Marella Explorer Reviews

Summary:  Enjoyed cruise, good service. Good food. Lack of sun loungers. Health and safety issue in buffet. Guests allowed to handle and cut loaves of bread, with large carving knife. In the middle of a thoroughfare. I pointed this out three times and nothing was changed. Lack waiters in bars. Lounge bar a ridiculous shape, making it difficult to get served, too many stools at bar blocking access. I made all these points known to reception, Thomson encourage comments, but nothing is done to improve matters, it just keeps complaints on board ship

Summary:  We had a junior suite on Deck 12 for a back-to-back cruise out of Barbados taking in a dozen islands or countries. The cabin was spacious with a sofa and an exceptionally large balcony with loungers, table, chairs and a hammock. It was very comfortable with our only complaint that the air conditioning was sometimes too cold and there was no way of turning it off. The cabin is important to us because we enjoy reading and playing the guitar (quietly!) and keeping ourselves to ourselves. Being able to make our own tea and coffee and get jugs of skimmed milk from the Market Place also added significantly to our experience. The crew, especially our cabin steward, were superb as was the all inclusive food and drink. We particularly rated the Italian Vista restaurant. We did once-or-twice ask to be seated with an empty table between us and other passengers when the dining room was less busy and against walls and partitions rather than in the middle of sets of tables. We very much liked that there were always tables for two. Not everyone is a natural chatterbox. We can't comment on other entertainment as we didn't stay at the poolside or go to the theatre nor did we take any Tui organised excursions having booked our trips separately from the UK. Unlike a previous cruise with a different company, we liked that there were quiet areas on the ship and that we couldn't always hear music on our balcony. It was very relaxing. The Captain was exceptionally good at giving us relaxed but useful information about the sea state, arrival times and what to take ashore. All the arrangements such as flights, baggage transfer and so worked like clockwork with the only delay the Barbados immigration onboard ship the last day but what's half an hour in a fortnight? We thought this cruise was good value-for-money with a good itinerary although undoubtedly some islands are more interesting than others and some are very similar in what they offer. As someone who had a very negative view of cruising at one point, I would thoroughly recommend this cabin and this ship.

Summary:  Caribean cruise on the Marela explorer. Fantastic cruise. Not the best ship in the world but was everything that we could ask for. Fantastic beaches Turquoise waters. Loved it Mark and sue

Summary:  Straight to the point,sailed many times on thomson and other cruise lines,the entertainment on this ship cruise around carribean from the 30th Dec to 13th Jan 2019 was the most disappointing of all.Too many individual resident singers/musicians that were not up to standard. A otherwise pleasant cruise with good food and service spoilt.

Summary:  This is my first cruise for myself and family.booking through iglu was easy and everything my operator told me and booked was spot on so a big thank you to him.As for the ship it was ok but I think it’s still very dated from the cabin point of view and some areas like stairwells and some facility areas.As for food well the area called market place is perfectly named as it’s just basic bog standard food.some of the other eateries are ok but service throughout the ship was slow and not what i expected.As for the Xmas dinner on board well I was better dressed than what the food I was served needed.we get asked in a news letter dress respectful and of a good standard but the food quality and service was poor.Im coeliac and choice on board the ship is limited dispite what they say as try eating the same food day in day out when your choice is limited.i will say all staff are exceptionaly friendly throughout.my balcony door latch didn’t lock and even tho I told them twice or more it never got fixed.i won’t say I’m a lover of cruising as to be honest we didn’t cruise the ship went flat out most nights at sea and the ship at the best of the liners out there.i did however find it funny that some people you speak to think cruising is a rich or luxury thing but it ain’t really it’s a ship at the end of the day with average food and very average entertainment.theres no snobbery about it.Thompson forgot some of my gluten free food on my flight back so cheers for that and the raisins and waffer was not worth eating Poor display of flight food.but I have said and will again iglu from the booking to the staff etc I can’t fault

Summary:  4 of us were on cruise November into December. Thought on board entertainment was bad especially in squid and anchor game shows put on regularly were very tedious and lengthy plus very little interaction with people not involed plus no real atmosphere when stag acts on and no encouragement for people to enjoy very static. All staff were extremely pleasant and only a few times a bit rude rooms were good and food was very much the same not real variety

Summary:  We cannot fault the ship, its cleanliness, choice of food, pleasant staff, we had an amazing time.

Summary:  Wonderful holiday two weeks spoiled around the Caribbean some islands need to recover from hurricanes last year,.food excellent, room service excellent,shows could be a bit better,but overall will return.

Summary:  We enjoyed the cruise. The entertainment was excellent. We were fortunate to be upgraded to a premier cabin and was pleased about that, although it was at the very back of the ship so we felt the rolling waves when the weather was unpleasant!! We tried a few of the restaurants and seemed to choose the Market Place more than anywhere else; however the tapas was good too. Regrettably two of our excursions were cancelled in Spain because they did not meet the required number of people. One of them, Malaga city trip, had been pre-paid before the cruise but for which we have yet to be reimbursed. Although I have emailed Tui regarding this, I haven't heard from them and am disappointed. I do realise this is an issue with Tui and not Iglu but it has put a bit of a damper on our overall opinion of the cruise. Carol

Summary:  Lovely ship & crew could not do enough for you