Leaving Pando....for now.

Last cruise was Oriana, April 16 including 2 days Venice....was a great cruise. Next planned cruise was going to be 35 days to Caribbean but broke my back. Ok now apart from regular discomfort, but had planty of time to think.

Now think we need to be in the sunshine on first day so it's back to flying for us, just back from Lanzerote 1 month hotel holiday and we enjoyed it. Time to try a cruise again, BUT drinks and gratuities getting to be too expensive on Pando.

So.....have booked up with Marella Explorer....Caribbean... for next Feb 14 days AI, flying from Newcastle on a 787.

Price was £284pp more than Pando.....but the grats would eat up £98pp and probably 4 drinks a day each (not necessarily all alco) would eat up the rest.

We generally like the food and entertainment on Pando, the bloke from NZ who did Freddy Mercury was very good for example.

But, we must admit we have walked out on the Headliners on several cruises.

Anyway, time to give Marella a go.....did actually do them when they were Thompsons on Island Escape about 12 years ago and enjoyed it though it was a tired jaded ship. Don't know what they are like now?

Any comments on the above wlcome.

Know what you mean about Island Escape. We did our first cruise on her round about the time you did. She was a very old converted ferry, but she did get us hooked on cruising. We followed Ocean Village around the med, and decided to try her next, and the rest, as they say, is history. We are Med tier with P&O now, but beginning to think they are slowly degrading their product, and are starting to think like you, that it may be time to part company.

I think that there will more choice and better prices with the competition now with fly cruises. It obviously costs P&O a lot for cruises from Southampton and these cruises will always tend to cost a little more and take up a few days either end of cruise getting to the sunshine and back, unless you fly.

A few years ago (as far as I can see) there was a big difference in the cruises offered from P&O and the then Thomson cruises (now Marella), but reading recent reviews it appears they are very comparable pricewise, eating and entertainment.

As regards to the entertainment, it seems the way forward with P&O with the Limelight club on Britannia, that they only way to see a recognised act is to pay a supplement and no doubt this will happen for the new ship in 2020.

Hi...I think it is good to try different cruise lines and not just be " stuck" on one particular line. We can now only cruise from the UK....no flying due to health issues . We too are cruising with Marella...from Southampton....tips/gratuities/service charge included in the basic price which is what we prefer and also AI and all for a very very competitive price. We have cruised with Marella (Thomson) before but the ship was past its sell by date and we weren't impressed at all although the entertainment left P&O standing but I think going on one of the Discoveries will be an altogether different experience...we are looking forward to it.

Agree with what you say about entertainment, in the past we have more or less enjoyed comedians and tribute acts with Pando but we have on several cruises on occasion walked out on the Headliners. Would not want to pay for a recognised acts. I cut my teeth in the late sixties/early seventies watching the top groups for buttons as a twice weekly event..... The Who, Led Zepp, Free, Stones, Pink Floyd........as well as middle of the road such as Amen Corner, Love Affair etc. Today's acts are pale in comparison.. I have seen the Jersey boys at the Theatre, enjoyed them but they didn't sing one complete four seasons song. just lots of medleys.

You will be very pleasantly surprised as long as you are on one of the newer (to TUI) ships.

The basics of a cruise are all there and to a reasonable standard eg food, entertainment. The choice on the drinks package is perfectly adequate.

In some aspects they are better than P&O, personally I think they provide more and better entertainment through the day on any sea days for example. The staff are also friendlier. There are generally fewer sea days which prefer, I know other won’t.

They don’t have the fancy pay for restaurants which P&O provide, they do have alternatives but they are a bit more basic.

We have always found their shore excursions to be good as well.

It’s good to try something different. We have found that we enjoy all our cruises if we accept that each line provides a slightly different product and accept that none of them are perfect.

Have a lovely cruise.

You will be very pleasantly surprised as long as you are on one of the newer (to TUI) ships.

 

The basics of a cruise are all there and to a reasonable standard eg food, entertainment. The choice on the drinks package is perfectly adequate.

 

In some aspects they are better than P&O, personally I think they provide more and better entertainment through the day on any sea days for example. The staff are also friendlier. There are generally fewer sea days which prefer, I know other won’t.

