Hey hey hey! On my last cruise, I was lucky enough to dock next to the lovely Marella Explorer 2 and it reminded me of this video. If you're interested in current itineraries on this lovely little ship, you'll find those here: tui-uk.7cnq.net/LX4a6Y (Affiliate link).
Hopefully the right folks at Marella & Tui see this video and realize that an "all-inclusive holiday" isn't over until you've got your bags and are leaving the airport for the drive home.
When my niece was two she made us all laugh. My mum said to her “oh daddy’s tired.” And she piped up, “No nanna. Daddy’s knackered”. On our side of the family, we are all English, mother’s side is all Aussie, so we’e got our first born Aussie member. It’s so funny she uses English and Aussie slang but has a definite Northern accent for the word ‘come’. It’s super cute.
I have never gone on a cruise and have no plans to but enjoy watching these videos for some reason. It is SO nice to listen to somebody who doesn't say "you know, yes ah or um in every sentence. It seems that so many people have forgotten how to put more than a few words together in a sentence without unnecessary expressions. Thank you.
A super vlog Emma that mirrored our fantastic cruise experience last week. Pound for pound, unbelievable value. The staff were outstanding and the amazing weather a real tonic. Totally agree about giving Malaga airport a swerve, chaos for us too! Lovely to have meet you and your family Emma. Safe travels. M&Y
Airport drama is the single most unutterably awful part of travel. Indeed, the only part of a holiday which I actively loathe and which makes me wonder why I don't stay home is the trauma of getting from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to the airport. Using a taxi rather than a bus helps, but only so much! Thank you for the video.
Our first cruise ever was onboard the Century in 1996. It still ranks as one of our all-time favorites. It is so good to see her still looking great and providing an outstanding guest experience. Being from the U.S., I had never heard of Marella but it got us thinking: how cool would it be to sail once again on the ship that got us excited about cruising 25 years ago...
Just back from a brilliant cruise on the Marella Explorer- my first time cruising!. Wonderful and friendly staff at the airport on the plane and on the boat. It felt safe in the boat. I had the time of my life and I really miss the Squid and Anchor now! The entertainment was excellent and the price was great for a solo person. We went all around the Mediterranean and it made me realise just how much I missed going abroad. I’d highly recommend TUI and Marella. Thanks Emma for the recommendation. I’ll be back! :-) Thanks to all the crew on the ship- brilliant customer service!
I returned last week from a cruise to Bermuda out of NYC. I can identify with your pre-cruise stress completing forms for travel authorization, knowing that any minor mistake would result in the request being denied. Fortunately, all pre-cruise activities went well, and the cruise was 7 days of perfect weather. It was great to relax on the pink sands of Bermuda's shores and enjoy sun filled days at sea. Well worth the effort.
Hi Zenkakuji, my wife and I will be cruising on Celebrity in June 2022 10 night to Bermuda. We were there two years ago and looking to return. Hi from Bob and Jill in Connecticut
I promised myself I want to do my first cruise (belatedly) for my 40th and although it'll be a bit later than that I'm starting my research in time for next summer. Marella seems like a really good line to try and I like the fact its all inclusive. Your videos are really fun and informative so I appreciate all your hard work!
I love how people in warmer countries find 25 degrees Celsius "chilly". I'm from the Netherlands myself, I was in Spain in October last year. Our summer hardly even saw the temperature reaching 25 degrees C, yet there in autumn time it was 25 degrees. We did a bike tour and our guide was a dutch guy (normally we don't take those tours but it was highly recommended and honestly teached you a lot about the culture and what to look for rather then do the typical tourist things). He had lived there for a few years now. We came in short sleeves, he was wearing thick clothing, saying it was a cold day..So I asked him how long he had been gone from the Netherlands, cause for us it was comfortably warm. He had lived there for about 4 or 5 years. Guess one get's used to it very quick and finding comfortable warmth chilly at some point xD
I remember towards the end of 3 1/2 weeks in Japan in the summer (end of July- beginning of august) feeling slightly chilly in the room at the hostel, and upon checking the thermostat seeing that it was 25°C. As a Swede that was slightly chocking.
I consider Malaga to be my “home airport” since every time I fly back home to Spain that’s where I land. So believe me when I say it is one of the worst airports you can find. The lack of organization, no communication at all, security control is a mess, the maze you have to go through to get to your car in the parking lot, moving walkways and lifts are almost always out of order… If you want to avoid it at all cost in the future…fair enough! 😅 🤷🏻♀️
Hi Emma!! I am sitting here in Glen Waverley, Melbourne, Vistoria, Australia and enjoying all your videos!! You are so lucky,at least you can go cruising again!! After enjoying 22 cruises, mainly in the Pacific region, we still have to wait, till the ships are allowed in our ports again!! We DO NOT like flying and always depart and arrive form here and when I step on the ships, I feel great!! My favorite ports are NZL, New Caledonia, Samoa, Paapete, Moorea, Bora Bora and Vanuatu, not too impressed with Hawaai, sorry!! Take care and go cruising as much as possible, I am 79 years old and getting old too fast!! DO not worry about your expessions, my wife is 50% British and I am German!! {DO not mention the war!! LOL }
My wife and I cruised the Celebrity Century in 2013 from San Diego to Vancouver, which included an overnight stop in San Francisco. Terrific cruise! In your video I recognized the little oval tables in the auditorium. No other ship I'd been on (out of nine) had those.
Cruised to Iceland from Newcastle on Marella Explorer 2 in Sept. All our LFT result submissions and entry forms filling had to be done at sea and the same on the way back. WiFi problems galore, ship making detours to be near land to get better reception. Marella did everything possible to sort out the problems everyone was experiencing, even for those who didn't bring any tests with them. But, communication was very bad on board. The queues at reception were very very long and many of us relied on word of mouth, have you tried this, did you try that etc. The staff and crew worked really hard and hats off to them. They remained cheerful despite the obvious stress that they were under. It was as new to them as it was to us. Like your very short clip from the show Cogs. All the shows were excellent but that one was outstanding.
Sadly once they'd dropped you off at the airport they're not interested. Holiday over as far as they're concerned, you've been deposited at the airport, job done. One thing I would recommend is downloading a flight app so you can see where the plane is you're about to board. It gives you more up to the minute information than you'll ever get from any rep or airport info board. I use flight radar 24 and it's very useful to see when the flight coming in arrives and knowing if it's late causing the outbound to also be late. Unfortunately every Spanish airport I've used has had similar issues even pre covid, correction every airport even in the UK. Operated using minimum staff to keep costs down, your experience is exactly the reason I try to avoid flying these days, I can't run, don't need the hassle and generally hate it. Cruise only for me if possible, airlines have ruinned air travel. Good video as always.
Great review Emma! What a horrible experience at the Malaga airport! When you buy a package that includes air, you expect coordination, which was sadly lacking in this case. I have recently rebooked my cancelled RC October 2020 Mediterranean cruise out of Civitavecchia, for October 2022. My flights will be booked separately. I cannot tolerate the kind of panic that you and your family felt at the airport. I prefer slow travel. I’m hoping to spend a few days in Italy before and after the cruise. If Covid-19 dies down (hopefully) testing will no longer be required by then. If not, I hope to be able to get the necessary tests in Italy.
Very nice video as usual. On Oct 15th I took my first cruise on Royal Caribbean to Alaska. It was a killer buy at $811 for 1 and it was the best balcony room I've ever had. You are spot on when you say the hoops that must be jumped through for COVID are a pain. I really wasn't sure they were going to let me stay on the ship until we pulled out. I'm glad to know Marabella is good. They bought a lot of old HAL ships and ran them until they were ready for scrapping, which didn't sound enticing. I'm heading out again next month of the Meraviglia, my first MSC cruise. I enjoyed your videos about it.
Malaga airport was a nightmare when we left Explorer2 on October 3rd after the 11 night cruise with only 390 passengers onboard. The cruise was excellent but the fiasco at Malaga airport sadly spoiled it!
