EXPLORA V

Restaurants on Explora V, most of them in the fare

Most of Explora V’s restaurants are included in the fare, and the ones that charge are built around a chef. Marble & Co. Grill shows the included side at its best: a contemporary steakhouse where you watch the chefs prepare premium cuts in an open kitchen. All-day dining, pan-Asian cooking and a casual Mediterranean room with sea views come with the fare too.

Anthology and Chef Table carry a charge, and both are worth planning around. Anthology is a fine-dining room whose menus change with the rotating guest chefs brought aboard, so what is served depends on who is cooking that voyage. Chef Table seats you at a single table for a meal shaped around your own preferences, and it needs booking in advance.

From Copenhagen to the Baltic and Norway, then the Mediterranean

From May to August, Explora V sails out of Copenhagen. Her Baltic voyages run as 14-night round-trips from Copenhagen, or as 6- and 7-night one-ways ending in Stockholm. Stops change between departures, but Tallinn, Helsinki and Rønne on Bornholm are typical. Her Norway sailings are round-trips from Copenhagen, 15 or 19 nights in May and June and 7 nights in July and August. There are also 14-night one-ways that finish in Stockholm or Southampton. Oslo, Bergen and Nordfjordeid are among the calls you might see.

Her longest voyages leave Copenhagen in August. These transatlantic crossings run 28 or 38 nights and end in New York or Québec City. Ports vary, but Reykjavik and Stornoway in the Hebrides are among them.

Between December and April she sails the Western Mediterranean on 7-night one-ways between Rome (Civitavecchia) and Barcelona, and some of her sailings from Barcelona run on to Lisbon. Typical calls include Villefranche-sur-Mer for Nice, Valletta and Palma de Mallorca.

Every one of these departures means a flight from Australia, so wherever she sails from, we book the flights, the hotel either side and the transfers as one holiday. That includes the flight home from New York or Québec City after an Atlantic crossing. Her sister ship is Explora VI, and the rest of the fleet is on the Explora Journeys line page.

Whisky, cigars and a cinema by the pool

The Malt Whiskey Bar is the one to seek out: a selection of whiskies from around the world, including rare bottlings, alongside a walk-in humidor and an outdoor terrace. Entry is free, and the whisky is included in the fare apart from rare bottlings in the ultra-exquisite selection, which cost extra; cigars are charged.

By day, The Conservatory Pool Bar is a sheltered poolside lounge with gentle music. In the evening it becomes an open-air cinema under the stars. For the view, Helios Pool Bar on Deck 12 is adults-only and faces forward over the bow.

Coffee in her café and afternoon tea in her main lounge are included. In the bars, drinks are included in the fare, from fine wines and champagne to premium spirits and cocktails, apart from an ultra-exquisite selection sold separately.

Explora V cabins and deck plans

Every room on Explora V is a suite. Her cabins and deck plans show which deck each suite sits on.

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