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An in-depth evaluation of the Marella Explorer cruise ship from TUI – together with cabin critiques.

Lazing in a hammock on my balcony, watching the silky blue sea glide by. Dinner with the right view of the solar setting over the ocean. Unwinding in a sauna with large home windows, watching volcanic islands slip by as we sailed away from Santorini…

Just some fleeting reminiscences from a wonderful week aboard the Marella Explorer – simply one of many most stress-free holidays I’ve had in a very long time!

This was my first cruise with Marella Cruises. I’ve all the time been a fan of TUI so I used to be excited to see what their cruise firm may be like – and so they didn’t disappoint.

Relaxed | Reasonably priced | Social

The vibe is simply what you’d count on from TUI: relaxed, enjoyable and social, with a giant give attention to leisure. It’s additionally very reasonably priced – the cruise packages embody flights and transfers and are all-inclusive as normal (together with drinks).

In contrast with extra luxurious cruise strains, the costs are fairly affordable – as are the elective add-ons like premium drinks, spa remedies and excursions. Marella Cruises presents glorious worth for cash together with nice service and an excellent cruising expertise.

I did the Aegean Shores itinerary: eight days cruising round Greece and Turkey, stopping at Corfu, Crete, Santorini, Kusadasi, Athens and Kefalonia.

Assume sizzling, lazy days by the pool, hopping off the boat to discover picturesque Greek villages and Athens’ vibrant metropolis centre, coming again to chill off within the saltwater pool on the highest deck or to chill out within the attractive spa.

If that appears like your concept of a dream vacation, learn on for a full, detailed evaluation of the Marella Explorer ship, with images and a balcony cabin evaluation.

DISCLAIMER: My journey was supported by Marella Cruises, however all phrases, images, and opinions on this evaluation are my very own and are unbiased.

Marella Explorer Assessment

Earlier than I crack on with my full evaluation, listed here are a number of info in regards to the Marella Explorer to introduce the ship:

• Visitor Capability: 1,924
• Variety of Crew: 909
• Size: 262.5m (861 toes)
• Beam (Width): 32.2m (105 toes)
• Tonnage: 76,998 GRT
• Variety of Decks: 13

The professionals of reserving a TUI package deal

The factor I favored finest about my Marella Cruise was that it was a package deal vacation. This meant all the things was booked collectively: flights, transfers, port charges, the all-inclusive cruise – even suggestions, that are included within the cruise payment. The worth you see marketed is the full you pay – SO EASY!

I flew with TUI from Bournemouth to Corfu, the place Marella Cruises workers have been ready proper exterior baggage declare and once more exterior the exit to direct me to the switch. A coach took us to the cruise port, the place we have been met by one other TUI rep who defined the boarding course of. In the meantime, I left my suitcase on the bus and it was taken on to my cabin for me.

The entire expertise was tremendous clean – and I significantly cherished the welcome letter ready on the switch coach, which outlined a number of key elements of what to anticipate. Excellent to your first time cruising.

High tip: be sure you add baggage tags or depart the airline baggage labels in your suitcases so they’re taken straight to your room for you onboard.

The package deal component actually paid off on the best way dwelling. My flight dwelling was a kind of hit by the loopy CrowdStrike/Microsoft IT outage – however as a result of it was a TUI flight, the cruise coordinated with the airport and stored us all onboard the ship for a number of further hours till issues have been settled. A lot better ready within the ship’s A/C, having fun with a number of extra free drinks, than hanging round exterior the airport in 38-degree warmth. Thanks, Marella!

