Scot born

On 11/12/2018 at 9:54 PM, Magnelasagne said:

My second cruise and first with MSC. I booked an interior cabin 2 days ago for a cruise in oct 19, but when i am locating the cabin on deck-plans now it say that my cabin (13208) is a balcony cabin... does this mean that I get an upgrade to balcony, or can this be changed later? 

Hi I have just checked the UK web site and it looks like that it is an inside cabin however when you go to pricing an inside, outside and balcony is all the same price so this is what I think, where it says BALCONY SPECIAL CRUISE it means that you can get a balcony for the exact same price as an inside so I would check out the balcony cabins and pick this. Hope this helps 

Thanks, never saw that as bar was always heaving cheers will check that out next time am on. 

On 10/18/2018 at 8:05 AM, brian1 said:

Hi,Dave,I didn't put this question to Scotsborn as she didn't go in many bars.Is there a similar panoramic bar like bar11 on the Explorer,cheers,Brian.

On 10/18/2018 at 11:43 AM, davecttr said:

Yes it is in Indigo on deck 12 forward. Panoramic views around the ship through double height windows. It is much larger than Bar 11 on Discovery. The casino is also there and a late night disco in its own area. There ia also an outside deck above the bridge.

Can I just say that the Indio bar opened in the evening and the outside deck is the adult only veranda for sunbathing and there is not a bar attached to this, when sunbathing during the day there was always some one there with a drinks trolley and if you wanted something that was not on the trolley (cocktails) then they went to an other bar to get it and there was one time I waited 20 min and then ended up with 2 no hardship there. Every time I did venture in here we unable to get a seat  so just had a wander through and found a nice relaxing area elsewhere to enjoy. 😌

1 hour ago, dronnygirl said:

Explorer doesn't feel much bigger than Discovery but some people we spoke to preferred Discovery due to the layout and the atrium. We liked both, however I think this is the biggest ship we would sail on. Definitely don't fancy the 4000 people ships.

I did not feel it was bigger than the discovery, hubby had more trouble finding his way around the Explorer and he is the one that is normally quite good, where I had no trouble whatsoever and I have got lost on the Dream on a few occasions. Lol 

10 hours ago, Vitalsign said:

Thankyou for such an in depth and very fair review 

we have done 32 cruiseswith Thomson/Marella and love Celebration and Dream but having done 2 cruises on Discovery 2 loved the slightly larger more modern ship so won't now be afraid of booking Explorer Many thanks

No mater what size the ship is you can always find your happy place if you go with an open mind and try and stop yourself from comparing to all your other cruises. (I know it is human nature to compare 😂 and it is good to have different)

Happy cruising. 

Thanks Jim 😉 I think because the Dream was our very first cruise and that is what got us hooked in cruising that we love her the best. Have a great cruise when it comes. 

Hi goody1 pleased you liked the review, have a great cruise wish I was back on board.

pagers are handed out in all restaurants 

Thanks all for your reply, I did as you instructed Edinburgh however you can only get 14 night cruises from Scotland. I even went to th TA and phoned TUI for a 7 night cruise and they don't offer this I would need to go to either Manchester, Birmingham or London. 

That's nice to know as I could not get any for beginning of 2019 cheers 

Any of this from Scottish Airports?

Does anyone know why Marella does not fly from any Scottish airports to the Caribbean?

I am a great fan of Marella however I have now booked a cruise with MSC Seaside flying into Miami with overnight stay in hotel in Miami 7 night Caribbean cruise. What a deal I got.... booked into the YC with butler service and all premium drinks mini bar in balcony cabin the works for less than a balcony cabin on Marella, even when I add my tips it is still cheaper than going to Manchester/ London with Marella. 

WHY IS THIS?????

It is, if you are anything like us and don't like sitting in busy bars then there is a few places where you can escape to.  You really need to tryout the outside cinema it is very quiet and they show some good films, we watched Rampage 2018 film and the new Overboard film, I know not on a cruise, however it was very nice as there was only a handful of people on the deck watching it, this made it special for us. Hope you find your special too. 

Hi It is called the lounge and is on deck 6 right next to the coffee port. However it opens at 12 where the coffee port opens early morning. 

You can get coffee with or without alcohol nice relaxing place and they sometimes have a pianist in the evening. 

Need anymore info give me a shout. 

You will have a fab time, just remember its your holidays. 

