Marella excursions

[thesparkster]

Hi all. I see Royal Caribbean are now letting you go ashore on your own instead of organised tours. Does anyone know what Marella will be doing.

thanks

[FIFE1]

Yes, seen a post yesterday. You can ashore alone if double vaccinated . however under 17's cannot unless part of a ship tour. bizarre as we are due on the explorer 1 9th Oct for two weeks with an under 17 year old. Several off the tours over the two weeks have explore on your own as part of them.  So its okay to explore ashore with your under 17 year old if you've paid Marella for a tour.

[thesparkster]

Thanks. My cruise is on February in the Caribbean. 

 

[Cliffholl55]

Princess Cruises have said said UK cruisers can now get off in port even in EU on there own. Wonder how long this will take Marella to adhere to. 

[okavango]

1 hour ago, Cliffholl55 said:

Princess Cruises have said said UK cruisers can now get off in port even in EU on there own. Wonder how long this will take Marella to adhere to. 

You already can get off, changed last week

 

[howmuch!]

23 minutes ago, okavango said:

You already can get off, changed last week

 

Can you confirm this for definite with Marella, as I haven't found it anywhere on their site, and we sail Saturday

Edited August 17, 2021 by howmuch!
adding

[Cliffholl55]

4 minutes ago, howmuch! said:

Can you confirm this for definite with Marella, as I haven't found it anywhere on their site.

No it’s Princess Cruises  . I called marella but there still not allowing it

[howmuch!]

Any reason provided by Marella?

[Cliffholl55]

Just got email from Marcella there allowing us to get of on our own now  will post full email tomorrow 

[Cliffholl55]

9 minutes ago, Cliffholl55 said:

Just got email from Marcella there allowing us to get of on our own now  will post full email tomorrow 

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your email.

We promised to adapt our onboard guidelines as guidance for cruise lines was updated. With that in mind, we're pleased to share that it's now possible for fully vaccinated guests to go ashore independently in some ports.
This will vary by port - some destinations may still require cruise line-organised shore excursions due to local restrictions or the ship's schedule. We'll share that information once you're onboard.
Unfortunately, anyone who hasn't been vaccinated won't be able to go ashore unless they're on an Marella Cruises shore excursion. This means that the majority of guests aged 17 and under will need to be on one of our excursions to be able to head ashore.
We still recommend booking with our Destination Services team or via the Navigate app as the safest way to explore - all the trips and tours have been vetted by our experts to make sure they meet our COVID safety measures. But, if you'd like to change a shore excursion booking you can do so up until 24 hours before your excursion is scheduled to depart.

Yours sincerely,
Chantelle
Customer Support Team

TUI GROUP

TUI UK & Ireland
Alexandra House | Swansea | SA1 5ED | UK
Chantelle.Sidey@tui.co.uk
 

[Northeastcruiser007]

Thank you for posting your e-mail communication from Marella.

 

Could I ask which cruise it refers to?

 

We are hoping to book 30 August Coastal Charms on Explorer 2 out of Newcastle. Having done an excursion-only Marella cruise in July we are worried about booking another one unless we can get off in at least some of the ports.

 

I know the situation is ever-changing but Marella are very coy about their intentions! If anyone has any information on the likelihood of independent exploration in Dover, Portsmouth, Torquay, Liverpool or Belfast on Marella I'd really appreciate it! (I know Le Havre could be much more awkward.) Thank you all.

[Pensioncruiser]

It must be very difficult for Marella when they have a ship load of tested negative passengers released into a port where they could have contact with people who have the virus then bring it back onboard and infect the whole ship. Think I can understand why they wish to retain control but fully understand cruisers wishing not to go on an organised trip, difficult situation for everyone.

[Northeastcruiser007]

I agree it's a tough call for them, but with just a week to go to the cruise, I do think they could at least tell prospective customers of their general intention so that they can decide whether to shell out hundreds of pounds on a holiday. There are six ports on this cruise and they must have already made arrangements with the authorities in each of them.  Yes, there's always a chance that circumstances might change last minute, forcing them to alter their plans, but (for example) they must know now whether there are any local restrictions that will prevent them docking in a particular port and at the very least they could provide that information. Regarding mingling with local people in ports - this is happening now on excursions run by several cruise lines. Passengers haven't always been kept in the sterile bubbles some of those cruise lines would have us believe!

[Cliffholl55]

15 hours ago, Northeastcruiser007 said:

Thank you for posting your e-mail communication from Marella.

 

Could I ask which cruise it refers to?

 

We are hoping to book 30 August Coastal Charms on Explorer 2 out of Newcastle. Having done an excursion-only Marella cruise in July we are worried about booking another one unless we can get off in at least some of the ports.

 

I know the situation is ever-changing but Marella are very coy about their intentions! If anyone has any information on the likelihood of independent exploration in Dover, Portsmouth, Torquay, Liverpool or Belfast on Marella I'd really appreciate it! (I know Le Havre could be much more awkward.) Thank you all.

We’re on the 30th August out of Southampton, but I believe it refers to all cruises with them. 

[idh2019]

In the cruise out of Newcastle last week, we were allowed to do do our own thing at several ports. Probably depends on what each port allows. No risk at some ports - not a lot of people.

 

We did not find out about the change until into the cruise. 

 

Some people were not happy with this change - essentially the secure bubble was burst by individuals going off on their own.

 

Ironically the Liverpool excursion to "The Beatles Story" was a potential source of infection being a mix of cruisers and general public for an hour in a cellar!

 

We also went out on our own and maintained social distancing.

 

I think we got away with it.