New ship announced

[Colbrit]

Wave hello to a new addition to our fleet 👋 embark on a new adventure onboard Marella Voyager 🗺️

🚢 Setting sail June 2023
🚢10 dining and bar spots to choose from including Marella Cruises favourites like Surf & Turf, Snack Shack and Nonna’s
🚢 Exciting new venues including a Mexican eatery and secret speakeasy bar

Keep your eyes peeled for more info coming soon 👀
 

from Marella socials this morning 

 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/articles/430528/marella-cruises-to-add-fifth-ship-in-2023

Edited October 14, 2021 by Colbrit

[anchorweight]

Hurray ! A 26 year old ship !😒

[howmuch!]

Another 3rd hand Celebrity cast-off. However, I prefer the Explorer 1 and 2 (previous Celebrity owned) ships, to the Discovery 1 and 2. Hopefully this will be similar.

[davecttr]

Good news, Voyager/Mein Schiff Herz is the ship Marella should have had instead of the inferior Explorer2. and Voyager will be similar to Explorer which surpise,surprise, has a passenger space ratio of 40, way better than these new mega ships.

 

My rating of the current Marella fleet is:-

1.  Explorer

2.  Discovery

3.  Discovery 2

4.  Explorer 2

 

2. and 3. are interchangeable

 

Voyager will slot in at either 1, or 2.

[cinnamon]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

Good news, Voyager/Mein Schiff Herz is the ship Marella should have had instead of the inferior Explorer2. and Voyager will be similar to Explorer which surpise,surprise, has a passenger space ratio of 40, way better than these new mega ships.

 

My rating of the current Marella fleet is:-

1.  Explorer

2.  Discovery

3.  Discovery 2

4.  Explorer 2

 

2. and 3. are interchangeable

 

Voyager will slot in at either 1, or 2.

That's very interesting.  After travelling on many different lines I've just booked my first Marella cruise on Explorer.  Happy Days.

[Medeba]

13 hours ago, davecttr said:

Good news, Voyager/Mein Schiff Herz is the ship Marella should have had instead of the inferior Explorer2. and Voyager will be similar to Explorer which surpise,surprise, has a passenger space ratio of 40, way better than these new mega ships.

 

My rating of the current Marella fleet is:-

1.  Explorer

2.  Discovery

3.  Discovery 2

4.  Explorer 2

 

2. and 3. are interchangeable

 

Voyager will slot in at either 1, or 2.

I'm interested as to why you think the Explorer 2 is inferior.  I thought Explorer, Explorer 2 and the new Voyager were very similar sizes. 

[Medeba]

10 hours ago, cinnamon said:

That's very interesting.  After travelling on many different lines I've just booked my first Marella cruise on Explorer.  Happy Days.

Hi Cinnamon.  We met on Regal Princess in August.  What a coincidence; we too have just booked our first Marella cruise.  We wanted to get away over Christmas and booked the cruise 3 days ago.

[cinnamon]

24 minutes ago, Medeba said:

Hi Cinnamon.  We met on Regal Princess in August.  What a coincidence; we too have just booked our first Marella cruise.  We wanted to get away over Christmas and booked the cruise 3 days ago.

Hi!  My Goddaughter wanted to go away during her quiet work time in mid January. It will be very different for me, gong away with a 40 year old and on Marella, which is what her budget has necessitated.  Originally she wanted to go to the Caribbean but we've put that dream on hold till perhaps January 2023.  

[Medeba]

15 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

Hi!  My Goddaughter wanted to go away during her quiet work time in mid January. It will be very different for me, gong away with a 40 year old and on Marella, which is what her budget has necessitated.  Originally she wanted to go to the Caribbean but we've put that dream on hold till perhaps January 2023.  

Ours is a Spanish cruise so not a long flight.  Unlike you, though, after some debate, we decided to go for the premium package.  Well, it is Christmas after all!!  

[davecttr]

3 hours ago, Medeba said:

I'm interested as to why you think the Explorer 2 is inferior.  I thought Explorer, Explorer 2 and the new Voyager were very similar sizes. 

In simple terms Explorer 2 was Celebrity Century, the first of the class. Further builds were longer to overcome shortcomings in the original design Celebrity Galaxy became a Mein Schiff for TUI with a 50 million euro conversion of the public areas and cabins. She is now Explorer. Celebrity Mercury is now Mein Schiff Herz and also underwent an extensive conversion. She will become Voyager.

 

Differences between Explorer and Explorer 2

Deck 12 - Both have Indigo bar and casino but Ex2 lacks the observation deck above the bridge

Deck 11 - Explorer has an excellent buffet with a large salad selection. Ex 2 buffet is smaller

Deck 11 aft - Explorer has the Mediterranean bar with external terrace plus Tapas and Italian Restaurants. EX 2 lacks the bar and the restaurants and part of the pool deck is taken up with a restaurant.

Deck 8 - Explorer has the Attic  library and gamer zone. Ex2 does not and the library is just a few shelves in the coffee port. 

Deck 7 - Ex2 has the Coffee port here. looks like a transport Kaf and the 'library' is a joke.

Deck 6 - Explorer has the excellent coffee port here surrounding the Atrium with access to the promenade deck and tables for al fresco coffee.

 

Other stuff including pay restaurants are on different decks

 

I can see why TUI did not choose Ex2. She is just smaller with an inferior internal layout

 

BTW the EX/EX2 deck plans are all mixed up on the Marella site. For example the deck 11 plans are the wrong ones, maybe this is deliberate to make Ex2 look more attractive and Ex less, who knows!

