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Great vid, going on this ship in December this year, looking forward to that, been on several marella cruises and like you say they are great value for money 👍
Thanks for posting this incredibly In-depth and deptailed review of Marella Explorer. Like you say in your video, not too much glitz but it does look quite homely which I’d imagine feels like nice on a smaller ship such as this.
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They weren’t too bad actually! I remember they had 007 No Time To Die showing, which was released only a couple of months before the cruise; so in light of that I’d say they are pretty up to date :)
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We should have been on Marella in 2019 to cruise the Baltics and two night stays in St Petersburg, It got cancelled because of the pandemic totally gutted that that happened. It was a cruise we always wanted to do.
Fabulous tour we go in in November and this gave us an insight of what to expect, is there a bar in the atrium? The discovery has one and was our favourite place for evening drinks. Thank you.
Hello Angela, glad you enjoyed it! No bar in the atrium I’m afraid, you have the library at the top deck of the atrium, Coffee Port on the Promenade and at the bottom you have Reception and Shore excursions. Best bar on Explorer is Squid & Anchor - always a good atmosphere and the seating is really comfortable. Explorer isn’t quite as glitzy as Discovery, but she’s got a nice homely feel to her and I think you’ll have ages at time! :)
I sailed on her when she was the Galaxy for Celebrity. Observations -- this whole class of Celebrity ship -- Century, Mercury and Galaxy, were built in Germany and are tough as nails. I have to say, I prefer the décor from the Celebrity days -- Galaxy had lots of blue and gold -- and nautical woods -- splashing water fountain in the lobby and loaded with a terrific modern art collection. It's also sad to see the lovely pool covered over in the solarium (now restaurant seating). But that said, I'm glad she's still sailing and giving passengers a great time. Question -- notoriously, the ships had rudder shimmy at the stern -- that was especially noticeable at in the tables in the dining rooms by the windows. Did you notice that or was it fixed?
I worked on her last year as a trainee officer, and you’re right - they are as tough as nails! For a ship that’s 27 years old, she was in immaculate condition. She’s in Cadiz having all of her fresh water tanks replaced atm, which is a massive undertaking; but it shows that Marella are planning on keeping her for sometime yet! With regards to Rudder shimmy, I have to say I never noticed it! You usually get a bit of bobbing motion at the stern, but it didn’t think it was any more than usual to be honest
Thank you Dan & Jay for this outstanding tour of the ship. I am due to go on this ship at the end of August 2023. Is the Spa, free for one hour out of the WHOLE trip?? I was hoping to use the spa facilities. I hope you win the Travel influencer!! I voted, will get my family to vote too.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. It's comments like this that keep us going. When we were on her, they sold spa slots, like other cruise lines - but can't remember how much they were I'm afraid! Marella Explorer is a lovely, homely ship. I (Jay) have a lot of affection for her, as I worked on her for 6 months during the pandemic, anchored off of Weymouth. We're sailing on Marella Voyager in a few weeks, we're so excited! Hope you have a great time, and thank you for voting for us - every vote counts! All the best :)
Hello Ruth! They sometimes have some special nights - such as a tropical night, all white etc. But, Marella is very casual - so aim to be smart casual and you'll be sufficiently prepared :)
Great vlog guys, We were on exp 2 in august and its a lovely ship, But this looks better. Cant fault the food,cabins and staff, although we found the service in Squid and Anchor awful, Even at quiet times, Only a dozen or so people in and waited ages for a waiter to come near us. But all in all i would recommend Marella.