One thing about the airport though, as I have done trips (mainly multi-day guided trips in parks or other natural areas, not necessarily all-inclusive cruises, but inclusive guided trips) is that to a point, they have no control over the airport. They can tell you where to go and the process, but you are also at the mercy of other passengers not part of the same adventure so to speak, so you may experience a lot of delays. This is partially why I like to set up my flights and guided tours separately (usually I try to arrive a day early before the guided tours are set to depart so if there are delays, I don't miss the tour).
I'm always impressed by your critiques. Your audio presentation flows so gracefully and the video portion of the included clips is excellent. Anyone who is traveling in these trying times must plan on dealing with the unknown. In the US you can't depend on the airlines meeting their flight schedules. If planning a cruise it was safe to arrive a day early for the cruise. However with the delays we are experiencing even 2 days in advance is questionable. I am so happy that your cruise was so enjoyable for you and your family. Safe travels in the future.
I was the guy who tweeted you about the passport queue for B + C gates as I was on the BA LHR flight before you. Literally it ran from duty free all the way to the passport desks: a solid 40 minutes - sounds like you must have avoided that as you didn't mention it. Lucky! I found it all a bit odd as their arrivals process at Malaga was super smooth for us, departures was abysmal
The race to the airport sounds VERY familiar. I’m pretty sure that Morgan went through the same thing with Tui and nearly missed his flight from Spain back to Germany. He also had issues getting the correct passport number associated with his Covid test results and it took an unreasonable amount of time to straighten it out.
I'm very sorry to hear that you find the ship's excursions too expensive. I myself work as a local guide for the DMCs who handle and organize those tours. I know that they are well organized, top quality. They use the best local guides who are able to introduce you to the local culture. We also have to take language tests, so we speak your language fluently. I have never had anyone on my tour who would have been bored with my stories, on the contrary, everyone I've met has fallen in love with my beautiful city, Helsinki.
Jumping through hoops is the theme of traveling these days. I'm leaving today from the USA to Italy to take a Greek isle/Italy cruise. We are staying two days before the cruise and two day after the cruise to explore Rome. Making sure all my ducks are in a row when with 5 different countries to follow protocols. I think i have everything.... we will soon find out LOL
Emma, Everyone with a channel should watch and learn from your reports. No wasted words, only important information and of value to both new and experienced cruisers. Does Hudson give you a big greeting upon your return?
Ah the Marella 2, that was my very first cruise ship I sailed on. Granted it was in 1998 when she was the Celebrity Century. Looks like a lot has changed on that ship.
Emma, just come back from the same cruise on Marella Explorer 2. Our experience at Malaga airport was poor as it was two years ago when we flew back after a repositioning cruise. I wont blame TUI, Malaga airport just dont care. After check in things improved slightly. The bit in the middle that counts, the cruise, was really enjoyable, a few mobility problems but that is our problem, even so another enjoyable holiday. Not the poshest but service and entertainment were superb. My wife overhead somebody saying the Cunard ship, Queen Mary was better. There again a Maserati is better than a Ford Focus, a three star Michelin restaurant is better than a transport cafe.
I think during the pandemic, so through the fall last year, most cruise lines probably just wanted to come as close to breaking even as they could, so in some cases, they may have sold cruises at a cost basically simply to minimize the losses of maintaining the cruise ships. Because I think for much of them, during 2020, they were stuck in port and not makig any money at all, but at the same time, they didn't want to raise prices so high it scared away would-be travelers once travel resumed. I think for a lot of people, food and entertainment will be the biggest expense. Tipping is probably the third (aside from the fare/cruise itself). I mean traveling (not by ship) can be more expensive... For example, you might find cheap flights and hotels to a place like Las Vegas, but the food and entertainment can be very expensive. Granted LV is not a cruise, it is nice to have most things (like food and entertainment) paid for. Although I could see this as being a bad thing too, because cost might be one thing that could be used to control the number of people at various restaurants or venues (ie. if the prices are too high, some people may opt to do something else, but if it's included in your fare, then it means you may have to deal with large crowds). I guess you were right that you got a great deal for $700 for a 7 night cruise. I mean even find a "cheap" hotel at a key destination somewhere in the US or even outside, might very well cost you over $100 per night, just for the hotel, so to think you got food, drinks accomodations and other things all for that $700 that's a great deal. I remember that back in the 90's Carribian and Disney used to advertise the per-day rate of around $70 per person (of course that was back in the mid/late 1990's).
Hi Emma, We recently tried our first cruise since pandemic via Spain. Flight was fine, paperwork getting to Spain no problem one simple form. PCR test and onboard. Daily temp checks no issue. PCR test to get off cruise as required by Spanish authorities. Flights home went fine too but the amount of paperwork was silly, having a EU cert that was not accepted by some countries (and not GB) was silly. Keep them coming.....
Fantastic vlog! I'm booked on a marella explorer cruise (solo) in September and flying into corfu. Its my first cruise so your blogs have been helping me get over the initial concerns I had. I think restrictions are much more relaxed now thankfully! 🙂
We had a similar end to our recent Jewel of the Seas fly cruise package on a chartered Tui plane. Dropped at the airport by the Tui coach, then left to fend for ourselves in tremendously long queues with no social distancing possible. We didn't even know if we were in the right queue, but it turned out there was only one for all the Tui flights, so you can imagine how long it was. Some very irritated people by the time they eventually got to one of the check in desks.
Excellent video and I love how you are dropping words and photos here and there to emphasize a point, especially the grey cat looking up at the ceiling for no apparent reason. The airport fiasco at the close of your cruise was definitely avoidable had Tui simply communicated with the passengers, particularly since you were basically a charter group. I am glad that the cruise went so well and the price still astounds me for a 7 night all inclusive cruise.
Haha!! He has a reason, he has a QR code around his neck!! (and I thought he was cute) ;) Yeah, even if there was one extra crew member there it would have been fine. So crazy. But yep, sooooo cheap! Can't go wrong :D
@@darrencarr9176 The Apex was amazing, it is a beautiful, brand new ship and we had only 501 passengers with a capacity of 2900. It was like being on our own private super yacht. The food and service was fantastic, Celebrity has really upped their game with food since we last sailed with them in 2015 and 2018. I know they added many items to their menus and the specialty restaurants were spectacular. The best thing was that every bar, every restaurant, every venue was open; they did not shut down anything at all like some lines are doing with the reduced passengers. The new included tips, wifi and drinks package is really good too, we bumped our drinks package up to the premium which covered every drink up to $15. I think it was an extra $15 a day or so and it was definitely worth it. We aren't big drinkers at all, but, this let us just get whatever we wanted without having to think about it. All in all, the ship was great and the itinerary was wonderful.
I was very interested to see what a Marella Cruise was like. That is amazing that is is totally inclusive. I will try to book one for the future! Great Job Emma
@@EmmaCruises We did Discovery for 2 weeks (2 different cruises back to back) and they were great, the crew couldn't do enough for you, food was great, the non premium selection of drinks (included) were fine for us, even the medical staff were really nice I had an ear infection, so could not eat much or walk around in Venice, not great 3 days into 2 week cruise, (albeit I am glad I had insurance £1600 for a few ecgs, a couple of bags of fluid, some stomach stabilisers and anti sickness tablets as I never get travel sick!), it was only the return journey and airport (Corfu) that was stressful. Our friends did the premium drink upgrade, I did not think it was worth it, I would have just paid the difference if I wanted something else, but as they ordered 4 drinks at a time, we had some of the upgraded drinks, small tip, if you are going on an excursion and have the premium upgrade, so you can get canned drinks, get them before you go to bed the night before, as they don't open that part of the bars until most of the day excursions have left, not sure if they will do this post covid but they had water fountains on most decks that you could fill glass containers for water in the room, then use your own water bottles!
Well the joys travel, it never ceases to amaze me how companies can understaff when they are controlling the arrivals and departure of their passengers. They have to know what numbers they are dealing with, but different divisions of same organization don't seem to communicate. Any how generally you had a great time, so overall it was a win. Sort of maybe.
