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Just back from Adriatic Explorer and Aegean Meze, Discovery 2


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I had no particular expectations when we booked this itinerary as we had done the same one a few years ago on Celebration. We flew from Norwich and had paid for an extra 5kg of luggage. With a maximum weight of 23kg in one case, we split it, 22 in one and 23 in the other. I expected problems but there were none! Corfu airport was horrible, hot and crowded, but that was to be expected and in fact case collection and the coach transfer to the ship went very smoothly. Once on board, we had the usual routine of photos, card collection etc and then of to our cabin. We had booked a balcony cabin on deck 6 as that was the only availability. We didn’t select a specific one though so we were a bit worried as to where it would be. As it turned out, it couldn’t have been better, 6030 which was almost mid ships and very quiet. We found that hanging space was just adequate but there were very few drawers to store stuff in. We kept our empty suitcases on the balcony as there wasn’t that much room in the cabin. It was kept immaculate however by Vanessa, who was very good at towel animals too! To the cruise in general then: we were on Discovery 1 a couple of years ago and I wrote at the time that on that ship we were constantly bombarded with music everywhere on the ship. Also on that cruise there were out of control children everywhere causing chaos! On D2 it was far quieter, sure you could find loud music if you wanted, but it was much easier to escape it and have a conversation. Children were well behaved and not at all intrusive. Food in general was good, I’ve had better on other Thomson cruises, but it was more than acceptable and on occasions excellent. Gallery 47 was equally good, but with only 2 menus rotating from night to night, very restricted. Surf and Turf was outstanding and highly recommended. We didn’t try any of the other specialty restaurants. Service was on the whole very good. Marella seem to have reduced staffing levels so the staff that are left work exceptionally hard. This was confirmed by one of the drinks waiters. There were long queues at every bar so it could take some time to get a drink. I was surprised at the drinks package; for example, I was happy with all the drinks on the package, but my wife, who drinks alcohol rarely was only able to get a ginger beer if we paid £50 each to upgrade to the premium drinks package. Which we didn’t! There are water ports in various places on the ship so you can fill water bottles, certainly on deck 5 and 3. You need the premium drinks package if you want water in your room. The itinerary was excellent. We lost one Greek island, Syrus, due to bad weather there, but went to Chania in Crete instead, which was really nice. There were no shuttle buses provided by Marella in any of the ports. I think that they could have provided them in, for example, Dubrovnik where it was a choice between a taxi or public transport. There were a lot of people injuring themselves on board. One couple had only been on board for two days when the wife slipped crossing the dance floor and broke her leg. She ended up in hospital in Crete and the husband had to pack and move into a hotel. There were several others not so serious. So be careful!

The entertainment was a little hit and miss and for no specific reason, we didn’t find it as good as on previous cruises. Some of the shows we had seen before on previous cruises so we didn’t attend many. My wife enjoyed the ‘Strictly come dancing show’ hosted by a virtual Anton Du Beck but I didn’t! But then I’m not a fan of the TV show so I expect I am in a minority.

At the end the disembark process was smooth. Unfortunately you have to vacate your room by 8 am. Our flight wasn’t until 19.35 so faced with a long day, we caught a bus into Corfu old town and wandered around for a couple of hours. This was really a bonus day in a way. Even Corfu airport wasn’t too bad though it is too small for the amount of people using it. All in all, one of the better cruises we have done. No trouble, everyone friendly and great staff. However, Captain Chris, as he likes to be known, should get a new script writer. I never want to hear that the day was another ‘Bobby Dazzler’ again!

Any questions please ask. Sorry it went on a bit!

 

 

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Edited by shot2bits
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If you open your empty suitcase it will slide under the bed easily. We use one for the dirty laundry and one for general storage.

Will they not allow you to pay the supplement for the ginger beer (I think it's £1)?

Good review.

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It's quite clear on the drinks menu that 330cl cans of ginger beer are available at a supplement of £1 so unless your wife were to drink 50 in a week much cheaper to pay on ordering one

However all soft drinks are available by the glass from bottles usually and are included in the standard package

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No. Well, you could but it’s a fair old way and very warm. You need to either get a taxi from outside the port or there is a public bus across the road. Very cheap but very hot and crowded.either way you are aiming for Pile Gate. It’s about 20 minutes by bus.

 

 

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Don’t know, didn’t ask! Just seemed a little bizarre. Never thought about the suitcase trick either, might have worked though we have the solid suitcases so maybe not.

 

 

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We have solid cases as well and it works fine.

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when we were in Dubrovnik last year we made our own way into town and it is quite easy once you know where to go. So its out of the port gates onto the street, turn right and just before the bus stop there is an entrance to the bus depot, go into the depot and on the front wall there is a kiosk that sells the tickets, Return tickets were very cheap but if I recall correctly we paid in Kunar and I can't remember if they accept Euro. The staff at the kiosk were very helpful and understood what we we were asking for.

Armed with your tickets go back through the gates and wait at the pre mentioned stop. On the way back its look for the buses with port on the display.

Dubrovnik is a breathtaking destination, enjoy your holidays

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