Our FIRST Mediterranean Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas 2024 | Cruise Vlog |

We took our FIRST Mediterranean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas sailing out of Ravenna, Italy to Santorini, Mykonos, Athens and Split, Croatia. We learned a lot about cruising in the Mediterranean and we can't wait to share it all with you!
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[@ryanandkala]

Hey everyone! Like & Subscribe for continuous cruise content and stay tuned for the rest of our Explorer OTS Cruise out to Santorini, Mykonos, Athens & Croatia. For early access to videos, loyalty badges, emojis or just to support the channel make sure to join our membership by clicking "Join" or checking in the description! ❤ Happy Cruising! 😎🍻☀

[@rccola4765]

where in Canada do you live?

[@jeighteen8297]

Looking forward to this series guys, I hope you all had an awesome time

[@ryanandkala]

We had an amazing time! Still recovering from the time change hahaha

[@jeighteen8297]

@@ryanandkala Better than still recovering from the hangovers... 🤣 They do say that jetlag is worse going west to east than vice versa, it's always the case for me when going to Asia Vs North America so maybe that's why it hit you so hard!

[@ryanandkala]

@jeighteen8297 100% haha! That makes sense, going back in time is harder than going forward it seems!

[@Teri30]

Hi from Texas!! Loved watching your first day on the ship, that’s always my favorite day on the cruise getting onboard and enjoying everything that makes cruising so much Fun!!! We are totally Loyal to Royal!! Being Diamond Plus it’s hard to cruise other lines and have to pay for drinks and plus we just think Royal Caribbean is the best at sea. ⚓️

[@ryanandkala]

Howdy Texas!! So glad you enjoyed the first vlog!! 🫶🏼 We agree that royals perks are unbeatable! It’s a big reason we usually cruise with royal, those drink vouchers and free wifi days are the best at sea

[@tarahartman9521]

Loyal to Royal!!

[@PiaAdora]

Yay! So excited for these vlogs. Hope you guys had a great time.

[@ryanandkala]

We had an amazing time! Thanks so much for watching! Hope you love the series! ♥️

[@radtech71]

Great video as usual!! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip!!!!

[@ryanandkala]

Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy the series!! 🫶🏼

[@marissacafe]

Ahh I’m so excited for this series!!!

[@ryanandkala]

We hope you enjoy it!!! It was such a busy cruise lol!

[@john89iz]

Great review! I did the 7-day Greek Isles on explorer of the seas on June 2, 2024 and loved it! I got a room with a balcony for my parents, and an interior room for my brother and I (to save a few hundred dollars). I have to to say that upgrading for a balcony is totally worth it, the views are beautiful. The interior rooms are depressing, no natural light, you don’t know what time of day it is. I put my alarm at 7:30am everyday to make sure I did not over slept.

[@ryanandkala]

Hahaha it is definitely dark in there! Great for sleeping but we had to often set alarms too! Certain cruises are great for those upgrades and I feel like if we planned this cruise again we would do the balcony!

[@AmandaLander]

Excited to follow along with this trip!

[@ryanandkala]

🫶🏼🥂

[@charlesglankleriii2589]

Y'all's videos are so awesome that they are never long enough

[@ryanandkala]

Awwwww thank you so much!!! So glad you’re enjoying them!! 🫶🏼

[@Gutie2021]

Yay! I’m super excited for this trip! I have binge watched all your videos in the past 2 weeks, and I am super excited for new videos! I kinda miss your little jingle at the beginning of each episode with the montage! It always got me pumped to watch your videos! I’ll be looking out for the next one!

[@ryanandkala]

I said that to Ryan too!! I liked having the little intro to show what you could expect in the series. However I know it’s more work for him to edit that together haha! I’ll see what o can do about bringing it back somehow! 🫶🏼

[@Gutie2021]

@ryanandkala I can see how going through all the video footage would be very tedious to make an intro. Would it be easier to use photos from the trip to make the intro? I will always keep watching anyway! Thanks for taking us on your adventures!!

[@ryanandkala]

@Gutie2021 aww thanks! Ryan said he will try and make one for the utopia vlogs! ♥️

[@H-Travels]

Great intro video to new series - love it! (Will be back on Explorer for third time this year in November for Barcelona to Miami run… Did you get your diamond drinks / chef’s gift, robes eventually delivered to your room? Love the new dance moves 😅 As for your question on loyalty, being diamond, we love the lounge, private behind the scenes tours, benefits, drink vouchers, etc., and typically decide where we want to travel to, then build an itinerary around Royal sailings in the region. We do try to avoid school holidays, and enjoy transatlantic runs. Cheers, James

[@ryanandkala]

Hey James! Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed day 1. Hahaha 😂 the dance moves were 👌🏼🔥 We love the diamond lounge on explorer so much. It’s the best one! We think Royal has the best loyalty program perks hands down. We are similar for planning as well, if there’s a Royal ship going we generally choose that one because of the perks. We did eventually get our treats and robes 🙌🏼

[@angelofmusic1026]

Thanks for sharing - looking forward to the rest of the series! It’s making me want to book another cruise ASAP!

