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First Time On Marella Dream


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We are about to (3 weeks from now) go on our first Marella Cruise having cruised a good few times on other lines. We have had a number of basic queries answered kindly by posters on this forum and wonder if we can indulge ourselves further with a few more specific questions. We are on the Dream for a week in mid March.

 

1) Can anyone give us an indication as to the costs per person for the various special/a la carte restaurants? I know it is a matter of opinion but do you think they are worth the extra cost?

 

2) We have the all inclusive drinks deal provided free at time of booking. We only drink wine so wondered what the standard of the 'package/wine per glass' wines are and if we use one of the speciality restaurants can you use the all inclusive deal to have the same wines in these places?

 

3) Also on the all inclusive drinks subject, is it made clear to you at the time of ordering that you are having something free within the deal or from the add on price items e.g. do you have to sign for chargeable items but not for free ones?

 

4) As aforementioned we only drink wine but love our barista style lattes and cappuccinos. I have seen from other posts that some bars serve filter style coffees and others more along the barista style. Can anyone advise where on the Dream it it best to go for our style of coffee and if these are indeed part of the package (we are not meaning coffees with alcohol as we don't drink spirits)?

 

5) Lastly with there only being one dressing up/formal type evening on the weeks cruise we would intend participating in the event by me wearing a dinner suit (Mrs T will obviously wear a formal type dress) but I cannot decide if it is worth taking all the extra weight etc. to take my full kilt outfit instead of the dinner suit. It would help me decide if I knew what percentage of the passengers fully dress up i.e. dinner suits/long dresses rather that lounge suits and tie and short dresses.

 

Once again thank you in anticipation of your helpful replies.

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  • 1 month later...
We are about to (3 weeks from now) go on our first Marella Cruise having cruised a good few times on other lines. We have had a number of basic queries answered kindly by posters on this forum and wonder if we can indulge ourselves further with a few more specific questions. We are on the Dream for a week in mid March.

 

1) Can anyone give us an indication as to the costs per person for the various special/a la carte restaurants? I know it is a matter of opinion but do you think they are worth the extra cost?

 

2) We have the all inclusive drinks deal provided free at time of booking. We only drink wine so wondered what the standard of the 'package/wine per glass' wines are and if we use one of the speciality restaurants can you use the all inclusive deal to have the same wines in these places?

 

3) Also on the all inclusive drinks subject, is it made clear to you at the time of ordering that you are having something free within the deal or from the add on price items e.g. do you have to sign for chargeable items but not for free ones?

 

4) As aforementioned we only drink wine but love our barista style lattes and cappuccinos. I have seen from other posts that some bars serve filter style coffees and others more along the barista style. Can anyone advise where on the Dream it it best to go for our style of coffee and if these are indeed part of the package (we are not meaning coffees with alcohol as we don't drink spirits)?

 

5) Lastly with there only being one dressing up/formal type evening on the weeks cruise we would intend participating in the event by me wearing a dinner suit (Mrs T will obviously wear a formal type dress) but I cannot decide if it is worth taking all the extra weight etc. to take my full kilt outfit instead of the dinner suit. It would help me decide if I knew what percentage of the passengers fully dress up i.e. dinner suits/long dresses rather that lounge suits and tie and short dresses.

 

Once again thank you in anticipation of your helpful replies.

 

No replies and just back so if anyone is interested I will try to answer my own questions,

 

1) Costs seem to be in the region of £17/£20 p head however a 3 restaurant package is available at a fair discount. We found the company and ambiance of the Main Dining Room (Orion) and the food quality so good we did not use the speciality restaurants at all!

 

2) We did not upgrade to the higher AI deal and found the wines perfectly palatable. We did not try the rose and found the white better than the red but that is only a matter of taste. The house wine did change after a few days so the quality might vary but we found all that were presented to us ok. The prosecco as part of the package was also rather good.

 

3) It was clear which drinks were part of the deal and which had a supplement. If you paid a supplement you did in fact have to sign for it. We signed for nothing staying within the deal so had a zero bill (bar wise) at the end of the cruise.

 

4) All of the bars provided a decent Latte, Cappuchino etc. as part of the AI so much so that we did not feel the need to frequent the premium Coffee Port venue.

 

5) The one formal night was a mixture of Dinner Suits/Nice Dresses and Lounge Suits/ Still Nice Dresses and a few less formal but nothing ridiculously under dressed. We would recommend dressing up if the party wants to.