One time my mother, my sister, and I had a tight connection in Chicago. She grabbed hold of my sister, told me to keep up, and took off. We were at pretty much a dead run all the way from the one gate to the other, including through security (this was the early 70s). The most memorable part of the run was mother body checking a Hari Krishna who tried to get in her way. We did make it to the plane, but there was no spare time.
Great video. Love your editing skills. I had a similar experience on a return home from Turks and Caicos. I'll never forget it. It was such a terrible ending to a fantastic week.
We had a very similar experience with TUI coming home - We got off the transfer bus, they vaguely pointed towards where to go in the terminal & then just disappeared leaving us completely abandoned in an airport we'd never been to before ... Our flight was delayed by hours due to a storm (obviously not their fault but a heads up would have been nice as it's something they must have known about well before we left the ship as the disruption had been happening for several hours by then!) We couldn't find anything to eat or drink as nothing was open, or anyone to ask what was happening (none of the airport staff seemed to know anything and just kept telling us to watch the boards), and ended up sitting on the floor as so many people were delayed that all the seats were taken - For almost 5 hours we didn't even know if we were going to get home that night and there wasn't a single person from TUI in the terminal to talk to. It's completely put us off booking with them again :-/
We were on the Explorer 2 on it’s first visit to Spain since lockdown. Left Newcastle on 22nd September to reposition to Malaga. We had a great time and we love Marella all inclusive cruises but did especially enjoy the fact that there were only 390 passengers, they must be running at a loss with those numbers 🥴 didn’t have to search for a table at breakfast, plenty room in theatre with no people blocking your view etc 😄 our experience at Malaga airport was ok, yours sounded terrible. Love your vlogs Emma.
That is a TERRIBLE end to your trip. Totally agree that the airline shouldv had somebody walking the queue just telling people the inbound flight was delayed and there was no need to panic and that they should've had enough desks to handle the influx as well as probably separate 'fit-to-fly' only desks
We have recently flown back from Tenerife with TUI. There were 5 desks open and had a similar problem at check in, there were however signs all over the airport stating that only passengers would be allowed in the airport without exception. We were left wondering what was going on as the line we joined (one listed by airport display) was checking in passengers to another flight which had been diverted from the northern airport because of the volcanic eruption on La Palma. We just kept being told to move out of the way until one of the Spanish ladies used her brain and got the other flight moved to a different desk. Chaos!
I just returned from a cruise to Greece. It is a bit stressful. Getting the proper Covid test within the time frame was a bit of a challenge here in Delaware. We were tested again in Athens before boarding. More anxiety waiting for test results. What if it was positive? We were tested an additional two times. I must say Azmarra line was very efficient with testing procedures . We felt secure in the safety measures employed . Both crew and passengers must be fully vaccinated . Keeping track of forms and cards and masks was a pain. However, we did thoroughly enjoyed our cruise . One benefit of cruising at this time is the low numbers. I understand Greek isles can be very crowded .
I'm on the Discovery this Tuesday for a relocation cruise to the Caribbean, and its been a test of nerves to either book a pcr or lft test for when we return, and if we test negative the night before we go. Thank you for this upload it gives us a bit of hope.
We took a Tui holiday in 2019. My husband is disabled and needed wheelchair help through the airport. At Gatwick all assistance was provided with no problem and again after we landed. At Venice Airport Tui had the check in desk that was furtherest away from the airport entrance and no-one met us. I went to the check in desk and asked I could check him in but they said he had to attend in person but still could not find anyone to assist us. We were at this point in danger of missing our flight. In the end he had to walk the entire length of the airport with a walking aid. We did eventually get help and caught our flight but it was close.
Emma i understand about wanting your friends or family enjoy their cruise after its been hyped so much. I am a Princess gal and i rave about that line, with that said i am taking my 2 friends of 40 plus years on their First cruise on the Sky over this Christmas.. I am anxious that everything is perfect for them. Sorry for your stress home….thanks for this vlog😊
My parents often did what they called "fly cruise". At the time, I did not think to ask them how or what. Now that they're both gone and I have time, I searched. You are the first to use that term. I thought it might be particular to a cruise line.
That deal is for like 2-3 week in advance but you can get a £300 Marcella cruise but you need to buy the day before the sailing and the flight leaves the same day of the sailing or 7 night stay
Hi Emma, don't sweat the small stuff, I'm sure you had a great time even with a few more hoops to jump through. 25 days until our Celebrity cruise, wooo hooo. Hi from Bob and Jill in Connecticut go Chelsea Blues 💙
Really interesting Emma - I've never done a fly-cruise before but was considering one for next year so I was looking forward to learning how things go...doesn't sound so good! I cruised from Southampton on P&O Iona from 25 Sept to 9 Oct and can relate to the added stress of forms etc, but overall it was totally worth it to get some sun, be pampered onboard and explore outside the UK again - as you say, it feels so safe onboard and actually ashore too because Spaniards and Portuguese all take mask wearing so much more seriously than us Brits.
I was on the same cruise (I was actually the person behind you in the queue at Malaga airport but I didn’t know who you were then 😂). We actually had a bit of trouble with the transfer out to the ship as our coach broke down in the coach station in Malaga, so we had to wait on the coach for half an hour for a new coach to be arranged. I think the forms and tests were quite easy for me but my parents found it trickier as a lot of older people probably would. I was looking for myself in your video but couldn’t see me 😂. Good cruise all in all. The way I thought about the airport situation at the end, is getting to spend more time in Spain. Also, I wasn’t worried at all about the plane leaving without us at the end because I know it wouldn’t take off without all the passengers. Even if there’s 1 passenger missing they will try to call them and find out where they are, plus Tui would then have to arrange for another flight for all of the missed passengers.
The airport thing sounds very stressful. I had to run the length of Oslo airport once due to a similar situation only to find they were holding the plane for us anyway. Still felt awkward though.
Honest review. I wouldn't risk taking a fly cruise while the current forms & checks are in place. As for the airports, it's much better when the luggage is bonded and taken from the ship directly to the plane, speeding up the process (like at Dubrovnik).
I don’t think I will take an ocean cruise. Live music all the time would drive me bonkers. I have taken a river cruise, no music at all. Fabulous. 👏👏👏👏
We are going on a transatlantic from Florida soon and our cruise ports are Spain. The cruise line has informed us of this form. We understand that we will be completing it 48 hours before we get to our first port while we are still out to sea. Everyone on my roll forum has kind of been nervous about this because we know we how the wifi is not always reliable on a cruise. Someone says that the staff will help with tablets.
I had a late flight into Charles de Gaulle airport and rushed through the poorly signed airport and into the Air France flight to my cruise just as it closed the door! The flight attendants were so very sweet; looking at me like I was going to have a heart attack and instantly bringing me a cold water. Hah!
Remember: aircraft air is safer than your local grocery store. It flows from ceiling to floor, undergoes HEPA filtration, and the entire cabin's air is exchanged for fresh, outside air every 2-3 minutes.
This is exactly why I think marella should consider sailing from the UK. We were lucky enough to be on one of the 2? Marella European cruises that left from Southampton. The embarkation was amazingly slick, we were on board less than an hour after leaving our hotel! Totally agree that service entertainment and all the staff are fantastic. I really want to book with them again but the thought of what could happen with those extra comications with flights is putting me off.
We returned from Explorer 2 yesterday and sat in plane for 2 hours! Also the flight out meant we we're mixing with non pre tested passengers. Cruisers were therefore at some risk sitting next to non tested people. Strange after the stress of testing. Out 9pm test wouldn't register with chronomics so had a sleepless night for our 6.40am flight. Tui rep at airport was very helpful and gave more tests. 2 of which had no code in there boxes. All incredible stressful. We think chronomics sent us the returning tests by mistake. We enjoyed the cruise. We had been on the discovery 5 weeks ago around Greece. Finally thought the premium package was great value and will do that again.
