Jim The Scot

Been back a week now from American Dream and a week in Orlando and just never got round to doing a review

It was a great trip however

After it being cancelled a few years ago it was only rescheduled for this year only

Your welcome D

When I said we stayed on ship all day thats not strictly true.We got off and had a slow walk up to the end of the pier to stretch  our legs 😉

Yeah,town is an Olympic walkers distance away from the industrial port and no bus that I can recollect only Marella excursions

We stayed on the ship all day

Pretty sure there wasn,t the last time we were there in October D

Hi C
 

Yeah Its a tough life I could have lived with though 😆

On 7/11/2023 at 9:02 PM, ladyjayneq said:

Jim the Scot

 

we’ve done it!! Passport arrives tomorrow so got on and booked it tonight.  Got a change of port, Nassau instead of Key West. Now starting to book trips. Two happy bunnies here 😁😁

Nice one L,hope it arrived and good you have managed to get booked

Enjoy the planning

Thats Discovery arrived safe and sound  at Port Canaveral

Another three days off AI and free food for the passengers who stayed on for the long sail from Amber Cove 

Hi J

Through your cabin key 

Glasgow flight eventually arrived back home at 10-58 from La Romana so thats flown from Melbourne-DR-Glasgow

Thanks G

Not sure what happened regards the glasgow flight(TOM 629) from Melbourne scheduled to depart at 13-25 yesterday

Was due to land in Glasgow at 02-15 this morning but showing estimated arrival time as 11-20 on flightstats

I,ll need to take your word for it G as cant find or track any flight from Melbourne to DM 😁

I wouldn,t be a happy bunny if i had been on a land based hol expecting to be returning direct to find out i,d be returning via DM

Keep us up to date

12 minutes ago, gramwold said:

hope you get away ok  Jim.   I looked on flight radar just and the flight  from Melbourne  airport  back to Manchester  had a flight  number  TOM179 I am tracking  one with flight number  TOM179P going to  La Romana in Dominican Republic landing in 25 mins.  I think maybe to pick up some of  Discovery  Manchester passengers. If true  they will have had a long coach journey from Amber cove of about  150 miles or so. will keep an eye  on it.

Thanks G

Been busy tracking our intended flight from glasgow to melbourne and never occurred to me to check flights from melbourne to DR

Spoke with TUI at local store today and said the flights taken passengers  home from DR may well not take them back to the airport they departed from so suspect main flights will go back to London and then bus to other destinations  for the many

5 hours ago, Mannamead17 said:

Getting a full refund is not great it's merely the very least you would expect.

I spent an unrecoverable £200 on hotel and train tickets which will not be compensated by TUI, all I got offered was £100 each voucher for future bookings

Worst thing being we only knew not to travel to Gatwick due to the Facebook group we are in. It took TUI until 1 pm to ring me, 2.5 hours after we were due to travel.

Hi M

Initially we were booked to go today but changed to the 23rd(long story)so feel for you….you must be gutted missing your cruise ,we would have been and could still be 😅

£100 each voucher is a pittance and hardly constitutes compensation but am I surprised?not really,its TUI after all and also not surprised by the late contact.Your £100 compo will be swallowed up by their increased prices

Was it marella/ tui facebook group you found out preTUI call?

Ps

No consolation to you but popped into our local TUI store on passing not expecting them to know anything regarding what had happened with Discovery but shockarooni they did..Told me only todays flight/ cruise schedule cancelled and will be running from the 16th.Saying that,if they told me its was thunder and lightening with torrential rain outside i,d stick my head out to make sure

Hopefully you get something sorted to compensate this disaster

26 minutes ago, ladyjayneq said:

Jim the Scot, 

Was thinking of you and trying to work out if you would be affected. 

Here's hoping you get away ok 🤞

We're still awaiting hubbys passport before we can book. 

Thanks ladyjay but no we,re not affected at the moment as we dont go until the 23rd but we.re talking about TUI  so not counting my chickens yet

You been waiting long for Hubs passport?

Thanks H
 

Yeah,must be disappointing for for those that have to come home early and also for those due to go out on the 9th to have their whole cruise/holiday cancelled

Must have been a scary experience for those on board but the main thing everyone is safe and sound

From Travel Gossip dated 8th July

TUI-owned Marella Cruises has cancelled the remainder of its current cruise, as well as the next departure of its ship Discovery after a fire broke out.

Passengers were alerted when fire alarms sounded at around 01:30 local time on Friday 7 July, as the ship was on its way to Grand Turk, during a Caribbean cruise.

TUI said the fire – in one of the ship’s five engines – was quickly extinguished and there were no injuries to passengers or crew.

The ship was escorted to its previous port of call, Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, where the damage is being assessed.

Passengers on the ship have been told they’ll be flown back to the UK, while Discovery’snext sailing, on Sunday 9 July, has been cancelled.

One passenger described the incident as ‘quite terrifying’, while another said the staff and crew were ‘utterly amazing’.

TUI said: “Due to a small fire in one of the five engines on the Marella Discovery, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the cruise.