 

Finally we really really enjoyed Dream in all respects and will return. Our experience bore no relation to some of the doom mongers recent posts.

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Always enjoy Dream - particularly Waters Edge and on again 22nd May

Thomson Spirit Oct 2005 Repo Palma to Sharm el Sheikh

Thomson Celebration Jan 2007 Red Sea Magic

Ocean VillageFeb 2008 Western Caribbean & Central America

Ocean VillageAug 2008 Eastern Med

Ocean Village 2 Feb 2009 Eastern Caribbean

Ocean VillageMar 2010 Eastern Caribbean

Thomson Dream Feb 2011 Eastern Caribbean & Cuba

Thomson Celebration Aug 2011 Eastern Med

Thomson Celebration Apr 2012 Red Sea Magic

Thomson CelebrationApr/May 2012 Repo Sharm el Sheikh to Marmaris

Thomson Dream Feb 2013 EasternCaribbean

Thomson Majesty​​Nov/Dec 2014 Colourful Coasts Canaries

Thomson Dream Jan/Feb 2015 Western Caribbean Panama & Cuba

Thomson Dream Apr 2015 Transatlantic Sunset

Thomson Majesty​​June 2015 Hellenic Classics

Thomson Celebration Sept 2015 Adriatic Affair

Thomson Dream​​Jan 2016 Mayan Treasures/Cuban Revolution

Thomson Dream​​April 2016 Atlantic Adventure

Thomson Dream​​June 2016 Iconic Islands/Adriatic Explorer

Thomson CelebrationJan 2017 Cities of Gold

Thomson Dream​​April2017 Atlantic Daydream

Thomson Spirit​​June 2017 Classical Greece

Thomson Majesty Sept2017 Med Medley/Treasures of Med

MarellaCelebrationJan 2018 Caribbean Gems/Coral Islands

Marella Discovery 2 April 2018 Cuban Fusion

MarellaDiscovery 2 April 2018 Atlantic Discoveries

Marella Dream May 2018 Spanish Delights

Marella Discovery 2June 2018 Aegean Meze

MarellaDream​​Sept 2018 Mediterranean Medley

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for all of your info. We are planning our first Marella cruise ever next summer for our 20th anniversary having only previously cruised with Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean so not sure what to expect. Planning on the Adriatic Explorer.

 

Do you remember what the additional cost was for the premium upgrade package as although I mostly drink wine I do like a wee cocktail from time to time and my husband likes spirits.

 

Thanks in adavance.

 

No replies and just back so if anyone is interested I will try to answer my own questions,

 

1) Costs seem to be in the region of £17/£20 p head however a 3 restaurant package is available at a fair discount. We found the company and ambiance of the Main Dining Room (Orion) and the food quality so good we did not use the speciality restaurants at all!

 

2) We did not upgrade to the higher AI deal and found the wines perfectly palatable. We did not try the rose and found the white better than the red but that is only a matter of taste. The house wine did change after a few days so the quality might vary but we found all that were presented to us ok. The prosecco as part of the package was also rather good.

 

3) It was clear which drinks were part of the deal and which had a supplement. If you paid a supplement you did in fact have to sign for it. We signed for nothing staying within the deal so had a zero bill (bar wise) at the end of the cruise.

 

4) All of the bars provided a decent Latte, Cappuchino etc. as part of the AI so much so that we did not feel the need to frequent the premium Coffee Port venue.

 

5) The one formal night was a mixture of Dinner Suits/Nice Dresses and Lounge Suits/ Still Nice Dresses and a few less formal but nothing ridiculously under dressed. We would recommend dressing up if the party wants to.

 

Finally we really really enjoyed Dream in all respects and will return. Our experience bore no relation to some of the doom mongers recent posts.

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Melodie12

You can get choice of wine included by the glass and loads of cocktails and plenty of branded spirits with the all inclusive I should look at the drinks menu on board and then decide on whether you want to upgrade

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Thank you for all of your info. We are planning our first Marella cruise ever next summer for our 20th anniversary having only previously cruised with Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean so not sure what to expect. Planning on the Adriatic Explorer.

 

Do you remember what the additional cost was for the premium upgrade package as although I mostly drink wine I do like a wee cocktail from time to time and my husband likes spirits.