Marella Explorer Cabin Evaluations

There are 962 cabins onboard the Marella Explorer, together with a number of put aside particularly for solo travellers. These are the totally different sorts of cabins out there:

• Inside Cabin: 16m2. These are probably the most reasonably priced cabins; they’re on the inside and haven’t any home windows.
• Exterior Cabin: 17m². These include a porthole or image window.
• Household Inside Cabin: 19m2. These cabins sleep as much as 5 and have a sliding door partition.
• Balcony Cabin: 17m2. Features a queen mattress and a settee mattress – plus a furnished non-public balcony.
• Balcony Cabin (Giant Balcony): 16m2. Similar as above – with a barely larger balcony.
• Household Balcony Cabin with Suite Service*: 20m2. Features a double mattress, a settee mattress and a fold-down mattress (and some extra perks).
• Balcony Junior Suite Cabin with Suite Service*: 22m2. Sleeps three with a queen mattress and a settee mattress.
• Govt Suite Cabin with Suite Service*: 49m2. Sleeps 4, with a settee mattress and a hard and fast queen-size mattress – plus a furnished balcony.
• Single Exterior or Inside Cabin: these are precisely the identical because the common cabins, however have been put aside particularly for solo cruisers.

*Suite Service: cabins function a espresso machine, slippers, a dressing robe, upgraded toiletries and a pillow menu. You additionally get one continental breakfast in mattress per individual per week, and a free urgent service for as much as three gadgets.

Balcony Cabin (Giant Balcony)

I stayed in one of many Giant Balcony Cabins on Deck 9. It was a surprisingly massive room and was very well designed to maximise the area, with a great deal of storage – together with area underneath the mattress for my suitcase.

The principle spotlight of the room is, after all, the balcony. These bigger balconies are nice in order for you a lot of quiet chill time. They arrive with a small desk and chairs, a solar lounger, and a hammock: the right spot for lazing about watching the world go by! 

There was loads of storage, together with two wardrobes and a tall cabinet with cabinets, drawer area, and a small secure. There’s additionally a mini fridge, a desk with drawers, and two bedside tables with drawers. Above the fridge, you get a kettle with tea and low provides topped up day by day.

The en-suite rest room, whereas very compact, didn’t really feel too small. Ship bathe cubicles are often fairly slim and the Marella isn’t any exception, in order that’s the one draw back. There have been cabinets, space for storing, and a big countertop across the sink – loads of room for the extreme quantities of toiletries I all the time appear to pack!

One factor to notice is that the mattress is extra like a foldaway mattress, so the mattress was fairly agency and wasn’t the comfiest on the earth. It wasn’t uncomfortable, both: simply OK.

The decor was easy and impartial: cream partitions, brown carpets, and many light-coloured wooden. If I’m being sincere, it felt a teensy bit boring – however the view from the massive balcony doorways greater than made up for it. The cabin was sensible, snug and spacious – it didn’t should be fancy (particularly since I used to be hardly in it!).

VIDEO: Click on right here to observe my cabin tour on Instagram

Actions and Amenities

There are SO many actions and services to take pleasure in onboard the Marella Explorer. Plus, there’s leisure on all through many of the day and night time, so that you’ll by no means discover time to be bored!

Swimming pools & Sunbathing Areas

Deck 11 is the pool deck: a reasonably large area with a great deal of solar loungers over two ranges, surrounding a fairly sized pool on the centre.

Though it’s formally one swimming pool, it’s extra like two smaller swimming pools subsequent to one another. They’re each fairly deep and have a roomy, ankle-deep shallow space operating across the edge so you’ll be able to sit along with your legs within the water. They’re full of chilly saltwater – which was scrumptious within the 35°C+ Greek warmth!

Subsequent to the pool are three sizzling tubs. These are raised up slightly so that you get some privateness whilst you’re in them. It was too sizzling for me to need to use them most days, however could be nice should you have been cruising in a cooler local weather.

Be warned, the principle pool space get fairly busy, particularly on days once you’re at sea and within the afternoons (when individuals begin getting back from their shore excursions). I discovered mornings and late afternoons (after 5pm) to be the perfect instances for swimming.

There’s additionally loads of sunbathing area away from the pool – a number of of the decks had exterior area with sunloungers alongside the perimeters or rear (aft) of the ship. And up on the very high deck, Deck 14, you could have The Veranda: a peaceable, adults-only Solar Deck with plush padded solar loungers… PERFECT if you wish to get away from the crowded chaos of the pool.

Health club, Sports activities and Recreation Amenities

Sports activities and recreation services onboard are restricted (maybe as a result of the Marella Explorer is aimed in the direction of adults fairly than households). However there’s a superb gymnasium, and some enjoyable sports activities choices (see the record beneath). Regardless of really packing my gymnasium gear for a change, I solely made it into the gymnasium lengthy sufficient to take the above picture – however it seemed good!