[@ryanandkala]

Love that for you!! I second that!! 😀

[@nt9960]

Another Fantastic Vlog. Looking forward to the rest of the series

[@ryanandkala]

Yay so glad you enjoyed the embarkation day video!! We hope you love the rest!! 🥂

[@andreamills98]

Congratulations and thank you for sharing 🫶🏻

[@ryanandkala]

Thank you for watching! Hope you enjoy this series!! ♥️

[@janinesmith1854]

We tend to choose based on deals but lately we’ve been picking based on ships we want to sail on. We tend to end up in the Caribbean a lot because it’s the cheapest and also most of the newer ships sail from there. There are ports where we don’t even bother to get off anymore now, so I’d like to start going to some different places but it’s so costly to get there!

[@ryanandkala]

We are in the same boat! Almost all of our 2024 and 2025 cruises are all newer ships out of Florida doing the Caribbean because of the better newer ships and the better deals. Flying is the most expensive part of our travels generally, especially from Canada it’s so $$$

[@Suzanne1027]

Great video! I am excited for this series!

[@ryanandkala]

Yay we’re so glad you liked day 1!! 🥂

[@kikky811]

Looking forward to this one!We have a Greek isles/Med booked for next August! Kala cracks me up with the cold Canada comments. “It’s always cold, there is ice everywhere” 🤣 Do you live in an igloo? lol. JK. SW Ontario has been very warm to hot since early April & generally the winters are Jan to Mar. I know parts of Canada have winters from Oct to Apr though 🥶. Jokes aside, loved the first Med vlog!

[@ryanandkala]

Hahahaha 🤣 generally where we are in Ottawa there is ice everywhere here from November to April and this was May so we had barely been out of winter, but no igloo for us thankfully! We do try and escape the frigid Canadian winters as much as we can lol. Sometimes we get lucky with random bouts of warmth in march or April but it’s usually followed with a massive snow or ice storm haha! We’re so glad you enjoyed day 1, can’t wait for all the port days to start rolling. This was a great cruise! You’re going to love the Greek isles! Just be prepared for the crowds and the heat in August!

[@kikky811]

@@ryanandkala Hoping it won’t be too bad, it’s the last week of August for us. May would be a good month for sure!

[@kikky811]

@@ryanandkala It definitely sounds like where you live is a lot colder than SW part of Ontario, it is definitely cold in the winter but I’d say frigid is rare, mostly in January where it might dip below -10 for a few days. Definitely no ice from Nov 🤣. Canada is huge though, I guess “Canadian” winter can mean so much here. Regardless, it is SO NICE to escape on a Caribbean cruise during the winter! We had nothing but rain most of our winter. Bleh

[@ryanandkala]

@kikky811 we are sending you nice weather and less peopley vibes!! 🫶🏼

[@ryanandkala]

@kikky811 100% we are in the Ottawa valley so our weather is so strange lol! Sometimes it doesn’t snow until January other times it starts in October haha! 🤷🏼‍♀️ Always nice to escape somewhere tropical and warm ☀️

[@atwtravels3309]

This was a great video! Looking forward to the rest of the series for sure. What camera/ audio equipment did you use for this? The quality on video and audio were really good.

[@ryanandkala]

For the outdoor stuff we just use our GoPro (I believe it’s the 10) and the indoor filming we use a Nikon For the audio we have one of those dead cat poof things to help with the wind

[@atwtravels3309]

@@ryanandkala thank you!

[@HighSeasEscapades]

Great video guys. We are looking at sailing on Explorer out of Ravenna next summer so we will follow your journey with interest.

[@ryanandkala]

Yay!! You’re going to love that cruise it’s truly magical!!

[@rkenzie5235]

Yay!!! I’m taking my first Med cruise on the NCL epic in August!! So excited

[@ryanandkala]

Hope you have an amazing time and that it’s not too hot or crowded for you!

[@donaldka]

I'm excited for this series!! I will be on the ship in September. I look forward to your excursions, pre and post travel tips leaving the ship.

[@ryanandkala]

September will still be busy season so just be prepared for longer lines and hotter weather! We hope we can give you some helpful tips to have the best time ever!!! 🤍🥂

[@ShannonGraulich]

Thanks so much, doing similar itinerary in Oct. and loved your tips.

