New to cruising

[Redsazzle]

Good morning. 

We are currently contemplating booking a Caribbean cruise for Jan 26....

We like the look of Marella as the ships seem smaller and are all inclusive. 

 

Which rooms would you recommend? 

 

Bearing in mind that I get sea sick in the bath!!! 🤣 🤣 

 

We are both in our late 50s, have never cruised before but really want to try it. 

 

Budget is not really an issue as we have a year to save. 

 

Thanks in advance x

[John Bull]

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic,

 

Since you have a predilection for mal-de-mer, you should aim for a cabin that's amidships (ie not near the blunt end & especially not near the sharp end - think of a see-saw), and on as low a deck as your self-respect permits (the higher the deck the more you pay, but also the more you sway).

Unless Marella have changed, altho you'll have a cabin class that you've booked & paid for, the location will be assigned by the ship - you can select a specific cabin by paying a fairly nominal sum (last I heard it was about £45 - that's for a cabin, not per person). Unless you know the ship well, the big value in doing that is more to avoid a godawful location than choosing a prime one.

All that said, the Caribbean is almost-always very well-behaved in the winter & when you wake up, until you look out of the window you probably won't know if you're in port or still at sea.

 

Other things to consider

- choose a cabin that's in a cabin sandwich - the deck above and the deck below are also cabins. You don't want to be immediately under an open deck (keep-fit types running round the deck at daft o'clock in the morning, followed by sunbeds being dragged into position) or a theatre (rehearsals), or a kitchen.

- on deck plans, be wary of an un-named space by your cabin - might just be a linen cupboard but might be aircon machinery or pumps or somesuch

- make it a cabin handy to a bank of lifts to avoid trudging down a long corridor. Unless immediately adjacent to a lift, the lift motors aren't noisy, and on most ships lift lobbies are screened from corridors.

- on older ships, which have hull cabins forward of the bridge, make sure you're not next to an anchor - at moored ports (where the ship lies off-shore instead of tied to the quay) you'll get a VERY NOISY EARLY WAKE-UP CALL (happened to us once in our early days).

If in doubt, choose a cabin shortly after some cabins have been chosen by others & follow their lead.

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 P&O and Marella offer fly-cruises direct from regional airports (Bristol ? Cardiff ?) with chartered aircraft. This means the holiday starts at your UK airport, easy transfers to your ship, etc. Not quite so seamless as P&O (their passengers go direct from the aircraft to their transfer bus without going into the airport terminal, & they don't see their luggage between UK airport & cabin door) but Marella flights are shared with TUI passengers bound for hotel vacations - but still simpler than most.

At the end of other cruises, passengers are thrown off the ship by about 9am to make way for the next lot - but on chartered fly-cruises you have the run of the ship (restaurants, bars, pool, etc but not cabin) until your airport transfer is called.

All very civilised.

Where flights & cruise are separate bookings (even booked thro the same agent & at the same time and in one payment) they are separate contracts - if the cruise or flight is cancelled you'll only be refunded for the part that's cancelled - with a fly-cruise you'll be refunded in full. And no worries about a late flight arrival - the ship will wait.

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Cruise prices are fluid. If a cruise is under-sold prices will drop - sometimes dramatically. Conversely popular cruises will sell out early or the prices of the few remaining cabins will increase. This is more extreme with Caribbean cruises.

Whereas the savings on a late-booked cruise can be lost by the higher cost of late-booked flights, seats on those those chartered aircraft are tied to berths on the ship and committed hotel bookings, so those fly-cruise prices are lower.

We only booked Marella early for one cruise because it was a popular itinerary including Cuba & Panama.

For other cruises we've held off til quite late for big reductions. If we held off too long & it sold out, no worries - we'll choose another for another date.

We can do that because we're retired.

Downsides of late-booking are

- if you're tied to dates or specific about what itinerary you want

- little value in paying extra to choose a particular cabin

- and whilst there may be plenty of capacity on the ship, flights from your most-convenient airport may be sold-out.

 

A few little BTWs

- Yes, Marella is all-inclusive but the selection of drinks is poor - beer is John Smiths or an indeterminate lager, many spirits are un-branded, and cocktails are weak. But prices on most ships are high.

- No gratuities charged (can be as much as $18 per person per day on some cruise ships), altho many of us give a token $20 to $30 to our cabin steward.

- Atmosphere & friendliness (both crew & fellow-passengers) is great on all Marella ships 

- with one or two exceptions, don't waste your budget on ship's excursions. The Caribbean is the easiest place in the world to DIY using minibuses (Americans call them vans) at the ports. They can replicate most ship's excursions, or suggest alternatives or do what the passengers want. Agree an itinerary, timescale & price before you board, pay (US dollars) at the end, it's the norm. Payment doesn't include food or drink or the occasional small admission charge, but the cost is around 25% of ships' excursion prices. Those at the port are known to the authorities & to each-other, they're friendly & helpful, they know their island & they know the importance of being back at the ship in good time. Many excursions allow time at a beach, or they can drop you at a beach or shop close to the ship - so take beach gear with you (no need for beach towels, ships provide them)

 

JB 🙂 

[Pensioncruiser]

Good afternoon Redsazzle what a fantastic journey you are about to set out on. Think you will find that everyone has different answer but for us, after nearly sixty cruises we just loved the junior suite particularly at the stern, we did not have a problem with movement and it's a great place to relax. Carribbean was one of our favourite destinations but I would strongly recommend that you upgrade on the flight it is far more relaxing, but again some may think it's a waste of money.

Hope you have a great cruising career ☺️ 

[Jim The Scot]

Agree with P

 

PE seats on the flight and minimum balcony cabin on your cruise

[paularmstrong]

Done many Caribbean cruises on many different cruise lines , started off with princess which were great though I found them to be a bit sterile and lacking in atmosphere though we were a lot younger than most other people on ship . Found then Thomson to be yes older smaller ships the atmosphere and itinerary a lot better . Now i feel Tui are very expensive compared to others using brand new ships . Cabin wise choose midship and not a high floor but high enough to escape engine noise