 “We understand how disappointing this will be and would like to apologise to our customers who have been impacted and thank them for their patience and understanding at this time.

“The fire was reported whilst the ship was on course in the Caribbean. The fire was quickly extinguished, and no one on board was harmed.

“We understand how concerning this must be for those on board and we would like to assure customers that our crew are highly trained to deal with these sorts of situations.

“Due to the impacts of the fire, we will also be cancelling the next cruise due to depart from Port Canaveral on Sunday.

“Our customer teams will be in contact with those customers impacted and will support them with their future travel plans.

“Depending on customers’ outward travel dates, those impacted will either be offered a full or pro-rata refund, as well as holiday vouchers as a gesture of goodwill.

“Our teams are currently arranging for all passengers to be brought home.

“We would once again like to thank customers for their patience and understanding and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

These dates dont tie in with RR

If we had stuck with our initial booking our cruise would have been cancelled as were due on her on the 9th July.We switched to the 23rd

Yeah we cant wait

Its been a long time coming as we were booked to go on this in 2020 until TUI scrapped the Dream resulting in them pulling the Discovery from America itinerary  to cover her and cancelling the America schedule so when they relaunched the America cruise for this year we booked it right away.Kinda glad as it seems a one off and only running for this year.

Yeah the flight situ ain,t great from up your way

I wished we had been able to get a flight from Edinburgh for this cruise which is only 25/30 min drive for us but generally no big issue for us for flights as we mainly do the Med which are Edinburgh

Yes,you wont get access to full excursions descriptions via cruise control until you have booked

5 hours ago, Hookedoncruising! said:

Oh my goodness! Thats a long drive. Have you never thought of booking into a hotel with parking for the night before? Its sometimes not much dearer than paying for parking,and you would feel much better going for a long flight. Just a thought.

Normally we stay overnight and we have a much shorter 1hr 30 mins drive but not this time.For the hotel we ,ve always stayed in plus parking they,re wanting £250 where for valet parking only we paid £119..Ironically if staying overnight at the hotel I,d need to drive my car to exactly the same car park in the morning we have booked

Although a hot complimentary breakfast is included with overnight stay, but with having the early flight we would miss out on that so it would be basically £130 for a bed

We,ll get breakfast in the lounge at airport which comes as a benefit of PE

Having said all that,if I was in ladyjayneq shoes I,d be forking out for an overnight stay

Your welcome

Hopefully up in the sky three weeks today

Here you go ladyjayneq

Charleston Walking Tour(2.5hrs). £78 pp

If two and a half hours of culinary treats sound up your street, book yourself onto this foodie-themed walking tour of Charlestown. The historic influences on the city’s gastro scene range from Scottish and Irish to African and French – so you can expect a variety of tastes on this excursion. You’ll learn about the foodie history of the city, and how local foods are used widely across Charlestown’s 700-plus restaurants. And when it comes to tasting a few local bites, you’ll get to try items from a Carolina barbecue, as well as a surprise dessert, cookies, and a local type of biscuit.

New York Big Bus Sightseeing-Discover Ticket(7hrs) £46 pp

Enjoy sightseeing, local attractions, shopping, museums, art galleries, restaurants and much more, as this tour allows you to experience the exhilarating, fast-paced city of New York according to your own interests and at your own pace. With over 12 stops this tour gives you access to the Downtown loop featuring the Empire State Building, Times Square, One World Trade Center and much more. Hop on or hop off at your leisure to create your own customized journey around the city. The open top provides fantastic views as you enjoy the fun and entertaining audio tour with our virtual guides.

New York Big Bus Sightseeing-Essential Ticket(7hrs) £60 pp

Hi ladyjayneq

As we are doing a cruise/ stay can only help with American Dream itinerary

In port order
 

Charleston

Pirates&Patriots Walking Tour

Historic Charleston Highlights

Middleton Place Plantation

Boone Hall Plantation &Historic Charleston

Magnolia Gardens Tour & Nature Train

A Taste of Charleston Walking Tour

New York(day 1)

9/11 Museum & Memorial

Top Of The Rock By Night

Big Bus Sightseeing-Discover Ticket

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Big Apple Icons

Empire State Building By Night

Big Bus Sightseeing-Essential Ticket

New York by Land and Sea

Panoramic New York

Evening Harbour Lights Cruise

New York New York

New York(Day 2)

9/11 Museum & Memorial

Statue Of Liberty & Ellis Island

High Line & The Edge Sky Deck

One World Observatory & 9/11 Memorial

Discover Brooklyn

Walk The Brooklyn Bridge

Freeport

Lucayan Beach & Resort

Discover Freeport

Cant give you a description on all the excursions but if there are any you are interested in and want more info and prices just ask and i,ll oblige

Hi Kenny

The Dream was our favourite ship before it went to the knackers yard .

We have cruised on every other ship in the Marella fleet apart from Voyager which will be add to our portfolio in October so at the moment Discovery(2)is our favourite ship out of them all

Like the lay out,cabins are fine,food is decent,entertainment is normally excellent,staff are top of the pops and cant beat it for friendliness of fellow passengers

Its not perfect but is any cruise ship?