First Marella cruise

[fastnloose]

Hi, we have just booked our first Marella cruise since it was Thomson.  Can regular Marella cruisers advise me what the food is like, dress code, any formal nights etc.  We are on Voyager in premium balcony suite. All advice would be appreciated.  Many thanks

[S1971]

The food is always very subjective but I found it to be perfectly acceptable and I never went hungry, dress code is reasonably casual with normally one dress to impress night on a 7 night trip if one feels the need to dress up, long trousers only in the MDR's.

 

Theatre shows are generally very good and professional, guest acts normally a comedian I've always found to be good and not sweary, the late shows can be a bit closer the the edge but never derogatory.

 

Resident bands in the various venues also generally very good, performing to most musical tastes.

 

Although it's all inclusive cruising, I never really witnessed any unruly behaviours other than the odd person with the wobbles.

 

The crew are still the best I've ever experienced at sea, across several cruiselines.

 

I hope you enjoy.

Edited April 22 by S1971

[fastnloose]

Thank you, very helpful x

21 hours ago, S1971 said:

The food is always very subjective but I found it to be perfectly acceptable and I never went hungry, dress code is reasonably casual with normally one dress to impress night on a 7 night trip if one feels the need to dress up, long trousers only in the MDR's.

 

Theatre shows are generally very good and professional, guest acts normally a comedian I've always found to be good and not sweary, the late shows can be a bit closer the the edge but never derogatory.

 

Resident bands in the various venues also generally very good, performing to most musical tastes.

 

Although it's all inclusive cruising, I never really witnessed any unruly behaviours other than the odd person with the wobbles.

 

The crew are still the best I've ever experienced at sea, across several cruiselines.

 

I hope you enjoy.

 

[Manchester is blue]

The food is “acceptable “… That’s about right. 

[S1971]

7 hours ago, Manchester is blue said:

The food is “acceptable “… That’s about right. 

 

Why not share your thoughts and experiences.

 

As I said its "perfectly acceptable" this covers most of what I've experienced, some excellent meals, some good and also mediocre, but there is plenty of choice and variety for all tastes.

 

 

[Manchester is blue]

6 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

Why not share your thoughts and experiences.

 

As I said its "perfectly acceptable" this covers most of what I've experienced, some excellent meals, some good and also mediocre, but there is plenty of choice and variety for all tastes.

 

 

I was simply agreeing with your sentiments,.. Thought you summed up perfectly succinctly within that phrase, thus my quotation.

Had I have wanted to share my experiences, I would have done so, but thought it unnecessary given your summation.

Cheers

[a1psx]

We also had our first cruise last year (discover 2). I really enjoyed the food. We tried Surf and Turf and Kora La (paid for restaurants) and both were excellent. We only did buffet breakfasts so can't comment on the mdr breakfast. The mdr meals were good and service was excellent everywhere.

 

Dress code was fine, didn't feel underdressed in shirt/chinos and on formal night (sea days for us) I stuck a tie and waistcoat on too and felt fine. People did have dinner jackets on but it was a good mix of people in smart casual upwards.

 

We only did a few tours (Rome and Pompeii) but as it was our first cruise I was a bit scared about missing trains etc so felt safer doing the packaged ones. Mostly we got off the ship and explored the port town/city.

 

Evening entertainment was ok, I enjoy drinking so was fairly happy with the standard beers+wines. Cocktails were a bit too strong though for us.

 

We are booked again for 2 weeks on Explorer 2 at the end of the month and I'm really looking forward to it 🙂

 

[mike x ftc]

We've just got off Explorer 2 and we thought the food was really good, better than we had on Explorer two years ago. Kora La was really lovely, worth every penny. We thought Vista's (the Italian main dining room) was a bit better than the Latitudes, but that was our taste, overall we had some really good, sometimes excellent meals. The buffet lunch is the only weaker point in my opinion, choices were quite limited but there are so many other options around the ship for lunch.

We had 2 dress to impress nights, some people did tuxes, some suit's, a lot of smart shirts. ladies were fairly dressy, lots of sparkles!  The 2nd one was less dressy than the first.

This was our 3rd Marella cruise, we have cruised on most of the other lines, and we just really enjoyed the whole thing, the staff are so friendly and seem really happy and this seems to radiate out to passengers, the whole experience is just lovely and we had a brilliant time, flights transfers check in etc could not have been smoother.  I'm sure you will love it.

[2BACRUISER]

On 5/10/2024 at 6:19 PM, mike x ftc said:

We've just got off Explorer 2 and we thought the food was really good, better than we had on Explorer two years ago. Kora La was really lovely, worth every penny. We thought Vista's (the Italian main dining room) was a bit better than the Latitudes, but that was our taste, overall we had some really good, sometimes excellent meals. The buffet lunch is the only weaker point in my opinion, choices were quite limited but there are so many other options around the ship for lunch.

We had 2 dress to impress nights, some people did tuxes, some suit's, a lot of smart shirts. ladies were fairly dressy, lots of sparkles!  The 2nd one was less dressy than the first.

This was our 3rd Marella cruise, we have cruised on most of the other lines, and we just really enjoyed the whole thing, the staff are so friendly and seem really happy and this seems to radiate out to passengers, the whole experience is just lovely and we had a brilliant time, flights transfers check in etc could not have been smoother.  I'm sure you will love it.

Thanks for the update we are due on Ex2 in two wks time so good to hear all is shipshape 👍😅

[mike x ftc]

Have a lovely time, I'm very jealous!  

[dronnygirl]

22 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

Thanks for the update we are due on Ex2 in two wks time so good to hear all is shipshape 👍😅

Enjoy your cruise, we are on Princess this time so will be interesting to compare ships as we've been with Marella mostly

[2BACRUISER]

13 hours ago, dronnygirl said:

Enjoy your cruise, we are on Princess this time so will be interesting to compare ships as we've been with Marella mostly

Look forward to hearing about Princess enjoy 🥂 this will be our 2nd time on Ex2 so be interesting to see if still as good as 1st time in 2019. 👍😊