[@ryanandkala]

You’re going to love it! Especially in October! I hear it’s stunning in October, much cooler and way less people!! Have the best time!!! 🫶🏼🥂

[@snapchick]

Although its great to have a balcony, the payoff with interior cabins is that you can spend more on experiences/excursions and cruise more often. We never spend much time in the cabin anyway. Usually, we decide where we want to go and check all the cruise lines for the best deal. We are in the UK so we always have to fly out somewhere which adds to the cost so good deals are more important to us than loyalty.

[@ryanandkala]

Same with us, flying is always so $$ so we have a similar process. Also agreed on the interior rooms! We joke about them but they’re the most cost effective and we are literally never in there. Alaska was a great deal for the balcony and we were happy we got it but we still didn’t spend enough time on it to make the extra $ worth it 100% Way better to invest in the experiences and take more cruises! ♥️

[@libraroze]

Your question about picking cruises…we are loyal to Royal so we just pick the area we want to go and then pick a ship that has an itinerary that fits dates we can do. Excited for your Utopia videos. We are planning to go on Utopia in October.

[@ryanandkala]

We are so exited for utopia!! We generally go with Royal because of the loyalty perks, it saves a lot of money on drinks and we get the free wifi days too! Best loyalty points at sea easily!

[@allisonmatheney8115]

U guys r on a bucket list cruise. Just started the video so can’t wait

[@ryanandkala]

This was supposed to be our honeymoon in 2020 but because of the pandemic we had to cancel, we have been trying to go on it ever since! We finally got to go!! It was major bucket list material! 🤍

[@kelligoodman1203]

We just received our Royal Up for our cruise on the 26th. So excited to have a balcony for our Greece cruise.

[@ryanandkala]

That’s so awesome!!! A balcony will be so nice on that one!! 🥂

[@PatrickWagz]

Love me some Explorer of the Seas. She sailed out of my home port for years, so I was on it more than any other ship. And, like you said, the views up in the Viking Crown are amazing. It's too bad Royal doesn't still make the Viking Crowns on their new ships. And, #teamfostersoilcans & #teaminteriorcabin *FOR LIFE!* haha 🤣

[@ryanandkala]

Right?? I was so sad to the see the Viking crown area go away. Those views were the best!! Explorer and navigator are awesome ships we really enjoyed them a lot! #interiorcabincrew 😎

[@mpoole3]

When are you on Utopia? I'm on in Oct for B2B2B.

[@ryanandkala]

We are September 2-6 and 6-9 on a back to back! Our first ever B2B!! Any tips?

[@csmith2435]

Bravo! My jaw hurts from smiling through this presentation for 35 minutes! I am all amped up now to see the other vlogs from this trip AND the Olympics! Since you filmed this RCL announced that your RCL Loyalty points are now honored on all of the RCL brands! So you can get the perks of your Diamond status on Celebrity and Silver Sea! When choosing a cruise, I think I sort the options like you guys do. If it is a destination that I really want to visit, the brand is not so important. I try to be Loyal to Royal but I will occasionally take a hall pass...so to speak! 😎😎😎

[@ryanandkala]

We love that we had you smiling so much!! 😀 It’s so great that the loyalty perks are across various ships now! It’s great!! We think Royal has the best perks at sea so far so we like to book Royal to get those awesome benefits!

[@csmith2435]

@@ryanandkala Also...I believe Virgin and MSC will match your loyalty status from RCL. I think it is a marketing ploy to gain customers. It certainly gives me incentive to try Virgin. Have not been overly impressed by the MSC reviews...but if the price is right, As a Diamond or Diamond Plus...I will give it a try!

[@ryanandkala]

@csmith2435 we are trying MSC next year so we will keep you posted! We definitely want to try virgin too!!

[@leonardstewart9094]

Just arrived home today after Greek and Croatia explorer of the seas cruise 1st time cruising. It was fantastic 👏 👌

[@ryanandkala]

What an epic first cruise!!!! So glad you had a great time!!! 🍻

[@campusx4195]

Loyal to Royal!!! Gotta get the points to add up...eventually you will be Pinnacle, might be 10 plus years, but keep getting the points. Plus Diamond drinks, robes etc. are little perks

[@ryanandkala]

100% we are trying to get to diamond plus! The works are he best at sea bar none

[@anthonym5123]

Were sailing the exact cruise in 3 weeks! That's for the heads up!

[@ryanandkala]

Wooo! Have the best time!!! 🥂

[@ashleylongstreet4755]

I live in between port Everglades and port Miami and the steel drums just always make me feel like I’m on vacation on embarkation day, but if I was going on a cruise abroad may be not?

