AlanCruise

Some Answers 1. I believe for Palma you will have to collect your luggage at the airport and take to the coach. It only goes directly to the ship in a limited number of ports, for example the caribbean. 2. Dress to Impress does take place, but not well observed and nothing enforced like on P&O. Evening gown would probably be OTT. 3. Plug sockets will be European and US - Probably only one of each. There may be USB sockets by the beds on some of the ships. 3 again (you had two of them). You can go to any of the main dining rooms or other venues. No fixed times. If they are busy you may be given a pager so they can notify when a table is free.

Assuming you took the P&O policy linked to Holiday Extras it confusingly says in the summary that it is from £1000 to £2000 (depending on the policy level) If you go to the detailed policy wording (page 23) it says £100 per port for bronze (subject to £1000 limit - so if you missed 10 ports!).. £150 for Silver and £200 for gold.

As you get the luggage labels online you can print as many as you want. I believe you have a weight limit for luggage but you can split it over more than one suitcase.

There is an email address for account queries - finalstatement@marelladiscovery2.com Details should have been on the letter you were given on board with the ship departure details. But first check on debit card bill to distinguish actual charges from pending charges. There will normally be a number of pending charges during the cruise which are never actualy taken and the final total is taken after the end of the cruise. Does that amount correspond with what you expected to pay but think is already billed. Do you have a copy/screenshot of the account as on the ship?

The dress to impress night on the shorter cruises is typically the first sea day, not sure about the one you are on. It is not an enforced dress code, just an encouragement to dress smartly. So does not apply speciifically to certain restaurants, just generally around the ship. Never come across the other theme nights on the various marella cruises we have done.

RE 'Freedom Dining' - Marella don't have fixed time dining in the main dining room, so all Freedom dining. If you go at a busy time and it is full you will be given a pager. Lots of tables for 2 and a selection of bigger ones.

Interestingly the Health declaration I have just done for cruise from Corfu this Friday (May 5th) still asks you to confirm that you are vaccinated.

We were recently on Roald Amundsen (the sister ship). We eat a couple of lunches in the 'burger' restauarant - actually it did more things than that. And a couple of evenings whilst in the main restaurant my wife fancied the chicken from the other restaurant and they happily delivered it.

You can see Cabin availabilty on the Web Site, but not obvious! Search the cruise and cabin type you want and choose the 'Select' type booking. You will get a Summary page and in the Cabin section it will show the Cabin type you have selected e.g. Balcony Standard. There is an Edit button next to this and if you click it you will have the option to choose the cabin from those available. Various edit buttons to change the positions and deck in the ship.

We've booked the trip for May, do note that the entrance prices for the Park are quite high and I assume are incuded in the £75. (Prices subject to variation depending on exchange rates). It's also a full day trip. Jan, Feb, March & Nov, December: 10 Euro or 11.85 US$ April, May & October: 23.5 Euro or 26.5 US$ June, July, August & September: 40 Euro or 44.5 US$

Regarding phoning from the US, the 03 number is a standard UK number and I would expect you could call it from US using whatever your international prefix code is, I think this is 011 (not 00 as in #2 above - that is used in Europe). So dial 011 44 344 338 8003 They will probably be very slow to answer! If worried about cost use a service like skype to avoid international charges or try Facebook Chat to them.

Re Norwegian currency, all the feedback is that you don't need cash. Everything is paid using Credit Cards (preferably contactless payments)

We also found on one trip, when the bags disappeared from the coach with no cabin label, that they can also look at the name on the airline luggage label to work it out. Works better of course if you don't have a common surname!

For Explorer on May 5th, excursions for 3 of the ports (including Trieste for Venice) have appeared this week.

Regarding using the phone at sea, it's always free to receive a text message. (But I have found some UK networks don't allow connection to the maritime systems)

We're on Explorer for May 5th. No trip bookings available but the Umi sushi restaarant is available to book

Re sockets, they normally have one US style and one European style socket by the desk, plus some USB sockets in the bedside lamps. I take a multi socket extension lead with a European plug on it.

Regarding the Nationwide FlexPlus accout insurance, you can do most upgrades and screening online at https://nationwide.ukitravel.com/customerportal/ I also found that for the Cruise extension (which gives you additional cover for cruises such a change of ports - but is not needed for basic medical and evacuation) may be less than £40 as they take part year Pro-rata until the end of when they think your annual cover goes (there is an annual expiry date of the travel insurance but cover is continous )

We last went through Montego Bay in 2018, but then it was not quite as good as Barbados (where the coach comes to the plane). The bags were taken direct from the plane to the ship, passengers had to go into the terminal building where immigration took place in a corridor and you then went out a side door to the coaches. There was a very confusing immigration form to complete!

The Navigate App is not really an App, it is a web page that you can access via the ship's WiFi. So there is nothing to download before you board. Once onboard you connect to the ship WiFi (there is no cost for this, you only pay if you want to get access to the external internet, email etc.) They may allow free access to some web pages - last year this included the UK Covid pages for tracking and TUI for flight check in.

And on many modern phones, if you use the camera and it sees a QR code then it will read it. No need for a separate App.

Last time we went through Barbados to the cruise ship the bags went straight to the ship and we did not even go into the terminal building, the coaches took us directly from the steps of the plane to the ship. On the return the bags were taken from outside your cabin and you next see them (hopefully) at the UK airport.

Probably very little difference. If you are on Roald Amundsen or Fridtjof Nansen (both the same design) it might be more interesting to be on the starboard side as that is where the launching platform for the zodiacs is and you can watch the activities (if from a balcony)

For landings on the Antarctic Peninsula you are required to wear the boots provided by the ship. Also you often step into the sea whilst getting off the zodiacs, so would probably get wet feet with hiking boots.

One consideration if going into the USA is to ensure you have the correct documentation to enter the USA. From the UK this is normally an ESTA, get it early in case it is refused for some reason as if you need a Visa it can take a long time.