Hilton Honors is going to sea with Explora Journeys. Here is why that matters for points collectors and what Hilton should learn from Ritz-Carlton Yachts.
Hilton Brings Honors Points to Sea
Hilton has officially launched Hilton Honors Adventures and tapped Explora Journeys as its exclusive luxury ocean travel partner. The line, owned by MSC Group, has positioned itself as a “hotel at sea” with yacht-style ships, 461 to 463 suites, and an experience that feels closer to a Waldorf Astoria on the water than a traditional megaship.
For Hilton Honors, this is a big strategic move. Instead of keeping its 235 million members confined to 9,000 hotels on land, the program is now extending into luxury cruising through Explora’s growing fleet, which will reach six ships by 2028 and sail itineraries in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska, the Red Sea, Asia, and even a world cruise in 2029.
Explora becomes the exclusive cruise partner for Hilton Honors Adventures, which is essentially Hilton’s new umbrella for “experiences beyond hotels.” That exclusivity matters, because it means Hilton is not dabbling in a generic cruise portal. It is hitching its wagon to one luxury brand and trying to build something that feels curated instead of simply transactional.
How Its Preview Offer Works
The partnership technically kicks off in December 2025. At that point, Hilton Honors members can earn points on Explora Journeys sailings when they book through a dedicated Hilton referral path. However, Hilton and Explora are already celebrating the tie-up with a preview promotion that runs through June 7, 2026.
From the Explora side, the Hilton Honors member page highlights a set of 16 curated “Hilton x Explora” journeys as the showcase itineraries for this partnership. If you book one of these sailings through Hilton and you get:
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100,000 Hilton Honors bonus points per suite
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Journey Experience Credits worth about $200 per suite on most itineraries and up to $400 per suite on the 16 highlighted journeys
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An exclusive in-suite welcome gift
These credits can be spent on all the things that actually make a luxury cruise feel special: specialty dining at Anthology, wine tastings and rarer bottles, spa treatments, curated shore experiences, onboard shopping, or even suite upgrades.
The catch is that you have to book via Hilton’s dedicated Explora portal or the Hilton Honors app, and you only earn the preview benefits on up to four suites per cruise. Bonus points are credited six to eight weeks after you disembark, which is in line with other big-ticket partner earn offers.
Of note, buying through a travel agency like Scott & Thomas will not afford guests the 100,000 Hilton Honors point bonus for bookings, but it may have a better onboard credit or access to group rates below the Hilton cash rate.
For guests who already like Explora’s positioning as a slightly larger, more casual luxury product with strong culinary, wellness, and destination depth, this preview offer is an easy win. You are still paying regular cash fares, but you are stacking six-figure Hilton earn plus onboard credit on top.
Earning Starts Now, Redeeming Honors Points Begins in 2026
Here is the key fine print that matters for points junkies. Explora’s own FAQ spells it out: Hilton Honors members can begin earning points on Explora Journeys bookings with the partnership launch in December 2025, but point redemptions for Explora sailings will not be available until the full “earn and burn” launch in 2026.
For most travelers, that delay is more of a planning note than a deal-breaker. Big cruise redemptions are not typically impulse decisions. If you are already thinking about a 2026 or 2027 Mediterranean or Northern Europe sailing, knowing that redemptions open next year is perfectly reasonable. But it raises a more important question.
When Hilton turns on the redemption switch, what will those redemptions be worth?
What Hilton Should Learn From Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Yachts
To understand where this could go wrong, Marriott’s partnership with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is a cautionary tale.
As I laid out in my another piece on Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s struggles, Bonvoy redemptions on RCYC are a lesson in how to make a points booking feel more punitive than aspirational. Bonvoy members can redeem 180,000 points to knock $1,000 off their cruise fare, which works out to about 0.56 cents per point. That is already underwhelming compared to what a savvy traveler can get from hotel stays.
It gets worse in practice. On the example I ran, an entry level Ritz-Carlton suite that prices north of $23,000 for two guests would require roughly 4.176 million Bonvoy points to cover the fare. That climbs into “seven or eight digit” territory and represents an enormous opportunity cost compared to other high-value Bonvoy uses.
Explora, importantly, sits at a very different price point. In that same analysis, comparable itineraries on Explora Journeys were available for significantly less cash than Ritz-Carlton, and were bookable with far fewer transferable bank points from programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards.
That context matters for Hilton. If Hilton simply copies the Bonvoy discount model, where points behave like a weak rebate against a very high cruise fare, the partnership will feel like a marketing headline rather than a meaningful redemption option. For this to resonate, Explora redemptions should be:
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More generous than Marriott’s 180,000 points for a $1,000 discount structure
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Competitive with the best uses of Hilton points on luxury hotels, not dramatically worse
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Structured so that a full cruise stay does not require millions of points for an entry level suite
This Partnership Is Promising
Despite the open question on redemption pricing, I like the shape of this partnership. Explora is not a bolt-on mainstream brand. It is a dedicated luxury “resort at sea” concept with a strong design identity, large suites, and a service model that genuinely feels closer to a high-end European boutique hotel than to a typical cruise ship.
The curated list of 16 preview journeys that Hilton is emphasizing covers a mix of Mediterranean, Caribbean, Northern European, and more exotic itineraries, and Hilton clearly intends to push its top-end guests from brands like Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, and LXR into trying Explora.
If Hilton launches with redemptions that deliver clearly better than half a cent per point in value, Hilton Honors members will have a compelling new way to turn hotel loyalty into a luxury cruise.
Ultimately, Hilton’s tie-up with Explora Journeys has all the ingredients to become the standard for hotel-to-cruise loyalty, especially when stacked against Marriott’s underwhelming approach with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. The product is strong, the preview offer is generous, and a full “earn and burn” model is right around the corner in 2026. The only missing piece is how those first redemption charts look.
My family loves Explora Journeys. It’s all ocean-front suite ship is small enough to get into ports bigger ships can’t like St. Barth’s, Anguilla, and others. Its focus on restaurants and an all-inclusive offerings makes it an exceptional value and an opportunity to see more without giving up the luxury premium travelers expect.
What do you think?