[@ryanandkala]

We agree, when we go from Canada to the Caribbean the steel drums are great because it’s instant vacation vibes, but when we left from Italy we were craving some more European vibes!

[@danielg.1955]

Hello fellow cruisers, I live in California and I usually end up on Carnival, because they sail out of San Francisco and Long Beach. I’ve been on Norwegian once. But I do want to get on Icon of the Seas. Travel safe.

[@ryanandkala]

We also want to get on icon… if those prices ever get a grip! 🤣 We did the RC navigator of the seas out of LA and loved it!

[@rickvandeusen5215]

Enjoy yourselfs and I'm big follower of yours

[@ryanandkala]

Thanks so much Rick! 🫶🏼

[@judithmiller8790]

Loving the lemon/orange outfit & bathing suit❤❤❤❤ where did you get them from?

[@ryanandkala]

SHEIN as always! Everything I get for cruises is generally from SHEIN 🤍

[@judithmiller8790]

@@ryanandkala a "pack with me" would be awesome:)

[@ryanandkala]

@judithmiller8790 I actually JUST recorded a SHEIN haul video lol, not sure when it’ll be released but a lot of people asked for it so stay tuned it’s coming!! 🫶🏼

[@missfunk5]

We are going on this ship very shortly, first time cruisers. Exciting!

[@ryanandkala]

Explorer is an awesome ship! This was our second time on her! You’ll have a blast!!

[@tanyajohnson5640]

Just curious.. why no drink package?

[@ryanandkala]

We just felt with the amount of port days and that we'd be spending as much time as we could off the ship, that it wasn't going to be worth it this time around. Having the diamond vouchers and bringing 2 bottles of wine was perfect. On the Sea days I think we bought a few extra drinks so it would have been nice to have on those days, but generally I think it was the right move.

[@allisonmatheney8115]

Omg I know that room. Haven’t been that close up. But have been up front. U get the exclusive of hearing the anchor drop.

[@ryanandkala]

Haha we've had some bad experiences right at the front but this time it wasn't bad at all thankfully!

[@allisonmatheney8115]

@@ryanandkala awesome that is so good to hear. Can’t wait for part 2 of this adventure

[@ryanandkala]

@allisonmatheney8115 members get access today! Everyone else gets to see it Sunday!!

[@lindanormsmedrano7834]

Is november a good time to cruise this area?? Thank you wonderful video

[@ryanandkala]

I think the main seasons for Europe are May to October. Not sure about November!

[@lindanormsmedrano7834]

@@ryanandkala thank you for your prompt response. Great video. Can you please share how much did you pay for your cruise ? Thank you in advsnce. Im paying 10k for 2 11 days,flights,insurance includes,tax,ports,etc NO TIPS included. What do you think?

[@ryanandkala]

@lindanormsmedrano7834 I can’t remember exactly how much our balcony room was but I remember we got a great deal through avoya (a travel agent site) and our flights from Ottawa to Vancouver and Seattle back to Ottawa were pretty affordable because we did the air to sea - they weren’t direct flights or great flight paths but the price was right To me $10k seems like a lot but it depends on the time of year you picked and what kind of room you got and where you’re flying from

[@CW-lt5sj]

Hey Ryan and Kala. We are going on this cruise in September as well. Flying in to Venice from Toronto 3 days ahead to spend sometimes there and then will go to Ravenna on the day of cruise. I see people said we can arrange shuttle with RC. Do you know how that works?? Thank you so much! Love the videos!

[@ryanandkala]

We called RC directly to set up our shuttle back to the airport so we recommend doing that if you want to book the shuttle! The earlier the better!

[@CW-lt5sj]

@@ryanandkala thank you so much!!!

[@dozer9]

I like steel drums, but I think that's more of a Caribbean thing....I'm also all about the local music!

[@ryanandkala]

💯 agree!! 🥂

[@dzonikg]

I had same 10 night from Ravanaon same ship on 24 september,initialy it was that it starts from Monfalcone which is much closer to Serbia where i live but when i enter app yesterday i saw it now says Ravena . I always go with a car so i kind off dont know where to park ,i see that there are some unproteced parkings near the beach so i guess i will have to park there . From what i see on google maps at least they are free

[@ryanandkala]

We took a cab from our hotel so we aren’t 100% sure about parking there but from what we have researched (Royal Caribbean’s website says there is no long term parking at the pier) but there are some options to park. The link below has parking you can book, I’m sure that hotels also offer parking for cruisers too if you call and ask. www.parcheggiravenna.com/cruise-car-park Have an amazing time!! 🥂

[@dzonikg]

@@ryanandkala Thank you .It will be my first time with Royal Caribbean

[@ryanandkala]

@dzonikg oh wow!!! You’re going to have an amazing time!! Let us know if you have any other questions!!! Definitely recommend signing up for the crown and anchor loyalty program so you can start collecting days at sea and can start getting perks!

