jaxw17

6 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

That's clearly to do with fellow passengers and cruise type rather than the ship though

 

Different demographics on a Caribbean sun  cruise and a Norwegian Fjords cruise

 

Also huge huge difference between a school holiday cruise and non school holiday cruise

 

I started a thread not too long ago saying that age and demographics of fellow passengers has a huge  impact on a cruise rather than the ship itself

 

I believe that more than ever

 

Saw it myself on azamara recently where the only kids on board were children of some of the senior staff on holiday 

 

Totally different atmosphere to a family cruise ship. Much calmer and quieter. Which many will prefer. But some won't prefer. 

 

We can enjoy both ourselves

 

A cruise on Iona to the Fjords is totally different atmosphere to a cruise in the Caribbean on Arvia as well 

 

Its not the ship its where  it is and who is attracted to to those places etc

 

IMO

 

 

 

 

Yes I would tend to agree with you I have never encountered so many rude people. I have to say though we had issues with the food, queueing and kids and it was not in the school holidays,

Did not like Arvia at all have been told by numerous people that Iona has a lot better atmosphere.

When it comes to drinks we are mainly wine drinker a good sauvignon blanc at lunch time and prefer a malbec or shiraz in the evening. Gin and tonic we will drink Gordons but I like proper slim line tonic not out of a pump. Same if I was to have a soft drink.

Is it worth upgrading I cant remember if we did last time. 

Can anyone tell me the present cost to upgrade ?

Thanks 

We have done 24 cruises on different lines over the years. We chose this as there were a lot of sea days and we thought there would be lots to do. Wrong. If don't you like line dancing and being given presentation on thing they are trying to sell you then you are left with little else.
The ship is simply too big and the outside spaces and pools too small.
There is a queueing system for everything that I don't like. I like my holiday to be a little more spontaneous We only ate in the main dining room on three night one night we had to wait 1.45 hours for a table and then only got one as I went to complain.
Parts of the ship are dirty in Horizons the carpets and soft furnishing could do with a good clean.
We ate in the pay for restaurants and in three had to send food back as it was so bad. Epicuren was the best. We cancelled chefs table as everyone we spoke to said that it was not good.
There is a lovely adults swim up bar and in front a small infinity pool this is not adults only but by afternoon it was overtaken by kids even though this was a transatlantic sailing falling outside of school holidays.
Some of the staff were lovely and very accommodating and some were very glum and some rude. When I asked for a coffee in the main dining room in the morning the waiter said to me why don't you just say tea Alexa !
There were a number of people put off the ship for fighting and inappropriate sexual activity in the whirl pools.
Some sad individuals even put chocolate in the dryers in the laundry.
It was impossible to get a sunbed on sea days and there were too many of them much more than any other transatlantic we have done we knew this of course but I refer to my opening comments.
People kept saying it was okay for the money they had some extremely cheap last minute bookings. Ours was not one of these so to us it was not value for money.
We made the best we could and blurred it a bit with a few stiff drinks.
I would not return and in fact would in the future avoid these very large ships they are not for us.
In one port because of the size of the ship and there were 2 others in there were 10,000 deposited on a small Caribbean island. 

On 10/19/2023 at 2:13 PM, Ardennais said:

Ha! Some people buy beauty products, which will last a long time. Others spend a similar amount on wine which won’t last very long!! 

If she had stuck to wine she would not have bothered what colour it was 

Good review and very positive. Just one question what is a half finished wine bottle I never seem to have any of these LOL 

Hi everyone,

The 250 ml wine serving on the deluxe package does this count as one drink  ?

Also is water included in the package.

Thanks

55 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Personally my family feel premium is worth it no matter the cost.

thats if you can get them totally sold out straight away

8 hours ago, Thejuggler said:

Email from Manchester Airport with parking and lounge discounts landed in my inbox just this morning.

how did you get that ?

Looking at the deluxe drinks package it says that on that drinks of wine can be served at 250 ml on the ordinary package it says 175 ml are each of these classed as one drink of the 15 allowed a day I hate a small glass of wine not bothered about the cocktails etc as we are wine drinkers.

Thanks

On 5/18/2023 at 7:39 PM, Cruisemeister2002 said:

I nearly fell over (Not through drinking) when I looked on MyHoliday at the previous day's spend. We had two glasses of Souvignon Blanc and the bill was £19. I queried it at receiption and they looked into it. But apparently it was correct. Due to it being quite difficult to get the wine waiter and he didn't have a wine list with him always I just ordered them. I could have got a bottle for the same price.  

yes that is our problem we don't drink spirits the odd gin and tonic but we do drink wine a couple of large at lunch time and maybe 3 to 4 each at night That would be £114 without any soft drinks beers or coffees. 