 

Thanks in adavance.

 

Not sure but I think the upgrade was c. £50 per head.

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Thanks Tayscot. We are thinking of booking a stay/cruise on the Dream at Christmas. We have only cruised Cunard (twice) and the big mass market American lines, many times so Marella is uncharted waters, pardon the pun. Your input is very helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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  • 3 weeks later...

hi everyone! we are going on this cruise ship 22 may 2018 is there a roll call for it? I haven't seen one, and to be honest not many threads! we are looking to share a trip in Gibraltar to see the apes , its only £27 per per person if you book a small mini bus for 8! any help on this is much appreciated , thank you

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hi everyone! we are going on this cruise ship 22 may 2018 is there a roll call for it? I haven't seen one, and to be honest not many threads! we are looking to share a trip in Gibraltar to see the apes , its only £27 per per person if you book a small mini bus for 8! any help on this is much appreciated , thank you

 

Np need to pre-book as there are always minibuses waiting outside the cruise terminal that seat about 8 people and fill up very quickly - the price is the same as your quote.

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Np need to pre-book as there are always minibuses waiting outside the cruise terminal that seat about 8 people and fill up very quickly - the price is the same as your quote.

 

hi thank you for getting back to me, so basically we just look at the best mini bus offer and go with them?

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hi thank you for getting back to me, so basically we just look at the best mini bus offer and go with them?

 

No - it is a set fare. You just get in the minibus at the front of the queue and set off as soon as it is full.

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hi thank you for getting back to me, so basically we just look at the best mini bus offer and go with them?

 

On the same cruise but having done the tour previously not doing it this time

 

As others say,plenty mini buses waiting as you get off the ship.Can recommend them,our driver/ guide was excellent.Short tour of the island then up the rock.After,your dropped off in middle of the town centre

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On the same cruise but having done the tour previously not doing it this time

 

As others say,plenty mini buses waiting as you get off the ship.Can recommend them,our driver/ guide was excellent.Short tour of the island then up the rock.After,your dropped off in middle of the town centre

 

Hi Jim thanks for your response,I'm wondering what is the best time to leave the ship and queue for the minibuses. I am travelling with my aunt who is a little bit infirm and am wondering whether there is a lot of walking involved.

 

Also do you have any other recommendations on our other ports of call which would be worth visiting.

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Hi scubaboy,

 

Cant really remember what time we got off the ship but know it was earlyishThere was no queue as such for the minibuses as there were plenty of them.We were approached by numerous drivers/ guides all vying for our business as we exited the port gates.They were all charging the same price so it made no odds.If I remember correctly it wasn,t too far a walk to minibuses.

 

If your aunt has mobility issues she doesn,t even need to get out the minibus on the tour if she doesn,t want to

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Hi Jim thanks for your response,I'm wondering what is the best time to leave the ship and queue for the minibuses. I am travelling with my aunt who is a little bit infirm and am wondering whether there is a lot of walking involved.

 

Also do you have any other recommendations on our other ports of call which would be worth visiting.

 

Forgot to respond to your last question

 

Only been to Cartagena which is a short walk from ship.Cant offer recommendations on other ports of call as new to us

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Hi Jim.

Your review was very interesting. We are thinking about a Canary cruise in November onboard Dream. How was the entertainment in the evening and was there anything, deck games etc, during the day?

When do the all inclusive drinks start and finish during the day?

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Hi caber,

 

On all our cruises on the Dream always found the entertainment in the evening to generally be very good to excellent although comedian was hit or miss but its a few years since we have been on her.Cant comment specifically on deck games as we tend to get off at every port for a while then back onboard for a drink and a relax but there was always plenty things going on during the day,bingo,quizes etc etc

 

AI starts at 10 am (I think) till 2am.

 

We used to sit out on the deck at the back of the disco late on into the wee smaw hours and had no issues ordering more than one drink at 2am to keep us going.In fact the bar staff used to ask how many we required.

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Thanks, that`s good to know. How is the food? I know its a matter of taste but in general is it good? We like to go to the dining room breakfast and dinner. I know I should have read up on the ship more but is it dinner in two sittings or anytime?

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Always thought the food was good caber but as I said its been a number of years since we,ve been on the Dream so things may well have changed.I,ve read reviews of late which I know doesn,t mean a great deal but in the main they are positive.

 

Open dining caber so eat anytime

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