It’s just after sunrise, and I have the deck almost to myself. The sun is glistening on the Canadian waters, and a light breeze rolls in off the sea. A host brings my coffee before I ask for it. On Explora III, that happens every morning.
I’m on board with our production team, filming the next episode of our travel series. After more than 30 years at Porthole, I’ve learned that the real test of a ship isn’t the first night. It’s day five, at 8 a.m., when everyone wants coffee at once.
Explora III holds up.
This sailing is sold out, and you would never know it. I keep waiting for the moment that gives it away: a packed pool deck, a line at the restaurant door, a crowded lobby after a port call. It hasn’t come. That isn’t luck. It’s design.
RELATED: What Really Sets Explora III Apart?
Having sailed Explora before, I wondered whether a larger ship could hold on to that same intimacy. It does. Explora III is bigger than Explora I and Explora II, yet it hasn’t sacrificed an inch of space or an ounce of soul. Everything new on board feels like a natural extension of the Explora experience. Every decision starts with the guest.
You feel the guest flow everywhere. People spread out naturally instead of funneling into the same rooms at the same hour. A generous guest-to-host ratio means there’s always someone there to help and never a wait. From Shore Club to Mandala to a quiet hour in Galleria d’Arte, the ship feels built for far fewer people than are actually on board.
Filming gives me a view most guests never get. We’ve spent days moving cameras through the public spaces, and we keep finding clean, empty frames that would be impossible to shoot on most ships. The hosts work around us with quiet ease. Even on port days, with guests coming and going at once, the ship never loses its composure.
The hosts are the heart of it. By day two, many of them already knew my name. That’s the Explora difference: service that feels personal, never scripted.
What strikes me most is the consistency. The welcome at lunch matches the welcome at dinner the night before. The service in a quiet lounge at 3 p.m. matches the busiest hour of the evening. Nothing is performed for the first impression and then allowed to slip. That evenness is rare at sea, and it’s what makes Explora III truly ultra-elegant.
The experience goes beyond the senses, too. The Luminaries, experts at the top of their fields, join the voyage to speak on a range of topics. It’s the kind of enrichment that turns a great voyage into a memorable one.
After a long day of filming, my suite is where I reset. Light-filled, spacious, and serene, it feels less like a room on a ship and more like a home at sea.
Then there’s the cuisine. Culinary has always been an Explora strength, and on Explora III, it is exceptional, as always. Every meal I’ve had has been executed with real care. Ingredients, plating, timing, service: it all lands, every time. That’s the hardest thing to deliver at sea. Explora makes it look effortless.
La Baie – Kayaking the Saguenay Fjord
