When I came home from an Explora Journeys cruise on the Explora I, people asked me how it was. The first thing I talked about was the bread.
I suppose it's strange to lead off with something so basic about the food on Explora, a line establishing a reputation as a culinary star in luxury cruising in its early days (The MSC Group line launched its first ship in August 2023).
Explora does wow you with opulent cuisine. One of its signature dishes is served in the French restaurant, Fil Rouge: poached eggs atop creamy spinach with yuzu hollandaise and baeri caviar. It's the first time I've eaten that for breakfast.
Breakfast at Fil Rouge included poached eggs atop creamed spinach with yuzu hollandaise and caviar. Photo Credit: Jerry Limone
I have eaten a croissant or two in my life, however. And I won't forget the ones that Fil Rouge serves guests before they take your order.
A croissant at Fil Rouge, the Explora I's French restaurant. Photo Credit: Jerry Limone
Explora's croissants are flaky and crisp on the outside, buttery and tender on the inside. It's what you might expect to find in a French bakery but maybe not on a Western Caribbean cruise departing Miami.
Fil Rouge isn't the only Explora restaurant where bread makes a great first impression. At the Mediterranean restaurant Med Yacht Club, a basket filled with a variety of rolls and bread is accompanied by a head of roasted garlic, an innovative, spreadable touch that elevated the bread basket to an appetizer course. Sure, you can keep in mind that old restaurant adage "don't fill up on bread." But it's hard to resist a slice here. So you shouldn't!
Sicilian olive oil presented to the table at the Explora I's Anthology fine dining restaurant. Photo Credit: Jerry Limone
Explora also starts off guests with an ornate bread basket at Anthology, the line's fine dining Italian restaurant and only extra-charge restaurant at about $150. As soon as the bread was placed on the table, a waiter holding a bottle of Sicilian olive oil described what he was about to pour in your dipping bowl, similar to what a sommelier would say before uncorking a fine wine.
Aromas of fresh-cut grass and artichokes, he said. There was no way I wasn't going to dip a piece of bread or two after that description, even though a seven-course tasting menu lay ahead.
Not on bread alone
Alas, man cannot live on bread alone on a $500 per-night cruise. How about pizza?
Before I even sampled a slice, I was told the story about how Explora Journeys head of culinary Franck Garanger sought to perfect Explora's pizza dough and that he settled on a blend of three flours -- but that's all the information you're going to get from Explora.
Does the pizza live up to the hype? If you like the base crispy and the edge a combination of chewy and soft, then Garanger's hard work paid off. I tried a bar pie-size slice of Margherita pizza made with yellow tomatoes that was so good that I went back for two more. Get Barstool pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy on the Explora I. This is right in his wheelhouse.
The pizza is served in the Emporium Marketplace, Explora's all-day buffet restaurant. As the name implies, there are so many choices here; you could eat all your meals at the Emporium on a seven-day cruise and say you ate luxuriously well for the entire time.
Ceviche from the Emporium Marketplace, the ship's all-day buffet. Photo Credit: Jerry Limone
This was a favorite spot for lunch, where I camped out at an oceanview table near the ceviche station. The variety at this small section of the Emporium is impressive: shrimp, scallops, swordfish and tuna ceviche is available as are other seafood items like crab salad with avocado. There's a sushi bar here, too -- also visited multiple times.
I was advised to try a burger -- again, something simple that Explora does very well. I ordered a Texas cheeseburger with bacon and barbecue sauce, and they handed me a pager that buzzed when the food was ready. When it went off, I stood up to get the burger, but a staff member intercepted me and said he would get it -- an unexpected service at a buffet.
The burger was amazing, as was the salmon burger with lemon aioli I tried on another afternoon.
And just in case you didn't make it to Fil Rouge for breakfast, those croissants were served here, too.