• Totally outfitted gymnasium with floor-to-ceiling home windows for a exercise with a view.
• Jogging monitor – a circuit round Deck 12 (go early, earlier than they put the deck chairs out as these get in the best way). 11 laps = 1 mile.
• Sports activities Courtroom – for basketball or mini-football.
• Minigolf – a seven-hole placing course overlooking the ocean.
• Desk tennis – on the Household Deck on Deck 12.

Ocean Spa

Palms down my FAVOURITE a part of the Marella Explorer was the Ocean Spa. It is a large spa space with two saunas, three steam rooms, heated leisure beds, foot baths, an ice-bucket bathe, and extra.

The perfect half? The huge sauna with floor-to-ceiling home windows searching to sea. This was particularly nice throughout the night, after we sailed away from port every day. There’s nothing fairly like stress-free in a sauna while having fun with a front-row view of Greek islands gliding previous!

I believed the worth of the spa was very affordable: I paid £99 for 7 days of limitless entry. The spa is open 8am-10pm so you will get a whole lot of use out of that! And you will get a fair higher deal when booked with a remedy.

There’s an ideal remedy menu with an enormous vary of magnificence and wellness choices. Once more, the costs have been surprisingly affordable, particularly should you guide certainly one of their particular presents. I handled myself to a foot package deal which included a scrub, masks, foot therapeutic massage and scalp therapeutic massage for £59. I additionally had a 75-minute sizzling stone therapeutic massage which I HIGHLY advocate – excellent after a protracted day exploring.

Different Amenities

Indigo On line casino – a small on line casino with slot machines and card tables, tucked behind Indigo Bar. I’m not a gambler, so I steered clear, however it seemed prefer it had a enjoyable environment.

Broad Road outlets – There’s a surprisingly massive vary of retailers onboard the Marella Explorer the place you’ll be able to take advantage of duty-free procuring at sea. Count on purses, sun shades, jewelry, watches, and fragrance – in addition to a number of high-street manufacturers. There’s additionally a small store promoting necessities like shampoo, excellent should you’ve forgotten one thing.

Cinema – I by no means watched a film right here, as I all the time watched the reside leisure throughout the night. It was a decent-sized cinema and there have been often two showings a day, with a family-friendly choice within the daytime (nice if it’s worthwhile to get the youngsters out of the solar for a few hours).

Photograph Studio & Kiosks – There have been photographers at numerous spots all through the ship able to snap your pic should you wished. However there’s additionally a studio on Deck 6 the place you will get knowledgeable photoshoot. Not my cup of tea – however could be nice for a honeymoon. I did, nevertheless, pose for a photograph with Captain Alan – which ended up trying like an engagement picture! I cherished that TUI’s Navigate app used AI face recognition to routinely discover any images of me – making it simple to view them.

Marella Explorer Leisure Assessment

Broadway Present Lounge: A full-sized theatre with a special manufacturing each night time – from musicals to comedians. The reveals and performers have been unimaginable – I used to be blown away by the 2 I watched. Be sure you catch Full Swing if it’s on throughout your cruise – pure Thirties fabulousness.

Motion pictures by Moonlight: Alfresco movies on the pool deck after darkish, with sizzling chocolate and popcorn readily available. Excellent in order for you a extra chilled night.

Reside Music: There have been additionally reside musicians at a number of venues throughout the ship every night time. Once more, these performers are so proficient – and there’s a improbable combine to go well with all tastes. The Lounge and Indigo Bar are the perfect locations to go for this.

Pub Enjoyable: After darkish, there have been additionally recreation reveals and pub quizzes on the onboard pub, the Squid and Anchor. These have been simply the suitable mix of difficult and holiday-park-cheesy enjoyable – I had a blast dropping spectacularly on the quiz night time!

Different Leisure: Throughout the day, there was common poolside leisure (assume trivia video games, aqua aerobics and pool events). In actual fact, it was so frequent it was nearly slightly annoying – however many of the different visitors appeared to like it so it’s potential I’m only a grump!!

