pblack05

just had an e-mail - that cruise is now cancelled - Arabian Sunrise - April 24

If you look at the Arabian Sunrise and the Roll Call for Marella Discovery 2 for April - you will see what are the issues and comments. I have called the help line twice, but frankly - life is too short - and I have never had a definitive answer - apart from the first time when i got a "don't worry your cruise is still planned" . My wife and I have now expected this cruise to be cancelled as it is only 8 weeks away now and are keen to consider other options, but won't commit until we get the cancellation or other notice from TUI.

Noticed yesterday that the P & O Arcadia is now being sold as Cape Town to Southampton on the 30th March. That cruise itinerary was planned to for the Red Sea and the Suez canal, and at quite a cheap price. So, it sounds like they are trying to fill cabins on the ship and others might be planning coming off. Checking out the Arcadia roll call - it has indeed been re-routed. Update on the "help line" - no response within 72 hours was well and truly not met - Will try again tonight. 

1 hour ago, Sweetpea-1959 said:

If your on Marella Discovery 2, sounds like your on our cruise. Given a previous posting from Izzywizz on how her Fred Olson cruise went ahead with barbed wire and mercenaries, see photos in her post above; I'm not sure our cruise will be cancelled.... 

The thing is that cruise went ahead in 2017 - our cruise is April 2024 - and again looking at cruise mapper there are no cruise ships in the Red Sea currently - therefore - 99% no chance that Marella will risk their ship venturing the Red Sea for the Suez canal. And as pointed out elsewhere this cruise will likely finish at Muscat - thereby cutting short our cruise by 7 days or so. 

Phoned the "help line" on Saturday and despite me spouting common sense and highlighting that all cruise ships are not in the Red Sea. I was assured that there were no changes to this itinerary. I was assured that I would officially hear from them within 72 hours of my call. This will be Tuesday around lunch time. This cruise is now only some 66 days away, and in all likelihood, it will finish at Muscat. The ship will then go round Africa with no passengers and get to the Med for the 7th May Cruise from Majorca. Hopefully Marella will get in touch with all on this cruise and offer them alternatives or their money back - in a timely fashion. Surely that is the least that we can expect? I am really at a loss why this is not proving to be a big issue on this forum.

Thanks for all that info! However, it is increasingly likely that the Red Sea part will not happen and our cruise might get cancelled or amended. Our planned cruise leaves Colombo on the 12th April and is in Aqaba on the 25th April. Checking cruise mapper, there are no cruise ships anywhere near the Red Sea.

We are just off the Azura on the 5th January. They now have the internet access - which we paid for - at the reduced price - I think it was a 20% off for Black Friday. Anyway - I would say - probably not worth the money and it was a bit of a faff getting used to it. I think (and one of the P & O staff) that it is really not very user friendly. Probably best to stick with data roaming and wifi on shore.

Received this e-mail (extract below) which highlighted a "change" in the timing of the excursion. I suspected that the Jordan ending of our cruise will get changed - but there is no change in the timing. Also confirmed this vie e-mail. Very strange????

As i mentioned we were on this cruise at the same time last year and i recall that it was a bit hectic as the times were allocated on a note inside the cabins. But, us and many of the others confirmed that they had not received it. My thinking is that this system is perhaps a way of not having the same problem. i have contacted both P & O and the TA and will update if I get any news of note.

I received an e-mail from P & O re the above- my wife and I are on the Azura on the 29th Dec until 5th January. we did the same cruise last year and enjoyed it very much. Now that e-mail gives you access to both Christmas and New Years Eve (Hogmany to us Scots) menus, which is great. However, the e-mail also has this note below

Now, when I log onto My Cruises" there is no option.

i don't think I'll get far contacting P & O - so anyone have any clues?

6 days? Not very long - we are on this ship in April 24 - Colombo to Jordan re-po - any idea of what they will do in those 6 days? 

Thanks that 's the one i used - but it must be too far in advance. I'll just wait till 60 days

"purplesea" - Can you please highlight the link that allowed you to book so far in advance?

Noticed on "my cruise" that it now highlights that The Epicurean, Sindhu and the Beach House are now "coming soon" and not enquire on board. The last time we were on Azura (twixmas 22), there was no availability at all for Sindhu once we were on board. So - can anyone enlighten me as to how many days before departure can I book any of these restaurants? 

Not sure whether this itinerary has been carried out before, but has anyone taken this cruise before? Conscious that it has 3 stops in India, and i would suspect that in order to take the excursions, they are likely to be a lengthy bus journeys - or am I wrong?  It would have been more helpful on the Marella website for them to highlight the tours and the prices etc - but on our last cruise with them, you can only see that when you have made a booking. Any thoughts?

Have done this itinerary twice before and the dress to impress is indeed on NYE/Hogmany. For 2019 we were on the Explorer and the fireworks were on in Funchal. I would expect that they are on this year and hopefully it will be as spectacular as before. Most people do put on the effort, and it will be a great occasion - enjoy!

Got notification yesterday that our cruise from Corfu on the 10th September now cancelled - two days before we were scheduled to pay the balance. Well at least we now know. What are people's opinions on the options now offered ?- eg 

If you amend and your new holiday is more expensive, you'll receive an incentive of up to 20% of the cost of your original holiday*, so you can find a holiday that's right for you without worrying about the extra cost. • You have 14 days to amend your booking from when you receive this email. After this, your holiday will be automatically cancelled and you will be sent a refund credit for the amount you have paid for your holiday to date, plus up to 10% booking incentive*.

2. We understand that you might not be ready to book a different holiday. If this is the case, you can wait until 14 days after you receive this email, when your holiday will be automatically cancelled. • You'll then receive a refund credit for the amount you have paid for your holiday to date, plus up to 10% booking incentive*, which you can put towards any holiday that's currently on sale up until 31 March 2023. You will receive this within 14 days of your booking being cancelled.

3. You also have the option to simply cancel your booking – we'll then automatically refund you the amount that you've paid for your holiday.

Where can i access the list of cancelled cruises please?

Sorry if this digresses a bit - we are due to pay our final balance on the 18th June for a cruise and stay departing on the 10th September 2021. Now as i stated above the cruise part is on Discovery 2 - which now looks like it is not sailing on the 10th. So, i had a look at the prices for next year - say mid August and for our cruise and stay holiday this year we would only get a 7 day equivalent cruise. Does anyone have similar experience of this? Marella/TUI have not contacted me whether the cruise will go ahead. Suppose I'll need to try the lottery and contact them.

We are booked on 10th September this year from Corfu - so keen to know where Discovery 2 will be sailing - if at all. so, it may be our cruise will now be on Discovery 1.

So, will it be called Explorer 3?

You will likely get a lot of men wearing black tie for NYE. We were on the Dream last year for NYE and it was a great cruise. We are on the Explorer this coming NYE and will be taking our "formals"

We are also considering this, but in March. The last time we were on a cruise with Marcella was a TA on the Discovery. A great cruise, although the sun bed “run” had to be done before 8am!. I know that this is a port intensive cruise, so the “run” shouldn’t be so bad- or am I wrong? Anyone experienced this on the canaries cruise?

I assume that use Euros at both Martinque or Guadaloupe, but do you need to get some or will they take US Dollars?

 

Keith (Southend)

Agreed with all the comments. One thing to look out for is your mobile phone - you can use your EU data roaming allowance there. We were there in November on the TA crossing with Discovery.

The only brand I can remember seeing is Pandora![emoji4]

 

 

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it's ok, i have looked at some of the uploads on you tube and have now got an idea!