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MSC Yacht Club vs Explora – Doar mergeți până la capăt?

John & Louie’s Big Adventures342 mins
MSC Yacht Club vs Explora – Doar mergeți până la capăt?



MSC Yacht Club și Explora Journeys sunt ambele deținute de MSC. Ce linie de croazieră este potrivită pentru tine? John și Louie explorează cele două mărci și explică diferența de experiență și cost. #msccruises #explorajourneys @ExploraJourneys @msccruisesofficial Mulțumim canalelor care ne inspiră: @ritzytravelguide @Cruisewith @WalkWithMeTim https://youtu.be/erT8-70hW2Y?si=0cImwx-3MP9eGSwl https://youtu.be/VhwdvRX1fXo?si=oAaGJfm1DY2IW0Y_ https://youtu.be/Y93hdvcfiSY?si=ZAyfSjXroi6PIKNl https://youtu.be/wTHMJu8vd08?si=LkW9-seBC7JAW https://youtu.be/fAU0Q17P_Ps?si=blrU4XyTWZvwwFFP https://youtu.be/JI_04ufePvM?si=gl2PZd0QbdAmRSoP https://youtu.be/sl_ahXHMG_Q?si=1xQ6BKHbd25Cxquy https://youtu.be/WQCpumoq3R0?si=WG0G6vymWFzwIgby https://youtu.be/SMCBaOnKRqE?si=XtGSR3j-DWn11fq5 https://youtu.be/689tDKoj1Ls?si=wqloPu6PhH7ixd https://youtu.be/0m2H39OO1gA?si=dj-MmQi40BwNn4WG https://youtu.be/odsYMLC55hQ?si=853-DDc09LpFFfzO https://youtu.be/aZNEokgwSGY?si=UflZsUQgp9Iq

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34 thoughts on “MSC Yacht Club vs Explora – Doar mergeți până la capăt?”

  2. We did our first Explora cruise in April and fell in love with it. Previously we were loyal to Celebrity Retreat. We have Explora 3 booked for October and can’t wait! Explora will be going to their new luxury private island in 2028- there are sailings available to book in spring 2028 with it on the itinerary 🙂

  6. Yacht Club for the win ! I have done Retreat as well and Yacht club is still the best value out there.

    Nothing beats Topsail lounge and the Yacht club family.

    Yacht club just feels more exclusive because you have priority everything from gen pop ! You get the best of both worlds you can go to gen pop and do everything and then go back to the yacht club and relax.

    But the Butlers and the crew you meet over the years make all the difference!

  7. Hello Gentlemen,
    Great comparisons!
    My wife and I sailed on our first MSC sailing on World America a mass market ship with 6,700 passengers in late October 2025. We also sailed our first ship within a ship experience in yacht club on deck 21 in a deluxe balcony suite as well.
    Our experience was wonderful and that would be the only way we would sail a MEGA ship. 😅
    Everything you stated is on point and we would sail yacht club again and try there sea class ships seashore and seascape maybe in the future in yacht club only though. 😂😊
    We paid $550.00 per person per night on our 7 night Western Caribbean itinerary for that cruise.
    Now we are booked on our first luxury cruise with MSC's Explora Journeys on Explora III for 8 nights in mid to late March of 2027 in a Cove Residence COJ Suite on deck 8 port side of the ship embarking in Bridgetown Barbados to St Georges Gernada, Castries, Martinique Fort De France and a overnight stay in Gustavia, Spanish town ( Virgin Gorda) and two back to back sea days before disbarking in Miami and we are paying $ 1,100 per person per night but it's all inclusive so we feel the value will be there with no nickel and diming per say.
    We also planned a three night pre- cruise stay at beachview hotel and resort in Barbados to explore the island before embarking Explora III on the rest of our journey.
    We are excited for Explora III for ALL the resons you stated and we will be curious if sailing on a mass market ship and even premium ships are over for us??
    We are both approaching 60 yrs old in the fall of 2027 with no children and our taste is more luxury, pampering quality food and good entertainment. We are wanting more space and less passenger's and we are getting to a point where we don't need to be entertained from sun up to late into the evening say past 11pm or so.
    Our preferred line is Celebrity and we just came off our second cruise with them on March 27th 2026. We sailed on our first edge class ship Ascent on an 11 night Panama Canal and Southern Caribbean ABC Islands itinerary.
    We also booked our first retreat experience and a Aqua sky suite on deck 10 port side of the ship and the experience was fantastic and worth what we paid when we booked it 2 yrs in advance.
    That trip ran us $ 700.00 per person per night and we would do the retreat again but probably only on longer itineraries or a bucket list trip like this one was for us! We felt everything on the Ascent in the retreat was excellent and on point everywhere on the ship but with ALL the entertainment and so much going on by the middle and end of the cruise we were worn out. 😅😊
    If i had to choose between Yacht Club and retreat we choose Celebrity because of the whole ship experience and less passenger's 3,200 and very few families and kids vs MSC's mass market ships like World America but in retrospect MSC does cater to families as you said but if you are shopping value for a ship within a ship experience Yacht Club even with the prices increasing is still hard to beat vs Celebrity per say.

