Marella Explorer 2 - Weekend Escape from Newcastle review

[kevcharben]

Thanks Pete those videos are very good and informative.

 

We are hoping to be on Explorer for the 1st time in December (covid permitting).

 

Is the verandah area on the ship an exclusive area or for anyone on borad?

[peteukmcr]

3 minutes ago, kevcharben said:

Thanks Pete those videos are very good and informative.

 

We are hoping to be on Explorer for the 1st time in December (covid permitting).

 

Is the verandah area on the ship an exclusive area or for anyone on borad?

As far as I’m aware the Verandah is for anyone. The cabanas are chargeable. 

[Brummijam]

1 hour ago, kevcharben said:

Thanks Pete those videos are very good and informative.

 

We are hoping to be on Explorer for the 1st time in December (covid permitting).

 

Is the verandah area on the ship an exclusive area or for anyone on borad?

When we were on board last year we were told that the cabanas were just shy of £100 a day to hire.😳

[Britboys]

21 hours ago, peteukmcr said:

Final vlog, a full ships tour

 

 

Thanks very much for this.  Definitely looks a significant step up from Discovery 2 - at least, as she was in 2018 when I was on her.

[nancyneptune]

On 7/20/2021 at 8:28 PM, Pensioncruiser said:

Hi BJ

Sad faces all round  I lost my case. Its been a long journey since March 2020 but its kept me busy. 

Think that's the last cruise with Marella but be have good memories. 🤗

 

So sorry to hear that Pensioncruiser. Try to think of the good times. I hope you find a cruise line that you enjoy if you decide not to return to Marella. Even before the pandemic we were becoming disillusioned with Marella due to higher prices and lower standards, especially the food in the MDR and slow service due to the lack of staff ( not the fault of the crew ) Too many cutbacks and the AI attracting rowdy passengers who sit and drink all day, admittedly only a few but enough to spoil the experience for the majority. 

 

Perhaps a short UK cruise would give you an idea of what to expect with a different cruise line. There are some good deals out there at the moment.

 

Take care

 

[Jayneykul]

I hope you do post details PensionCruiser it may be helpful for all. Britboy, the food on Discovery 2 was beyond bad hence our claim for compensation . The food on Explorer 2 is much better but still far short iin the MDR of what you should expect on a cruise line (IMO)

[Pensioncruiser]

2 hours ago, Jayneykul said:

I hope you do post details PensionCruiser it may be helpful for all.

I don't think my experience will be helpful but I will give a brief summary. March last year we had to cancel, like many others, we understood that we would forfeit our deposit but also knew that if the cruise was cancelled we would receive the deposit back. Our problem was that we had a cash refund for an issue on D2 the previous year allocated to the cancellation. I agreed with management at my TUI travel agent that if i cancelled my deposit would be lost but I would receive the balance as a bacs transfer not a voucher and they confined this in writing. They phoned me for bank details and the next day closed the shop. I received vouchers in the post and a deposit refund into my bank. After many months of ABTA , resolver, insurance, card company and TUI  solicitor was the final step which was not, they say, viable because of Ts & Cs 

and apparently the agent who set everything up for a cash refund should not have done it and no longer works for them.😟

[Jim The Scot]

Hi P

 

Would have thought having written evidence would have been suffice evidence of entitlement to a refund irrespective of T&C, if not an ex gratia payment at the very least

[Pensioncruiser]

So would I but solicitor after reviewing all the evidence said not🙄

[Jayneykul]

Aah I see we had similar, we had compensation from our bad experience on D2 allocated to our cruise in March 2020 which was then cancelled so we got vouchers for that amount not the cash. We used the vouchers to pay for the weekend experience on explorer 2 which meant it was virtually for free that way we don’t have to take a longer cruise and pay towards it giving them our business. I would sail with them again at the right price but o/h thinks the food is so bad he won’t

[Pensioncruiser]

5 hours ago, Jayneykul said:

Aah I see we had similar, we had compensation from our bad experience on D2 allocated to our cruise in March 2020 which was then cancelled so we got vouchers for that amount not the cash. We used the vouchers to pay for the weekend experience on explorer 2 which meant it was virtually for free that way we don’t have to take a longer cruise and pay towards it giving them our business. I would sail with them again at the right price but o/h thinks the food is so bad he won’t

Hi JK  don't think we will be using our vouchers, £1400, not ready yet but we have five months left to use them so may be 🙄and yes I can understand many cruisers will think us silly but we have so many good memories of how cruising was before covid that we are concerned about risking it.