Had never heardof this cruise line but will look into it! I DO hope you and all others will give Tui a peace of your mind..even if you do think it was more airport staff related. Tui organized and Tui should be there until you board to go home!
@@JulieWallis1963 Was on the Marella Discovery, 2 years ago, Marella is the British branding for Tui Cruises, if it is still Tui then they are the German/ European based branding. We had no problems at all, it was a great 2 week back to back cruise, but coming back into the airport they do leave you to it, they didn't even tell us what check in desks to use, we had the check in lady who was not paying attention at all, was just speaking to her colleague in Greek (it was from Corfu) and only checked two bags in, then made a big scene that we had four bags, that she had put this incorrectly and was going to get her into trouble, and we would have to pay extra, not my problem as you didn't ask how many bags. We had paid extra for a junior suite as it upgraded a few things like extra baggage, priority boarding onto the ship( this, was honestly not needed.) just a little unnecessary drama, I don't enjoy flying at the best of times this just stressed me out even more, I am lucky that I work directly opposite the UK's busiest cruise terminal, so dont have to fly!
Aww thanks for a look at the ship - we were meant to do a TA on her from Barbados to Newcastle in 2020 but then chaos happened. I'm sure it would have been amazing but for now we will have to wait 😷 Marella ,s price point can't be beaten, love them
I just got back from my first Marella cruise and my fave drink was the electric blue. I really enjoyed the cruise and would definitely would like to cruise on another Marella ship
I'm in the three days before I fly to my cruise port anxiety stage. Luckily, it's all domestic flights, but I am worrying about getting through all the hoops to be allowed to board the ship. Ruins the anticipation!
Thanks for that report - my wife and I are very regular cruisers. All the forms / airports still make us nervous but looking forward to next spring ( 4 cruises booked)
This is was the first ship i ever went on I think it was 2016 maybe for my 16th birthday and it was called tui discovery when I was on the ship best first cruise ever
You say you think the cruise company can't be making money at that price, but maybe what this actually proves is just how big a margin the hospitality industry, including cruises, works on. A hotel on land that charges £140 a night can offer rooms at £35 a night to corporate guests (e.g airline staff) and still make a profit (and they do make a profit). I think that says a lot. Ultimately, it's the overworked and underpaid employees who are essentially subsidising our holidays with their labour. And that's why Disney leave you those little envelopes. Anyway, I just booked 7 nights on P&O Iona for the Norwegian fjords for only £1200 for two of us. We weren't really cruise people until we found your channel, but after having been on a Disney cruise last month, we think we might now be cruise folk.
Off on my first fly cruise on 4th December with P&O to the Caribbean!! Far too excited, apparently it’s only going to be around 30% capacity. My partner has been on plenty of cruises and says he is looking forward to seeing how quiet it will be.
Don't they have boards throughout the airport to let you know what gate and time your flight is leaving? We check boards all the time in the US. Got to fly across the country in July in the US. We wore masks the entire day. From the moment we entered the transport to the airport in BWI until we left the airport in Seattle. It wasn't too bad. Did not worry about getting sick. My husband and I have both been vaccinated since April. We are going to do it again in December.
I'm booked on the Explorer 2 for a cruise around the Caribbean and Cuba next April. This will be my first cruise with Marella. I really hope it goes ahead.
Oh Emma. Just listening is giving me a smidge of anxiety. We went to Mexico in July and had to fill those forms going and coming. We’re in NY. Love that the ship was about 1/3 full. We too would drink to our hearts content. 🍹🍸🥃🧉🍾🥂🍺🍷🥛☕️🫖🥤🧋 . Love going off on our own. Trivia. Music. Food. Drink. Occasional excursion or self tour. Great time with your family. All with airline for $740. Amazing. Nice of them to give an hour of WiFi. That’s airport shenanigans for you. Stressful end to your cruise is right. Communication makes all the difference. With decrease in staff and COVID restrictions, the airline tells us in NY be there 3 hours before boarding and when I travelled in July , I saw why. You made it home stressfully but safely and can now remember your magnificent cruise. See you next video.
I don't know if you have ever done it but my wife and I have done it several times and found it to be very enjoyable. We really like cruising Princess using their Club Class. If you have never done it you should.
I’ve had 2 bad experiences at Malaga airport. 1) monarch airlines 6hr delay and no information from staff and queue to check in was super long because there was a flight to Birmingham and to Manchester at the same time and they only did 1flight at a time. 2) Ryanair same again long bag drop wait then passport control 40 min to get through and there was a BA flight and 3/4 of the passengers were waiting and they didn’t let them through quickly enough.
The end of your cruise sounds like the start of my mum and auntie’s cruise last week…except the plane left without them. They had to pay extra to fly to the next port on the cruise the following day and meet the ship there.
Cruises are wonderful!....but the added stress of travel during COVID, the possibility of testing positive before or during the journey, and travel delays, not so much. We were on Carnival Mardi Gras last week and well over a hundred people missed their flights or connections and had to miss the ship. Watching the stewards taking the no-shows' room keys back out of the cabin inboxes at the end of embark day was truly sad. The cruise itself, thankfully, was excellent. :)
Hey hey hey! On my last cruise, I was lucky enough to dock next to the lovely Marella Explorer 2 and it reminded me of this video. If you're interested in current itineraries on this lovely little ship, you'll find those here: tui-uk.7cnq.net/LX4a6Y (Affiliate link).
Hopefully the right folks at Marella & Tui see this video and realize that an "all-inclusive holiday" isn't over until you've got your bags and are leaving the airport for the drive home.
When my niece was two she made us all laugh. My mum said to her “oh daddy’s tired.” And she piped up, “No nanna. Daddy’s knackered”. On our side of the family, we are all English, mother’s side is all Aussie, so we’e got our first born Aussie member. It’s so funny she uses English and Aussie slang but has a definite Northern accent for the word ‘come’. It’s super cute.
I love it!! 😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I have never gone on a cruise and have no plans to but enjoy watching these videos for some reason. It is SO nice to listen to somebody who doesn't say "you know, yes ah or um in every sentence. It seems that so many people have forgotten how to put more than a few words together in a sentence without unnecessary expressions. Thank you.
Haha! Thanks David 😅❤️
I agree with you that having tips included is much nicer. It takes away all the stress of worrying about how much to tip.
Yep! Love it 😀❤️
I still worry cause i always want to add more but never know how much more.
A super vlog Emma that mirrored our fantastic cruise experience last week. Pound for pound, unbelievable value. The staff were outstanding and the amazing weather a real tonic. Totally agree about giving Malaga airport a swerve, chaos for us too! Lovely to have meet you and your family Emma. Safe travels. M&Y
MARK AND YVONNE!!!!!!!! Lovely to meet you both too!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Airport drama is the single most unutterably awful part of travel. Indeed, the only part of a holiday which I actively loathe and which makes me wonder why I don't stay home is the trauma of getting from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to the airport. Using a taxi rather than a bus helps, but only so much!
Thank you for the video.
Our first cruise ever was onboard the Century in 1996. It still ranks as one of our all-time favorites. It is so good to see her still looking great and providing an outstanding guest experience. Being from the U.S., I had never heard of Marella but it got us thinking: how cool would it be to sail once again on the ship that got us excited about cruising 25 years ago...
Did you go?
Just back from a brilliant cruise on the Marella Explorer- my first time cruising!. Wonderful and friendly staff at the airport on the plane and on the boat. It felt safe in the boat. I had the time of my life and I really miss the Squid and Anchor now! The entertainment was excellent and the price was great for a solo person. We went all around the Mediterranean and it made me realise just how much I missed going abroad. I’d highly recommend TUI and Marella. Thanks Emma for the recommendation. I’ll be back! :-) Thanks to all the crew on the ship- brilliant customer service!
Thanks, again. Such great content delivered with such kindness and charm. It is very much appreciated. Randall D.
