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An in-depth evaluation of the Marella Explorer cruise ship from TUI – together with cabin opinions.
Lazing in a hammock on my balcony, watching the silky blue sea glide by. Dinner with the proper view of the solar setting over the ocean. Unwinding in a sauna with enormous 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 some of the enjoyable holidays I’ve had in a very long time!
This was my first cruise with Marella Cruises. I’ve at all times been a fan of TUI so I used to be excited to see what their cruise firm is perhaps 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 an enormous concentrate on leisure. It’s additionally very inexpensive – the cruise packages embrace flights and transfers and are all-inclusive as normal (together with drinks).
In contrast with extra luxurious cruise traces, the costs are fairly affordable – as are the optionally available add-ons like premium drinks, spa therapies and excursions. Marella Cruises gives glorious worth for cash together with nice service and a superb 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 scorching, 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 feels like your thought 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 Evaluation
Earlier than I crack on with my full evaluation, listed below are a number of information 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 appreciated finest about my Marella Cruise was that it was a package deal vacation. This meant every part was booked collectively: flights, transfers, port charges, the all-inclusive cruise – even suggestions, that are included within the cruise charge. 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 easy – and I significantly cherished the welcome letter ready on the switch coach, which outlined a number of key points of what to anticipate. Good in 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 aspect actually paid off on the best way house. My flight house was a type 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 additional 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 Opinions
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 obtainable:
Inside Cabin: 16m2. These are essentially the most inexpensive cabins; they’re on the inside and don’t have 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 personal balcony.
Balcony Cabin (Massive Balcony): 16m2. Identical 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 further perks).
Balcony Junior Suite Cabin with Suite Service*: 22m2. Sleeps three with a queen mattress and a settee mattress.
Government 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 particular person per week, and a free urgent service for as much as three objects.
Balcony Cabin (Massive Balcony)
I stayed in one of many Massive Balcony Cabins on Deck 9. It was a surprisingly large room and was very well designed to maximise the house, with a great deal of storage – together with house underneath the mattress for my suitcase.
The primary spotlight of the room is, in fact, the balcony. These bigger balconies are nice if you’d like numerous quiet chill time. They arrive with a small desk and chairs, a solar lounger, and a hammock: the proper 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 house, and a small protected. 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 occasional provides topped up day by day.
The en-suite rest room, whereas very compact, didn’t really feel too small. Ship bathe cubicles are normally fairly slender 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 at all times 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 this planet. 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 large 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 amenities to take pleasure in onboard the Marella Explorer. Plus, there’s leisure on all through many of the day and evening, 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 house 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 working across the edge so you may sit along with your legs within the water. They’re stuffed with chilly saltwater – which was scrumptious within the 35°C+ Greek warmth!
Subsequent to the pool are three scorching tubs. These are raised up a bit of so that you get some privateness whilst you’re in them. It was too scorching for me to need to use them most days, however could be nice in the event you have been cruising in a cooler local weather.
Be warned, the principle pool space get fairly busy, particularly on days if 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 most effective instances for swimming.
There’s additionally loads of sunbathing house away from the pool – a number of of the decks had exterior house with sunloungers alongside the perimeters or rear (aft) of the ship. And up on the very high deck, Deck 14, you might 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.
Gymnasium, Sports activities and Recreation Amenities
Sports activities and recreation amenities onboard are restricted (maybe as a result of the Marella Explorer is aimed in direction of adults slightly than households). However there’s a superb health club, and some enjoyable sports activities choices (see the record under). Regardless of truly packing my health club gear for a change, I solely made it into the health club lengthy sufficient to take the above photograph – however it appeared good!
Totally outfitted health club with floor-to-ceiling home windows for a exercise with a view.
Jogging observe – 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 Court docket – 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 enormous spa space with two saunas, three steam rooms, heated leisure beds, foot baths, an ice-bucket bathe, and extra.
The very best half? The large sauna with floor-to-ceiling home windows searching to sea. This was particularly nice in the course of the night, once we sailed away from port every day. There’s nothing fairly like enjoyable in a sauna while having fun with a front-row view of Greek islands gliding previous!
I believed the value of the spa was very affordable: I paid £99 for 7 days of limitless entry. The spa is open 8am-10pm so you may get a variety of use out of that! And you may get an excellent higher deal when booked with a remedy.
There’s an amazing remedy menu with an enormous vary of magnificence and wellness choices. Once more, the costs have been surprisingly affordable, particularly in the event you guide one in every of their particular gives. 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 scorching stone therapeutic massage which I HIGHLY suggest – 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 appeared prefer it had a enjoyable environment.
