Field Notes · From the houses · Explora Journeys
Explora Journeys announces its first President’s Journey, hosted by Anna Nash aboard EXPLORA II
A December week from Barcelona to Tenerife with the company’s president on board, a visit to the Governor’s residence in Gibraltar, a night in Casablanca and the ocean swimmer Lewis Pugh on the programme.
Cruise lines like to say that they listen to their guests. Explora Journeys has turned the claim into a sailing. Its first President’s Journey puts Anna Nash, the company’s president, aboard EXPLORA II for a December week from Barcelona to Tenerife, from 9 to 16 December 2026, on an itinerary she designed herself. Returning guests and first-timers are invited alike, and the subject of the week is conversation: what guests value, what moves them and what they want from the voyages still to come.
Nash brings more than two decades in the luxury travel industry, most of it, as she says herself, outside the cruise business. That outside view is the premise of the trip, and the programme is built around it: informal morning walks, intimate dinners and focused conversations with Nash and members of the leadership team in which guests are asked what matters most to them. Nash herself will be on board from 9 to 15 December.
“For me, hospitality begins with listening.”
Anna Nash, President, Explora Journeys
Gibraltar, behind the official doors
The first big day ashore is Gibraltar, with a destination experience created for this voyage alone. After a scenic drive through the territory and a visit to its Second World War tunnels, guests are taken to The Convent, the historic official residence of the Governor of Gibraltar. Explora describes it as privileged access to some of the territory’s most significant historic landmarks.
A night in Casablanca
Casablanca gets an overnight stay, which changes the rhythm of a port call. In the evening a complimentary Destination Experience at the Royal Mansour Casablanca brings guests together with Nash for a sunset cocktail in an intimate setting with limited places. The following day is left free for exploring the city independently.
Four voices on board
The enrichment programme is where the week touches Tausim’s own territory. Lewis Pugh, UN Patron of the Ocean and a world-record-holding endurance swimmer, brings a perspective on exploration and conservation drawn from his relationship with the world’s oceans. Annabel Croft, former British number one tennis player, sports broadcaster and television presenter, talks about a career in international sport and broadcasting. Broadcaster and journalist Matt Barbet covers storytelling and current affairs, and Gail Packer, an ocean travel destination expert, adds the view from inside the travel world. Explora calls them the Luminaries.
Explora Club members get dedicated recognition, priority access to selected experiences and a series of limited-capacity events and invitation-only gatherings around destinations, wellbeing and food.
The winter Mediterranean
The President’s Journey belongs to A Serene Mediterranean, the Winter 2026-2027 Journeys Collection, which sails from November 2026 to March 2027. The idea is the Mediterranean after the summer crowds have gone: softer light, quieter streets and destinations from Sicily and Tunisia to the Greek Islands, Iberia and the Atlantic coast. The collection also adds shorter voyages of four and five nights.
Softer light is the friendly way of saying shorter days, and the figures are worth knowing before you plan the shore time. Our Daylight Simulator gives Barcelona a little over nine hours of daylight in mid-December, and Tenerife, much further south, about ten hours and twenty minutes.
The fleet behind the week
Explora Journeys is the privately owned luxury ocean travel brand of the MSC Group, headquartered in Geneva. EXPLORA I and EXPLORA II joined the fleet in 2023 and 2024, and EXPLORA III, the brand’s first ship powered by LNG, followed in 2026. EXPLORA IV is due in early 2027, with EXPLORA V and EXPLORA VI joining through 2027 into 2028.
