Having finished three weeks on Explora, memories are positive. With the current sale happening, we now have three future bookings.
Every booking with this new line is a cut to the former favorites.

Currently on third Explora cruise. Past couple months have been on SB Quest TA crossing. A deeply discounted cruise to compensate for the miserable holiday experience previous year. Also, a first time since reopening Cyrstal Serenity cruise. On Quest, barely a familiar face among crew. It was a "I had a good time anyway"
cruise because of a couple fellow passengers. And 100% better than the previous disaster cruise.

On Serenity, I'm greeted with familiar faces, good food and drink.

I board Explora for third time and greeted with a dozen crew that know me (and my quirks) and address by name. 360 passengers on a ship that holds 900. Fully staffed crew meaning probably 2-1 ratio. Food and overall service is tops. Plenty of critical comments to make, but in today's market it's my preferred carrier. I'm finished with SB and SS. Getting on ships that I've spent over 3.5 years on and not seeing many familiar faces is a clue. On Crystal, I see crew from SB and SS.

That is a concerning perspective on Seabourn. I had a similar negative experience in April 2022, when we did our first pandemic era cruise. However, we got off our most recent Seabourn cruise last month, and we had one of the most delightful cruises yet. The guest services and destination teams were marvelous, and we were treated very, very well. Was housekeeping or dining perfect? Not by a long-shot. But, feedback to managers worked and we are looking forward to our September and May cruises already booked.

As an aside, we have friends who just got off an Oceania cruise that so disappointed them that they cancelled remaining plans to sail with Oceania and vowed never to sail with them again.

Glad you like the Explora. I've looked into them, but their destinations are not interesting to me.

Agree Explora itineraries unlikely to interest the well traveled class. Perhaps they will improve when more ships are sailing. If not, they'll have six ships sailing in circles at 10% occupancy.

Are you referring to seeing familiar faces of crew or fellow cruisers you have met on pass trips? I'm thinking the latter as I can't fathom why the former would have any bearing, but I could be wrong.

Both.

Seeing friendly and familiar faces of crew and fellow passengers does make a big difference. Having crew who know your predilections is a big one.

I always tell Ms747FC that while those smiling crew faces are great, who knows what they are saying about us when they are chatting in their own quarters.