Explora Journeys is set to announce a new luxury boutique for EXPLORA II in the coming days, a substitute to the Rolex shop offered on board sister-ship EXPLORA I, LATTE can reveal. The second ship in the ultra-luxury cruise line’s fleet is slated to commence operation in mid-September.
Speaking to travel advisors last week at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, Explora Journeys’ Chris Austin, President of North America and Aimee Price, VP/Head of Sales USA West and Canada confirmed the Rolex outlet will not be carried across to the second ship.
Instead, an Italian jewellers is taking its place in the shopping precinct – known as ‘The Journey’ – aboard EXPLORA II, Austin told LATTE, remaining tight-lipped on the name of the specific jeweller.Subscribe to LATTE Cruise’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.Discussing the unique shopping experience with Virtuosos, Price said Explora Journeys didn’t take the common path of other cruise lines with selecting a third-party operator.
“We did everything in-house. We curated over 30 providers that have a focus on discovery, consciousness and of course, providence and craftsmanship.”
“You’re going to find some very unique products that you’re not going to find on any other ship, or a lot of times, in other airports or shops around the world.”
“Aboard EXPLORA I, we have four watch shops on board, and because we’re a Swiss company, they are Swiss focused watch shops. We have Piaget, Panerai, Cartier and the only Rolex store at sea.”
“What’s unique is that a guest can come onboard and walk off with a Rolex on their wrist. If you have watch collectors, you may want to promote our brand to those clients,” Price suggested.
“It’s a unique prospect. You can’t get a Rolex in a store right now. You have to wait one or two years. We have guests that have purchased their journey and sailed with us so that they can get a Rolex!”
Austin explained thatEXPLORA I is “the only location where you can walk in to a shop and walk out with a Rolex” and that the shop is moving three or four watches per day, “all controlled by Geneva.”
“EXPLORA II will have outlets for Panerai, Piaget and Cartier, as well as a fine jewellers which I think is going to resonate really well because despite the positivity of Rolex we had feedback – maybe a more female audience – there isn’t enough jewellery,” he said.
Lindsey Wiegmann, PR & Marketing, North America for Explora Journeys, told LATTEEXPLORA I is “very watch heavy, and Cartier doesn’t sell the traditional jewellery. There will be more variety on EXPLORA II.”
Austin highlighted that Explora Journeys is being transparent with its training of travel advisors that not every ship has the Rolex store “because we don’t want to create an issue where people think Rolex, Rolex, Rolex on every ship and they’ve sold the itinerary and have an expectation, only to find there’s not a Rolex shop onboard.”“The storytelling has to have clarity. We don’t want confusion,” he added.
While EXPLORA II won’t have a Rolex store, Austin said “look for the brand again on EXPLORA III.”
