howmuch!

I may be wrong, but looking at FB reviews for the Caribbean ships, I get the impression that a higher proportion of passengers go there to relax and soak up the sun on sunbeds, than to get off and explore/visit a local beach. We were on Explorer in November (Canaries), and had more difficulty getting a sunbed than on previous Med Cruises.

Immediately after you left S&T, did you go to the buffet for a meal

Apparently the lack of doors on wardrobes and settees missing, was a supply issue during the Cadiz refurb. Seen pictures on FB that show some cabins complete (suites) and some with missing wardrobe doors. At least 1 cabin has reportedly been given £100 refund for lack of a settee. Some aren't too keen on the cream and brown colour palette!

Glad you got it sorted.

We had a flight delay in Sept (land holiday, not cruise), filled in the Tui online form and were paid within 14 days (yes I was amazed!). It did say online, not to claim until 3 days after the flight, so perhaps they need 3 days to process their information for the flight, so have you allowed the 3 days? If you have a FB account, try contacting them using the messenger service on FB, as they respond reasonably quickly

Its the Yorkshire in me - plenty of money for all those things, just can't get into the habit of spending it!!

The Broadway shows changed when Peel were replaced by Ted. Marella appear to have targeted a younger cliental, and judging by FB comments on the Explorer page, it appears to be a hit with new younger (than me) travellers, who all appear to be subscribing to 'premium drink packages', balcony cabins etc. The ships are now fairly full so with current prices, Marella must be making a killing.

My wife has been Coeliac for past 6yrs and is also type 1 diabetic. During that time we have probably done 7 or 8 cruises with Marella and she has never had a problem. Obviously choices are less than what's available to 'normal' cruisers, but as Tony says, they will adapt meals. I would say that things have definitely improved over those 6 yrs, particularly things such as cereals, crackers, toast, afternoon snacks etc, although some are not on display in the buffet (crackers particularly) The one bone of contention for my wife is, given the vast range of included bottled lagers, non are gluten free! We usually visit the local supermarket at the first port of call to 'stock up'. Luckily in Europe, it doesn't carry the hefty price tag that we find in Tesco (£6 for 4 bottles 33cl) I draw this to the attention of Marella every booking, but it falls on deaf ears. Enjoy your cruise, I'm sure you will.

Discovery is currently in Cadiz having a cosmetic refit of cabins on decks 7 and 8, but should be sailing to caribbean from Malaga on the 8th.

Bj - you could be right, everything else was great, no service issues at all. Have a good cruise and report back your thoughts to us if you don't mind.

If it had been a TUi Dreamliner, they would have decreased the seat spacing in order to to get the grand piano onboard, avoid losing passenger income, and pay for the pianist 😂

We were on the repositioning cruise 28th Oct - 8th Nov, which we really enjoyed, but I have to agree with Jim about some of the food, compared to pre-covid cruises we have taken. We have never used the speciality eating venues on board, as we have always found the food in Latitude fine, but I did wonder if Marella are trying to 'encourage' people to book the paid venues (which from what I have seen, seem to get very good reviews)

The Tui website shows before and after shots for selected cabin refurbs, that would take place Nov 2022. I think they are going for the IKEA look

and the biggest posative for us, was that after 11n on ship, flying, airport etc, we are still covid free 6 days after returning!

On Explorer last week. Everything is as it was pre Covid. Masks no longer compulsery for crew, no temperature checks, people sitting at bar etc, no seating restrictions.

Not sure if the 3 days needs to be exact, but might be worth checking. I completed our questionnaire before our recent repo cruise on Explorer (came back Tuesday), and although my memory isn't great, I had the impression it had many more questions than it used to have. Previously I thought there were about half a dozen, but latest version had more I think

We always use mobile data. Reports I've seen on social media sites, suggest Marella wifi is very expensive and slow. There is an app onboard (navigate app) that uses ships wifi for free, which is quite useful for daily menus, drinks menus etc, as well as whats happening aboard, and you can keep tabs of your on-board account. Enjoy the cruise, I'm sure you will be hooked by day 4.

How did you find the Explorer last week, as it currently seems to be sailing 'at capacity' (whatever that means). Any service issues or shortages of particular brands of alcohol?

Give LV a try. Premier annual multi trip policy is trips up to 90 days and cruise cover is standard, and it covers people up to 80

We had deck 9 inside cabin in March and must have missed them if they were there. We always take the relevant phone charger and adapter for use with the 240 sockets in the cabin, as we find the dedicated chargers are faster than the ones we have in our kitchen, that have inbuilt usb sockets

Great ship, enjoy the cruise. The two places we like best are daytime Mediterranean bar - rear of Deck 11, and Deck 12 (front) Indigo Club after the early show. Squid and Anchor - not our cup of tea!

Jim - you are not alone 🤫

I keep an eye on prices, and they are still showing cruises available to book, on the day of departure.eg, Explorer 2 for today is still on - but going through a dummy booking, eventually brings an error. With testing required before flying, I'm not sure I'd want to book very late. Having no cabin choice is the downside of booking in the last 2 weeks, so we don't book that late. Having said that, if the price was too good to miss!!!

If there is a way to wriggle out, Tui will find it. I would fill out a Tui claim form regardless. There's a face ache group Tui Complaints that may be worth a look. It may provide useful info on how others are tackling Tui.