dronnygirl

Hi. We are finding the food good. Service a little slower as there are less staff but we have no complaints. Enjoying it. I think you are on Sky with us in June? Looking forward to that.

Hey Brummjam, are you on Ex2 now? So are we, next week too.! Really enjoying it, can't believe how calm the sea has been. Enjoy yourselves.

Hi kitty cat, I believe you can cancel and get a refund up to 24 hours before the trip. If you booked through Cruise Control you can cancel this way or via your agent if that's how you booked. Otherwise you can see the destinations desk as soon as you board

Oh dear, it does seem as they are being unreasonable. Please don't cancel though as I don't think change of cabin is classed as a major change especially as they have offered a similar alternative and you may be left very much out of pocket. That said, I would ring them again and try to discuss the upgraded cabin especially as they have offered £200 OBC and the cabin is now cheaper than you paid. If the cabin is still available it's unlikely it will sell before Sunday! Good luck and please let us know how you go on.

Brilliant. At least your mind will now be at rest so you can just enjoy your cruise!

Explorer 2 is the only ship that is Adults Only - not sure whether you have already booked though

I think you need to speak to your insurance company to check exactly what it does cover. It's always best to be on the safe side. It does seem inexpensive but we have annual worldwide cover so ours is quite different

Things did change after covid but have settled down since then. Our last cruise we didn't find much different except that the odd crew member sometimes wore facemasks, we wondered if they had just joined the ship. We didn't see as much of our cabin steward as previously but everything was clean and tidy. Food perhaps had less choice but was always well cooked and presented. Some of the bars had a longer wait for drinks in the evenings but that didn't really bother us, we were after all relaxing on holiday. Just go with an open mind and enjoy cruising again. We are back on Explorer 2 in September and really looking forward to it.

The olive oil products are lovely, hand soap and hand creams in particular . We also buy dried herbs, there are lots of different ones and are labelled what to use them for.

I use Tesco Mobile O2 and there's free roaming charges until the end of the year

If you Google 'Marella Cruises Celebration of Vows' it says price is between £200 & £400 and includes ceremony by the captain, afternoon tea, champagne, flowers and photos. You could ring Tui to check what you want us included.

I believe on Explorer 2 the cost is £15 plus £5 if you want a glass of bubbly. Sorry I don't know about Discovery

Look up Iceland Guided Tours, they are really good and pick you up from the ship in 8 seater mini buses. Our driver was extremely informative and took us to many places from Rekjavik and Akureyri. We were given sufficient time at each stop and there were restrooms along the way. Can really recommend.

Hi, you don't need boots. Trainers or sneakers are fine, you would probably be much too hot in boots

Thank you so much, great info!

Hi Mrs Peel Unfortunately Marella no longer cruise from the UK, they used to cruise from Newcastle but that ended in 2020. You fly direct to the cruise port and are transported direct to the ship. It's all very easy and saves 2 days at sea if you are going to the Med. This is what really appeals to us.

We have a day in Ravenna on a Sunday. Can anyone please advise on transport from the ship to town and whether it's better to stay on board? I would like to see the mosaics but are they open Sundays? Thanks in advance

It applies to all the ship. Everyone is encouraged to dress to impress, this can be interpreted how you like . A few people wear dinner jackets and evening dresses but the majority dress as though they were going to a smart restaurant. My DH wears trousers and a smart shirt and I wear either a dress or smart trousers with a nice top. Enjoy your cruise!

In Flam look out for the Aegir brewery, you can't miss it as Flam is small. It's a lovely traditional building that serves local beers and food.

Hi FTC, as previously mentioned all you need is holiday insurance either for Europe or worldwide depending where you are going. This should cover for land based holidays and cruises. If you wish you can purchase 'cruise cover ' as an extra and this will pay up to £150 for each missed port. However it is quite rare to miss a port so we never bother. If the worse comes to the worse you just get an extra sea day. Marella will not usually compensate if it's too windy to dock etc, they don't miss ports unless it's very necessary. (We once couldn't dock in Agios Nikolas in Crete due to high winds but the captain managed to dock at Heraklion instead.) Hope you have a great first cruise

I think Jayneykul is referring to the £45 pp pd charged by P&O

Can really recommend Iceland Guided Tours. We did tours in Rekjavik and Akureyri and they were fantastic. They were waiting at the port and there were 8 of us on the small bus so we were given choices of some of the places we wanted to visit. Lots of stops so the kids won't get bored and plenty of comfort stops. Fabulous place, lots to see and kids would love it

Dubrovnik is so easy to DIY. You can take a bus to the city gates and just wander. You can purchase tickets to walk the walls but it's a good walk and can get very hot. Or you can wander round the streets with shops and cafes. There is a small harbour which us lovely to sit and have lunch or a drink. There is also a cable car up the mountain for beautiful views. Another option is to take a taxi waiting at the port and they will take you on a short tour of the area, including up the mountain, then drop you at the city gates.

Thank you Gil3, I'll look into it. Always prefer to check out places ourselves rather than ship trips

Thanks Fife, apologies I wasn't having a go. We like to get an idea of what we will be doing beforehand. At least we won't be disappointed on the day. Looking forward to the other ports.