Falling Standards

[ormy]

Talked to couple in our hotel who had done cruise/stay. They told us how much standards had slipped on  Marella, relaxed dress code in MDR not good, food just awful, meat so tough they had to ask for sharper knife, which still did not do the trick, their advice was leave Marella alone and they were seasoned cruisers, perhaps someone can comment on this

[sagaris]

We did our first Marella cruise last November and really liked it. The dress is a lot less formal (shorts in MDR) but not scruffy and the food we had was fine. We usually cruise with P&O and the Marella cruise was different but still very enjoyable.

[jack10952]

Cruised last month, I thought there wasn't much selection in the buffet restaurant compared to previous cruises.   However, we only ate there 5 times approx for breakfast and lunch.   Majority of time we ate in the waiter service and speciality, where you couldn't fault the standards.   

Dress code no different to any other years I've been, I think what people need to realise that the world is changing whether its dining on a cruise, at a hotel or your local town/city centre.   

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, ormy said:

Talked to couple in our hotel who had done cruise/stay. They told us how much standards had slipped on  Marella, relaxed dress code in MDR not good, food just awful, meat so tough they had to ask for sharper knife, which still did not do the trick, their advice was leave Marella alone and they were seasoned cruisers, perhaps someone can comment on this

You meet people like that on cruises as well. Ignore them and make your own mind up

[Brummijam]

5 hours ago, ormy said:

Talked to couple in our hotel who had done cruise/stay. They told us how much standards had slipped on  Marella, relaxed dress code in MDR not good, food just awful, meat so tough they had to ask for sharper knife, which still did not do the trick, their advice was leave Marella alone and they were seasoned cruisers, perhaps someone can comment on this

Hi Ormy.

We were onboard Explorer last May and found no problems at all with the food in fact we thought it was better than previous trips on her. The TUI dress code (smart casual) was adhered to in the MDR, the tux brigade happily mingling with smart casual attendee’s.

The staff on Marella are this company’s asset and they were all on point as usual.

Unfortunatly wherever you go some people will  complain if things are not going their way so we try to avoid them as they will try to drag you down to the same miserable level as themselves. As always everyone has a choice there are other cruise lines to choose from.🤷🏻‍♂️

Keep well.

 

 

 

[GOQ]

Over the past 9 months I think most cruise lines will have been struggling to reach their former pre-covid standards. First they had to retrain crew which hadn’t worked for 2 years and now they are struggling to find enough crew to cope with the increase in sailings.

 

With that proviso, at the risk of being accused of being a moaner, I did find the Transatlantic cruise on Discovery in April to be one of the worst I have done with Marella.

 

The food 47 degrees wasn't consistent and sometimes not very nice. Normally I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the MDR but on that cruise I stuck to the buffet for breakfast and lunch. In the evening Gallery 47 was the better option. The Discovery cruise didn’t compare with my November cruise on Explorer.

 

Possibly they had staffing problems, as getting a drink in the evenings could be difficult, the waiters were clearly overworked and as a solo I found the best strategy was the watch a group get the waiters attention and jump in before he/she left.

 

I haven't given up on Marella, they have some of the best itineraries, but I am now cruising with other lines as well.

 

As a Solo cruiser my chief grumps are that with Marella we are only allowed to book an inside or outside cabin on the lower decks. Other cruise lines allow you to book any cabin anywhere, as long as you pay the premium. Again other lines give us Solos an option to share a table at lunch or dinner, Marella have stopped doing that, you can be a table by yourself stuck in a remote corner.

[Pensioncruiser]

Have waited a while before posting but would like to share my experience, firstly I will delcar that we have not cruised since covid, and probably will never cruise again, but have been on over sixty cruises with Thomson /Marella and only that line, personally I feel its wrong to say standards have dropped, think its more appropriate to say cost savings have been applied. When we started cruising you had canapés with a pre dinner drinks and was escorted to your table, you had a wine waiter who looked after you throughout your meal which was five coarses not three. After your evening entertainment you had a midnight buffet. None of which now happens but bottom line we still found, prior to covid, that the cruise experience was great for food entertainment staff etc. So yes the product is not as was but is still OK and I must agree the UK pre cruise administration requires improvements. 

[davecttr]

10 hours ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Have waited a while before posting but would like to share my experience, firstly I will delcar that we have not cruised since covid, and probably will never cruise again, but have been on over sixty cruises with Thomson /Marella and only that line, personally I feel its wrong to say standards have dropped, think its more appropriate to say cost savings have been applied. When we started cruising you had canapés with a pre dinner drinks and was escorted to your table, you had a wine waiter who looked after you throughout your meal which was five coarses not three. After your evening entertainment you had a midnight buffet. None of which now happens but bottom line we still found, prior to covid, that the cruise experience was great for food entertainment staff etc. So yes the product is not as was but is still OK and I must agree the UK pre cruise administration requires improvements. 

The cost savings issue applies to P&O as well with reports of new menus,closure of venues etc etc. Cruising is likely to remain different to what it was. Yes you could say there was a drop in budgets such as food. Executive chefs would probably sell their grandmothers soul for an extra 50p per day per passenger on their food budget, except that these budgets are now tightly controlled from head office

[howmuch!]

We cruised in Aug 2021 (Staycation) and March this year on the Explorer, and enjoyed it as much as our previous 10 or so cruises. Economies have been made, even though prices have risen quite a bit.

 

As with seat reservations on planes, Tui/Marella have successfully upsold Premium drinks, and I have the feeling less courses and smaller portion sizes served in the MDR, may be a ploy to encourage dining in alternative venues at a cost.

 

However, if the price is right, we will still be booking, as the crew are great.

 

 

[paulatsea]

7 minutes ago, howmuch! said:

We cruised in Aug 2021 (Staycation) and March this year on the Explorer, and enjoyed it as much as our previous 10 or so cruises. Economies have been made, even though prices have risen quite a bit.

 

As with seat reservations on planes, Tui/Marella have successfully upsold Premium drinks, and I have the feeling less courses and smaller portion sizes served in the MDR, may be a ploy to encourage dining in alternative venues at a cost.

 

However, if the price is right, we will still be booking, as the crew are great.

 

 

I’ve been on explorer 2 once and superb crew - really welcoming and friendly and efficient - I’ve booked again for May  2023 - same ship.

food in MDR perhaps not as good as some others but good enough and great selection of included drinks.

And a turn down service !

Will try the speciality restaurants next time. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by paulatsea

[Jayneykul]

We came back from our D2 cruise earlier this month and completely disagree standards have slipped in fact it was the best cruise we have done with Marella it was fabulous! Never thought I would say that as previously (5 cruises) the food has always been sub standard but I can truly say it was 100% better this time, the only meal we didn’t enjoy was the first night in the buffet. We had no choice but to eat in there as we didn’t board till 10pm it was not good to say the least oh no we thought here we go! How wrong could we be. After that we ate in the main dining room, glass house and surf and turf for dinner, main dining room islands for breakfast and glass house, islands for lunch really good didn’t have a bad meal. Service top notch. The entertainment was so good we had the best time