I take it if you have a large glass they charge it as a double 

I was shocked at how bad it was full of rude passengers as well. We had a serious complaint and are still trying to sort it out. The customer service from the so called customer experience officer was the worst I have ever come across and she lied as well.

The food in the buffet was awful.

People with glass glasses sat at the edge of the pool people vaping in lifts and in the bars.

Princess are not my favourite cruise line but we had just come off one of their ships 2 weeks before and the differences were glaring.

Only  the first time cruisers seemed impressed.

We had a  health and safety incident on a cruise with Marella last July that resulted in my husband having an injury.

The customer service on the ship was awful from a guest experience manager.

I contacted them on return and sent all details to their legal department i also spoke to the directors team. 7 months later I have heard nothing I have emailed numerous departments and sent in physical recorded letters. They have not replied to anything.

It would appear that there are over 300 court judgement's against them and it is very common for them not to respond leaving people to take action through the small claims court.

Terrible service just be aware if anything goes wrong.  

Hi can anyone tell me how much a drinks package is and what are the limitations on it. Thanks

No food and WIfI very expensive and slow use in ports. Remember to put your phone on airplane mode or you will be charged a fortune

On 10/29/2022 at 9:11 PM, davecttr said:

In your opinion. In my opinion just as good as P&O and the buffet in just fine with more varied choice and salad options are better than P&O

We had just come of Princess two weeks before and the buffet was far superior. I don't do P and O have twice in the past but not keen 

5 hours ago, Alamo16584 said:

Hi, looking to book our 1st cruise & love your review, wondered if you could answer couple queries?

Dress code for dining & cost of off-ship excursions, we have watched couple youtube videos & food looks hotel all-inclusive standard, would you agree?

Food not as good as other cruise lines especially in the buffet

After we booked the cruise for next March, I found out that if visiting Cuba even if you don't get off the ship you cannot then visit the USA on an ordinary ESTA you have to get a full visa that includes a face-to-face interview at the American embassy. That is London for England. 

Just wanted to give the heads up for anyone on a cruise that visits and then intends to visit the USA.

Trump brought this in in 2021. I thought that Biden would drop it.

I know you need to know about visas yourself but thought that Marella could advise at the time of booking as I imagine that a lot of people will fallk foul of this.

There is a 3-month waiting list for the visa and a cost of around £160 per person.

On 10/25/2022 at 1:26 PM, pblack05 said:

Have done this itinerary twice before and the dress to impress is indeed on NYE/Hogmany. For 2019 we were on the Explorer and the fireworks were on in Funchal. I would expect that they are on this year and hopefully it will be as spectacular as before. Most people do put on the effort, and it will be a great occasion - enjoy!

Seen this one NYE and was spectacular.

We went and enjoyed the food and the service was excellent as was the knowledge of the servers. 

My problem was the starter I chose was very rich and creamy something I cant cope with but that was my fault for choosing it

I have been contacted by the legal team today. I am going to send them all the information in. I will give them a chance to resolve. They said up to 6 months. If it is not a satisfactory outcome I will then take legal action. Thanks all. 

7 hours ago, howmuch! said:

Have you checked your travel insurance for legal cover? If so, ring them.

 

Our travel insurance with LV has a section for legal advice and assistance when any illness or injuries are caused by negligence, and if the case has a  more than 51% likely hood of success, they will pay up to £25,000 legal costs to pursue it.

Thank you did not think of this. One of the directors' team sent me an email address but I want a mail address as there is quite a lot of supporting information.

Will ring the insurance tomorrow they were really good at settling the medical bill and made it really easy.

8 hours ago, howmuch! said:

Did you raise the complaint whilst on the ship, after presumably being attended to by the medical staff on board?

Yes straight away and was in regular contact with the so called guest experience team. 

On return went into Tui shop the girl in there looked on our booking as she said the complaint would be on there. There was nothing registered.

She blatantly lied to us on a couple of occasions and even on the morning we were coming home.

He had to visit the medical centre sometimes twice a day. 

It was Explorer2.

We have sailed with Marella before and this was our 25th cruise in all. We have never had to complain out of any of the cruises we have taken. Yes sometimes things happen but you just go with the flow. This was too big to ignore he was told not to walk on it for the rest of the holiday and not to go in the pool or have a shower.

The way we were treat back this so called guest experience team was nothing short of appalling

someone contacted me from Tui and said that they would send me a link to the legal team. that was yesterday and he said he would send it over straight away. It has never come.

I was going to allow them to respond before I instructed a solicitor.

It is a minefield out there who to instruct.

I am not going to let it go

Due to the injury my husband is still having treatment since the 15th July.

I have submitted to Marella a serious health and safety complaint that resulted in my husband sustaining an injury on the 15th July that he is still on antibiotics for and having it dressed.

I need to get in touch with them to see what they are doing about this. I just get an email back thanking me for my feed back !!

It has now been more than a month.

What will be the best way to contact them ?