paulatsea

Can anyone explain what cheesewheel means ? Can’t find any etymology and I’ve never heard this expression !

Great service !

Going in May on Marella Explorer 2 to Croatia Italy and Greece - great itinerary . Will report back. I wish they did a few ex UK instead of always fly cruises - but like you said TUI are usually pretty good with flights and connections - in my experience anyway. But we did go on one ex uk one when cruising started again - again on Marella Explorer 2. Newcastle to Scotland immediately after Scotland allowed ships in again. It was brilliant - and the excursions were really well organised and top quality. Really nice welcome back from the crew and we were welcomed by pipers on arrival in Dundee.

Incredible - the wedding fight !! Great start. Good to hear they were all ejected.

Yes all inclusive - I’ve only been on Marella Explorer 2 which is adults only and it has always been very good. No problems so far. Excellent service - checkin and all bars and restaurants and good entertainment. Great staff. Very friendly and helpful. Never done a Christmas or New year though.

Glad I booked my next 2 p&o on Aurora and 1 on Marella explorer 2. If Arcadia is not refurbished and sorted out we will stick with Aurora until it goes. The feefo reviews make sad reading.

That’s really interesting - thanks for that. noted !

Wow - that’s expensive !

Absolutely right MB - and thanks for raising this issue.

Combination of very large ship capacity / holiday period / destination / price maybe ? If it had been dealt with immediately and strongly that would have prevented further incidents I expect.

Agree - the packages are abused by some which results in lots of others having to suffer including the staff. Perhaps they could be graded - from say 1 - 2 bottles wine pp or Equivalent at a good price upwards to hyper expensive for unlimited. I expect some lines already do this but I don’t know. personally I never get a package but I know lots enjoy the flexibility and convenience and having premium drinks etc

Dreadful experience for you. I don’t think anything like this should be tolerated by the crew/officers. Zero tolerance. Offload at the next port or return and offload. For staff to say it’s not up to them to do anything is total abdication of responsibility.

Thanks very much Britboys - very helpful review. Glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully the air con and staffing get resolved. It will be very interesting to see how the next ship Ambition is , which I believe starts in May and has some unusual departure ports like Falmouth and Bristol I think ? Very good that they decided to stay overnight in Hamburg - that’s impressive service. Could you have a pre dinner drink and watch the bar/lounge musicians at 6pm ish time ? Do they do turndown service ? thanks

Thanks - will read now

I seem to remember you saying you would give ambassador a go - same as me. Have you booked anything yet ?

Good to see them get away - I have been following on MarineTraffic Are you onboard ? I was hoping to see a blog from someone on this cruise.

Yep - be a late departure - maybe they will have to go straight to Madeira. hope they get away all ok

It’s on the move . Latest ETA tilbury I can see is 1400 5th Jan.

Some nervous passengers waiting for their cruise tomorrow I should imagine. I wonder if all the crew have been onboard during the maintenance.

Wow !! Beyond looks fantastic. That will be good MB. Good choice .

It’s “should I stay or should I go” - !!

Been on marella explorer 2 and it was excellent. Booked again for this May.

Pathetic response from security and officers I/C - people who behave like this should be offloaded without fail - consistently.

Thank you .

Same experience with me. Agree - what alternatives have you found ? Saga was good for us but expensive. Marella Explorer 2 has been good but only fly cruise. Ambassador fits well for us but ship seems a bit broken ! Maybe the newer one will be better. I’ve got 2xAurora 2023 late august and early December.