 

I hope Voyager will be more like Explorer

[Medeba]

Davecttr

 

Thank you for your very comprehensive reply.  We shall see for ourselves what Explorer 2 is like over Christmas.  We sailed on her last cruise as Celebrity Century and she was looking a bit tired in places; Celebrity didn't give her the decent send off she deserved.  Will be interesting to see what she's like under the Tui brand.

[GOQ]

To myself Explorer and Explorer 2 "feel" the same the only obvious difference to me being Explorer is larger (longer) and has a cinema. It's the cinema which makes it a nicer ship, again for me. Voyager will be, more or less, the same layout as Explorer, I just hope it will have a cinema.

 

Discovery and Discovery 2 are identical. 

 

So for me Marella now only seem to have 2 different types of ship, Discovery and Explorer. Part of the excitement of a cruise  was always the initial exploration of a new ship. When I restarted cruising with Thomson/Marella they had the Majesty, Dream, Celebration, Spirit, Discovery, and Explorer just about to be delivered, six types of ship. So a bit of variety.

 

I do like Marella, I have no problems with them and will continue booking Marella cruises. But I am getting a bit bored now with just Discovery/Explorer and so have started booking cruises with other cruise lines, just to try something different.

[howmuch!]

My main criticism of the Discovery 1&2, is the massive furniture in the Atrium. A lovely environment which could be available to so many more, with sensible seating. The placement of large seats in front of the bar, and the usual 'bar stool sitters' makes access congested if you are desperate for a drink, when table service is lacking)

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by howmuch!

[di T]

On 10/14/2021 at 3:46 PM, howmuch! said:

Another 3rd hand Celebrity cast-off. However, I prefer the Explorer 1 and 2 (previous Celebrity owned) ships, to the Discovery 1 and 2. Hopefully this will be similar.

Which ship was it when owned by Celebrity? 

[di T]

On 10/15/2021 at 1:04 PM, Medeba said:

Davecttr

 

Thank you for your very comprehensive reply.  We shall see for ourselves what Explorer 2 is like over Christmas.  We sailed on her last cruise as Celebrity Century and she was looking a bit tired in places; Celebrity didn't give her the decent send off she deserved.  Will be interesting to see what she's like under the Tui brand.

Also sailed on Century for the last cruise and have to agree she was looking her age! We are on the Explorer end of January first time for us on Marella we sail most of the time with Celebrity and Royal, but hopefully will have a nice trip around the Canaries. Final payment due soon.

[Medeba]

1 hour ago, di T said:

Also sailed on Century for the last cruise and have to agree she was looking her age! We are on the Explorer end of January first time for us on Marella we sail most of the time with Celebrity and Royal, but hopefully will have a nice trip around the Canaries. Final payment due soon.

I was expecting that Celebrity might have some lovely fireworks at Singapore when the cruise ended but I suppose the certificate we got to say that we were on the last cruise will have to suffice!

 

I think the 3rd ex-Celebrity ship for Marella was the Celebrity Mercury but we didn't sail on her.  

 

Hope you enjoy your Canaries cruise on Explorer.

 

 

[di T]

3 hours ago, Medeba said:

I was expecting that Celebrity might have some lovely fireworks at Singapore when the cruise ended but I suppose the certificate we got to say that we were on the last cruise will have to suffice!

 

I think the 3rd ex-Celebrity ship for Marella was the Celebrity Mercury but we didn't sail on her.  

 

Hope you enjoy your Canaries cruise on Explorer.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Medeba said:

I was expecting that Celebrity might have some lovely fireworks at Singapore when the cruise ended but I suppose the certificate we got to say that we were on the last cruise will have to suffice!

 

I think the 3rd ex-Celebrity ship for Marella was the Celebrity Mercury but we didn't sail on her.  

 

Hope you enjoy your Canaries cruise on Explorer.

 

 

Thanks for your kind wishes! I will try not to compare the Marella experience to our other cruises, After 12 cancelled cruises during the Pandemic we are just so looking forward to being back on a ship. Hopefully things are getting better! Dianne

[MX-Drew]

On our honeymoon on Discovery 2 we got to dine with one of the top brass from Marella Cruise and during the diner he explained they always like to buy the old RCCL (Celebrity) ships because of the grand atriums.

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

On our honeymoon on Discovery 2 we got to dine with one of the top brass from Marella Cruise and during the diner he explained they always like to buy the old RCCL (Celebrity) ships because of the grand atriums.

Except the ex Celebrity Explorers don't have grand atriums. Just little ones big enough for the xmas tree

 

They don't buy anything, they are told what they are getting by TUI which is why they ended up with Explorer2 which should have been Mein Schiff Herz

Edited October 19, 2021 by davecttr

[MX-Drew]

4 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Except the ex Celebrity Explorers don't have grand atriums. Just little ones big enough for the xmas tree

 

They don't buy anything, they are told what they are getting by TUI which is why they ended up with Explorer2 which should have been Mein Schiff Herz

Just feeding back what I was told.

Glad the Christmas tree will fit as that should be up when we are onboard.

Edited October 19, 2021 by MX-Drew

[davecttr]

4 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Just feeding back what I was told.

Glad the Christmas tree will fit as that should be up when we are onboard.

I was aboard Explorer two xmas's ago and it was very good. I had the premium drinks package so apart from the booze lovely Lavazza coffees in the coffee port which surrounded the atrium. They had the tree plus marzipan village and just in case we were peckish they was a constantly refreshed table of lots of different cakes and biscuits, all baked aboard. I was stuffed 24/7 🥳😋

[GOQ]

I have fond memories of Explorer in the Caribbean during December 2018 when a group of the entertainment ladies sang Christmas carols in the atrium with artificial snow dropping down on them  from above.