Marella cruises

[aqualiv]

Looking at the Explorer for October

Anyone sailed with them? Would you recommend?

Previously liked our cruise with P and O and will be taking ds with us on this one (he’s 17)

[munmun]

Following, new to cruises and doing Silverseas next week so very interested

[Beth_Disney]

We were on Explorer 2 last week. We'd previously sailed on Explorer 2 from Naples in 2019 and had an amazing time, so happily booked again and took my mum and dad too. They absolutely loved it!

Marella offer great value for money with most things included. It's only after sailing with MSC and Celebrity this summer that I noticed that Marella are a bit rough around the edges. Not in a bad way, but they're not a premium product in comparison to the other 2 cruise lines. You might find the same if comparing to P&O.

[aqualiv]

Originally Posted by Beth_Disney

We were on Explorer 2 last week. We'd previously sailed on Explorer 2 from Naples in 2019 and had an amazing time, so happily booked again and took my mum and dad too. They absolutely loved it!

Marella offer great value for money with most things included. It's only after sailing with MSC and Celebrity this summer that I noticed that Marella are a bit rough around the edges. Not in a bad way, but they're not a premium product in comparison to the other 2 cruise lines. You might find the same if comparing to P&O.

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Spoke to Dh about it and he’s turned his nose up 😟
Looked at celebrity but the dates don’t work so now looking at Royal Caribbean on one of their smaller ships

[cheekydeeky]

We’ve sailed Royal Caribbean five times, Marella once for a cheap break but never again. I know some people like them but I think we were lucky to find the cruise line that suits us from our first cruise.

Marella food was very much geared to British tastes - we don’t go on holiday to eat hot pot and beef and ale pie. The queues at the bar were slow moving, entertainment wasn’t great and it all felt a bit butlins at sea.

There were a fair proportion of our fellow cruisers of the “it’s all paid for let’s start drinking at breakfast and don’t stop” opinion which led to us witnessing some questionable behaviour :blush. Now, I know that’s not Marella’s fault but we’ve never experienced anything like it on Royal.

Marella clearly suits many and we were perhaps just unfortunate but for the little extra money we’ll stick to RCI

In saying that, we did meet a lovely couple on board who we have stayed in touch with and have been to stay with them and they’ve been to stay with us so it want all bad .

[aqualiv]

Originally Posted by cheekydeeky

We’ve sailed Royal Caribbean five times, Marella once for a cheap break but never again. I know some people like them but I think we were lucky to find the cruise line that suits us from our first cruise.

Marella food was very much geared to British tastes - we don’t go on holiday to eat hot pot and beef and ale pie. The queues at the bar were slow moving, entertainment wasn’t great and it all felt a bit butlins at sea.

There were a fair proportion of our fellow cruisers of the “it’s all paid for let’s start drinking at breakfast and don’t stop” opinion which led to us witnessing some questionable behaviour :blush. Now, I know that’s not Marella’s fault but we’ve never experienced anything like it on Royal.

Marella clearly suits many and we were perhaps just unfortunate but for the little extra money we’ll stick to RCI

In saying that, we did meet a lovely couple on board who we have stayed in touch with and have been to stay with them and they’ve been to stay with us so it want all bad .

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Thanks, your post has confirmed it’s probably not for us

Looking at Jewel of the seas, have you been on this one? We don’t fancy the huge ships

[Beth_Disney]

I’d cruise with Marella again, there are lots of positive points. The show cast are very talented, the guest comedian was very funny, the crew couldn’t do enough for us, cleanliness and cabin stewards were excellent. The menu in the main dining rooms were geared to UK guests but that suited us as my mum is fussy and my dad loves to try different things, there was something on the menu for us every night.

To compare; Marella is like a Disney value hotel and other cruise lines are more like moderate and deluxe.

[cheekydeeky]

Originally Posted by aqualiv

Thanks, your post has confirmed it’s probably not for us

Looking at Jewel of the seas, have you been on this one? We don’t fancy the huge ships

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We haven’t been on Jewel but we were on Splendour with RCI (and the same ship once it had been sold and renamed Discovery with Marella). Jewel is, I think, a higher class than splendour was so it’ll have plenty - just not all the bells and whistles of the oasis class ships.

It seems to get good review on Cruise Critic .

[LRMD]

I went with Marella on Discovery 2 just as Covid was starting, have been NCL and Royal Caribbean before. Really chose the cruise because the itinerary went to Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama. Loved it, the ship was great, obviously it’s all brits so expect UK
food, really yummy breakfasts and afternoon tea for two weeks! It’s weird as just come off the Disney Magic and some of the US things like food weren’t on there, but Marella from Jamaica had all the UK food! Probably as flights were more available then! I was really impressed with Marella, amazing shows too, we had two weeks worth of different shows every night!

[mickeyspal]

We are just looking at the explorer now for November this year, weve been on discovery and it was fine, yes they are older ships so dont have all the glitz of the new ones , they are ex royal Caribbean ships . But weve found the food and entertainment good. And the speciality restaurants were very good.
We normally go with Celebrity but the marella price is really good for November and we just want a break that we dont have to think about as it includes the flights and transfers as well