Broad Avenue outlets – There’s a surprisingly massive vary of retailers onboard the Marella Explorer the place you may take advantage of duty-free purchasing 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 in the event you’ve forgotten one thing.
Cinema – I by no means watched a film right here, as I at all times watched the reside leisure in the course of the night. It was a decent-sized cinema and there have been normally two showings a day, with a family-friendly choice within the daytime (nice if you might want to get the children 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 in the event you needed. However there’s additionally a studio on Deck 6 the place you may get knowledgeable photoshoot. Not my cup of tea – however could be nice for a honeymoon. I did, nonetheless, pose for a photograph with Captain Alan – which ended up wanting like an engagement photograph! I cherished that TUI’s Navigate app used AI face recognition to mechanically discover any images of me – making it simple to view them.
Marella Explorer Leisure Evaluation
Broadway Present Lounge: A full-sized theatre with a distinct manufacturing each evening – from musicals to comedians. The exhibits and performers have been unimaginable – I used to be blown away by the 2 I watched. Be sure to catch Full Swing if it’s on throughout your cruise – pure Nineteen Thirties fabulousness.
Films by Moonlight: Alfresco movies on the pool deck after darkish, with scorching chocolate and popcorn available. Good if you’d like a extra chilled night.
Dwell Music: There have been additionally reside musicians at a number of venues throughout the ship every evening. Once more, these performers are so gifted – and there’s a improbable combine to swimsuit all tastes. The Lounge and Indigo Bar are the most effective locations to move for this.
Pub Enjoyable: After darkish, there have been additionally sport exhibits and pub quizzes on the onboard pub, the Squid and Anchor. These have been simply the proper mix of difficult and holiday-park-cheesy enjoyable – I had a blast shedding spectacularly on the quiz evening!
Different Leisure: In the course of the day, there was common poolside leisure (suppose trivia video games, aqua aerobics and pool events). The truth is, it was so frequent it was virtually a bit of annoying – however many of the different visitors appeared to adore it so it’s doable I’m only a grump!!
Marella Explorer Meals Evaluation
In the case of eating on the Marella Explorer, you’re spoilt for alternative. There are tons of various choices and most of them are included in your all-inclusive package deal – together with some that you just may count on to pay additional 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 superb ocean views from the floor-to-ceiling home windows. That is significantly particular round sundown!
The gown code is sensible, however not like different cruise traces, it’s not overly strict – suppose 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 normally fairly good, though I’ve to admit that a number of the mains have been a tiny bit bland – I believe they’re going for mass enchantment slightly than daring flavours. Nonetheless, I definitely by no means had a foul meal on this restaurant and I cherished the vibe.
Vista: Italian delicacies
Vista is definitely a piece throughout the Latitude 53 eating room – so that you get the identical decor and beautiful sea views. However the menu focuses on Italian delicacies, so it’s nice in the event you fancy one thing a bit of totally different.
I discovered the meals at Vista to be higher than in Latitude 53 – though which 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” (muffins and snacks) and dinner. Very best in the event 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 first rate and there was an amazing 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 scorching snacks like scorching canine, burgers and hen wings. It’s nice for an informal lunch in the event you don’t really feel like altering out of your swimwear – and the meals is all contemporary, scorching, 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 too can pay an additional complement for “espetadas” (Portuguese-style meat skewers. In the course of the day, The Mediterranean additionally serves self-service lunches – and there’s a improbable bar with some distinctive cocktails.
Speciality Eating places (further charge)
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 a bit of additional to dine in a single – and it’s extremely beneficial to guide prematurely as they are often massively well-liked.
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 remains 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 undoubtedly the most effective meal I had onboard so I’d extremely suggest it. Good for a special day, date evening, 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 advantageous eating for one thing really particular.
Scoops – A small ice cream parlour on the pool deck – excellent on a scorching day! One scoop prices £1.50 and so they’re beneficiant scoops, so once more, it’s very inexpensive.
The Espresso Port – The onboard espresso store is included within the Premium Drinks Package deal or you may pay as you go. You may get free tea and occasional within the eating places and buffet – however for speciality coffees (latte and many others) you want the Espresso Port. In addition they do some very tasty muffins and pastries.
Marella Explorer Bars
A fast run-down of all of the bars onboard the Marella Explorer – there are 9 to select from!
The Lounge – a cool venue with day by day reside music, a colour-changing bar, scorching pink piano, and cool-looking ring seats.
53 – intimate bar space proper subsequent to Latitude 53. Very best for pre-dinner drinks.
Pool Bar – poolside drinks, together with frozen cocktails.
The Shack – vibrant poolside bar proper above the Snack Shack.
