Normally Celebrity or Princess Cruises but ...

[scotslizzy]

having looked at the newish ships explorer etc I wondered if the change to Marella might be a bit too different?

I would love to read some cruisers opinions on their experiences in moving from the larger type cruises ships to marella .

 

Having looked at the itineraries for the Caribbean for Feb 2019 Marella offers some new islands for us.

Also the speciality restaurants are of interest to us so any comments about these would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Scotslizzy   

[brian1]

17 minutes ago, scotslizzy said:

having looked at the newish ships explorer etc I wondered if the change to Marella might be a bit too different?

I would love to read some cruisers opinions on their experiences in moving from the larger type cruises ships to marella .

 

Having looked at the itineraries for the Caribbean for Feb 2019 Marella offers some new islands for us.

Also the speciality restaurants are of interest to us so any comments about these would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Scotslizzy   

Hi,we are platinum on Princess and sailed once on P&O and once on Cunard.We sail purely for itineraries and our recent D2 cruise ticked off another area on our bucket list and we've booked the Explorer for next year.We were happy with the experience,definately better than P&O IMO.The bigger lines don't do a true Caribbean cruise any more,they start at Fort Laudadale and call at their private islands on the way.Marella and P&O start in Barbados,so you will get to see more islands.No brainer on that one,cheers,Brian.

[scotslizzy]

26 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Hi,we are platinum on Princess and sailed once on P&O and once on Cunard.We sail purely for itineraries and our recent D2 cruise ticked off another area on our bucket list and we've booked the Explorer for next year.We were happy with the experience,definately better than P&O IMO.The bigger lines don't do a true Caribbean cruise any more,they start at Fort Laudadale and call at their private islands on the way.Marella and P&O start in Barbados,so you will get to see more islands.No brainer on that one,cheers,Brian.

 

[dronnygirl]

If you do a true comparison  with Princess taking into account the tips and drinks prices, you will find that Marella are very competitive as all is included. Marella itineraries are excellent and you get long days ashore compared with some companies.  Entertainment is really good too. You need to give them a try and go with an open mind.

[Weboos2]

We cruised with Thomson as it was then about 10years ago on their smaller ships. They were our first ones. Then we were fortunate to cruise with celebrity and have done 4 with them and a couple on Royal Caribbean. Went back to marella in March because of the itinerary and going on Explorer on Saturday. The bigger marella ships compare favourably with the others but not quite the wow factor. 

[scotslizzy]

How does the food compare and the speciality restaurant's .

Very difficult decision as so many ships out there but pricing is extremely keen in comparison  with Celebrity and Princess.

 

Thanks

 

Liz

[Weboos2]

I would say the food is good. The buffet doesn't compare to celebrity, I find it hard to keep to a small plate on there. We ate in Kora la on discovery 2 and that was lovely. We have only ate in Quisine on celebrity which was very interesting. It is very difficult to compare food because everyone has differing tastes and experiences.

The itineraries are fabulous on marella and they are good value for money. There are very few extras to pay for unless you want to upgrade the drinks package or choose your cabin. 

[brian1]

OK,the food is not as good as Princess but is acceptable.I heard the steakhouse is excellent.The Italian MDR was good but they only alternate 2 menus but they are quite extensive.The other MDR I found the portions small,I was ordering mains as starters,but I like my food,so maybe others wouldn't mind the portions.You have to weigh up the pros and cons,but the main pro is starting and finishing in the real Caribbean and not wasting time from FL and stopping at a manmade cashcow on the way.

[mike x ftc]

We are Elite with Celebrity, Diamond with RCI and we're doing our third Princess cruise in January. In September we did the Discovery 2 Adriatic Explorer (our first Marella / Thomson experience) and we were so impressed. We didn't really know what to expect but it excelled in every way. The smaller ship is actually really nice, it was the friendliest ship we've ever been on for both staff and passengers.  We did the Asian speciality restaurant and it was as good as any others we've been to on the other lines - just much cheaper!  The all inclusive drinks package is amazing, we did pay the extra £50 to go premium but it was still fantastic value.  We're looking to add a drinks package to our Princess cruise in January and it works out at £500 EACH for 11 nights which is a staggering amount of money on top of your cruise fare.   We are most definitely doing Marella again as it is remarkable value for money, the entertainment is good and food is good - just keep in mind its not a top notch cruise line but you've certainly not paid top notch prices. Just stick to the newer ships, the Discoveries and Explorers.

And they have help yourself wine, cider and beer taps in the self service - that's good enough reason to book surely!!!

[scotslizzy]

Many thanks to all for the responses. Just need to get booking now !

 

Cheers

 

Scotslizzy

[shot2bits]

On 10/23/2018 at 11:37 AM, scotslizzy said:

How does the food compare and the speciality restaurant's .

Very difficult decision as so many ships out there but pricing is extremely keen in comparison  with Celebrity and Princess.

 

Thanks

 

Liz

We were on D2 in August and ate in Surf & Turf as it was my wife’s birthday (almost). The food was fantastic, among the best I have had anywhere. The staff in there had even put up balloons etc for the birthday and no, we hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. They must have done some research! It is essential to book, as soon as you get on ideally and we found that Friday was the easiest day to get a reservation as in our case, this was change over day.