pennib

Hi gramworld. We flew out of terminal 2 on 7 November for a TUI flight to Gran Canaria. Security was fine but we first had to queue for some time to check in the cases. By that time, there was a huge queue for the restaurant (as we like to have breakfast if we can) so we had to make do with a wrap instead. I would allow 3 hours tbh. Needless to say our flight was delayed. Hope yours is not!

You were lucky. The first time we went there (pre Covid), people off the ship were threatened walking into the capital from our ship. Not a pleasant experience.

Hi Sagaris. We have done Explorer twice round the Canaries. Excellent both trips. Not considered them for the Caribbean but I agree that P&O are very SOSO now. Even so we are with them again in a couple of weeks time. Hope you enjoy your trips

Hi Nancyneptune. We have just come off Explorer round the Canaries again and loved it. You book your WiFi at reception desk on the ship. £90 for our 2 weeks. I found it OK and it was enough for what we wanted to do. You don’t get anything on the plane. If you can have something to eat in the airport before you go. Drinks on the plane are not cheap buy hey ho, you are going on holiday. we love Explorer as it is a small ship. The food and service are excellent and we have booked the same trip for 2023. We have done around 25 cruises with various companies and consider what you get on Explorer is excellent value. We will have a good immediate comparison in a couple of weeks time as we will be on Britannia again.

Don’t blame you Dingelbert about the journeys to and from Southampton. We wouldn’t do that now going from Cheshire unless we could get the bus transfer service. P&O don’t think that anyone north of Oxford exists. Even if you do, you get punished with a hefty surcharge on their Caribbean flights.

We manage because I make use of the self service launderettes on the ships which helps to reduce the number of dress shirts that DH wears and other things as well . We managed for 4 weeks on Azura last Christmas and New Year like that.

Hi. Be careful. I recently applied for and got assistance granted for a TUI flight from Manchester to Gran Canaria to join a Marella cruise. But when we got to where you sign in at the airport there was a queue. After waiting for some time and no sign of progress, we decided to walk it through security. I managed to get up the steps and on the plane. However, after we had been sat on the plane for nearly 2 hours, some passengers suddenly appeared. They were people we recognised from the assistance point in the airport and they were all fuming. Apparently they were wheeled out onto the tarmac and left by the plane. They said they had been abandoned. Fortunately it wasn’t raining.

We have got 4 formal nights on our upcoming Christmas cruise on Britannia.

Just come off Explorer and did the Dining Club 3 times in the 14 nights. Wonderful, as are Surf & Turf, Kora La etc. never eaten so much lovely food.

We are with you RR on that comparison. If you go on MSC you have to be fond of Italians and especially screaming Italian kids. Not for us now!!

We have just come off Explorer in Gran Canaria. Had. Brilliant 2 week cruise. Food excellent. Staff excellent. We also do P&O and are on Britannia again for Christmas. Which is the better cruise company? Difficult that one. Probably Marella at the moment. The only problem we had on our recent Explorer cruise was getting to and from Gran Canaria from Manchester. Dreadful journeys.

On Explorer at the moment. £90 for 2 weeks. Book it on the ship. I am glad we did as it has been pretty good. We like to download the daily Telegraph each day and this has been fine. You can only use 1 device at a time so you just have to remember to logout so that someone on another device can get on. You can use more than 1 but you have to buy a separate package for each one.

We are on Explorer now and totally agree with Howmuch. It is great.

Sorry to be late replying but we are on Explorer now. We read it that the 72 hours is for the ship not the plane. There will be people on the plane who are not going to the ship so I don’t think the questionnaire applies to them. To be honest, the checking of documents was very cursory. A staff member asked to see our insurance docs but tbh I don’t think she really knew what she was looking at. Anyway, so far no masks for anyone save a few crew members who have a choice.

Hi Tira we have been with P&O every Christmas in the Caribbean for years and we are on the Britannia again this year. You can’t beat it!! We were on Azura last Christmas for 4 weeks and loved it so feel sorry for Silkworms. Only got 2 weeks this year though. Santa will visit your cabin with gifts. We take a little false tree with a fairy on top for the cabin. Hey ho. We are currently on Marella Explorer in the Canaries and the weather and ship are both great. It all beats working!!

