Cliffholl55

2 hours ago, Brummijam said:

Did you just mention FB ?🤦🏻😳😂😂

Isn’t that Face Ache 🙈🙉🙊

I can understand most peoples concerns but at the end of the day havant we all filled in a questionnaires with all cruise companies in various ports as to ur health before boarding  ie. Have u a cough ,have u had a cold etc etc . I think we all know now how to fill in as we have for before covid ?
or am I wrong?

17 hours ago, pennib said:

P&O. Good luck. Will be interested to hear how you get on on Marella in the Caribbean. We are looking at their offerings but this Christmas we are with P&O again.

I’m sure we will have good fun, we did when we did India and Dubai with Marella. Having done PO a few times we much prefer the laid back feel of Marella.

Can I ask what this other board is on . Very interested as going to Caribbean in Jan with Marella 

We had them on EX1 in Junior suite 

I agree, you need the protection of a package

Been trying for a few days to book 2 cruises that follow on with repositioning  for Nov.23. Discovery 2 from Majorca to Cyprus followed by Cyprus to Jordan. Can not book unless we book 2 cruises with flights we won’t use and then on change over day must get off ship and amuse ourselves. On the cruise we done in 2019 Dubai to India there were passengers that stayed on from Jordon with Marella. Confused or what

On 7/21/2022 at 12:45 PM, paulatsea said:

Top booking Dave - nice one.

I was hoping explorer 2 would have an Asian option.

Be very surprised if Sri Lanka will be on the list the way things are there

Explorer 2 has left Tenerife to arrive in Barcelona on the 18th December according to apps.

22 hours ago, ferretktf said:

maybe not isolation

 

in parliament today, Sajid Javid was asked "The travel restrictions were brought in to prevent Omnicron from taking hold in this country.  Now that we have 200,000 Omnicron infections per day, the constraints on international travel appear both superfluous and ridiculous. When will they be removed?"

 

The answer from Mr. Javid was "I agree with the point raised and I will be consulting with my colleagues from the Department of Transport to see what can be done to remove the restrictions at the earliest possible opportunity"

 

Of course Grant Shapps could disagree and leave them in place - but potentially the necessity to self-isolate may have been removed by the time of your return.

Interesting. Is there 200,000 infections a day in Uk or around the world?  Official infections through testing in UK is 45/55 thousand a day. Confused 

57 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

Where are you seeing this estimated time? 

The logs filed by the Captain state it will dock at 7am on 13th 

N.b. This will happen 

 

If you are browsing a site that merely extrapolates current speed vs remaining distance then this estimate is incorrect. 

 

The captain will cruise as economically as possible... He left Algeciras  24 hours earlier than he needed to based on full speed, clearly to save on fuel costs 

 

 

57 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

Where are you seeing this estimated time? 

The logs filed by the Captain state it will dock at 7am on 13th 

N.b. This will happen 

 

If you are browsing a site that merely extrapolates current speed vs remaining distance then this estimate is incorrect. 

 

The captain will cruise as economically as possible... He left Algeciras  24 hours earlier than he needed to based on full speed, clearly to save on fuel costs 

 

 

https://cruisedig.com/ports/gran-canaria-canary-islands

possibly will arrive early but maybe not allowed to dock until 8.pm. We’re see

28 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

It looks like Explorer won't reach Las Palmas in time for the cruise I'm on as the current estimated time of arrival is 04:11 15/12/2021 local time. 

I start my cruise on the 13th.

Online I see it arriving there on 13th at 8.00am. Scheduled to leave there at 11.00pm , so looks on course at moment.

details on Port schedule in Las Palmas ,

it left Algeciras last nite and only creeping along at 7.8 knots at present

21 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

or toppled over 😱

That’s on TV tonight. Concordia cruise ship (on the rocks)

6 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

and here is the visual - the red line is the movement history (last 24 hours)

Thank you. Thought I was imagining then 😂
so must of flooded dock

1 hour ago, howmuch! said:

Cruisemapper and Marinetraffic still show her in dry dock? Perhaps not updated her position

It’s one of the biggest dry docks and if you been looking everyday it has actually moved from one side of dock to other since yesterday. There fairly precise on the satellite. So not really sure 

Not sure if Explorer about to leave dry dock as on Marine app it has moved to opposite side of dock so they may of flooded the dock. Hopefully out on water soon.

Gatwick airport offers PCR on return for approximately £59 each with result next day. You need to book them. 
Martin Lewis has details of these and other airports on his well known site if this is any use to you. 
Not holding much hope with a Marella Med cruise now so may have to look at PO from Southampton.

59 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

Monday Update:
Marella Explorer 2 has reached Gran Canaria for the cruise commencing today (although it is currently moored offshore having briefly docked at 23:00 last night - as is P&O's Ventura - guess they are waiting for berths)
 

Marella Explorer is still in Dry Dock in Cadiz

I can see a Saudi Arabian vessel (Aljubail) waiting to go into dry dock - was scheduled for today, now moved to tomorrow.

Not sure if that means Explorer will be leaving dry dock tomorrow (hurrah!) or whether this new vessel will move alongside her (it's one of the largests dry docks in the world) - hoping its the former and that it means the work is complete and (virus permitting) BOTH sets of itineraties will resume on their correct ships from Dec 13th / Dec 16th

We been watching too with interest. Just hoping that if Christmas and New Year Med goes ahead that they swap ships back as been on Ex 1 already in summer so would like a change of entertainment etc

Ex2 still docked in Malaga. Think when it does leave and sails at 18/20 knots that’s 2 days sailing. That’s going to be tight to swap over what they need to do. Wondering why there not selling November 29/December 6th as they usually do sell last minute cruises. Any thoughts?

