I read the folio every night of my Explora I sailing, the way I read a P&L. Most weeks at sea, that running tab is where an “all-inclusive” line quietly turns into a four-figure surprise on the last morning. This one didn’t. Dinners across the venues, wine and premium spirits, ship-wide Wi-Fi, gratuities, the thermal spa: none of it landed on the bill. Four things did, and only because I chose them.
So if the question is what’s actually included on Explora, the honest answer is that the all-inclusive claim mostly holds, with a precise edge to it. The big daily costs are in the fare. The meter runs in four known places, and only if you walk into them. Here is exactly where it ran for me, and the one upcharge worth doing the math on.
So is it actually all-inclusive?
Yes, with a scope you can hold in your head. The costs that pile up on a normal cruise simply never appeared on my folio.
Dinner: included, across the venues. Drinks: included. Wine, champagne, premium spirits, cocktails, specialty coffees, in the bars and in the suite. Wi-Fi: included, ship-wide Starlink, no per-day toggle. Gratuities: included, no daily service charge, no end-of-week tipping math. The thermal spa area: included, and I used it.
That is the part the brochure gets right. One dry aside, because someone always asks about the drinks: there is no US drinks package to buy on Explora. If you searched and found one, that was a UK-market listing. The beverages are already in the fare, so there is nothing to add. You can stop pricing a package that doesn’t exist.
The full two-column ledger, included versus extra with the tier deltas, lives on the full included-and-extra breakdown, on one page. What follows isn’t that table. It’s the four lines that actually showed up as charges on a real week.
What did I actually pay extra for?
Four categories. That’s the whole list.
Shore excursions. Billed per person, per port. Every Explora fare leaves these out (Regent is the one major luxury line that folds excursions into the base fare, which is how this compares to Regent, the one line that bundles excursions). This was my largest onboard add-on by a distance. On a few ports the ship’s tour was the right call; on others I’d have skipped it, and one I’d want the money back on.
A few premium pours. The included beverage list is genuinely generous, gin to cognac, and I never felt nudged toward an upsell. But there’s a small reserve list of rare bottles and harder-to-find spirits sold separately, plus the Anthology wine pairing. I reached past the included list a handful of times across the week. That was a choice, not a gap.
Spa treatments. The thermal area is free and I’d have happily paid for it. A massage or a body treatment on top of that is extra, priced like a good hotel spa. I booked treatment time. Worth it to me; entirely skippable if the thermal suite is all you want.
The Anthology tasting menu. The headline paid dining room; per Explora, Chef’s Table, Chef’s Kitchen, and the Cellar are also extra, so eight of the nine venues are included and Anthology is the upcharge room I’d actually consider. It gets its own section because it’s the only extra here that’s a genuine decision rather than an obvious yes-or-no.
Notice what isn’t on that list. No Wi-Fi fee. No gratuity line. No cover charge at the included restaurants. No bar tab for a normal week of drinking. Nothing surprised me, because nothing arrived that I hadn’t opted into.
Is the Anthology upcharge worth it?
Anthology is the chef-hosted Italian tasting menu that sits outside the eight included venues. It runs €165 per person for the menu, with an optional wine pairing at €70 (documentary, from Explora’s published menu; confirm the current figure and your sailing’s currency on your quote, since Explora prints it in euros even on the US site).
Here’s the calculus, and it’s the opposite of most ship-upcharge math. On a typical cruise the specialty restaurant exists because the included food is a reason to upgrade. On Explora the included rooms are strong enough that Anthology is an occasion, not an escape. I went to Sakura, the included Japanese room, three times across the week; the teriyaki was good enough that I planned evenings around it. When the free dining is that good, you don’t need the paid one.
So: worth it as a one-night event if you travel for food and want the tasting-menu format and the wine pairing. Easy to skip if the included venues already suit you, and for most travelers they will. I’m not going to relitigate the whole roster here. The room-by-room read on where to book and what to skip is where to eat on Explora, venue by venue.
