Explorer 2

[dronnygirl]

Well today is a bit of a challenge for the crew. Trieste and it's very, very windy. Docked OK and we were off early but then told by someone in the town to take our time as the gangway has broken. We returned much later to 1 gangway which was in a wind corridor so they were letting people off for trips and we had to wait. It was only 1 person at a time and many needed help, the wind kept lifting the gangway and the staff had to keep lifting it back. Felt so sorry for the crew wanting to go ashore but having to queue to let passengers have priority.  Seemed a tad unfair.  Currently on the balcony on the sun but have a tugboat below holding us at the Dock.  Fingers crossed for tonight, think I may be getting the tablets out!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dronnygirl]

Well we eventually sailed late in the evening after 2 tugs had to keep us in place for several hours. The gangway was mended for the following day.

All in all we had a great cruise.  The ship was in good condition and kept very clean. Our cabin was a bit dated but we knew that before.  There was plenty of storage and everything was very clean, the only thing that let it down was the grouting in the shower – wish I’d had a brush and some bleach I could have had it sorted in a few minutes!

The staff were fabulous as always although there were less than there use to be and there were sometimes long waits in the bars.  We sometimes had to wait a while in the dining room but I felt that this might be due to the kitchen rather than the waiting staff.  The food was good, we had no complaints although sometimes the menu could be a little repetitive. 

The one strange thing was the wine, I’m definitely not a connoisseur but I know what I like and don’t like.  On the first evening I ordered a Pinot Grigio, the waiter brought an individual size bottle and poured it into my glass.  I tried the wine and it looked and tasted like weak sherry!  So I asked for the house wine. He brought Sauvignon Blanc which was much too dry for me so I eventually asked for the carafe wine.  This was fine so I stuck to that the whole cruise. The next evening the lady on the next table asked for Pinot Grigio, when it arrived she pulled a face and said it wasn’t good, again it tasted like sherry. Everyone we spoke to had the same problem with the Pinot – even though we had 2 stops in Italy they didn’t seem to be able to get the wines right.

The captain and his staff were friendly and approachable.  The shows were very good, the comedian and other guest artist weren’t really our cup of tea but were ok – you can’t please everyone!

Great cruise but feel we are ready to try something different so are jumping ship (pardon the pun) next year and trying Princess although I’m sure we’ll be back with Marella at some point

[Brummijam]

That review pretty much sums up our trip a couple of weeks ago.

We were told that our preferred wine which was Arada rose wasn’t available in the MDR on a couple of nights, and I ended up going to the servers station and helping myself to the bottle that was clearly on show and available. The queue for the dining room was out past the lifts regularly and when we got to the desk we were handed a buzzer or we made our way to the buffet.

As you said the staff are Marellas greatest asset as always.

Food was ok, surf and turf excellent and the beach cove restaurant made a nice change, entertainment was ok. There was a really good pianist doing Billy Joel type songs.

shows were same old, seen most of them before on Explorer.

I think that we will be looking at other lines in the near future as we are finding the airport experience not the best lately so maybe try the Southampton departures.

overall we enjoyed it because of the good itinerary and all of the good points onboard outweighed the moans.

But you can definitely see where Marella are cutting back costs.

 

Glad you enjoyed your holiday, keep well.😉

Edited October 2, 2023 by Brummijam
Spellink

[2BACRUISER]

Hmm i looked at explorer for a week in canaries in November came out at just under £3k same dates on Azura P&O £1500 we will not spend the difference on drink even if we really tried. Go figure.