Marella Explorer Meals Assessment

On the subject of eating on the Marella Explorer, you’re spoilt for selection. There are tons of various choices and most of them are included in your all-inclusive package deal – together with some that you simply would possibly count on to pay further for.

All-Inclusive Eating places

Latitude 53: the principle eating room

That is the principle eating room on the Marella Explorer, unfold throughout two flooring on the again (aft) of the ship with wonderful ocean views from the floor-to-ceiling home windows. That is significantly particular round sundown!

The gown code is wise, however in contrast to different cruise strains, it’s not overly strict – assume shirts, clothes, and no flip-flops.

Service was glorious, and the home wines (these included with the all-inclusive) have been all nice. The meals was often fairly good, though I’ve to admit that a few of the mains have been a tiny bit bland – I feel they’re going for mass attraction fairly than daring flavours. Nonetheless, I actually by no means had a foul meal on this restaurant and I cherished the vibe.

Vista: Italian delicacies

Vista is definitely a bit inside the Latitude 53 eating room – so that you get the identical decor and lovely sea views. However the menu focuses on Italian delicacies, so it’s nice should you fancy one thing slightly totally different.

I discovered the meals at Vista to be higher than in Latitude 53 – though that will merely be my private desire. Don’t miss the trio of mini tiramisus for dessert if it’s on the menu!

The Market Place: buffet restaurant

A reasonably bog-standard cruise ship buffet – open all day for breakfast, lunch, “afternoon tea” (desserts and snacks) and dinner. Ultimate should you want one thing fast & simple or don’t fancy dressing for dinner (the gown code is informal).

I wasn’t blown away by the meals right here, however it was respectable and there was an ideal choice, particularly at breakfast. I cherished the contemporary omelette station!

Snack Shack: poolside takeaway

Up on the pool deck, there’s a small takeaway joint serving up sizzling snacks like sizzling canine, burgers and hen wings. It’s nice for an off-the-cuff lunch should you don’t really feel like altering out of your swimwear – and the meals is all contemporary, sizzling, and really tasty!

The Mediterranean: Pizza, pasta and tapas

Behind the buffet restaurant, on the aft of the ship, is The Meditteranean – with seating each inside and outside. One half is Spanish tapas, the opposite half is Italian pizza and pasta.

Dinner is a la carte, with both tapas or Italian meals relying on which part you head to. You may also pay an additional complement for “espetadas” (Portuguese-style meat skewers. Throughout the day, The Mediterranean additionally serves self-service lunches – and there’s a improbable bar with some distinctive cocktails.

Speciality Eating places (extra payment)

Along with all of the eating places talked about above, there are additionally 4 speciality eating places. These aren’t included within the all-inclusive package deal so it’s a must to pay slightly further to dine in a single – and it’s extremely advisable to guide upfront as they are often vastly widespread.

I discovered these eating places to be extremely fairly priced contemplating how particular the meals is. For instance, Surf & Turf prices £31.95pp for 3 programs (and home wine by the glass continues to be all-inclusive) whereas Kora La is £26.95pp.

Surf & Turf Steakhouse: Steak and seafood. That is the one one of many speciality eating places I personally ate in, and it was positively the perfect meal I had onboard so I’d extremely advocate it. Excellent for a special day, date night time, or simply an indulgent deal with.

Kora La: Pan-Asian delicacies spanning noodle dishes, curries, and extra.

Umi Sushi: An upscale sushi bar close to the again of the ship, serving conventional sushi and non-fish choices.

The Eating Membership: Tremendous high-end high quality eating for one thing actually particular.

Scoops – A small ice cream parlour on the pool deck – excellent on a sizzling day! One scoop prices £1.50 and so they’re beneficiant scoops, so once more, it’s very reasonably priced.

The Espresso Port – The onboard espresso store is included within the Premium Drinks Package deal or you’ll be able to pay as you go. You will get free tea and low within the eating places and buffet – however for speciality coffees (latte and so forth) you want the Espresso Port. Additionally they do some very tasty desserts and pastries.

