howmuch!

Sunshine and Jazz 17 night Repo cruise (Bridgetown to Port Canaveral) is the best Marella offer I've seen lately. £1523 for a deck 2/3 Inside cabin, plus £250 code per couple, making it £1400ish

I note we are paying a higher daily rate than the European arm, in spite of sailing in a few of their cast-off ships.

Advertised prices for current Marella cruises are ridiculous in my opinion. Seriously looking at other options

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.

On 12/24/2022 at 12:04 PM, Rebel Rouser said:

Nice review BJ.

But my last Cruise on the Discovery in the S&T was our worst meal of the cruise, I will just leave a picture of my meal and let you all make up your own minds. I know all ships ate different but as a TUI/Marella Brand should all be singing off the same hymn sheet.

 

PS, Soon to try a new brand in 9 days time for 12 days.

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. 

19 hours ago, Mike.S said:

All,

 

Hoping someone has successfully managed to claim for a delayed flight using the online TUI form.

 

I think I'm inputting the correct info, quoting the Marella booking reference, stating I booked online using a TUI/Firstchoice website. I've not included our middle names as they don't appear on the booking confirmation but I've been rejected twice. Of course there's no way to speak to anyone and I just get the message saying we couldn't locate you in our delay system.

 

So if anyone has been through this loop can you clarify, did you say you'd booked online via TUI, did you include middle names?

 

Any help much appreciated.

 

Mike

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

On 12/17/2022 at 8:20 PM, Pensioncruiser said:

Just loved the Broadway shows, best for us was Thriller on Celebration, many years ago, always a definite go to after dinner but things do move on we didn't particularly enjoy the new generation of entertainment but can understand why they have a need for change. By the way Howmuch we are oldies and always had upgrades on accommodation, drinks and flights that's not just a new generation thing. 😊

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. 

On 11/27/2022 at 5:14 PM, Happy afloat said:

What,no cabaret?!! We had a pianist last time we flew. Baby grand piano was at the front when we took off, at the rear when we landed😉

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)

47 minutes ago, Brummijam said:

Does that mean that we need to pack a screwdriver and some Allen keys.?

2 hours ago, Jim The Scot said:

Any idea how extensive the refurb is.We,re on her next year

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.

14 hours ago, Jim The Scot said:

Just back today and a breeze on arrival but thats probably more to do with the time we arrived.Coming home today,large queues at passport control although check in and security was quick

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?

On 10/7/2022 at 8:57 PM, Kentman said:

Two of us are over 70 thus we fall into this 35 day area, and as said before 35 nights is 36 days. Thanks for your advice.

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!

20 minutes ago, Jim The Scot said:

Couldn,t do that so close to the cruise.Mrs JTS would have a hissy,she needs two weeks to pack the suitcases 😆

Jim - you are not alone 🤫