Discussion
Just been watching all the Icon of the Seas vids.
As expected it looks gross, but the most striking thing is the sheer volume of extra payola they try to milk you for - $90 for a 30 second quasi zipline thing at the top of the ship, $6-700 for what appears to be a gazebo for the day with a couple of extra drinks thrown in.
They have a couple of billion to claw back of course, but by the end of the week I'd be pilfering the uniform off the captain such would be my resentment at what had been charged.
As expected it looks gross, but the most striking thing is the sheer volume of extra payola they try to milk you for - $90 for a 30 second quasi zipline thing at the top of the ship, $6-700 for what appears to be a gazebo for the day with a couple of extra drinks thrown in.
They have a couple of billion to claw back of course, but by the end of the week I'd be pilfering the uniform off the captain such would be my resentment at what had been charged.
egor110 said:
Just booked 2 weeks cruise around the Caribbean with marella.
Wasn't really looking for a cruise just seemed pretty good value for the money and a good way of seeing lots of different beaches in a fortnight.
Snap but for 1 week. We've never been on a cruise before so it should be entertaining at least. Wasn't really looking for a cruise just seemed pretty good value for the money and a good way of seeing lots of different beaches in a fortnight.
toasty said:
egor110 said:
Just booked 2 weeks cruise around the Caribbean with marella.
Wasn't really looking for a cruise just seemed pretty good value for the money and a good way of seeing lots of different beaches in a fortnight.
Snap but for 1 week. We've never been on a cruise before so it should be entertaining at least. Wasn't really looking for a cruise just seemed pretty good value for the money and a good way of seeing lots of different beaches in a fortnight.
They just make it all so easy.
The staff are lovely, and enthusiastic. The food is good. The entertainment - entertaining.
Worth considering upgrading to the "premium" drinks package (about £70pppw from memory), depending on what you drink. A big advantage of it is you get canned soft drinks rather than from the pumps which is a big plus if you're using soft drinks as a mixer.
Deep Thought said:
Marella are a great jumping off point for cruises. Our first 4 cruises were with Marella.
They just make it all so easy.
The staff are lovely, and enthusiastic. The food is good. The entertainment - entertaining.
Worth considering upgrading to the "premium" drinks package (about £70pppw from memory), depending on what you drink. A big advantage of it is you get canned soft drinks rather than from the pumps which is a big plus if you're using soft drinks as a mixer.
Thanks, done. They just make it all so easy.
The staff are lovely, and enthusiastic. The food is good. The entertainment - entertaining.
Worth considering upgrading to the "premium" drinks package (about £70pppw from memory), depending on what you drink. A big advantage of it is you get canned soft drinks rather than from the pumps which is a big plus if you're using soft drinks as a mixer.
bloomen said:
Just been watching all the Icon of the Seas vids.
As expected it looks gross, but the most striking thing is the sheer volume of extra payola they try to milk you for - $90 for a 30 second quasi zipline thing at the top of the ship, $6-700 for what appears to be a gazebo for the day with a couple of extra drinks thrown in.
They have a couple of billion to claw back of course, but by the end of the week I'd be pilfering the uniform off the captain such would be my resentment at what had been charged.
Yes it looks tacky and would be full of Americans, but my bucket list is a Caribbean cruise around the Bahamas from Florida. And of the videos I've seen, Royal Caribbean definitely seems more my vibe.As expected it looks gross, but the most striking thing is the sheer volume of extra payola they try to milk you for - $90 for a 30 second quasi zipline thing at the top of the ship, $6-700 for what appears to be a gazebo for the day with a couple of extra drinks thrown in.
They have a couple of billion to claw back of course, but by the end of the week I'd be pilfering the uniform off the captain such would be my resentment at what had been charged.
this is an interesting review - a Costa cruise for £30 per day...
https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/costa-smeralda-revie...
admittedly there would be flights to add to that but still stonkingly good value
https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/costa-smeralda-revie...
admittedly there would be flights to add to that but still stonkingly good value
75Black said:
Yes it looks tacky and would be full of Americans, but my bucket list is a Caribbean cruise around the Bahamas from Florida. And of the videos I've seen, Royal Caribbean definitely seems more my vibe.
That's my main employer.They are great ships but will also be full of Americans...
paulguitar said:
75Black said:
Yes it looks tacky and would be full of Americans, but my bucket list is a Caribbean cruise around the Bahamas from Florida. And of the videos I've seen, Royal Caribbean definitely seems more my vibe.