Hello you. I just wanted to ask if there are facilities in this ship and others to help the disabled. There are lots of steps in your video and would fret but would love my folks to go on this and other types of cruises. Thanks
Hello Ric. There are disabled cabins onboard, and it's a pretty good ship for people with mobility issues. Staff are also very friendly, and happy to help in whatever way they can :)
We’ve been on Discovery 3 times now and are getting fed up with it haha - but had to use her because of the itinerary we wanted - so planning on going on Explorer this summer to the Med and your video has made me look forward to it even more, so thanks. Our favourite ships were the Dream and The Majesty, long gone now and I miss the individuality of those ships. I understand TUI want a brand but feel it would be more exciting if each of their ships were totally different, ie an old fashioned style, say 1920s and then a more modern one etc to give some variety. But I agree TUI certainly draw the UK market and I would be nervous to try someone else in case I didn’t like it. Now we are used to MARELLA we know what to expect. The only cruise we didn’t enjoy was to the Caribbean but that had more to do with the other passengers being rude and unruly than the cruise itself. The islands were amazing. Thank you for your video ❤
Hey! Thanks so much for watching, we have a little love for Marella ourselves, but it would be great to see different themes onboard their ships (Dan is a sucker for 1920’s decor!) Let us know know how your cruise goes later this year, we’d love to know! 😄
Some of the restaurants on board are speciality restaurants, and incur a cover charge and are not included in your cruise fare. The buffet, main dining room and Snack Shack are included as part of your cruise fare.
@@sailawaymag so All inclusive doesn't cover all restaurants only selected restaurants? And say if you want to eat at another restaurant on a night then you pay the cover charger per person and can order as much? With drinks included?
@@8989shopper ‘all inclusive’ basically means you get drinks and food at selected venues! Kora La, Dining Club, Surf and Turf and Coffee Port are all extra charge where you pay the cover charge for that particularly venue. Drinks are covered on Marella, however certain drinks will incur an extra charge if you haven’t taken out the Premium package (for example Smirnoff vodka in included, but Grey Goose is extra unless you’ve taken out the Premium package)!
Hello Carolyn! Thanks for your feedback, I’m glad to say we’ve improve our recording equipment since then - and our more recent videos shouldn’t have this issue.
Thanks Les! Full ship tours rarely include cabins! However, we cover cabins in our Marella Explorer Review and we also have a Balcony Cabin Tour on our channel!
£30 per hour for the spar is way too expensive. I am on the Explorer next year and will avoid it for that hefty price! In comparison I am on the NCL Epic on June 5th and have rebooked a whole weeks thermal suite pass for £105. It's worth it for the spas balcony with sun loungers alone as I'm in a single inside
Hello Philip. I agree, and its weird because Marella usually offer pretty good value for money in many areas, but £30 per hour is exorbitant; as are the private cabanas charged at £100 per day. Wow! I've never sailed on Epic (yet), but that's incredible value for money. Hope you have a great time :)
Great review! I would never consider this ship when you can book an all-inclusive luxury package on so many other cruise lines. The 💲💲💲on this cruise certainly would add up!
Thanks for this vlog,I did enjoy watching it,but the Explorer is not for me,I just do not like the design of the ship at all,it looks so cold and uninviting,I much prefer the Discovery ships by far
@@sailawaymag We sailed on the Discovery back in 2019 around the Greek Islands..loved it! in-between we have done land based holidays,because of the risk of Covid,and we are sailing on Discovery 2 this coming September..
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Great first tour!!!
Best review, really helpful for us as we will be first timers in July. Thank you.
Thanks so much Lynnette! Hope you have a fabulous time!!
We’ve just been on this ship and loved it!! This is a great tour. New subs here, looking forward to seeing more of your videos 🍻
Thank you so much guys, and glad you had an amazing time on her!! 🥳
Lovely tour - good job lads 💙
Great vid, going on this ship in December this year, looking forward to that, been on several marella cruises and like you say they are great value for money 👍
Great Tour 👍
Thanks guys. On board the Explorer In Jan/Feb next year cruising the Canaries. Really helpful.
Thanks for your feedback, Bill! Explorer is a great ship, we both hope you have a fantastic time :)
Thanks for posting this incredibly
In-depth and deptailed review of Marella Explorer. Like you say in your video, not too much glitz but it does look quite homely which I’d imagine feels like nice on a smaller ship such as this.
Glad you enjoyed it!
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www.worldofcruising.co.uk/wave-awards-2023-vote-now
We're doing the Aegean Shores cruise in 4 weeks on Explorer, Great video gave us much to look forward to.
Very jealous Richard! Hope you have an amazing time :)
@@sailawaymag Thanks, how up to date are the cinema films on board?
