andyS87

Hello, The winter cruise schedule for 2025 was released in July last year if I remember correctly. If they follow the same going forward, I would expect the winter 2026 cruises to be released in July this year.

Hi, I’m pretty sure the outside cabins on 4/5 have portholes and 8/9 have windows. We were in a deck 8 outside cabin in September and ours had a window. I’ve just had a look at a picture of the ship and it does look like all outside cabins on 8/9 have a window rather than a porthole.

I agree, I would stay put as well. Some of the others back onto the staircase/lifts which may be noisy. 10048 looks tucked away enough for this to not be a problem. I was on the Voyager a couple of months ago and saw inside one of the cabins you have, looks really nice and I think that layout is a bit roomier than the standard inside cabin layout. I’m sure you’ll have a great cruise if you stick with the one you’ve got booked already.

Hi, We had the same issue when we travelled on the Discovery in March and Voyager in September. We booked Surf and Turf and Kora La prior to the cruise as they were the only ones available at that time. When we got on board the others opened up for booking, not sure why they don’t do this in advance of the cruise but there was still plenty availability so I don’t think you’ll miss out 🤞🏻

Hi, We were on the Voyager last month and found the premium drinks to be the same as previous Marella cruises, no apparent cutbacks! The dress to impress night was done by about two thirds of the passengers I’d guess. I have found that the Caribbean itineraries seem to have more people dressing up than the European ones so maybe that was why there was only two thirds on our recent trip.

Hi, We had the same problem with the Voyager earlier this year, we could only book Surf & Turf and Kora La, but the option appeared for the Silver Fork (equivalent to the Dining Club) once we were on board. There were still plenty of slots available so I don’t think you’ll miss out. We loved the Dining Club on the Explorer, hope you both enjoy as much as we did!

Ah I’m sure you’ll have a great time, we were so impressed. Loads of places to eat and drink, we were only on it for a week so didn’t have enough time to try it all out! If you like the Explorer ships, you’ll love the Voyager as it’s very similar. Hope you enjoy!

After sailing with them a few times prior to covid (and having a great time) we booked the Discovery for March of this year. We definitely noticed standards had slipped and felt like that staff were stressed and very overworked. We still made the most of it but we were pretty disappointed with the whole experience. We had already booked the Voyager for September this year prior to our Discovery cruise so were both quite nervous about how it would be. It turned out to be a fantastic week on the Voyager which definitely made up for the bad experiences we had in March. This has pushed us to try a new cruise company though so will be on the P&O Iona in the Norwegian Fjord next September, very excited (even though it’s a year away!)

Sorry to hear about all the trouble you’ve had with this. We had a very similar situation on the Discovery earlier this year. We had splashed out and booked an Executive Suite (8001) about 18 months in advance. Two days before we were due to fly to Barbados we got an email saying we’d been moved to 8004. They had the audacity to refund the room booking fee to ship credit meaning we needed to go to reception and ask for it to be refunded to our card. We complained but they were unmoving and generally very unhelpful. The cabin itself was lovely however there was a lot of noise above the cabin very early every morning. Not sure if we would have experienced the same noise in the original cabin as it is only two along but it was the way they handled the whole thing that left a bad taste in my mouth about Marella. We have just got back from a week long Med cruise on the Voyager (which was booked before the hassle with the Discovery) and they definitely redeemed themselves, it was a great cruise and ship. I won’t forget the bad experience we had though and it’s pushed us to try a different cruise line next year (P&O). Hope they sort it out for you and that you have a fantastic time.

Sorry to hear about all the trouble you’ve had with this. We had a very similar situation on the Discovery earlier this year. We had splashed out and booked an Executive Suite (8001) about 18 months in advance. Two days before we were due to fly to Barbados we got an email saying we’d been moved to 8004. They had the audacity to refund the room booking fee to ship credit meaning we needed to go to reception and ask for it to be refunded to our card. We complained but they were unmoving and generally very unhelpful. The cabin itself was lovely however there was a lot of noise above the cabin very early every morning. Not sure if we would have experienced the same noise in the original cabin as it is only two along but it was the way they handled the whole thing that left a bad taste in my mouth about Marella. We have just got back from a week long Med cruise on the Voyager (which was booked before the hassle with the Discovery) and they definitely redeemed themselves, it was a great cruise and ship. I won’t forget the bad experience we had though and it’s pushed us to try a different cruise line next year (P&O). Hope they sort it out for you and that you have a fantastic time.

That makes sense, thanks for explaining

Tell your friend that I’ve recently booked a P&O cruise so was wondering about the dress code. Didn’t realise there were so many fellow cruisers who felt so strongly about how other people choose to dress, hence the question.

Why is everyone so emphatic about having to dress up on these nights and P&O taking a hard line with those who don’t? I couldn’t care less what other people wear. When there’s no difference in the offerings in the restaurants on board it all seems rather pointless anyway.

Hi Sarah, We have just booked a cabin with one of the much larger corner balconies that are referenced above. We used the guide on this page to help us decide: https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/po-iona-cabins/ It's a pretty comprehensive guide of the best and worst cabins on the ship.