    This comparison was right up our alley with whom we have sailed with recently and who we are booked with in Explora Journeys on Explora III in just over 10 months.

    Thank you and we look forward to your Silversea Vlog later this summer!
    😊

  10. The Explora ships are beutiful designwise BUT beware – they can NOT handle full capacity. We just spend 22 days on Explora II and it was at full capacity – it was AWFUL. Slow service, overcrowded Astern Pool, long lines at restauranst (Marble), reserved cabanas at 7:30 in the morning and partially VERY STRANGE passengers on board. Not luxury boutique- type but 2 stars mass market type. We regretted every single day on board… even though we wanted to love it…

    AND NO reaction of Explora to our questionaire/complaints. We met quite a lot of people who felt/experienced the same…. sad

  11. I am having so much fun…you guys are just great. Some patterned carpets I love but some nowadays, well, I could not take my dad with his sight and some macular degeneration. And here finding myself darn glad you creators are helping us with the whole real decor picture. It would be horrible even handing out regular MSC/RCL Balcony level money for a week jaunt…making effort alone and be blinded for the good things the pateint way he has to see, by the carpet. I just loved your intro so much, all the different situations of the fantasy of grandeur in cruising and we all deserve the uber level a few times; if it is at all smart and possible. The immediate original family still here with me are doing a local riverboat…which I think dad the cowboy..and Lewis and Clark type will love and just be right for us. 92 and 66 to 54 and youngest doing amazingly with an incredible year and a half and brain cancer….we are soooooo fortunate…See ya in the Yacht club or Explora!! PS: I think dad could take the bigger animal whatever pattern in MSC Yacht club bar seen here..but just saw certain similar and more loud smaller shaped patterns on current Jr. Suite levels in many ships and lines that would be a bad deal for us at present.

  14. I prefer Yacht Club because you have a maximum of 180 people in a private and enclosed area, on Explora all 900 people have the same area and share the same facilities, so Yacht Club for the space given is far larger than explorer and if you don't want to leave Yacht Club you wouldn't know that there are 5000+ more people. If you book the Royal Suite or Owners Suite you are guaranteed a first class service with personal assistance from the butler and suite Director and a private Cabana on the sun deck. So for me Yacht Club is far more exclusive than Explorer and the last downside for me is that I would expect Explora to be adults only, no kids, for that money I would want peace and quiet.,
    This is where MSC are winning and why they are extending Yacht Club to older ships and expanding it on new World series as well, just like all the other 'yacht style' ships, there may be less people in total, but you are still one of 1,000 all expecting the same, I would prefer to be one of 180 with personal service and the rest of the ship are out of sight.

  20. We’re coming from Royal and are going to try Yacht Club in October. We’re looking forward to the fun and excitement of the ship, the MSC Seascape. But it will be nice to have a quiet elevated space to also relax and have a quiet evening. This was a great comparison, will be looking forward to your Silversea video!

  22. Not only is it worth it, but the Explora crowd is much more laid back . . . it's almost like those in the Yacht Club feel like they have to 'prove' something, while those on Explora have nothing to prove. But I've only done each once, so I c ould be completely wrong. PS IMO, no comparison as far as food, rooms, etc, between Explora and Yacht Club. Explora hands down. I have two upcoming Explora cruises, zero Yacht Club. But three in the Retreat upcoming, as well for the bigger ship vibe. PS – I KNOW I saw you two heading onto Beyond, I think, or if not another Edge class ship out of Fort Lauderdale, but when I said something you denied being bloggers . . . am I crazy? I have no issue with that, keeping low key 🙂