They weren’t too bad actually! I remember they had 007 No Time To Die showing, which was released only a couple of months before the cruise; so in light of that I’d say they are pretty up to date :)
Dan & Jay, last question I promise 😃. Is Scoops included with Premium All Inclusive? TIA
i think that we will be on the same cruise ema -Corfu -- Aegean Shores 24th June - 01/July 2022
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A comprehensive review and nicely put together guys, well done. Just off Marella 2 but this looks a touch better appointed. 👍
Thank you!! We’re going on Discovery on Friday, so it’ll be interesting to see how she compares :) hope you had a good time on MEx2 ☺️
Have you sailed on Marella Explorer recently? Let us know how your cruise experience was by leaving us a comment below :)
We should have been on Marella in 2019 to cruise the Baltics and two night stays in St Petersburg, It got cancelled because of the pandemic totally gutted that that happened.
It was a cruise we always wanted to do.
Aw we’re so sorry to hear that! Did you manage to rebook with Marella? We’re going on Marella Voyager in July so very excited for that!
@@sailawaymag Sorry, that should have been 2020 Best of the Baltic cruise, on Marella Explorer 2. and not 2019.
Nothing booked at all.
Fabulous tour we go in in November and this gave us an insight of what to expect, is there a bar in the atrium? The discovery has one and was our favourite place for evening drinks. Thank you.
Hello Angela, glad you enjoyed it! No bar in the atrium I’m afraid, you have the library at the top deck of the atrium, Coffee Port on the Promenade and at the bottom you have Reception and Shore excursions. Best bar on Explorer is Squid & Anchor - always a good atmosphere and the seating is really comfortable. Explorer isn’t quite as glitzy as Discovery, but she’s got a nice homely feel to her and I think you’ll have ages at time! :)
I sailed on her when she was the Galaxy for Celebrity. Observations -- this whole class of Celebrity ship -- Century, Mercury and Galaxy, were built in Germany and are tough as nails. I have to say, I prefer the décor from the Celebrity days -- Galaxy had lots of blue and gold -- and nautical woods -- splashing water fountain in the lobby and loaded with a terrific modern art collection. It's also sad to see the lovely pool covered over in the solarium (now restaurant seating). But that said, I'm glad she's still sailing and giving passengers a great time. Question -- notoriously, the ships had rudder shimmy at the stern -- that was especially noticeable at in the tables in the dining rooms by the windows. Did you notice that or was it fixed?
I worked on her last year as a trainee officer, and you’re right - they are as tough as nails! For a ship that’s 27 years old, she was in immaculate condition. She’s in Cadiz having all of her fresh water tanks replaced atm, which is a massive undertaking; but it shows that Marella are planning on keeping her for sometime yet!
With regards to Rudder shimmy, I have to say I never noticed it! You usually get a bit of bobbing motion at the stern, but it didn’t think it was any more than usual to be honest
Thank you Dan & Jay for this outstanding tour of the ship. I am due to go on this ship at the end of August 2023. Is the Spa, free for one hour out of the WHOLE trip?? I was hoping to use the spa facilities. I hope you win the Travel influencer!! I voted, will get my family to vote too.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. It's comments like this that keep us going.
When we were on her, they sold spa slots, like other cruise lines - but can't remember how much they were I'm afraid! Marella Explorer is a lovely, homely ship. I (Jay) have a lot of affection for her, as I worked on her for 6 months during the pandemic, anchored off of Weymouth. We're sailing on Marella Voyager in a few weeks, we're so excited! Hope you have a great time, and thank you for voting for us - every vote counts! All the best :)
First Marella cruise! Going on Canary 14 day cruise. Are there themed nights where special dress up is recommended?
Hello Ruth! They sometimes have some special nights - such as a tropical night, all white etc. But, Marella is very casual - so aim to be smart casual and you'll be sufficiently prepared :)
Great vlog guys, We were on exp 2 in august and its a lovely ship, But this looks better. Cant fault the food,cabins and staff, although we found the service in Squid and Anchor awful, Even at quiet times, Only a dozen or so people in and waited ages for a waiter to come near us. But all in all i would recommend Marella.
Thanks for watching Janice! Marella are great, we are cruising on Marella Voyager in July - so excited!!