Hey Randall! Thanks so much for your kind words and the super thanks, it's much appreciated you are very kind. Thank you! :)
I returned last week from a cruise to Bermuda out of NYC. I can identify with your pre-cruise stress completing forms for travel authorization, knowing that any minor mistake would result in the request being denied. Fortunately, all pre-cruise activities went well, and the cruise was 7 days of perfect weather. It was great to relax on the pink sands of Bermuda's shores and enjoy sun filled days at sea. Well worth the effort.
YES!! That sounds sooooo good! So glad you enjoyed. I'd love to get back over to Bermuda at some point. Thanks for watching 😀👏🏼
Hi Zenkakuji, my wife and I will be cruising on Celebrity in June 2022 10 night to Bermuda. We were there two years ago and looking to return. Hi from Bob and Jill in Connecticut
I promised myself I want to do my first cruise (belatedly) for my 40th and although it'll be a bit later than that I'm starting my research in time for next summer. Marella seems like a really good line to try and I like the fact its all inclusive. Your videos are really fun and informative so I appreciate all your hard work!
Thank you! 😁❤️
I love how people in warmer countries find 25 degrees Celsius "chilly". I'm from the Netherlands myself, I was in Spain in October last year. Our summer hardly even saw the temperature reaching 25 degrees C, yet there in autumn time it was 25 degrees. We did a bike tour and our guide was a dutch guy (normally we don't take those tours but it was highly recommended and honestly teached you a lot about the culture and what to look for rather then do the typical tourist things). He had lived there for a few years now. We came in short sleeves, he was wearing thick clothing, saying it was a cold day..So I asked him how long he had been gone from the Netherlands, cause for us it was comfortably warm. He had lived there for about 4 or 5 years. Guess one get's used to it very quick and finding comfortable warmth chilly at some point xD
I remember towards the end of 3 1/2 weeks in Japan in the summer (end of July- beginning of august) feeling slightly chilly in the room at the hostel, and upon checking the thermostat seeing that it was 25°C. As a Swede that was slightly chocking.
I consider Malaga to be my “home airport” since every time I fly back home to Spain that’s where I land. So believe me when I say it is one of the worst airports you can find. The lack of organization, no communication at all, security control is a mess, the maze you have to go through to get to your car in the parking lot, moving walkways and lifts are almost always out of order… If you want to avoid it at all cost in the future…fair enough! 😅 🤷🏻♀️
These are the best cruise flogs I’ve ever seen.
So much detail .
Very articulate as well.
Thank you lots, that’s very kind of you to say. ☺️
Hi Emma!! I am sitting here in Glen Waverley, Melbourne, Vistoria, Australia and enjoying all your videos!! You are so lucky,at least you can go cruising again!! After enjoying 22 cruises, mainly in the Pacific region, we still have to wait, till the ships are allowed in our ports again!! We DO NOT like flying and always depart and arrive form here and when I step on the ships, I feel great!! My favorite ports are NZL, New Caledonia, Samoa, Paapete, Moorea, Bora Bora and Vanuatu, not too impressed with Hawaai, sorry!! Take care and go cruising as much as possible, I am 79 years old and getting old too fast!! DO not worry about your expessions, my wife is 50% British and I am German!! {DO not mention the war!! LOL }
Haha!! I hope you can cruise soon ❤️❤️
This gave me a good chuckle 😂
Will you stop talking about the war?
My wife and I cruised the Celebrity Century in 2013 from San Diego to Vancouver, which included an overnight stop in San Francisco. Terrific cruise! In your video I recognized the little oval tables in the auditorium. No other ship I'd been on (out of nine) had those.
Cruised to Iceland from Newcastle on Marella Explorer 2 in Sept. All our LFT result submissions and entry forms filling had to be done at sea and the same on the way back. WiFi problems galore, ship making detours to be near land to get better reception. Marella did everything possible to sort out the problems everyone was experiencing, even for those who didn't bring any tests with them. But, communication was very bad on board. The queues at reception were very very long and many of us relied on word of mouth, have you tried this, did you try that etc. The staff and crew worked really hard and hats off to them. They remained cheerful despite the obvious stress that they were under. It was as new to them as it was to us.
Like your very short clip from the show Cogs. All the shows were excellent but that one was outstanding.
Sadly once they'd dropped you off at the airport they're not interested. Holiday over as far as they're concerned, you've been deposited at the airport, job done.
One thing I would recommend is downloading a flight app so you can see where the plane is you're about to board. It gives you more up to the minute information than you'll ever get from any rep or airport info board. I use flight radar 24 and it's very useful to see when the flight coming in arrives and knowing if it's late causing the outbound to also be late.
Unfortunately every Spanish airport I've used has had similar issues even pre covid, correction every airport even in the UK. Operated using minimum staff to keep costs down, your experience is exactly the reason I try to avoid flying these days, I can't run, don't need the hassle and generally hate it. Cruise only for me if possible, airlines have ruinned air travel. Good video as always.
Thanks Viktor, that’s a great tip! Appreciate it 😀🤣
Great review Emma! What a horrible experience at the Malaga airport! When you buy a package that includes air, you expect coordination, which was sadly lacking in this case. I have recently rebooked my cancelled RC October 2020 Mediterranean cruise out of Civitavecchia, for October 2022. My flights will be booked separately. I cannot tolerate the kind of panic that you and your family felt at the airport. I prefer slow travel. I’m hoping to spend a few days in Italy before and after the cruise. If Covid-19 dies down (hopefully) testing will no longer be required by then. If not, I hope to be able to get the necessary tests in Italy.
Very nice video as usual. On Oct 15th I took my first cruise on Royal Caribbean to Alaska. It was a killer buy at $811 for 1 and it was the best balcony room I've ever had. You are spot on when you say the hoops that must be jumped through for COVID are a pain. I really wasn't sure they were going to let me stay on the ship until we pulled out. I'm glad to know Marabella is good. They bought a lot of old HAL ships and ran them until they were ready for scrapping, which didn't sound enticing. I'm heading out again next month of the Meraviglia, my first MSC cruise. I enjoyed your videos about it.
Malaga airport was a nightmare when we left Explorer2 on October 3rd after the 11 night cruise with only 390 passengers onboard. The cruise was excellent but the fiasco at Malaga airport sadly spoiled it!
One thing about the airport though, as I have done trips (mainly multi-day guided trips in parks or other natural areas, not necessarily all-inclusive cruises, but inclusive guided trips) is that to a point, they have no control over the airport. They can tell you where to go and the process, but you are also at the mercy of other passengers not part of the same adventure so to speak, so you may experience a lot of delays. This is partially why I like to set up my flights and guided tours separately (usually I try to arrive a day early before the guided tours are set to depart so if there are delays, I don't miss the tour).
I'm always impressed by your critiques. Your audio presentation flows so gracefully and the video portion of the included clips is excellent. Anyone who is traveling in these trying times must plan on dealing with the unknown. In the US you can't depend on the airlines meeting their flight schedules. If planning a cruise it was safe to arrive a day early for the cruise. However with the delays we are experiencing even 2 days in advance is questionable. I am so happy that your cruise was so enjoyable for you and your family. Safe travels in the future.
I agree about the 2 days!
Thanks so much. ❤️
I was the guy who tweeted you about the passport queue for B + C gates as I was on the BA LHR flight before you. Literally it ran from duty free all the way to the passport desks: a solid 40 minutes - sounds like you must have avoided that as you didn't mention it. Lucky!
I found it all a bit odd as their arrivals process at Malaga was super smooth for us, departures was abysmal
Yeah!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
This ship is so pretty! Love all the colors inside
The race to the airport sounds VERY familiar. I’m pretty sure that Morgan went through the same thing with Tui and nearly missed his flight from Spain back to Germany. He also had issues getting the correct passport number associated with his Covid test results and it took an unreasonable amount of time to straighten it out.