Depending on what you are looking to do. Here is a list what they can offer before you cruise. 

Depending on where you booked. I got champagne and chocolate strawberries free from my TA for hubbys birthday. 

If it is anything out with their list I think you might have to wait till you board. Have a great time and congratulations.

Explorer 6th - 13th October 

Coffee tea or wine is needed this is going to be a long one. 

A bit of background. My self and my husband in our late 50's. ( no more said on that as hubby just turned 60. 😱 ) We have cruised on the Dream (love and live the Dream) Discovery and Island Escape along with other cruise lines but mostly Thomson/ Tui / Marella whatever they call themselves these days. 

So let me warn you now I am not comparing this cruise to any other I have done before and it will be only be on the experience of this cruise. 

Yeh now on my holidays off to explore the Explorer..

Headed to Edinburgh airport left house at 4.15am fight is 8.15 am ok it takes 40 minutes to get to airport, have told hubby that I already have checked in and all we need to do is drop the bags. ""What if there is any delay"" In the olden days we always needed to be there 3 hours before departure"" ok no problem let's go.

Now you can see why I need this break and I have a wine or 2. 

Car dropped off at meet and greet, great service right outside airport terminal. 

Head to bag drop/checkin desk. Girls at desk give out the labels for cases with cabin number to attach to cases. Easy check in. Flight on time and off we go. 

Arriving in Palma though security, picked up cases from carousel and headed to transfer bus, always someone on hand to guide you to where you need to go, easy. 

Arrived TUI cruse terminal 20 mins later, now embarkation. First desk on ground floor had passports checked and boarding cards given, on to 2nd floor photo taken for identification and CC/ debit card details given for onboard spending. (Can use cash if you want, you will need to go to reception to deposit cash.) this was a very easy and quick process. 

Now on board.

I booked extra large balcony cabin 12000, what I expected was smaller cabin with larger balcony with hammock, 2 sun loungers, 2 chairs and a table. What I got was, good size cabin, small bathroom however it had a large shower cubicle, that could easily fit two people, bars of soap and shower get provided, no shampoo or conditioner, hairdryer was in the desk in main cabin. Storage was also good 2 bedside tables, a desk with 3 drawers 3 wardrobes with loads of hanging space with shelfs and more drawers. Safety deposit box in wardrobe free of charge and easy to use all you need to do is key in your own 6 digit number. Queen size bed, TV on opposite wall from bed with loads of channels and films, small sofa or you could say large comfy chair that converts to a single bed, (two people would struggle to sit together on the sofa maybe that's just us lol) and fridge. The cabin was always kept spotless and I had a different towel animal every night, and not forgetting chocolates on the pillow and the bed turned down. What more do you need. The balcony was a lot bigger than I imagined and had everything that was stated, would definitely book this room again. The position of this cabin is right next to the The Shack Bar ok when I booked I thought it was next to the Snack Shack thinking that it closes early so will not be disturbed, before heading out I realised that the Snack Shack was on deck 11 ops, so was a slight bit worried, there was no need the bar closed at 6pm every night and the cabin was very quiet only the air con could be heard (and can't be turned off)

Restaurants 

Never tried the fee paying restaurants so can not comment. 

Marketplace, this is your buffet, deck 11 let's start with the food, we ate here for breakfast every day. Great selection of cereal, porridge, yogurts, fruit, pastries, breads made to order omelette and other made to order delicacies not forgetting your fry ups, all good quality, tea, coffee fruit juices and milk. Never went hungry .It took me to the 5th day to find the porridge though, there are 2 sides to the buffet, breakfast and lunch they both serve the same foods, however at dinner you have your traditional British fare on one side and you have your more exotic foods on the other and all excellent. Don't forget afternoon tea, freshly baked scones with jam and cream, cakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches, delicious. 

Ok not all is perfect, it is a bit disjointed, you have a middle island that is halved in two  as I said before however you get your own drinks, I don't have a problem with this only they are not all in the one place, red wine, rose wine and beer are at the top (depending on what side you enter) and wine, beer, and fizzy juice is at the bottom so depending what you want to drink you go round in circles. You can only get ice cream between 12 and 3 (not unless you go to Scoops which is on the pool deck and an extra charge) ice cream machine is at the bottom end of the buffet so if you are on the pool deck sunning yourself and fancy an ice cream then you have to go through the full restaurant to get to it. My opinion would be to have the ice cream near the pool deck entrance, this would save a lot of congestion. 