Hello you. I just wanted to ask if there are facilities in this ship and others to help the disabled. There are lots of steps in your video and would fret but would love my folks to go on this and other types of cruises. Thanks
Hello Ric. There are disabled cabins onboard, and it's a pretty good ship for people with mobility issues. Staff are also very friendly, and happy to help in whatever way they can :)
We’ve been on Discovery 3 times now and are getting fed up with it haha - but had to use her because of the itinerary we wanted - so planning on going on Explorer this summer to the Med and your video has made me look forward to it even more, so thanks. Our favourite ships were the Dream and The Majesty, long gone now and I miss the individuality of those ships. I understand TUI want a brand but feel it would be more exciting if each of their ships were totally different, ie an old fashioned style, say 1920s and then a more modern one etc to give some variety. But I agree TUI certainly draw the UK market and I would be nervous to try someone else in case I didn’t like it. Now we are used to MARELLA we know what to expect. The only cruise we didn’t enjoy was to the Caribbean but that had more to do with the other passengers being rude and unruly than the cruise itself. The islands were amazing. Thank you for your video ❤
Hey! Thanks so much for watching, we have a little love for Marella ourselves, but it would be great to see different themes onboard their ships (Dan is a sucker for 1920’s decor!) Let us know know how your cruise goes later this year, we’d love to know! 😄
What is the cover charge for? So if we go all inclusive does it mean we still pay cover charge per person for each meal?
Some of the restaurants on board are speciality restaurants, and incur a cover charge and are not included in your cruise fare. The buffet, main dining room and Snack Shack are included as part of your cruise fare.
@@sailawaymag so All inclusive doesn't cover all restaurants only selected restaurants? And say if you want to eat at another restaurant on a night then you pay the cover charger per person and can order as much? With drinks included?
@@8989shopper ‘all inclusive’ basically means you get drinks and food at selected venues! Kora La, Dining Club, Surf and Turf and Coffee Port are all extra charge where you pay the cover charge for that particularly venue. Drinks are covered on Marella, however certain drinks will incur an extra charge if you haven’t taken out the Premium package (for example Smirnoff vodka in included, but Grey Goose is extra unless you’ve taken out the Premium package)!
Great video, only think was the backing music too loud when you talking and made it hard to hear you.
Hello Carolyn! Thanks for your feedback, I’m glad to say we’ve improve our recording equipment since then - and our more recent videos shouldn’t have this issue.
Great view of all the ship's facilities, but it would have been useful to include a view of at least one of the cabins
Thanks Les! Full ship tours rarely include cabins! However, we cover cabins in our Marella Explorer Review and we also have a Balcony Cabin Tour on our channel!
@@sailawaymag Thanks guys
£30 per hour for the spar is way too expensive. I am on the Explorer next year and will avoid it for that hefty price! In comparison I am on the NCL Epic on June 5th and have rebooked a whole weeks thermal suite pass for £105. It's worth it for the spas balcony with sun loungers alone as I'm in a single inside
Hello Philip. I agree, and its weird because Marella usually offer pretty good value for money in many areas, but £30 per hour is exorbitant; as are the private cabanas charged at £100 per day. Wow! I've never sailed on Epic (yet), but that's incredible value for money. Hope you have a great time :)
Fancy having a smoking area on the top deck they’ll flick their cigarette butt over the side lol
Great review! I would never consider this ship when you can book an all-inclusive luxury package on so many other cruise lines. The 💲💲💲on this cruise certainly would add up!
is this the ship that Jane Mcdonald shone to fame ???
Oooo I must have missed that episode! We’re big fans of Marella Explorer, and big fans of Jane McDonald…when she’s not singing 😋😂
Yes they done 2 series with her from its maiden voyage
👍
Thanks for watching :)
The bed very itchy dust mite especially the crew bed
Most people watching this video won’t be sleeping in the crew beds!
Thanks for this vlog,I did enjoy watching it,but the Explorer is not for me,I just do not like the design of the ship at all,it looks so cold and uninviting,I much prefer the Discovery ships by far
Hey thanks for watching! Do you have ahh crusies planned for Discovery’s?! 😊
@@sailawaymag We sailed on the Discovery back in 2019 around the Greek Islands..loved it! in-between we have done land based holidays,because of the risk of Covid,and we are sailing on Discovery 2 this coming September..