That's my main employer.They are great ships but will also be full of Americans...
DodgyGeezer said:
this is an interesting review - a Costa cruise for £30 per day...
https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/costa-smeralda-revie...
admittedly there would be flights to add to that but still stonkingly good value
That's quite expensive for a meander round some coffee shops.https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/costa-smeralda-revie...
admittedly there would be flights to add to that but still stonkingly good value
toasty said:
Deep Thought said:
Marella are a great jumping off point for cruises. Our first 4 cruises were with Marella.
They just make it all so easy.
The staff are lovely, and enthusiastic. The food is good. The entertainment - entertaining.
Worth considering upgrading to the "premium" drinks package (about £70pppw from memory), depending on what you drink. A big advantage of it is you get canned soft drinks rather than from the pumps which is a big plus if you're using soft drinks as a mixer.
Thanks, done. They just make it all so easy.
The staff are lovely, and enthusiastic. The food is good. The entertainment - entertaining.
Worth considering upgrading to the "premium" drinks package (about £70pppw from memory), depending on what you drink. A big advantage of it is you get canned soft drinks rather than from the pumps which is a big plus if you're using soft drinks as a mixer.
Also, you get premium coffees included from the coffee dock.
Bottled water to your room too, from memory.
FastNLoud said:
I am thinking about booking a Caribbean cruise with marella too for my forst cruise. Are marella good? I have seen some people saying it's like butlins/benidorm at sea so slightly hesitant. However their cruises do seem to vist lots of different islands which is what I'm after
Have a look at some of the video reviews on youtube from the likes of Paul & Carole Love to Travel and Emma Cruises. There are lots of positives to using them for your first cruise - primarily, theres a package holiday wrapper put around the whole thing so you dont have to worry about flights and transfers. Its all very slick (given the parent company is TUI thats no surprise).
The ships are older - but refurbed to a good standard. Voyager is the newest and is done in a modern style. Discovery and Discovery 2 have wow factor atriums and are nicer inside. Explorer and Explorer 2 are good ships but a little bit plain by comparison.
Explorer 2 is adult only, if thats a possibility for you.
They cater exclusively for UK passengers, which has positives and negatives too. Food is to UK tastes, English is the only language used on board.
At high summer season when the kids are off yes, the ships will be busy with family groups. I think any family oriented cruise line could have the "Butlins at sea" tag thrown at them at that time.
The ships are quite small compared to the latest huge ships. I remember our first cruise (Marella Dream) and we were watching for the ship in the port on our way and my wife said "theres our ship sitting beside that apartment block" and then "thats no apartment block!" (It was AIDANova beside our ship).
Of course the plus of that is the ships are easy to find your way around.
Also lots of groups on FB for each cruise ship, so join those and do some searches, but to me, i'd be on youtube having a look.
FastNLoud said:
I am thinking about booking a Caribbean cruise with marella too for my forst cruise. Are marella good? I have seen some people saying it's like butlins/benidorm at sea so slightly hesitant. However their cruises do seem to vist lots of different islands which is what I'm after
I've also read that but we've got no sea days every single day we visit somewhere new , plenty of time to escape .Also i've read book the spa for the duration of your stay as it has it's own sun deck so quieter.
egor110 said:
FastNLoud said:
I am thinking about booking a Caribbean cruise with marella too for my forst cruise. Are marella good? I have seen some people saying it's like butlins/benidorm at sea so slightly hesitant. However their cruises do seem to vist lots of different islands which is what I'm after
I've also read that but we've got no sea days every single day we visit somewhere new , plenty of time to escape .Also i've read book the spa for the duration of your stay as it has it's own sun deck so quieter.
Deep Thought said:
egor110 said:
FastNLoud said:
I am thinking about booking a Caribbean cruise with marella too for my forst cruise. Are marella good? I have seen some people saying it's like butlins/benidorm at sea so slightly hesitant. However their cruises do seem to vist lots of different islands which is what I'm after
I've also read that but we've got no sea days every single day we visit somewhere new , plenty of time to escape .Also i've read book the spa for the duration of your stay as it has it's own sun deck so quieter.
paulguitar said:
75Black said:
Yes it looks tacky and would be full of Americans, but my bucket list is a Caribbean cruise around the Bahamas from Florida. And of the videos I've seen, Royal Caribbean definitely seems more my vibe.
That's my main employer.They are great ships but will also be full of Americans...
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