Latitude 53 MDR, only ate here one night, was very disappointed, asked for table for 2, was sat at a table for 2 on an inner circle where the back seats was one long couch  and a single chair opposite, diners either side was 6in away we would have had more room sharing a table with 2 other couples as could hear every conversation they had. The food was not of great quality, service was just like non existing, there was no interaction at all. 

The Mediterranean Italian, dined here twice, first night service was excellent,was talked through how to order main course, this being either pizza or pasta, for starters 4 small bread rolls with garlic butter and a mixed salad was brought to the table. Drink order was taken quickly, order forms are on the table so you can pick what toppings you wanted on your pizza, and if you wanted pasta you could choose from 4 or 5 types of pasta, what ingredients you wanted in it and then what sauce, easy. I had the pasta and as I could not decide my waiter asked if he could choose for me and I agreed, I was not disappointed by his choice, hubby had the pizza and also was not disappointed excellent meal. As our first time was so good we had to go back, it is a very popular eatery as we could not get a table for at least 1 to 2 hours so went to buffet it was good. Next night went back at 6.30pm when it opened, not so good, food was still great no problem there it was the service that let it down, restaurant still pretty quite as it was early, marked out our order form, taken away, no interaction and it took a while for drinks to be ordered and delivered to the table,salad and rolls put on table no conversation at all, completely different atmosphere, this made for an unpleasant dinner. 2 dinners 2 different experiences, just goes to show why everyone has a  different opinion.

The Mediterranean Tapas, tried to get a seat one evening without success, therefore retuned next day for lunch, this was the worst lunch in all 7 days, talk about miss match ok what was on offer, make your on sandwiches, steak and ale pie, baked tortilla and chips, therefore did not book a table for dinner (must have been better at dinner time as always packed) didn't want to take the chance.

The Snack Shack, this is the go to place for lunch love it, hotdogs, hamburgers,  cheese burgers and chicken burgers, salad, sandwiches and tubs of fruit not forgetting cookies all ready to takeaway or sit in one of the booths that are brightly coloured with different countries hanging above. This is great when you are having a lazy day and don't want to wander to far from your sun bed. 

Enough of all this food it is making me hungry and I need to lose the weight I have put on.

Bars, ok there is a good selection of bars and each one has a different atmosphere, however I am unable to give a review on them as we are not ones to sit in bars as hubby does not drink, so will give a quick overall opinion on what we saw when checking out the ship you have your good old British bar the Squid and Anchor, this seams a very popular bar this is where a lot of quizzes take place along with bingo. 

The Mediterranean, this is attached to the restaurants with nice seating areas and an outside terrace. Indigo club and bar, this is where the casino is and the night club very nice inside, still unable to comment on service. 53 very small would be nice for a cocktail before dinner. The Shack, I can comment on this bar, service was outstanding and the bar waiters were very engaging, this is where we met Rene who had been a previous bar waiter on an other cruise and he recognised us and the friendship renewed, one of the other bar stewards was the only one on the Explorer who knew how to mix a cocktail to perfection, let me explain I drank Long Island ice tea mmmmmmm but it was never the same at all of the bars or relaxing on the sun deck therefore I seemed to stalk this bar steward, sorry I can't remember his name, shame on me. The lounge we liked the lounge as you could get your specialty teas and coffee here at no extra charge along with my perfect cocktail, you guessed it the bar steward work at this bar too and every time he saw us he knew what drinks we liked. I like this kind of service. The coffee port extra charge here, never used as could get your tea or coffee at the lounge at no extra charge.

Entertainment, the showcase great auditorium however if you go to the higher levels you can't see the full stage and what these guys do you really need to be able to see all the stage. The shows that we saw were fabulous these guys know how to put on a show. 

There is 2 cinemas one inside ( 2 to 3 films a day ) enjoyed this. One one deck 11 outside watch 2 films here, mind and grab your blanket from your room as can get chilly, nice relaxing evening with waiters serving drinks all night. 

Lots of daytime and nighttime entertainment throughout all the ship so never bored. 

There is Mini golf which is good fun however it is very small, you tee off at number one off course, then when you get to number seven you are back at number one as you have two holes at each tee off very confusing and if there is a lot of People playing at the same time then it becomes grid locked.