  23. We love seeing you shoutout positive customer service experiences. One of our advisors, John, is certified with Explora and he almost exclusively books with them because he swears by the experience on every level. “Intimate. Elegant. Fabulous.” He’s shouting in our office. 😂

  26. We have done eight Yacht Clubs and four Explora cruises- two on each ship. It's always hard to compare because of the differences between ships on MSC but I think you got very close! Having done one YC on the bigger ships (Europa) , we realized they were not for us because of, as you call it, the 'compound' effect. In the lounge, there is constant eating noise from above- not the people…the cutlery sounds😊. The smaller YC ships have the restaurant at the back of the ship while the lounge remains at the front. Because they are smaller, when you leave YC, it doesn't feel so much like going on safari. It's also nice to walk around the ship with your butler as well. Explora -agree with everything you said however, Explora are aggressively marketing to families and on one of our cruises there were about twenty kids. Was it a problem? No. Well looked after, plenty to do and we only knew they were there when they did a little show on the last night. Which is best in our view? We'll take either but if someone gave us the money and choice, Explora probably gets it. However, if we went on small ship YC and got some change, we'd be just as happy😊

  29. We sailed EJ2 once and MSC Yacht club 18 times. You indicated that EJ has 5 pools and the YC has one. The “four" pools are serving 900 guest and on sea days good luck trying to get a lounge chair after 10am. The YC serves 250 guests, on sea days half of the lounge chairs will be vacant. The YC buffet has a wide variety of food everyday with no line. EJ night shows are in the lounge (there is no theater) you have to arrive an hour early to get a seat. EJ only has the 945pm show and that is it for onboard entertainment. The casino is a joke. It’s a little room with four gaming tables. The gym/fitness area is worse. YC reserves in the theater four rows for YC guests, arrive any time. YC every room has a butler. YC restaurant does not require reservations but EJ does, except the French restaurant. YC has priority embark and disembark. YC concierge 24 hours with no waiting, EJ 7am-8pm and u will wait to speak with someone. EJ you will wait to make reservations for the restaurants, and u can only make one reservation per restaurant at a time. YC u receive personalized service. Because u interact with the same crew members everyday they will remember what u drink and eat. Most of the time when u arrive at the YC buffet, bar or restaurant your drinks will be ready before u ask. I won’t comment on the food, entertainment, and passenger personalities because that’s an objective personal opinion. Last note EJ is thousands per person more. I think your opinion of the YC was nitpicking at the small stuff to show a bias and not comparing the two ship equally. EJ is definitely a lot more eloquent in ship decor. WOW is your first impression.

  31. Another spectacular video. I think I would savor the pampering, but I feel that I would sorely miss the entertainment aspect. You said it very well, as always: do you want a trip to be experiential, or do you want to just bask in the lap of luxury and great food? I know you will vote for the latter, and I understand that choice. It’s harder for me, as I think I need to meld the two together. Like they said in the movie Trading Places: “Can’t We Have Both?”

  32. Another thing I think it's worth mentioning on the price – when you say entry level Yacht Club, I'm pretty sure (based on my own pricing) that you were talking about the entry-level balcony rooms, and not the actual entry-level Yacht Club rooms, which are interior and don't have a balcony. So, I'd add then that for a budget-minded person, an interior Yacht Club room might be an even better value, even with the add-ons. As a solo, I found that Explora had much more attractive rates, and their balconies look much better, at least when comparing entry-level balconies – obviously, your Royal balcony with the whirlpool looked amazing! Anyway, I'm personally leaning more towards Explora, but we'll have to see because first I have to save up money!

  34. Thanks for this very in depth comparison. Reinforces for me to stick with Explora vs trying the Yacht Club. We did a non-Yacht Club Med cruise on the MSC Fantasia right before COVID and it was a nightmare. Great value and ports, but absolutely overrun with pushy, rude people and tons of kids. Never again! Interesting to see the dramatic difference between the Yacht Club and the main ship areas of the Seashore. The newer MSC ships do look nice, but I could not deal with those crowds. Wondering if Oceania is a line you might consider in the future? Does not look as nice as Explora, but the price points are a bit more reasonable. Not sure if you experienced, but on our second Explora cruise last winter they now have a group they call Prism, which dedicates a host to coordinate events and get togethers for the LGBT members on board. It was really a wonderful effort on their part to be inclusive and gave my partner and I the opportunity to meet lots of other people on the ship. They did not offer this program on our first cruise with them in 2024. Kudos to Explora on this!

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