Booked Marella explorer... help! :-)

[leeno382]

Hi Folks

Just booked the Marella Explorer for the 14th April for the Caribbean experience for 14 days, can't wait it offered the best itinerary for the Caribbean for the dates we were after?  only ever sailed with Royal Caribbean (Anthem, Symphony) so it has a lot to live upto, hope i havent made a mistake here..  Anyone been on it please feel free to put my mind at rest :-) thank you

[davecttr]

I have cruised on Explorer, a well appointed ship with lots of onboard choices and a friendly efficient crew. The included drinks package is good and there is no need to tip. Plus......the showers have doors!

 

If you are flying from the UK you check in your cases at the airport and the next time you see them is in your cabin. When you get to Barbados it is straight off the plane onto a coach and away to the ship. If you have a late flight on departure day you can remain aboard until your airport transfer coach arrives and use the onboard facilities. You can even go ashore if you wish and return to collect your hand luggage which can be stored in a secure onboard location

[leeno382]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

I have cruised on Explorer, a well appointed ship with lots of onboard choices and a friendly efficient crew. The included drinks package is good and there is no need to tip. Plus......the showers have doors!

 

If you are flying from the UK you check in your cases at the airport and the next time you see them is in your cabin. When you get to Barbados it is straight off the plane onto a coach and away to the ship. If you have a late flight on departure day you can remain aboard until your airport transfer coach arrives and use the onboard facilities. You can even go ashore if you wish and return to collect your hand luggage which can be stored in a secure onboard location

Thanks Dave

Thats great, didnt know about the cases thats a fab service we cant wait, ship looks a little basic compared to the RCI but i suppose were quite spoiled by only being on Anthem and Symphony... thanks for your help 

[davecttr]

Basic? the décor is excellent as they spent 50 million euros on it a few years ago.

 

Try the silent disco, it is hilarious.

 

10 bars, 10 restaurants including 4 a la carte, lovely theatre. Lavazza coffee in the Coffee Port. Cuisine is international. You do get a meat an 2 veg option though

 

If you have not reserved a cabin my advice is avoid midship and aft on deck 4, it can suffer from some noise and vibration.

[leeno382]

Thats great Dave...  from what i seen there didnt look like there was loads on it but maybe ive just not looked enough. Looking forward to it, the rci had loads to do on it, am sure there will be enough to keep up occupied 👍

[bouffie]

Hi Leeno382

We will have been on Explorer for a week by the time you embark so we'll both be doing the Barbados - St Vincent (Bequia) section!

We've been on 2 Thomson Cruises in Europe and 1 Marella to the Canaries. We've done 4 cruises to Caribbean and visited nearly all the main islands (3 P&O and 1 RC). 

We actually preferred our last Marella cruise to our Royal Caribbean one out of Miami. The destinations were fine and the ship was very plush but we disliked the feeling that, with constant upselling, Uncle Sam had his sticky fingers in our pockets at every opportunity. The food and the service were at best average. We were on an inclusive drinks package but finding a waiter quickly was hard and to pay tip surcharges felt insulting. We had no particularly 'bad' experience but for us it was the first and last RC cruise :-(

 

In contrast, Marella was less pretentious and glitzy but everything required was there and the food and service were as expected. As Explorer has recently been re-fitted at great expense we are really looking forward to seeing familiar destinations on Explorer.

 

I'm sure we'll all have a great time!

[leeno382]

4 minutes ago, bouffie said:

Hi Leeno382

We will have been on Explorer for a week by the time you embark so we'll both be doing the Barbados - St Vincent (Bequia) section!

We've been on 2 Thomson Cruises in Europe and 1 Marella to the Canaries. We've done 4 cruises to Caribbean and visited nearly all the main islands (3 P&O and 1 RC). 

We actually preferred our last Marella cruise to our Royal Caribbean one out of Miami. The destinations were fine and the ship was very plush but we disliked the feeling that, with constant upselling, Uncle Sam had his sticky fingers in our pockets at every opportunity. The food and the service were at best average. We were on an inclusive drinks package but finding a waiter quickly was hard and to pay tip surcharges felt insulting. We had no particularly 'bad' experience but for us it was the first and last RC cruise :-(

 

In contrast, Marella was less pretentious and glitzy but everything required was there and the food and service were as expected. As Explorer has recently been re-fitted at great expense we are really looking forward to seeing familiar destinations on Explorer.

 

I'm sure we'll all have a great time!

Ahh yes i agree the RC was always trying to get us to buy buy buy, we both loved symphony as it was very easy on eye with lots to do, and food was very good too (for us) i feel we wont beat it tbh...  explorer has all the bardados itinerary hence why weve booked it, looking forward to lovely ship in the sun though we wont be on it much as its going to be pretty full on 😂 

 

Whats the premium drinks package about? Does anyone know? We picked a room with balcony but still awaiting allocation as of yet 👍

[bouffie]

To be honest, like you, we tend to book a cruise based on itinerary and then try to find a cruise line and ship we like at a fair price. We always get a balcony cabin and this year were persuaded to upgrade to a numbered 'large balcony' on deck 10 for a few quid extra.

Last time on Marella we had the basic inclusive drinks package but did hanker after a few drinks on the premium list so it's worth researching online where I've found detailed menus for both! Upgrading is I believe £50 pp per week so one can do the maths and decide. I believe all passengers in the cabin have to take that upgrade (so they don't share drinks. A friend on a premium package attempted to get me a drink and they were swooped on and told off very quickly!) Not sure whether that applies to our 12 year old but he had to pay for anything above juices e.g. coke, sprite, pepsi  last time out :-(

 

[davecttr]

The basic included drinks package is very good with mostly well known branded items.  Highlights are 11 different wines by the glass and the measures are 40ml, not that it matters because you can have as many as you want within reason.

 

£50 for the premium package suited me as I could drink as many Lavazza coffees as I wanted. there is also a 1.5 litre of water per day included although the free drinking water dispensers on the passenger decks are just fine. You get a carafe to put it in. My stewardess said please don't use it as a flower vase!  Back to the Premium package. There is also a gin/whisky bar with lots of choices and fever tree tonic. Some people don't buy the full package but the occasional treat charged to their onboard account. The mixer from the pump is free. Can't remember if it is Schweppes or Britvic. The coke is Coke

[leeno382]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

The basic included drinks package is very good with mostly well known branded items.  Highlights are 11 different wines by the glass and the measures are 40ml, not that it matters because you can have as many as you want within reason.

 

£50 for the premium package suited me as I could drink as many Lavazza coffees as I wanted. there is also a 1.5 litre of water per day included although the free drinking water dispensers on the passenger decks are just fine. You get a carafe to put it in. My stewardess said please don't use it as a flower vase!  Back to the Premium package. There is also a gin/whisky bar with lots of choices and fever tree tonic. Some people don't buy the full package but the occasional treat charged to their onboard account. The mixer from the pump is free. Can't remember if it is Schweppes or Britvic. The coke is Coke

Excellent thank you... think we'll be getting the upgrade tbh.. could use my head a little and just get 1 as its me who goes the bar anyway 😂😉

[Pensioncruiser]

That's not possible everyone on the booking has to buy it. But it is worth it👌