On a Luxury Cruise With My Family, Finding Adults-Only Relaxation and Kid-Friendly Fun
Explora Journeys
This story is part of Condé Nast Traveler's spotlight on family cruise travel.
My 10-year-old daughter Agnes, who hates being cold, recently became cruise-curious. So with winter descending on New York City I decided to sail the Caribbean with her and her 8-year-old brother Rex on the newish luxury line Explora Journeys. Rex was mildly disappointed when he learned that Explora II, the company’s recently launched second ship, did not possess a waterslide, but if I’m being honest, I was not. And I had a suspicion that the brand of unfussy, unpretentious luxury for which Explora has rapidly become known would suit us all.
“It looks like a building inside,” Rex said, with some surprise, when we boarded in Antigua.
“It looks like a hotel inside,” Agnes countered.
Yes, I told them, that was kind of the idea. And, with 461 cabins, 13 decks, and five pools, Explora II proved to be just the right size of floating hotel for a few days spent mostly at sea—not so big as to be bewildering, but big enough that there was plenty to discover each day. The kids found that our ocean-facing suite compared nicely to the luxury hotels they’ve enjoyed in the past; they loved wearing the luxurious robes while eating room-service breakfast on the terrace. Agnes was delighted that the room contained a small library, and picked out Sherlock Holmes—The Complete Collection to read, although this resulted in some difficult questions: “Papa,” she asked. “Why would a doctor prescribe someone cocaine?”
Over the next few days the kids found lots to like about Explora II, including the Conservatory Pool, a calming space with a retractable glass roof that becomes a starlit cinema at night. The pool itself sometimes becomes a wave pool, and they got a huge kick out of letting their bodies rock in the current, occasionally darting out to soak in the nearby whirlpools, while I drank a Campari and soda on one of the daybeds.
But their favorite amenity onboard, and perhaps mine, was the Nautilus Club, a sanctuary for kids aged 6 to 17, where I dropped them so that I could go do various adult things: experience the signature Ritual of Ocean Renewal treatment at the excellent onboard spa; use the outdoor TechnoGym rowing machines and stationary bikes; and once drink a margarita at the top-deck, adults-only Sky Bar, where I observed a lively group of Portuguese and Norwegian and Australian and Polish and Irish guests recruit a quiet American couple into their party, and tried to absorb some of their debauchery by osmosis. “I’ve been traveling with them since Barcelona,” an American man from Provincetown confided to me. “They drink a lot.”
There was plenty for the kids to do at the Nautilus Club, from foosball and bracelet making to movies and video games, but what I appreciated most was that the attentive minders also took them out to other parts of the ship, to go play pickleball or get crepes, even to have dinner one night. I was mid-margarita when they and a couple of Canadian kids they’d befriended scampered past, in the midst of a high-energy game of hide-and-seek. One night I came back to the Nautilus Club to find my children and their new friends in the midst of the most gender-normative activities you could imagine: the boys were camped out on plush chairs playing Mario, and the girls were belting their lungs out on a karaoke machine. I let them do “Vampire” and “Roar” and then said it was time for bed.
The one experience Rex had that might have beat even the Nautilus Club was a show of dazzling card tricks by an Australian magician named James Galea, part of Explora II’s all-day entertainment schedule; it helped that Rex, who studied a little magic at sleepaway camp last summer, got chosen to participate in a trick. “That was so cool,” he exclaimed afterward. “But I am so confused.”
And the one experience they both shared that they will always remember was the day we spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It began with a bus tour led by one of those well-practiced driver-guide-comedian types, who kept up a steady patter of quips that the kids found uproariously funny, culminating with an hour spent exploring Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan. But what I loved most was the afternoon the three of us spent on our own afterward. We went to a lovely all-day cafe, Cafe Caleta, where I finally convinced them that they liked empanadas. (I had less success with the cucumber and ginger aguas frescas.)
We wandered over to Parque de las Palomas, famed for its pigeons, which seemed demonically possessed. Against my better judgment, I bought the kids a bag of feed; by the time they got to the bottom, every pigeon in the park seemed to be bum-rushing them and Rex was cowering against the wrought-iron fence in mock—real?—terror. He was whimpering slightly as we continued along the Calle de la Fortaleza, and Agnes pointed out that it would be a real problem if he were permanently traumatized by pigeons, given that he lives in New York City. I’d told them they could get a treat and when we passed Himalaya Ice Co., which promises to create delicious ice cream “rolls” made with the ingredients of your choice while you watch, Agnes decided that this was the treat she wanted. “Rex,” she said, deploying her very best 10-year-old logic, “We’re only here today and we might never get to have these again.” Sold.
Honestly, though, they probably enjoyed the desserts at the ship’s five onboard restaurants and in Emporium Marketplace, the all-day food hall on the eleventh deck, even more. And they also liked the mains, quite a bit, especially at the pan-Asian eatery Sakura, where Agnes ordered tons of sushi and Rex surprised me by ordering roasted Korean miso quails. He surprised me again at Marble & Co. Grill, the onboard steakhouse, not by eating steak, which he wasn’t ready for (though I most certainly was), but by loving the pork belly. After finishing, he commented, “I like this ship. I want to go on it again. I thought I’d get seasick, but no!”
Mission accomplished.
Four-day cruises from $1,920 per person, including meals. explorajourneys.com
Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler
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