Sorry, can’t post it but it isn’t that the questions are difficult, you just have to be careful that you hit the right answer. I found that once you had selected your answer, you couldn’t change it. That is why you need to print off the form before you fill it in, then consider the answers before you go live on it. A cautionary tale: 12 months ago we were in the check in queue in Manchester airport for our flight to Barbados to board Azura, having taken 5 hours queuing to get to the check in queue. Everyone was tired and fed up. A P& O rep gave us all a health questionnaire form to fill in while we queued. The answers were mainly “no” but there was a sneaky one at the end which needed a “yes”. People had got so automated filling in “no” that most put “no” to that question at the end. The rep pointed this out and we could change our answers which of course we all did. Just imagine if those forms were on line with no opportunity to correct them. That is why you have to be careful!

Absolutely. We got ours from Marella 3 days before boarding. We printed one out and discussed each question before going live and submitting it. Suffice it to say that they then allowed us to download our tickets so obviously we had answered the questions ok and have not been bounced off the cruise with no refund unlike many unfortunate individuals on the other site that has been mentioned on here. One thing, make sure that you do it within the 72 hours of boarding, ie check the boarding time and don’t do the form until you are in that 72 hour window. Just in case…..!!

P&O. Good luck. Will be interested to hear how you get on on Marella in the Caribbean. We are looking at their offerings but this Christmas we are with P&O again.

I agree Dave. I visit both sites on a very regular basis and am quite disappointed that there is hardly any activity on the Marella board. The other board is frantic at the moment with umpteen people being bounced off their cruises with no refunds due to incorrect completion of a pre cruise health questionnaire. We are due to sail on Explorer next week and I have just had a pre cruise questionnaire sent on email from TUI asking all sorts of questions relating to covid. Answers are yes/no. Scary. Sorry, don’t know why this has gone into itallics!!

Something has got to be done. It reminds me of the situation we and others found ourselves in last December when queuing at Manchester airport for our flight to join Azura in Barbados. We were given a form to fill in whilst in the queue to check in. Everyone was tired having queued for 5 hours in the airport just to get to the check in queue and most people completed the form wrongly (it was a yes/no situation). A helpful P&O person pointed this out and people changed their answers. Now it seems that you complete the form at home and send it electronically. So the danger of completing it incorrectly are greater . The maxim is (following an established trade practice of measure twice and cut once). 1. PRINT THE BLANK FORM AT HOME BEFORE FILLING IT IN. 2. CHECK THE ANSWERS AT LEAST TWICE. 3. WHEN YOU ARE HAPPY THAT THE ANSWERS ARE OK, CAREFULLY FILL IN THE FORM make a copy of it AND SEND IT OFF. Remember that the key word is SYMPTOMS, not whether you have or had COVID. Good luck

Yes, we will never go on Cunard again after our experience on QM2. Plus we thought the clientele contained a lot of jumped up never come down people. We like Marella and I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

Hi and welcome. We did our first Marella cruise last March and were really impressed having done around 25 cruises with other companies. Whilst we never dined in the MDR we ate in the alternative restauants and were seriously impressed. Dress in the evenings is smart casual and they do a “dress to impress” night once a week for which you can put on your tux etc. we upgraded to the super all inclusive for the big names in drinks which we thought was well worth while. We are going again in a couple of weeks. As we struggle to get around these days, we don’t do trips but the prices are not dissimilar to what other lines charge. I am sure you will enjoy.

Hi pensioncruiser, interested that you can book restaurants now for your March 23 cruise. We go on 7 November 2022 and are not able to book anything except excursions. What is your formula please??

Yes, it will be the food and wine pairing one. Thinking about it, a degustation is more adventurous!! Can’t remember if it was a sea day. The second week was a different menu. I think we had to book on board and not from home. Anyway you won’t be disappointed.

Further to the above, it is a step up from the Kora La and S&T but you pay a few bob more. We will be there in a couple of weeks!!