A History of Explora Journeys The story of Explora Journeys luxury cruises begins in Sorrento with the Neapolitan ferry captain Gianluigi Aponte. After meeting his wife, a Swiss passenger on one ...

The couple met in 1969 aboard a Naples-to-Capri ferry that Aponte was captain of, according to Bloomberg. He raised $280,000 to set up MSC a year later and named his second ship "the Rafaela" in ...