Review of Explorer 2

[oscarshep]

We have just arrived home today after our first cruise for over 30 months.

We have sailed with Marella several times pre pandemic so it was impossible not to compare then with now.

This post is obviously our own opinion of our week on `Sail Three Seas` and Explorer 2 was a new ship for us but I`m certain that the Marella experience is pretty consistent across the fleet. We are also mindful that the past 2 years has had effects on Marella as a company and the Marella staff in all of their own roles in ways we couldn`t imagine.

So with that in mind it is hard to be overly critical of anything really but as someone who looks for other cruise reviews it`s seems only fair I should offer one too.

The one thing that we agreed on was that there were not enough staff to provide the level of service that we had known in the past. They all worked tirelessly of course but long queues at the bar tells it`s own story.

Tables in the buffet restaurant remained uncleared way longer than in the past. Again, staff were all busy.

The entertainment team were all very slick but the big musical style shows and sets of the past were replaced with more singing and high tech imagery on a big screen behind the stage. It just wasn`t as spectacular as we remembered.

There was less live music at the pool deck and it was supplemented with pre-recorded concert style footage shown on the big screen. This was actually quite good.....just a bit different.

The amount of quizzes was way up on anything we remember from before. The entertainment team at the pool deck though was pure Marella and always good for a laugh.

The choice of drinks on the AI seemed less than before and more cocktails exclusively on the Premium AI package.

Food in the MDR was alright but again lack of staff meant service was quite slow. 

As the cruise went on we saw new crew arriving. Some were coming with zero experience and learning on the job.

Hopefully Marella are cranking everything up slowly for safety reasons and if I sailed again in a month it will all be so much better. It`s a learning curve for all of us.

Lastly, all of the staff and crew are still masked. Passengers are not.  We really felt for them but they don`t complain. They still smile behind the masks. Hopefully they get to remove them at the earliest opportunity. 

 

We had a great cruise, so good to be back after so long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pensioncruiser]

Hi and thanks for your, well written, post like you we have not cruised for thirty months so it's most enlightening to read your report. Pleased you had a good one. 👍

[Kalynan]

We were also on this cruise and agree with everything mentioned by Oscar.

 

We sailed on Ex2 from Newcastle last September to Iceland and the experience then was a lot better.  Better food, better service & better entertainment all meaning a better experience with better value for money.   Having said this, this cruise was still good (just not as good as 8 months ago).  

 

We have also cruised on a few of the other Marella ships, even the old Dream and things have changed quite a bit for the worse unfortunately. 

 

We had really long waiting times in the MDR and when food did arrive the quality was not there (beware the Lasagne in the Vista about which we complained to the senior dining room supervisor ).  In Nonna's restaurant last night it took the staff 3 attempts to bring the ordered drinks and this was only 2 x cans of Diet Coke !!!

 

The same Cocktails ordered in different bars were frequently not made to the same standard and some were just plainly rubbish. 

 

The crew are not to be blamed directly but much rather the senior management team at TUI/Marella who set the strategy and corporate approach are responsible.  TUI/Marella are obviously cutting back on their costs however they will need to be careful to not diminish the product too much to make it unattractive, especially since their pricing does not make them as attractive an option as they once were to the bigger cruise lines.

 

Overall it was a good cruise MAINLY because the weather was brilliant and the destinations were all excellent, as opposed to anything that Marella did.

 

 

 

[howmuch!]

I have to agree. We did a west coast staycation cruise last August from Southampton, and it was excellent, primarily due to the crew/passenger ratio being higher. The difference in service was massive compared to our Canaries cruise this March.

 

Due to current Marella prices, will not be booking more than 3 weeks in advance, in an effort to obtain better value, or we will look at other companies, who are now in a similar price bracket.

[dronnygirl]

Thanks Oscarshep for a fair and balanced review.    We too haven't cruised since October  2019 but are now starting to think about it. Having read reviews on various sites, it appears most other  companies are also struggling to keep  standards which us understandable after the difficulties they have had.  Hopefully things will improve over the summer and things can get back to near normal.

[Jim The Scot]

Thanks oscarshep and Kalynan

 

Good to read reviews again and gives us an insight into the good,not so good or indifferent on the ships at the moment

 

Hopefully by the time our cruise comes around in six weeks on Discovery theres no staffing issues.

 

Do any of you know if the cruise was running with full capacity?

Edited May 21, 2022 by Jim The Scot

[Kalynan]

Hi Jim, apparently on our sailing there was around 1400-ish passengers (information sourced from a girl in the Spa who did nails for my sister-in-law) which is around 75% - 80% capacity.

 

Definitely would have needed more staff if we had been at full capacity !!

 

Hope things are better on your Discovery cruise !!

[Jim The Scot]

Hi Kalynan

 

Thanks for that

 

You,d think cruising with a 75-80% capacity they,d have enough staff to cope,hopefully its just taking time to get up to speed

 

Anyway,me and MJTS  will cope no matter 😁

[Rebel Rouser]

Marella Explorer sailing with c1700 passengers next week 😁

[Jim The Scot]

Ach,3 sheets to the wind you,ll be  thinking theres 3500 on the ship 😉