9 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

What you are seeing on the TUI/Marella Website is the Cruises currently "on sale"

The Canaries cruises were always intended to commence on Nov 29, which is why the Explorer went into Dry Dock at the start of November to prepare it for the winter season.

As Explorer will not be available for those first few sailings (due to the delay in Cadiz), they have taken these "off sale" as they do not wish to sell any more places given that they have diverted Explorer 2 to replace Explorer on those sailings. (and cancelled the EX 2 planned Spanish itineraries)

Assuming all ok now in Cadiz, the intention will be for the Explorer to resume this circuit from Dec 13, freeing up the EX 2 to return to the Spanish Itinerary for the cruise commencing Dec 16  (again a tight switchover)

While it might seem to make more sense to keep the EX2 on the Canaries sailings and send Explorer to Spain/Gibraltar, due to the Adults Only / Child Friendly differences, I think they will switch them again as it will cause a lot of "problems" on the Christmas cruises to have children on a boat with no permanent child facilities

 

I refer you back to your post where you say the first Canary cruise is 29th December and Ex2 in Malaga today 25 November. That’s some 5 weeks to get the and get ready. I have family on the cruise 13th December and they not heard of any cancellation of their Canary cruise. 

10 hours ago, ferretktf said:

First Canaries cruise leaves 29th December from Gran Canaria. Current Spanish cruise ends in Malaga tomorrow morning (25th), so they have 3 full days to move the ship (26,27,28)

 

908 nautical miles at , say, average 20mph is nearly two days solid, so that takes care of 2 of the 3 days…..so it is fair to say that it is tight, particularly given that - presumably - at least some of the crew will need to switch across.

 

I expect they will attempt to use the three days to temporarily convert part of Explorer 2 to include childrens areas. I’m not familiar with EX2 so can’t comment on where that would be, but would think that there would be problems if they didn’t.

 

we await trip reports from anybody who is going to be on that first cruise.

Not sure you dates add up. Unless cancelled ( and is still on sale ) the next Canary cruise departs 13/14 December so has over 2 weeks ro get there etc.

10 minutes ago, so,ton saint said:

Cliff totally agree with you , we flew with TUI from Bournmouth to Lanzarote and felt very safe and have been back three weeks now, you could spell the plane had been cleaned even the air from the blowers was different and even in the hotel and shops in Lanzarote were very strict and masks had to be worn when walking around hotel, but it had to be done, have been working my P/T job with cruise parking in Southampton this year serving all the cruise ships and every one has come back clean, lets get through this year do as we are told, have your third jab, even your flu jab and look forward to next year.

Pity I didn’t know , could of got cheaper parking at Southampton on our Marella UK cruise 😂.  PUP

1 hour ago, ROBYNARCHROY said:

I agree that people are now far too complacent. We are 55 and 57, double jabbed, and have been careful enough until this cruise to have remained covid free. I feel now that I was swept along with the Marella publicity that everything's safe on the cruises. As mentioned they are doing a lot to help, but they can't supervise every person washing their hands or filling their bottles from the water fountains.

We had planned to book a xmas break as soon as we returned but that now is off the cards for us.

Forgive me for gently nudging into this thread, I did consider starting a new thread on the subject but didn't want to create a full blown thread about Marella cruises failure to have a handwashing warden at every toilet🙂 

I will post a full review in due course, hopefully with a reply from TUI in hand 

The cruise was great especially with the added space on the boat. I think there were 800 on our cruise. I do wonder, though, how many others caught it on the cruise. I also sincerely hope that the problems are ironed out so cruising can continue. I'm trying to communicate things I saw to TUI, but as discussed a wall of silence. Shame.

We are all trying to stay safe and this can’t just be laid at Marella only, all cruise lines have now had outbreaks of covid. 
 Cruises wernt the cleanest of places in normal times and now with covid it  will show more. 
 No matter what precautions you take there will always be a chance of catching this virus or any other.

 If you are prepared to sit in a flying tube with 280 other people for 3/4 hours and 7 days with 800/1000 strangers you must know that you run a high chance of catching it. This virus ain’t going anywhere.

  We are double jabbed and the booster today both 65 and enjoyed our last cruise knowing the risks, also flying at the weekend for holiday knowing the risks.  
 Also going on New Year cruise on Ex2 if not in lockdown 

1 minute ago, Brummijam said:

We purchased an annual travel insurance policy a couple of days before our trip and the cruise cover cost an extra £22:00 for us both, When I was  on the comparison sites none of them were offering comprehensive cruise cover so I would assume it is TUI trying to point you towards the insurance that they are offering.

On boarding we had to show the insurance cover note with covid cover and cruise cover highlighted and we were waved on without problem.

All I can say from reading many reviews across all reviews on here from different cruise boards don’t just except you have covid cover for cruise. Phone them to make sure you have the cover you need. You need cover for both , the one who catches covid and the partner that doesn’t as you both will be offloaded one to hospital one to hotel. When we went on last Marella cruise they just glanced at our insurance that mentioned covid. I think when they offload you your on your own.  I may be wrong but I know 1st hand PO are extremely helpful when falling ill on there ships.

8 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Hi BJ sorry to be a pain, but who pays for the hotel stay and is it the 10 days, presumably Tui rebook the return flights. 🤔

Very interesting subject. Looking at PO Iona page there is a very long thread ( Covid on Iona ) it seems to be down to your travel insurance and many asking is it just the infected person gets cover and not the partner or others that have been off loaded at different ports. Seems to be a major issue.