New luxury line Explora Journeys has taken delivery of its first ship.
The $550 million Explora I was delivered Thursday at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. The ship will sail its maiden cruise on Aug. 1 from Copenhagen, Denmark, a seven-night sailing to Reykjavik, Iceland.
The ship has had multiple delivery delays. The most recent one happened this this month when the line canceled the ship’s maiden voyage from England scheduled for July 17. The line later said it was made aware of issues with building materials, which the Financial Times reported were faulty fire-resistant panels that had recently been recalled.
That led to the line pushing back the maiden voyage with one day’s notice. Explora’s parent company, MSC Group, said it was working with the shipyard to replace those materials.
The Explora I will sail in Northern Europe before shifting to Greenland and then spending the fall in North America and the winter in the Caribbean. The ship will sail on the West Coast and Hawaii in the spring before returning to Europe for the summer of 2024.
Explora said sailings will feature nonconventional arrival and departure times and overnight stays in ports to stretch out the amount of time guests spend at destinations.
The line’s second ship, the Explora II, is under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente, near Genoa, Italy. The ship is scheduled to begin sailing in August 2024, with the Explora III slated to be delivered in 2026 and the Explora IV in 2027.
MSC Group has $2.8 billion committed for the four Explora ships.
Correction: The Explora I’s maiden cruise is scheduled to depart Aug. 1. A previous version of this report had the wrong date.