 

 

They don’t have the fancy pay for restaurants which P&O provide, they do have alternatives but they are a bit more basic.

 

We have always found their shore excursions to be good as well.

 

It’s good to try something different. We have found that we enjoy all our cruises if we accept that each line provides a slightly different product and accept that none of them are perfect.

 

Have a lovely cruise.

I get a different impression of the latest Marella ships. Apart from the MDR and the buffet there is a popular Italian restaurant upstairs in the MDR evenings. Pay for Kora La and Steak and Surf restaurants and the Glasshouse which is free at lunchtime and serves free tapas/pizza in the evening plus steak on hot lava rock for a charge. (It has a glass roof!). The Explorer will have in addition a dedicated sushi bar and a dining club. IMO the latest ships are just as good or better than the mid sized P&O ships.

I too am leaving P&O for now, mainly because I keep getting ill aboard, twice on the last cruise :mad:

I get a different impression of the latest Marella ships. Apart from the MDR and the buffet there is a popular Italian restaurant upstairs in the MDR evenings. Pay for Kora La and Steak and Surf restaurants and the Glasshouse which is free at lunchtime and serves free tapas/pizza in the evening plus steak on hot lava rock for a charge. (It has a glass roof!). The Explorer will have in addition a dedicated sushi bar and a dining club. IMO the latest ships are just as good or better than the mid sized P&O ships.

 

I too am leaving P&O for now, mainly because I keep getting ill aboard, twice on the last cruise :mad:

Oh dear...twice on the same cruise is not good at all....do I remember correctly that on a previous occasion you were taken ill on board and that you were " poorly" on the train home from that cruise?

Always good to try different cruise lines. Not tried Marella but will one day. MSC is on my list at the moment. Tried Princess, Celebrity, Cunard and like them a lot. Plus most of my cruises have been with Royal Caribbean and they remain my favourite. I still like P&O because of the contrasting, down to earth experience.

I completely agree that it is always a good thing to try other lines. We all experience a cruise in different ways and we all have different tastes. I cruised with P&O twice last year, on Aurora & Oriana and thoroughly enjoyed both cruises.

In January I had a week aboard Marella Discovery 2 in the Caribbean - mainly to see Havana. Imho - and to my taste - I am afraid I certainly wouldn't rush to go back to Marella. I thought the food in the mdr was pretty poor - tasteless, small portions and only 3 courses. Entertainment was mixed. Theatre shows okay but lacked 'ooomph', musicians pretty good but groups far too over-amplified - so much so I had to leave the Live Room on three occasions.

Flights & transfers were good. Arrangements for solo pax were good.

Plenty of pax seemed to be enjoying themselves but I was quite happy to be disembarking after a week and I know a few others were too.

I do hope you find it to your taste and have a lovely cruise.

We have tried Cunard and Fred Olsen but much prefer P&O. As we were unable to get the flights out for the week we wanted in the Caribbean with P&O, we are sampling Marella's Discovery 2 in November to Panama. Britboys, we can compare notes afterwards perhaps ;) ?

I took a look at Marella, but they only have 2 cruises out of the UK and I don't fly these days. We have done a few on Fred, but quite honestly we prefer P&O

We were on Discovery this Feb in the Caribbean with our DD and SIL.we all had a great time. We have all been on RCI and others lines. My daughter and son in law have booked Explorer for next Feb and if it wasn't for my husbands age we would have booked again. The facilities and ambience knock the other lines into a cocked hat IMO. You will never find anything perfect but Marella are a line to feel comfortable on. As regards to three courses. You can order just what you like from what I saw. A young teenager with his mum ordered three starters, two dinners and cheeseboard. No problem.

We have cruised with P&O and Marella several times. I will cruise with them both again, they are both very British with Marella having the edge for entertainment and the fact that you don't have a large bill at the end for drinks and tips. However some of this is offset by Marella usually being a bit more expensive. We like the bigger P&O ships for longer cruises especially if crossing the Atlantic as we feel there is more to do. Sometimes you just have to give it a go and see for yourself.