I think I remember that!!! Hadn’t put the two together though. Interesting! Annoying; but interesting. Thanks for watching 😀👏🏼
I'm very sorry to hear that you find the ship's excursions too expensive. I myself work as a local guide for the DMCs who handle and organize those tours. I know that they are well organized, top quality. They use the best local guides who are able to introduce you to the local culture. We also have to take language tests, so we speak your language fluently. I have never had anyone on my tour who would have been bored with my stories, on the contrary, everyone I've met has fallen in love with my beautiful city, Helsinki.
Jumping through hoops is the theme of traveling these days. I'm leaving today from the USA to Italy to take a Greek isle/Italy cruise. We are staying two days before the cruise and two day after the cruise to explore Rome. Making sure all my ducks are in a row when with 5 different countries to follow protocols. I think i have everything.... we will soon find out LOL
Emma,
Everyone with a channel should watch and learn from your reports. No wasted words, only important information and of value to both new and experienced cruisers. Does Hudson give you a big greeting upon your return?
Thanks so much Louis! Nope not really, don't know if he missed me at all :'( ha ha.
Ah the Marella 2, that was my very first cruise ship I sailed on. Granted it was in 1998 when she was the Celebrity Century. Looks like a lot has changed on that ship.
I was not aware that the Marella 2 used to be Celebrity Century! My very first cruise in 2007 was on the Celebrity Century to the Eastern Caribbean:)
Yesss, love that the ships get a new life 😀❤️ Thanks for watching 😀👏🏼
Emma, just come back from the same cruise on Marella Explorer 2. Our experience at Malaga airport was poor as it was two years ago when we flew back after a repositioning cruise. I wont blame TUI, Malaga airport just dont care. After check in things improved slightly. The bit in the middle that counts, the cruise, was really enjoyable, a few mobility problems but that is our problem, even so another enjoyable holiday. Not the poshest but service and entertainment were superb. My wife overhead somebody saying the Cunard ship, Queen Mary was better. There again a Maserati is better than a Ford Focus, a three star Michelin restaurant is better than a transport cafe.
I think during the pandemic, so through the fall last year, most cruise lines probably just wanted to come as close to breaking even as they could, so in some cases, they may have sold cruises at a cost basically simply to minimize the losses of maintaining the cruise ships. Because I think for much of them, during 2020, they were stuck in port and not makig any money at all, but at the same time, they didn't want to raise prices so high it scared away would-be travelers once travel resumed.
I think for a lot of people, food and entertainment will be the biggest expense. Tipping is probably the third (aside from the fare/cruise itself). I mean traveling (not by ship) can be more expensive... For example, you might find cheap flights and hotels to a place like Las Vegas, but the food and entertainment can be very expensive. Granted LV is not a cruise, it is nice to have most things (like food and entertainment) paid for. Although I could see this as being a bad thing too, because cost might be one thing that could be used to control the number of people at various restaurants or venues (ie. if the prices are too high, some people may opt to do something else, but if it's included in your fare, then it means you may have to deal with large crowds).
I guess you were right that you got a great deal for $700 for a 7 night cruise. I mean even find a "cheap" hotel at a key destination somewhere in the US or even outside, might very well cost you over $100 per night, just for the hotel, so to think you got food, drinks accomodations and other things all for that $700 that's a great deal. I remember that back in the 90's Carribian and Disney used to advertise the per-day rate of around $70 per person (of course that was back in the mid/late 1990's).
Hi Emma,
We recently tried our first cruise since pandemic via Spain.
Flight was fine, paperwork getting to Spain no problem one simple form. PCR test and onboard. Daily temp checks no issue. PCR test to get off cruise as required by Spanish authorities.
Flights home went fine too but the amount of paperwork was silly, having a EU cert that was not accepted by some countries (and not GB) was silly.
Keep them coming.....
Fantastic vlog! I'm booked on a marella explorer cruise (solo) in September and flying into corfu. Its my first cruise so your blogs have been helping me get over the initial concerns I had. I think restrictions are much more relaxed now thankfully! 🙂
We had a similar end to our recent Jewel of the Seas fly cruise package on a chartered Tui plane. Dropped at the airport by the Tui coach, then left to fend for ourselves in tremendously long queues with no social distancing possible. We didn't even know if we were in the right queue, but it turned out there was only one for all the Tui flights, so you can imagine how long it was. Some very irritated people by the time they eventually got to one of the check in desks.
Exactly!!! Yes!!! Same 😔❤️
Excellent video and I love how you are dropping words and photos here and there to emphasize a point, especially the grey cat looking up at the ceiling for no apparent reason. The airport fiasco at the close of your cruise was definitely avoidable had Tui simply communicated with the passengers, particularly since you were basically a charter group. I am glad that the cruise went so well and the price still astounds me for a 7 night all inclusive cruise.
Haha!! He has a reason, he has a QR code around his neck!! (and I thought he was cute) ;)
Yeah, even if there was one extra crew member there it would have been fine. So crazy. But yep, sooooo cheap! Can't go wrong :D
Good evening Lou how fabulous was Apex ?? Regards to you and your lovely wife.
@@darrencarr9176 The Apex was amazing, it is a beautiful, brand new ship and we had only 501 passengers with a capacity of 2900. It was like being on our own private super yacht. The food and service was fantastic, Celebrity has really upped their game with food since we last sailed with them in 2015 and 2018. I know they added many items to their menus and the specialty restaurants were spectacular. The best thing was that every bar, every restaurant, every venue was open; they did not shut down anything at all like some lines are doing with the reduced passengers. The new included tips, wifi and drinks package is really good too, we bumped our drinks package up to the premium which covered every drink up to $15. I think it was an extra $15 a day or so and it was definitely worth it. We aren't big drinkers at all, but, this let us just get whatever we wanted without having to think about it. All in all, the ship was great and the itinerary was wonderful.
I was very interested to see what a Marella Cruise was like. That is amazing that is is totally inclusive. I will try to book one for the future! Great Job Emma
Thanks Larry! 😀❤️
@@EmmaCruises We did Discovery for 2 weeks (2 different cruises back to back) and they were great, the crew couldn't do enough for you, food was great, the non premium selection of drinks (included) were fine for us, even the medical staff were really nice I had an ear infection, so could not eat much or walk around in Venice, not great 3 days into 2 week cruise, (albeit I am glad I had insurance £1600 for a few ecgs, a couple of bags of fluid, some stomach stabilisers and anti sickness tablets as I never get travel sick!), it was only the return journey and airport (Corfu) that was stressful. Our friends did the premium drink upgrade, I did not think it was worth it, I would have just paid the difference if I wanted something else, but as they ordered 4 drinks at a time, we had some of the upgraded drinks, small tip, if you are going on an excursion and have the premium upgrade, so you can get canned drinks, get them before you go to bed the night before, as they don't open that part of the bars until most of the day excursions have left, not sure if they will do this post covid but they had water fountains on most decks that you could fill glass containers for water in the room, then use your own water bottles!
So sorry to hear about the return flights. So good to know though. Thanks - love your videos
This is so wild to watch two years later to see just what we had to go through to travel back then. And for the cruises? It was worth it
Well the joys travel, it never ceases to amaze me how companies can understaff when they are controlling the arrivals and departure of their passengers. They have to know what numbers they are dealing with, but different divisions of same organization don't seem to communicate. Any how generally you had a great time, so overall it was a win. Sort of maybe.
Right!!!! We were off Tui buses and onto a Tui plane, surely they know. But yep! Absolutely a win 😀❤️
Emma, I have watched all your cruise narrations and there are all great.
Thanks Roger ❤️
Nice and informative indeed! 13:45, cute cat! Was the cat onboard?
Hahah! Nope but lots and lots of cats in Spain 😅
One time my mother, my sister, and I had a tight connection in Chicago. She grabbed hold of my sister, told me to keep up, and took off. We were at pretty much a dead run all the way from the one gate to the other, including through security (this was the early 70s). The most memorable part of the run was mother body checking a Hari Krishna who tried to get in her way. We did make it to the plane, but there was no spare time.
