About · Feldstein Travel

I'm Justin Feldstein. I sell Explora Journeys, mostly to people who've never cruised.

Independent travel advisor of Fora Travel. The practice is focused on Explora Journeys; the book of business is multi-line. I came to this from hospitality and a lifelong love of the water, from sailing to scuba diving. That is where most of what I know about reading a ship comes from.

How I got here

I have been planning travel almost my whole life. The first trip I ever mapped out was my family's trip to Disney World; I was seven. I never stopped. For more than a decade I've planned trips for friends and family, mostly through Europe and the Caribbean, the two parts of the world I know best.

Me arriving in Venice with my bag before boarding Explora I — Arriving in Venice before boarding.

My wife and me on a Venice bridge before boarding Explora I — Venice, before boarding.

My wife and me at an outdoor table in Ancona, Italy, with plates of pasta on a shore day

My wife and me above the harbor of Rovinj, Croatia, on a shore day

My wife and me on the steps of a Mediterranean hill town

My wife and me at dinner aboard Explora I, the sea through the windows behind us

I had worked in hospitality for years before adding cruise, and I read service operations for a living. I think about how a guest feels from the moment they arrive, what they noticed first, whether the thermostat was right, whether the small things worked without anyone having to ask. That habit translates uncannily well to reading a cruise line's product. Most of what makes Explora work or not work is invisible to a brochure-reader and obvious to anyone who has run a service operation, or spent enough time on the water to know how a good vessel should feel.

Explora is what made me want to do this formally. It is a genuinely new idea, closer to private yachting than to cruising: a small ship, an exceptional level of service, all-inclusive in a way that actually means all-inclusive, and a relaxed, choose-your-own-adventure rhythm that works across generations. The value is real against what the same trip costs on land, and the destinations are the ones I would pick anyway. I have sailed Explora with my family more than once, and it was the rare trip that worked for everyone at the table, across ages. That is why I want to share it. I signed on with Fora to build the practice on a platform that backs independent advisors without putting anything between me and the client.

What it was actually like aboard

The thing that surprised me most was the service, and not the polish so much as the anticipation. Breakfast out on the terrace without making it a project. A drink offered before I thought to ask. Enough crew around that help was never more than a glance away. I watched staff quietly help the older members of our group with their plates, every time, without being asked. That is the part a brochure cannot photograph.

An open deck on Explora I, planted greenery in the foreground and the coastline beyond — On deck aboard Explora I.

I sailed with a multi-generational group, including some genuinely hard-to-please in-laws, and it worked across the whole table in a way few trips do. There is not a bad seat on the ship; some are just better than others, which is exactly the kind of thing I help you sort before you book. My standing evening spot was Astern, the aft lounge, at sunset with the wake running out behind us.

I also worked the entire time. I run businesses that do not stop, and the Starlink connection held up everywhere, including a shop down on a lower deck off the atrium, deep inside a steel hull where you would expect no signal at all, and it was still full strength. Video calls were no problem. The logistics that usually grind on a cruise did not: embarkation and disembarkation were genuinely quick, someone meets you at the dock with a drink and a place to sit, and there is a quiet sense of urgency to keep you moving rather than queuing.

From my own travels

These are mine, not stock. A handful of frames from the Mediterranean, the ports and the light and the food, which is the kind of travel this practice is built on.

The Portara, a freestanding marble temple gateway on the Naxos headland, silhouetted at sunset

A whitewashed Greek church with bells and a blue dome above the Aegean

A whitewashed Cycladic windmill on a hill above the sea

Me at an outdoor table in a Tuscan town with a plate of pici and a glass of white wine

A narrow whitewashed lane in a Cycladic village

An umbrella pine above a turquoise Mediterranean cove

A Mediterranean harbor town along a calm bay

A plate of sliced tomato and mozzarella with basil

A domed church on the hill above the harbor of Ancona, Italy

A baroque cathedral facade on a Mediterranean town square

A stone overlook above the harbor and old town of Rovinj, Croatia

What I'm doing now

I write here at /journal/ when there's something worth saying. I work with clients almost entirely on Explora; if Silversea Nova or Regent or Seabourn turns out to be the right fit for a specific trip, I book those too. I do not push every line; I have a clear opinion about which line wins which voyage.

Because I have sailed Explora with my family, what I write here is grounded in time aboard, not only deck plans and third-party reviews. I still hold to documentary specificity: suite specs, real numbers, honest cross-line comparison. And I will always tell you what I have seen first-hand versus what I am reading off a spec sheet.

How I work

The path is short: a 30-minute Pre-flight call where we land on a specific voyage, suite tier, and price range. A 1-page PDF brief in your inbox within 24 hours. If you decide to book, I can hold a suite for seven days while you think. Then the booking goes through Fora to the cruise line. After that, I'm your single point of contact for anything that comes up. Pre-cruise hotel and transfer recommendations, on-board concierge requests, escalation if something goes sideways at sea, a 30-day-before "thinking about your trip" check, a 7-day-after debrief. I'm committed to excellence, and to the kind of honest, personal guidance I would want for my own family.

I do not push reviews. I do ask, when you're back, whether you would like to be the first booking on someone else's Explora trip. Word of mouth among design-conscious luxury buyers is how this practice grows.

Credentials

Independent travel advisor of Fora Travel
CLIA member (Cruise Lines International Association)
Fora-certified (Essentials)
Explora Journeys Foundations certified, the highest level of Explora's advisor training (view certificate)
Has sailed Explora Journeys with family across multiple voyages
Years in hospitality, reading service operations for a living
A lifelong love of the water: sailing and scuba diving

How to reach me

Easiest: book a 30-minute Pre-flight call or send your dates. Direct email: [email protected]. I respond within a few hours during the work day and within a day on weekends.