[@kelseyharris8445]

We booked Hotel Corallo based on your recommendation 😀 Was there anything to do around the hotel or did you have to ride the bus into Ravenna to actually find things to see / do?

[@ryanandkala]

There was a store like 1 min walk away which had food and wine etc. there was gelato and restaurants and cafes too within walking distance it was awesome! They had the beach too you could walk to and certain rooms either the hotel come with towels and beach chairs etc Plus there’s a local bus you can take too!

[@kelseyharris8445]

@@ryanandkala Awesome!! Thank you so much. We are excited.

[@travelwithmouw]

We're doing this cruise in July but it includes Dubrovnik -just curious why yours didn't in case I'm missing something

[@ryanandkala]

Lucky! I hear Dubrovnik is amazing! Not sure, this itinerary seems to change a lot! I couldn’t actually find our itinerary anywhere when I was looking for old cruise compasses. Maybe it depends on how busy the ports are during peak season!? If anyone in the community knows feel free to chime in! 🫶🏼

[@mirakelmayoral7357]

Doing this one in July with Dubrovnik, Split, Athens, and Santorini

[@ryanandkala]

@mirakelmayoral7357 amazing! You’re going to love it! Hope these vlogs help a bit! Hope you get great weather and it’s not too busy! ♥️

[@dariabarazandeh]

TOTALLY agree with you about the music! It's weird to have steel drums/Caribbean music when cruising around the Mediterranean. Italian and Greek music all the way!

[@ryanandkala]

👏🏼🙌🏼

[@princessmadero1]

We just got off Carnival Celebration and there was steel drums during certain blocks of the day that I loved…but also the dj other times. This was a western Caribbean cruise though so it was fitting. But I agree not so fitting for your cruise, darn!

[@ryanandkala]

Agreed definitely a time and place for the Caribbean steel drum music! Caribbean itineraries for sure! Eventually they switched to a band which was better!

[@kristincrawford6154]

We are on this cruise in 2 weeks! Do you know if they offer sugar free syrup options when ordering coffee?

[@ryanandkala]

They sure do! I was able to get sugar free vanilla syrup! Not sure what other SF options they have but I’d ask when you get on board.

[@kati7082]

Carnival diamond here. I do carnival for the most part.

[@ryanandkala]

Wow diamond, that’s awesome! Great job earning those points! What’s your favourite perk with the carnival loyalty program?

[@makabuca]

Hello God Bless you guys!!I hope to meet you one day, I'm planning a Surprise cruise and I have a question, do you guys know if Carnival vista is a twin cruise to Horizon, I'm planning to go on October 2025, thank you for all you do ( I really want to know you guys)

[@ryanandkala]

Hey!! How fun!! Love a surprise cruise! We don’t technically know about those 2 ships because we haven’t been on either however a quick google search tells me that the ships are similar however it seems that the vista doesn’t have guys pig and anchor or flavourtown bar, and horizon seems to get better reviews overall. We hope to see you on board one day!!

[@goaly97]

Taking the same cruise June 22

[@ryanandkala]

Have the best time ever!!! 🫶🏼🥂

[@allisonmatheney8115]

Love the steel drums but u r in Italy so some must more to your area would be great

[@ryanandkala]

Agree! Steel drums on a Caribbean itinerary are awesome! But for a Greek isles cruise I would have loved some local music to get us excited to go to the islands there.

[@renbella]

Will be taking this ship on a 10 day cruise from Ravenna in September, 2024. I agree, steel drum music doesn't belong in that part of the world, it just does not complement the Adriatic and Meditarranean vibes.

[@ryanandkala]

@renbella 100% could not agree more. We need med vibes not Caribbean vibes!!

[@song113nomore9]

Steel drums and reggae any day over the same mainstream crap that other ships rotate.

[@jamesfitness6387]

You guys are diamond members and still getting inside cabins smh idc what anyone say I’m not cruising if I have to get an inside cabin and yes I’ve been on 12 Royal Caribbean cruises and 15 Carnival cruises and never been in a inside cabin period

[@ryanandkala]

Wow never been in an interior cabin ever? That’s amazing! We do them because it’s cheaper and we can do more cruises per year, but certain times we spring for the balcony like in Alaska! That was soo worth it!

[@canajian]

👁👁

[@ryanandkala]

Enjoy your early access