My latest Distinctive Voyage – coming up in 2025

As you know, I’m not doing a World Cruise January to May, 2025.  I’m just revisiting one of my hometowns.  That one starts on January 4, 2025, and sails, Singapore to Hong Kong! 

.  43-DAY CORAL TRIANGLE, GREAT BARRIER REEF & FAR EAST (hollandamerica.com)

I have no idea why none of you has jumped on to that one, but there’s still time and my Hong Kong add-on will be spectacular.

But – Onward.  The first round of assignments for the second half of 2025 and 2026, has just delivered me something small, but spectacular, and I hope a few of you will join me.  You may have remembered me raving about Explora Journeys, after I found about them at the Distinctive Voyages Host Retreat, last October.  Well, that’s what I wanted and that’s what I got. 

Explora Journeys is the privately-owned luxury lifestyle brand of the MSC Group, headquartered in Geneva, at the heart of Swiss luxury hospitality. The brand stems from the long-held vision of the Aponte-Vago family to redefine the ocean experience for a new generation of discerning luxury travelers, drawing on the Aponte family’s 300 years of maritime heritage. Their aspiration is to create a unique ‘Ocean State of Mind’ by connecting guests with the sea, with themselves, and like-minded people.

The Itinerary is great.  It starts in Venice, which isn’t downtown Venice anymore.  I wanted to see it one more time, before either it, or I, sink into the sea.  (The race is on.)  You can’t just visit it as a port anymore.  I’ll give myself a good three days there.   I am going to send you to Explora’s site to see more but, bear with them.  They seem to be new at this. 

First click on (copy and paste) (and if this doesn’t work go to explorajourneys.com, fill in the three search criteria with Mediterranean, Oct, 2025 and 2 people.  Then scroll down for the October 18 sailing – 11 nights.

https://booking.explorajourneys.com/touchb2c/?inJsonGet=%7B%22packageCodes%22%3A%22EX20251018FSAIST%22%2C%22runSearch%22%3A%22true%22%7D

 When you get there and click on Details all you get at first is an add exhorting you to buy by July 31 for the best price.

Give it some time.  Click on Explora I, first, instead.  There you will see the vision for Explora Journeys, and all about the ship.  Note the smallest cabin is 377 sq.ft., half-again as large as a regular balcony cabin on most other lines.  Check out the 9 different restaurants, for your choices of cuisines.  OMG There’s even a creperie and it came in under the bars. 

After you have been at the site for a bit “Details” opens up properly and it’s quite grand.  Click first on “Itinerary”.  You’ll never be able to do everything it suggests for every port, but there are some truly stunning ports on the itinerary.  We’re hoping for an end to the war in Gaza, mind you, else the overnight in Haifa will doubtless be replaced with something tamer.  It will be a highlight for me if we can go. 

Then check out “Suite Categories” to choose your level of comfort.  Some of them are bigger than my apartment. 

Another thought:  Eleven days isn’t long enough – I might just add the next ten days as a full paying passenger, kick back, relax, and enjoy more of Greece and Turkey, a lot more.  If even one of you wants to join me, I will.  This should be the link to the full 21 night adventure https://booking.explorajourneys.com/touchb2c/  but it didn’t work for me.  Best look it up at the first Explora link I sent you to, the long one.  Call me if you’re having trouble, we can do it together.

And, in any case, we spend a few nights in Istanbul at the end.  How much fun will this be?  Who’s interested?  Who’s coming?