Brummijam

Hi Ged. On all of the Marella cruises that I have been on we were allowed to stay onboard and use all of the facilities until you disembark for the airport. Regards.

Hi Dronnygirl. Genuine enquiry here. I can understand your enquiry regarding the entertainment groups but why would the identity of the captain carry any weight regarding which cruise you choose? Are there some dodgy ones?😳

Hi Dave. I have to declare heart disease on my travel insurance but I have never had to provide proof ie doctors notes etc, I just fill in the online questionnaire. keep well.

Hi HM. I don’t know if it will work for you but when we installed the NHS App ( the one where you get your vaccination status for traveling) you can opt in to view your GP records in the same app. It comes under …..View your GP health record. Keep well.

1) From the cruise line's perspective it prevents anyone who is definitley positive from boarding the ship, which is a good thing for everyone involved, including the positive person. 2) Yes, you could get it in the airport, from a fellow plane passenger, from anyone you are in contact with on your journey to the airport. But if we want to have holidays, including cruises, these are unavoidable risks. 3) From Tui's perspective they are not going to apply this to land based passengers while their competitors don't, simply for commercial reasons. And they will not fly cruise only planes for the same reason. Hi RK. 1) I agree with your first point regarding testing prior to boarding, but as you have stated people who tested negative will be exposed to the virus during their journey to the ship. 2) This point pretty much makes the first point useless as recent stats show that 1 in 20 persons in the uk were positive without knowing . 3) As point 2. Not an argument, just my opinion.🤔 Keep well.

Hi RR. This proves again that trying to get proper information from TUI is an uphill struggle. They seem to be quite lax regarding the website info (which looks like it was designed by a twelve year old) Personally i wouldn’t normally bother with a company whose admin is so inept but the actual Marella cruise experience suits us so it’s worth putting up with. Keep well.

Exactly. I could never see the point of pre cruise tested passengers travelling on the same aircraft as non tested holiday makers. Also when Marella were testing pax aboard ship the night before disembarkation only to put those that tested negative onto an aircraft with untested land based holiday makers for the journey home.🤷‍♂️

A freebie sounds like a good plan.👍 Also next year gives you time to think it over.😉

Hi Jim. Same here, Basic travel insurance for Europe costs about £14 per week.🤷🏻‍♂️

Hi Dave. Exactly right about declaring everything in the medical assessment, A lot of people "forget " things thinking that it will push up the cost which is not usually the case. If you are taken ill with an undeclared pre existing condition you will be responsible for the costs involved for treatment. Its a no brainer really.🤷🏻‍♂️ Hope all goes well regarding your results.

Hi PC. Everything is good here thanks.👍 We always thought that we had everything covered but after reading about this couples misfortune it does give us chance to evaluate our own emergency planning. Do you think that you will cruise again ? (It would be a pity if you decide not to, we know how much you enjoyed your trips) Anyways keep well both. Regards BJ.😉

Hi Jim. Regarding the onboard medical facility logically it is sensible for Marella to outsource it but it’s not something that I was aware of. Regarding paying upfront for medical costs I was aware of this but hadn’t given it much thought as to how much cash/money that you could potentially need to acess immediately, lots of people in the senior age group don’t even have credit cards. I absolutely agree that EHIC on its own is not insurance cover. When I read the article it just showed that I am not as clued up as I thought I was. Keep well you and yours.😉

I was reading the p&o board and came across this topic Not only football that's Come Home. From what I can gather a passenger was Unwell on on board a princess cruise ship on a Med cruise and needed to be transported to hospital, Because she was initially treated in the ships medical facility they required payment for said treatment before she was allowed to disembark. Apparently the medical facility isn’t run by the cruise line but a separate outside company. I believe that the lady was traveling with her niece who was left to try and sort out the payments that were due which was a problem because she couldn’t authorise use of her aunt’s credit/Visa cards. Its a long thread but it goes on to tell of the problems also incurred at the onshore hospitals regarding payments for treatment. We always thought that having a GHIC card and robust travel insurance that we would be ok if we were unfortunate to be unwell onboard when in Europe but upon reading this perhaps we aren’t as prepared as we thought we were. Most hospitals seem to work on pay upfront and then claim from your travel insurance.🤷🏻‍♂️ Apparently this lady was informed that it is recommended that you carry at least three separate credit cards with a total of at least ten thousand pounds to cover immediate hospital costs and also a couple of hundred pounds in local currency to cover taxi fares etc. Eye opening or what?

Your reply seems to allude that the comment was pointed at you. Oh dear.😂😂😂😂

This topic has been done to death. wear what you are comfortable in, As long as you follow the ships dress code what can go wrong😳

Agree entirely. Current figure’s for England are approximately 1 in 18 people are carrying the virus so we are probably mixing with them every time we go out.🤷‍♂️ So it is almost inevitable that infected people will mingle.

Oh oh.

Katakolon is a nice place to get off the ship and relax at one of the beaches, The beach cafes let you use their sun beds and brollies for free if you buy food or drinks from them. A decent chill out day.😉

You must wear shoes. I think.😂

No Only in junior suite and above. yes Bar no Only in junior suite and above

Hi Ali. The dividing partition can be opened to give access to the next balcony.

We had a trip on Ex2 and not impressed with the ship at all, The Marella experience with staff ,food,drink as expected but the ship just didn’t feel right to us at all.

Same here but with the provisio that if a holiday etc becomes available they will need to make alternative arrangements. We are entitled to a life as well.😉😂😂

Hi RR. Thats brilliant, Something to look forward to. We are looking at canaries cruises for November. Pre pandemic we managed to get a junior suite for an excellent price for February. So biding our time. The beauty of retirement is a few days notice is all that’s needed.😉 Keep well.