Had that in 2011 at Chicago, didn’t even have time to put my belt back on after security
Great video. Love your editing skills. I had a similar experience on a return home from Turks and Caicos. I'll never forget it. It was such a terrible ending to a fantastic week.
We had a very similar experience with TUI coming home - We got off the transfer bus, they vaguely pointed towards where to go in the terminal & then just disappeared leaving us completely abandoned in an airport we'd never been to before ... Our flight was delayed by hours due to a storm (obviously not their fault but a heads up would have been nice as it's something they must have known about well before we left the ship as the disruption had been happening for several hours by then!) We couldn't find anything to eat or drink as nothing was open, or anyone to ask what was happening (none of the airport staff seemed to know anything and just kept telling us to watch the boards), and ended up sitting on the floor as so many people were delayed that all the seats were taken - For almost 5 hours we didn't even know if we were going to get home that night and there wasn't a single person from TUI in the terminal to talk to. It's completely put us off booking with them again :-/
Goodness!!!!!!! 😭
We were on the Explorer 2 on it’s first visit to Spain since lockdown. Left Newcastle on 22nd September to reposition to Malaga. We had a great time and we love Marella all inclusive cruises but did especially enjoy the fact that there were only 390 passengers, they must be running at a loss with those numbers 🥴 didn’t have to search for a table at breakfast, plenty room in theatre with no people blocking your view etc 😄 our experience at Malaga airport was ok, yours sounded terrible. Love your vlogs Emma.
That is a TERRIBLE end to your trip. Totally agree that the airline shouldv had somebody walking the queue just telling people the inbound flight was delayed and there was no need to panic and that they should've had enough desks to handle the influx as well as probably separate 'fit-to-fly' only desks
We have recently flown back from Tenerife with TUI. There were 5 desks open and had a similar problem at check in, there were however signs all over the airport stating that only passengers would be allowed in the airport without exception. We were left wondering what was going on as the line we joined (one listed by airport display) was checking in passengers to another flight which had been diverted from the northern airport because of the volcanic eruption on La Palma. We just kept being told to move out of the way until one of the Spanish ladies used her brain and got the other flight moved to a different desk. Chaos!
I just returned from a cruise to Greece. It is a bit stressful. Getting the proper Covid test within the time frame was a bit of a challenge here in Delaware. We were tested again in Athens before boarding. More anxiety waiting for test results. What if it was positive? We were tested an additional two times. I must say Azmarra line was very efficient with testing procedures . We felt secure in the safety measures employed . Both crew and passengers must be fully vaccinated . Keeping track of forms and cards and masks was a pain. However, we did thoroughly enjoyed our cruise . One benefit of cruising at this time is the low numbers. I understand Greek isles can be very crowded .
I'm on the Discovery this Tuesday for a relocation cruise to the Caribbean, and its been a test of nerves to either book a pcr or lft test for when we return, and if we test negative the night before we go. Thank you for this upload it gives us a bit of hope.
Hi Emma, I think you've made a great case for sailing from the UK. It must have been awful not knowing if you'd missed your flight.
It wasn’t great! Worth it but yeah. I imagine some people would panic in that situation more than I did 😅
@@EmmaCruises i would have been as upset as you, l def have airport anxiety due to past experiences that were totally out of our hands
Would love to try Marella!
Do it 😀❤️
We took a Tui holiday in 2019. My husband is disabled and needed wheelchair help through the airport. At Gatwick all assistance was provided with no problem and again after we landed. At Venice Airport Tui had the check in desk that was furtherest away from the airport entrance and no-one met us. I went to the check in desk and asked I could check him in but they said he had to attend in person but still could not find anyone to assist us. We were at this point in danger of missing our flight. In the end he had to walk the entire length of the airport with a walking aid. We did eventually get help and caught our flight but it was close.
Oh my gosh that’s so scary and frustrating!!! :( ❤️
Emma i understand about wanting your friends or family enjoy their cruise after its been hyped so much. I am a Princess gal and i rave about that line, with that said i am taking my 2 friends of 40 plus years on their First cruise on the Sky over this Christmas.. I am anxious that everything is perfect for them. Sorry for your stress home….thanks for this vlog😊
Hahah!!! Totally get that. Princess and Marella are two of my favourite lines 😀❤️
My parents often did what they called "fly cruise". At the time, I did not think to ask them how or what. Now that they're both gone and I have time, I searched. You are the first to use that term. I thought it might be particular to a cruise line.
Haha! It just means flying to get the cruise, lots of cruise lines and travel agents refer to it like that 😀
That deal is for like 2-3 week in advance but you can get a £300 Marcella cruise but you need to buy the day before the sailing and the flight leaves the same day of the sailing or 7 night stay
Thanks for watching 😀👏🏼
Hi Emma, don't sweat the small stuff, I'm sure you had a great time even with a few more hoops to jump through. 25 days until our Celebrity cruise, wooo hooo. Hi from Bob and Jill in Connecticut go Chelsea Blues 💙
Oh absolutely, soooo worth it. Beats filling in forms for boring things 🤣❤️
Love your photo - Bob the tomato! Veggie Tales!
@@robyncarter5173 My church Sunday school grades 1 and 2 kids call me Bob the Tomato. Now if we could find a Larry the Cucumber.
@Bob Krakovich Oh where is my hairbrush?
@@Jandy2201 Cebu and Barbara Manatee. With songs like those, and the Hairbrush, who wouldn't love Veggie Tales?
I really do enjoy the variety of cruise lines you cover. We're considering our first cruise and are truly clueless. Thanks!
Thanks so much. 😀🙏
Really interesting Emma - I've never done a fly-cruise before but was considering one for next year so I was looking forward to learning how things go...doesn't sound so good! I cruised from Southampton on P&O Iona from 25 Sept to 9 Oct and can relate to the added stress of forms etc, but overall it was totally worth it to get some sun, be pampered onboard and explore outside the UK again - as you say, it feels so safe onboard and actually ashore too because Spaniards and Portuguese all take mask wearing so much more seriously than us Brits.
I was on the same cruise (I was actually the person behind you in the queue at Malaga airport but I didn’t know who you were then 😂). We actually had a bit of trouble with the transfer out to the ship as our coach broke down in the coach station in Malaga, so we had to wait on the coach for half an hour for a new coach to be arranged. I think the forms and tests were quite easy for me but my parents found it trickier as a lot of older people probably would. I was looking for myself in your video but couldn’t see me 😂. Good cruise all in all.
The way I thought about the airport situation at the end, is getting to spend more time in Spain. Also, I wasn’t worried at all about the plane leaving without us at the end because I know it wouldn’t take off without all the passengers. Even if there’s 1 passenger missing they will try to call them and find out where they are, plus Tui would then have to arrange for another flight for all of the missed passengers.
You were!!! Hahahha!! How funny. What a small world. Such a good cruise, you were so unlucky with that coach 🤣❤️
@@EmmaCruises I’m pretty sure the handbrake was stuck on haha
The airport thing sounds very stressful. I had to run the length of Oslo airport once due to a similar situation only to find they were holding the plane for us anyway. Still felt awkward though.
Yeah!!!! Glad you made it. Thanks for watching 😀👏🏼
Honest review. I wouldn't risk taking a fly cruise while the current forms & checks are in place. As for the airports, it's much better when the luggage is bonded and taken from the ship directly to the plane, speeding up the process (like at Dubrovnik).
I don’t think I will take an ocean cruise. Live music all the time would drive me bonkers. I have taken a river cruise, no music at all. Fabulous. 👏👏👏👏
Booked a cruise on this ship next June - fingers crossed things will have all smoothed out by then.
Thanks for the info. Don’t see any international travel in our near future!
Thanks for watching 😀👏🏼
We are going on a transatlantic from Florida soon and our cruise ports are Spain. The cruise line has informed us of this form. We understand that we will be completing it 48 hours before we get to our first port while we are still out to sea. Everyone on my roll forum has kind of been nervous about this because we know we how the wifi is not always reliable on a cruise. Someone says that the staff will help with tablets.