Book the ship’s excursion or your own?
The excursion line is the one extra I’d most want a second opinion on before you spend, and the place an advisor actually earns the relationship.
Some ports earned the ship’s tour. Some on my own sailings I’d have skipped entirely, and a couple of the bundled tours read as geared to a demographic that wasn’t mine. A paid tour to a place that didn’t warrant it is the single line item I’d most want back. That’s a judgment call per port, not a rule, which is exactly why it’s worth talking through against the actual itinerary rather than booking the menu of tours the day you board. The port-by-port DIY-versus-ship verdict is its own piece; for now, browse current Explora voyages and live fares and we can read the stops together.
Does Explora have hidden fees?
No. I’m answering this with the actual folio in front of me.
Every extra is disclosed and opt-in: excursions, premium pours, spa treatments, Anthology. The only operational gripe I’ll register, and it’s an hours complaint, not a fee, is that some venues close earlier than I expected. The gelateria was reliably shut when I wanted it, and pool hours wound down sooner than I’d have liked. That cost me nothing but a little patience. It’s the most “I paid for this, where is it” moment on the ship, and it’s real, but it never showed up as money.
That’s also the honest counter to the price-creep complaint you’ll read about Explora. Yes, fares have risen. But you’re not paying for Wi-Fi, gratuities, drinks, or eight restaurants on top, and the absence of nickel-and-dime add-ons is the part that holds up week over week. Any onboard credit applicable to your booking comes from current Explora promotions and any Fora group allocation that applies.
What it actually costs all-in
The fare covers the onboard experience, honestly and nearly completely. The all-in number is a different question, and it turns on four things you control: which suite tier, how many nights, how many excursions you book, and whether air and a pre-cruise hotel get added, since those last two are never in the fare and are usually the biggest real-world line items.
If you want a figure rather than a feeling, the cost calculator puts the inputs in your hands, and the current live fares, by region show what it actually costs today. And if you want the wider verdict on the line before you price anything, my full worth-it verdict on the line, my full honest review, and what surprised me most when I sailed her are the reads I’d start with.
The fare is identical whether you book direct or through me, so booking through an advisor is never the more expensive path; what an advisor actually changes is the part that isn’t the price. What changes is which suite you end up in and whether you book the excursion that wasn’t worth it.
Send me your dates and the suite tier you’re considering. I’ll have live pricing in your inbox within two hours, no call required.
Questions people ask
What is included on an Explora Journeys cruise? Every fare includes dining at eight of nine venues, unlimited beverages (wines, champagne, premium spirits, specialty coffees), ship-wide Wi-Fi, all gratuities, the thermal spa area, fitness classes, and shoreside shuttles into town.
Are drinks included on Explora Journeys? Yes. Wine, champagne, premium spirits, cocktails, and specialty coffees are included in the fare, in the venues and in your suite, with no US drinks package to buy because beverages are already covered. Only ultra-rare vintages and the Anthology wine pairing cost extra.
What costs extra on Explora Journeys? Four things in practice: shore excursions billed per person per port, a short list of ultra-premium wines and spirits beyond the included list, spa treatments on top of the free thermal area, and the chef-hosted Anthology tasting menu.
Is the Anthology Restaurant worth the upcharge? Anthology is a chef-hosted Italian tasting menu billed at €165 per person on top of the fare, with eight other venues already included, so it is worth it as a one-night occasion for serious food travelers and skippable if the included venues already suit you.
Does Explora Journeys have hidden fees? No. The extras (excursions, spa treatments, ultra-premium pours, Anthology) are all disclosed and only billed if you choose them, and nothing appeared on my folio that I had not opted into.
Are gratuities and Wi-Fi included on Explora Journeys? Yes to both. Gratuities are in the fare with no automatic daily service charge and no expected additional tipping, and high-speed Wi-Fi is included ship-wide for every guest with no per-day or per-device charge.
— Justin