EXPLORA III Departs Barcelona on Her Maiden Journey to Lisbon

EXPLORA III has departed Barcelona for Lisbon, beginning the Maiden Journey that opens her first season in service. She left port following an official Naming Ceremony held alongside the new MSC Cruise Division Terminal, escorted out of the harbour by her sister ship EXPLORA I before the two set course on their respective Journeys.

The departure brings the Explora Journeys fleet to three ships sailing worldwide, and it marks a technical step for the brand: EXPLORA III is its first LNG-powered vessel. She was delivered by Fincantieri in Genoa on 23 July 2026 and enters service as the third ship in a programme the company expects to reach six ships in service by 2028. For a young brand, the arrival of a third hull is the point at which itineraries begin to overlap and a guest can plan consecutive seasons across different waters with some continuity of service and standard.

Accommodation runs to 461 ocean-front Suites, Penthouses and Residences. At the top of that range sit two Owner’s Residences designed by Patricia Urquiola, the second of which is new to EXPLORA III. Urquiola’s hand on the most private accommodation aboard gives the ship’s upper tier a single authored character, and for anyone booking at that level it is the clearest distinction between this ship and her two sisters. The Owner’s Residences are the accommodation to enquire about early; there are two of them across an entire season.

The public rooms have been expanded as well, and EXPLORA III offers more public space per guest than any other ship in the fleet. That figure tends to be felt in the ordinary moments of a voyage — a quiet corner at eleven in the morning, a lounge that stays comfortable on a sea day when the weather keeps everyone indoors. Seven distinctive culinary experiences are spread across the ship, alongside 13 bars and lounges and five heated swimming pools. The Ocean Wellness offering has been expanded on this ship, with enhanced experiences arriving in step with the new culinary concepts introduced aboard.

The inaugural season reads as a summer spent at high latitudes. From Lisbon, EXPLORA III turns north for a Northern European programme taking in the Baltic Sea, the Norwegian fjords, Iceland and Greenland, before crossing the Atlantic to Canada and New England. It is a sequence built around long daylight, cold clear water and the kind of coastline that rewards several days in a single region — the sort of season a traveller books as a block of time and builds the year around.

The ship has already carried a guest of some note. Tennis No. 1 Jannik Sinner sailed aboard EXPLORA III as her first guest during a Prelude Journey, ahead of the naming in Barcelona and the start of commercial service. Prelude sailings of that kind give a new vessel a short shakedown with people on board, and they are the last stage before a ship’s public season begins in earnest.

What a discerning traveller should take from the week is a matter of timing. The Northern European itineraries and the transatlantic crossing to Canada and New England are open for the season now under way, and the Owner’s Residences and the higher categories of Penthouse are the first to move on a ship in her maiden year. The interest in a new hull is highest in its first twelve months, and the itineraries that combine the Norwegian fjords, Iceland and Greenland in one voyage are the ones that tend to fill first.

Beyond this season, the shape of the brand is becoming clearer. Three ships are sailing worldwide today, with six planned in service by 2028 — a pace that suggests the Northern European and transatlantic programmes established by EXPLORA III will be repeated and extended rather than treated as a one-year experiment. For now, she is at sea on her way to Lisbon, with the north ahead of her.

Source: Explora Journeys