I had a late flight into Charles de Gaulle airport and rushed through the poorly signed airport and into the Air France flight to my cruise just as it closed the door! The flight attendants were so very sweet; looking at me like I was going to have a heart attack and instantly bringing me a cold water. Hah!
Remember: aircraft air is safer than your local grocery store. It flows from ceiling to floor, undergoes HEPA filtration, and the entire cabin's air is exchanged for fresh, outside air every 2-3 minutes.
This is exactly why I think marella should consider sailing from the UK. We were lucky enough to be on one of the 2? Marella European cruises that left from Southampton. The embarkation was amazingly slick, we were on board less than an hour after leaving our hotel! Totally agree that service entertainment and all the staff are fantastic. I really want to book with them again but the thought of what could happen with those extra comications with flights is putting me off.
Yeah! It’s so weird, I cruised with them from the uk in 2018 and 2019. Not sure why they changed it 🤔
The ending to your cruise would have put me over the edge
Yeah I think quite a few people would have been more upset than I was, I was with my family and knew we would figure it out if we had to. ❤️
We returned from Explorer 2 yesterday and sat in plane for 2 hours! Also the flight out meant we we're mixing with non pre tested passengers. Cruisers were therefore at some risk sitting next to non tested people. Strange after the stress of testing. Out 9pm test wouldn't register with chronomics so had a sleepless night for our 6.40am flight. Tui rep at airport was very helpful and gave more tests. 2 of which had no code in there boxes. All incredible stressful. We think chronomics sent us the returning tests by mistake. We enjoyed the cruise. We had been on the discovery 5 weeks ago around Greece. Finally thought the premium package was great value and will do that again.
Oh my gosh, I loved that parting shot. That was so funny!! You made my morning.
😂😂😂
In all these cruising videos, I understand "mustard drill" which places funny pictures into my head :D
Had never heardof this cruise line but will look into it! I DO hope you and all others will give Tui a peace of your mind..even if you do think it was more airport staff related. Tui organized and Tui should be there until you board to go home!
The cruise line are Tui too, if I recall correctly.
@@JulieWallis1963 Was on the Marella Discovery, 2 years ago, Marella is the British branding for Tui Cruises, if it is still Tui then they are the German/ European based branding. We had no problems at all, it was a great 2 week back to back cruise, but coming back into the airport they do leave you to it, they didn't even tell us what check in desks to use, we had the check in lady who was not paying attention at all, was just speaking to her colleague in Greek (it was from Corfu) and only checked two bags in, then made a big scene that we had four bags, that she had put this incorrectly and was going to get her into trouble, and we would have to pay extra, not my problem as you didn't ask how many bags. We had paid extra for a junior suite as it upgraded a few things like extra baggage, priority boarding onto the ship( this, was honestly not needed.) just a little unnecessary drama, I don't enjoy flying at the best of times this just stressed me out even more, I am lucky that I work directly opposite the UK's busiest cruise terminal, so dont have to fly!
Love watching Emma. Hopefully I will be able to cruise.
Aww thanks for a look at the ship - we were meant to do a TA on her from Barbados to Newcastle in 2020 but then chaos happened. I'm sure it would have been amazing but for now we will have to wait 😷
Marella ,s price point can't be beaten, love them
You are so adorable and I am 77 yrs old and have never been on a cruise you make it so much fun and interesting
Thanks for watching! 🥳👏🏼
I’m booked on this ship in the Caribbean in March 2023 also my first and solo cruise
Did a cruise to Hawaii on the Century in 2012. Nice updates!
I just got back from my first Marella cruise and my fave drink was the electric blue. I really enjoyed the cruise and would definitely would like to cruise on another Marella ship
I'm in the three days before I fly to my cruise port anxiety stage. Luckily, it's all domestic flights, but I am worrying about getting through all the hoops to be allowed to board the ship. Ruins the anticipation!
Thanks for that report - my wife and I are very regular cruisers. All the forms / airports still make us nervous but looking forward to next spring ( 4 cruises booked)
This is was the first ship i ever went on I think it was 2016 maybe for my 16th birthday and it was called tui discovery when I was on the ship best first cruise ever
Hi from Sydney Australia wish cruising would start from Australia went on Sea Princess In November 2019
As always, I love your informative information and all your videos. Thanks for all you.
Thanks so much Vince! ❤️
You say you think the cruise company can't be making money at that price, but maybe what this actually proves is just how big a margin the hospitality industry, including cruises, works on. A hotel on land that charges £140 a night can offer rooms at £35 a night to corporate guests (e.g airline staff) and still make a profit (and they do make a profit). I think that says a lot. Ultimately, it's the overworked and underpaid employees who are essentially subsidising our holidays with their labour.
And that's why Disney leave you those little envelopes.
Anyway, I just booked 7 nights on P&O Iona for the Norwegian fjords for only £1200 for two of us. We weren't really cruise people until we found your channel, but after having been on a Disney cruise last month, we think we might now be cruise folk.
I love the idea of self serve drink station.
Off on my first fly cruise on 4th December with P&O to the Caribbean!! Far too excited, apparently it’s only going to be around 30% capacity. My partner has been on plenty of cruises and says he is looking forward to seeing how quiet it will be.
Don't they have boards throughout the airport to let you know what gate and time your flight is leaving? We check boards all the time in the US. Got to fly across the country in July in the US. We wore masks the entire day. From the moment we entered the transport to the airport in BWI until we left the airport in Seattle. It wasn't too bad. Did not worry about getting sick. My husband and I have both been vaccinated since April. We are going to do it again in December.
Not when you’re pre check in, at least there weren’t any in the room we were in (weren’t even really in the actual airport) ☹️
I'm booked on the Explorer 2 for a cruise around the Caribbean and Cuba next April. This will be my first cruise with Marella. I really hope it goes ahead.
I love your videos! I'm super jealous 🙈
Thanks for watching Brett!! :D
Oh Emma. Just listening is giving me a smidge of anxiety. We went to Mexico in July and had to fill those forms going and coming. We’re in NY. Love that the ship was about 1/3 full. We too would drink to our hearts content. 🍹🍸🥃🧉🍾🥂🍺🍷🥛☕️🫖🥤🧋 . Love going off on our own. Trivia. Music. Food. Drink. Occasional excursion or self tour. Great time with your family. All with airline for $740. Amazing. Nice of them to give an hour of WiFi. That’s airport shenanigans for you. Stressful end to your cruise is right. Communication makes all the difference. With decrease in staff and COVID restrictions, the airline tells us in NY be there 3 hours before boarding and when I travelled in July , I saw why. You made it home stressfully but safely and can now remember your magnificent cruise. See you next video.
Thanks Cydney! 😀❤️
I don't know if you have ever done it but my wife and I have done it several times and found it to be very enjoyable. We really like cruising Princess using their Club Class. If you have never done it you should.
That ship is gorgeous!
I’ve had 2 bad experiences at Malaga airport. 1) monarch airlines 6hr delay and no information from staff and queue to check in was super long because there was a flight to Birmingham and to Manchester at the same time and they only did 1flight at a time. 2) Ryanair same again long bag drop wait then passport control 40 min to get through and there was a BA flight and 3/4 of the passengers were waiting and they didn’t let them through quickly enough.
The end of your cruise sounds like the start of my mum and auntie’s cruise last week…except the plane left without them. They had to pay extra to fly to the next port on the cruise the following day and meet the ship there.
Oh goodness!! No!! 😣😣😣
My daughter is going on Discovery 2 next year, from Palma I hasten to add. Thanks for the excellent vlog it will be a great help.
Cruises are wonderful!....but the added stress of travel during COVID, the possibility of testing positive before or during the journey, and travel delays, not so much.
We were on Carnival Mardi Gras last week and well over a hundred people missed their flights or connections and had to miss the ship. Watching the stewards taking the no-shows' room keys back out of the cabin inboxes at the end of embark day was truly sad.
The cruise itself, thankfully, was excellent. :)