Marella Explorer Bars

A fast run-down of all of the bars onboard the Marella Explorer – there are 9 to select from!

1. The Lounge – a cool venue with day by day reside music, a colour-changing bar, sizzling pink piano, and cool-looking ring seats.
2. 53 – intimate bar space proper subsequent to Latitude 53. Ultimate for pre-dinner drinks.
3. Pool Bar – poolside drinks, together with frozen cocktails.
4. The Shack – vibrant poolside bar proper above the Snack Shack.
5. Bar @ The Mediterranean – wrapped across the Mediterranean restaurant with attractive sea views from the outside terrace.
6. Indigo Bar – the place to come back for fancy cocktails – together with margaritas served in a field of smoke. Chilled within the day, with panoramic sea views, and vibing after darkish with reside music and late-night discos on the membership (see beneath).
7. Indigo Membership – a small nightclub behind Indigo Bar, with common silent discos!
8. Aperitif – this fancy bar is true exterior two of the most well-liked speciality eating places, so it’s nice for pre-dinner drinks.
9. Squid & Anchor – Marella’s beloved pub at sea hosts quiz nights, gameshows and reside music.

Marella Explorer Shore Excursions Assessment

Throughout my Aegean Shores cruise with Marella, I did two of their shore excursions: a wine-tasting and sightseeing tour in Crete, and a ship experience and volcano tour in Santorini (click on right here to observe a video of that one).

I discovered all of the excursions to be very fairly priced. Lots of the full-day actions have been across the £30-40 mark, and a few of the extra primary ones have been £12-20. I additionally favored that there was no pushy gross sales rhetoric attempting to persuade me to guide excursions – should you favor to remain on the ship, or discover by yourself, it’s fully as much as you.

Each the excursions I did have been very well organised. The day earlier than, I acquired a ticket in my cabin with the assembly place and time. On arrival, workers have been readily available to ship me to the related bus or boat.

We had professional native guides for each who have been capable of share a little bit of native historical past and – within the case of Santorini’s volcano – geography.

Particularly, I’d extremely advocate the Santorini Volcano tour. This concerned a ship experience in a wood tall ship throughout to the volcanic island, a brief hike up for a view of the caldera, and a fast pit cease to swim within the close by sizzling springs. It was a improbable time out and felt like a mini journey!

High tip: A bonus of reserving an tour is that the ship will anticipate any delayed excursions. In the event you’re exploring by yourself and also you’re late again for any cause, the ship will sail with out you!

Marella Explorer Amenities for Households

Clearly, as a solo traveller, I didn’t want to make use of the Marella Explorer’s household services – however I took observe of what was out there!

Though there have been plenty of households onboard, I’d say the Explorer was positively focused extra in the direction of adults.

The Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2 have far more on provide for households – together with a climbing wall – in order that they may be price a glance should you’re travelling with children. That stated, there was nonetheless lots onboard the Explorer for households:

• Babytainment courses – for teenagers underneath 3 (with parental supervision).
• M Membership – a children’ membership for ages 3-11 with a variety of acitivies.
• Cinema – there have been fairly a number of child’s movies displaying whereas I used to be on my cruise, often throughout the day. Plus Motion pictures by Moonlight on the pool deck, with popcorn and sizzling chocolate from the bar.
• Child’s Pool – there’s a small, shallow child’s pool with a mini slide on the rear (aft) of the ship. At any time when I walked previous it was all the time a lot quieter than the principle pool and there are a number of solar loungers and tables on the close by deck.
• Household deck – the place you’ll discover the mini golf and sports activities courtroom.

Good to Know: The swimming pools on the Marella Explorer are fairly deep, however they do have ankle-deep shallow areas across the edges. In case you have small children I like to recommend bringing floatation gadgets and supervising them within the pool.

Is the Marella Explorer Good for Solo Cruisers?

Though I’m a seasoned solo traveller, this was my first time taking a cruise by myself. I wasn’t certain what to anticipate – and I used to be slightly apprehensive, particularly as I’d heard about travellers on different cruise strains being pressured to sit down at a communal eating desk each night time whether or not they wished to or not.