There is also Shuffle board no one seams to play this except hubby and myself, however did see in the cruise news that they taught you how to play and had competitions don't know if anyone turned up.

The Kinds zone looked like a good place for the teens to enjoy and meet new friends. Kids club also looked nice and all the kiddies looked to be enjoying themselves.

Best place to sunbathe is the veranda this is on deck 14 lots of comfortable sun beds with drink service however there is no pool or jacuzzi if you wanted to cool down, you needed to go to deck 11 to the pool deck. Talking of the pool deck this was very nice, not a bad size pool with 3 jacuzzis, there was always a sun lounger to be had at any time of the day. Deck 14 opposite the veranda there was loads of other sun loungers and double hammocks which were nice. Deck 6 you could sunbathe also, I did not use this deck so can't comment on how busy it was. 

The attic is the library and there is a good selection of books nice for some quite down time. 

The weather was great most of the time for October so at each port except one as this was the tender port at Villefranche where the seas were a bit rough and the lovely Captain Peter decided that it was too dangerous for the tender boats so could not get off the ship, Captain Peter did try Nice, Cannes and Monaco ports to dock but was told that they were all full so we had another sea day, it was disappointing for other passengers who had excursions however safety of the passengers and crew come first. All other ports we would go off and do our own thing, as we have been to all the places before and done most of the excursions except one that I fancied in Livorno, went to destination services to book through their app and could not find it, spoke with one of the destination services crew who I thought was quite rude, I said that I was looking to book an excursion told him which one and this is the reply I got, well if it's not there then it is fully booked, so I asked if he could check, with a huff he did and confirmed yeh it's fully booked and we can't put another bus on. Ok thanks I was not offered to be put on a waiting list if someone dropped out, not the kind of service I like. 

Now time to pack up for home ☹️had to have the bags outside the cabin the night before, flight was at 13.10 we had to be out of cabin at 8am and pickup bus was at 9.30am. Had breakfast at 7am, breakfast was good as usual however there was no omelette station open I found this weird as there was a lot of passengers that was doing a b2b, went back to cabin picked up hand luggage checked I had not left anything and closed the door for the last time. Wandered about the ship until time to disembark. At airport 10am, check in was easy up to departure lounge and wait. All planes going back to UK were delayed because of weather in the UK. We were one of the lucky ones as flight back to Edinburgh was only 30 min delay, off home.

Overall, great week on the Explorer, enjoyed it very much, will I sail again on the Explorer? YES no doubt at all. Ship can be confusing to navigate and sometimes you have to go up walk through to come back down to get to where you want to be. Shops a bit pricey. Service not always up to standard, did it ruin my cruise? NO. 

Miss her already.

Ok let's put it on the boards. I will start a new board so everyone can see that it is a review. Heading. Explorer 6th October- 13th October Review 

Sorry Brian I posted it on CC reviews under marella Explorer 

Hi Brian Good question as I submitted it yesterday morning if it is not showing as of tomorrow I will post it here. Be warned it is very long. 

Well I'm back. Hope you are all well. Had a great time Just to let you know I have submitted my review.

Safe advice - My safe used a 6 digit PIN number which you set yourself but the previous occupier left it closed!. A trip to reception sorted the problem as they came and used their master PIN. I then happily unpacked and loaded the safe over 20 minutes or so. The safe now did not work. Another trip to reception solved the problem. If you leave the door open for an extended period the locking electronics resets and you have to go through the PIN input sequence again

Looks like they have solved this problem as when embarking the ship they handed printouts with the over ride number so no need to go chasing :')

We have just got back from the Explorer, a lovely ship! Smoking is outside on the starboard side of Deck 6 and on Deck 12 forward overlooking the pool. Also on the outside deck aft of the Squid and Anchor. We hardly saw anyone smoking other than outside the Squid and Anchor in the evenings, and we never smelled smoke anywhere. Hope you have a great cruise:)

This is all correct info good old cc friends 👍

We’ve got cabin 8091. Could you see if decent position, please.

Enjoy your snooping!!!! 😂

This cabin is in a good position half way between mid and front loos nice and quite

Hi Scot born

could you try and see the cabins on deck 10 10160 we are joining Explorer march 2019 with our cruise and stay thanks in advance.

deck 10 cabin 10160 large family balcony at back of ship. Below squid and anchor sun deck above looks like the kiddies club

That's true lookout for the review when I get back