in Explora’s first season and the ship was only about half full.
Here’s hoping they can keep up this level of quality and service as Explora starts sailing with a full house of 922 guests and five planned sister ships start sailing over the next three years.
Story by Wallace Immen, The Cruisington Times
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