However Marella Cruises does an ideal job at taking care of solo travellers. On arrival, I had a particular solo cruiser welcome letter in my cabin, inviting me to a particular lunch meet-up on the primary full day.

After that, there was a meetup each night earlier than dinner – and anybody who wished to might go for dinner collectively afterwards. So that you didn’t must dine alone (however you may should you wished to). I ended up eating with the solo group each night time besides one, once I took myself for a solo “date night time” to the upgraded Surf & Turf restaurant.

In fact, the group of solo travellers onboard will all the time be a blended bag. On my cruise, it was principally ladies, and I used to be the youngest by about 20 years (everybody else was 60+). However we nonetheless had a good time and I cherished attending to know the group over the course of the week.

On high of that, there have been a great deal of different methods to fulfill fellow cruisers by means of the day by day actions and excursions. I’ll be doing a separate write-up of the entire expertise as a solo traveller, so keep tuned for that.

READ MORE: 7 Causes to Take a Cruise on Your Personal

Extra Data and FAQ

Is there WiFi on the Marella Explorer?

Sadly, there’s no free WiFi onboard the Marella Explorer. You should buy an web package deal when you get on board – these begin from £8 for an hour and go as much as £90 for 15 days. For a one-week cruise, the £49 8-day 1.6GB package deal might be probably the most cost-effective.

In my expertise, the WiFi was fairly respectable. The sign wasn’t all the time tremendous robust, particularly at sea, however it was surprisingly good more often than not. I used to be capable of put up Instagram Tales (together with movies) all through the journey, stream podcasts/music, and carry on high of my emails – however I by no means tried it for streaming movies or downloading massive information.

High Tip: In the event you favor to not pay, you’ll be able to often discover free WiFi at bars and low outlets whilst you’re in port – useful for saying in contact with individuals at dwelling.

What’s coated in Marella’s All-Inclusive package deal? 

OK – that is the wonderful thing about Marella Cruises. All their ships are All-inclusive as normal, which incorporates all of the eating places I listed above.

In contrast to many cruise strains, which promote separate drinks packages (some costing £100 a day!!) the all-inclusive package deal covers an enormous variety of smooth and alcoholic drinks as normal. This contains wine, beer, some spirits, and a surprisingly respectable cocktail record (these differ from bar to bar). It’s all the time tremendous clear when a drink isn’t included and the waiter or bartender will let you know if one thing incurs an additional cost.

• Meals
• Drinks – fountain smooth drinks (unbranded), mocktails, and primary teas and coffees.
• Alcoholic drinks
• All crew suggestions

I’ve included some instance menus beneath to indicate how most of the cocktails are included within the all-inclusive. As you’ll be able to see, the premium drinks aren’t too dear both:

Is it price upgrading to the Premium All-Inclusive Package deal?

Truthfully, I’m not likely certain it’s. The Premium All-Inclusive package deal contains nearly all of the drinks onboard (see beneath), together with speciality coffees on the Espresso Port. However I believed the usual wines and beers have been nice, and there was an ideal vary of cocktails included. So you actually don’t must improve until you need the additional freedom and selection.

• Most drinks from The Espresso Port
• Cans of sentimental drinks (model title ones)
• Upgraded wine record
• Upgraded cocktails record
• Premium spirits like Bombay Sapphire, Jack Daniels and Absolut Vodka.
• Extra selection of whiskies, brandies and Cognacs.

Closing Ideas

To sum up, I LOVED my week aboard the Marella Explorer. This ship is on the extra reasonably priced, much less luxurious, finish of the size – however it’s snug, well-equipped, and full of services. These are, for my part, the principle promoting factors:

The factor I like finest about Marella Cruises is that they let you could have precisely the form of cruise you need. Not one of the actions felt “pressured” or necessary. In the event you wished to lounge by the pool all day ingesting cocktails, that was completely allowed. However should you wished to fill your days with aqua aerobics and trivia quizzes, there was all the time one thing occurring. There actually is one thing for everybody onboard.

So, there’s my evaluation of the Marella Explorer. Hopefully, I’ve coated just about all the things you may probably need to know in regards to the ship, however be at liberty to remark beneath when you have a query!