Bar @ The Mediterranean – wrapped across the Mediterranean restaurant with attractive sea views from the outside terrace.
Indigo Bar – the place to return 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 under).
Indigo Membership – a small nightclub behind Indigo Bar, with common silent discos!
Aperitif – this fancy bar is correct exterior two of the most well-liked speciality eating places, so it’s nice for pre-dinner drinks.
Squid & Anchor – Marella’s beloved pub at sea hosts quiz nights, gameshows and reside music.
Marella Explorer Shore Excursions Evaluation
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 journey 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 number of the extra primary ones have been £12-20. I additionally appreciated that there was no pushy gross sales rhetoric attempting to persuade me to guide excursions – in the event you desire 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 obtained a ticket in my cabin with the assembly place and time. On arrival, workers have been 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 suggest the Santorini Volcano tour. This concerned a ship journey 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 scorching 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 look forward to any delayed excursions. In the event you’re exploring by yourself and also you’re late again for any purpose, 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 amenities – however I took notice of what was obtainable!
Though there have been plenty of households onboard, I’d say the Explorer was undoubtedly focused extra in direction of adults.
The Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2 have far more on provide for households – together with a climbing wall – so that they is perhaps value a glance in the event you’re travelling with children. That stated, there was nonetheless a lot 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 exhibiting whereas I used to be on my cruise, normally in the course of the day. Plus Films by Moonlight on the pool deck, with popcorn and scorching 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 at all times 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 court docket.
Good to Know: The swimming pools on the Marella Explorer are fairly deep, however they do have ankle-deep shallow areas across the edges. You probably have small children I like to recommend bringing floatation units 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 alone. I wasn’t certain what to anticipate – and I used to be a bit of apprehensive, particularly as I’d heard about travellers on different cruise traces being compelled to sit down at a communal eating desk each evening whether or not they needed to or not.
However Marella Cruises does an amazing 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 needed to may go for dinner collectively afterwards. So that you didn’t must dine alone (however you might in the event you needed to). I ended up eating with the solo group each evening besides one, after I took myself for a solo “date evening” to the upgraded Surf & Turf restaurant.
After all, the group of solo travellers onboard will at all times be a blended bag. On my cruise, it was largely ladies, and I used to be the youngest by about twenty 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 satisfy fellow cruisers by way 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 essentially the most cost-effective.
In my expertise, the WiFi was fairly first rate. The sign wasn’t at all times tremendous sturdy, 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 desire to not pay, you may normally discover free WiFi at bars and occasional outlets whilst you’re in port – helpful for saying in contact with individuals at house.
What’s coated in Marella’s All-Inclusive package deal?
OK – that is the beauty of Marella Cruises. All their ships are All-inclusive as normal, which incorporates all of the eating places I listed above.
Not like many cruise traces, which promote separate drinks packages (some costing £100 a day!!) the all-inclusive package deal covers an enormous variety of gentle and alcoholic drinks as normal. This consists of wine, beer, some spirits, and a surprisingly first rate cocktail record (these fluctuate from bar to bar). It’s at all times tremendous clear when a drink isn’t included and the waiter or bartender will inform you if one thing incurs an additional cost.
Meals
Drinks – fountain gentle drinks (unbranded), mocktails, and primary teas and coffees.
Alcoholic drinks
All crew suggestions
I’ve included some instance menus under to indicate how most of the cocktails are included within the all-inclusive. As you may see, the premium drinks aren’t too dear both:
Is it value upgrading to the Premium All-Inclusive Package deal?
Actually, I’m not likely certain it’s. The Premium All-Inclusive package deal consists of virtually all of the drinks onboard (see under), together with speciality coffees on the Espresso Port. However I believed the usual wines and beers have been nice, and there was an amazing vary of cocktails included. So you actually don’t have to improve until you need the additional freedom and selection.
Most drinks from The Espresso Port
Cans of sentimental drinks (model identify ones)
Upgraded wine record
Upgraded cocktails record
Premium spirits like Bombay Sapphire, Jack Daniels and Absolut Vodka.
Extra alternative of whiskies, brandies and Cognacs.
Ultimate Ideas
To sum up, I LOVED my week aboard the Marella Explorer. This ship is on the extra inexpensive, much less luxurious, finish of the size – however it’s snug, well-equipped, and full of amenities. These are, for my part, the principle promoting factors:
Relaxed
Pleasant however unfussy service, chilled-out vibes, a great deal of house for sunbathing, loads of bars, an AMAZING spa, and pretty relaxed gown codes within the eating areas (in contrast with a number of the high-end cruise traces).
Social
A great deal of actions all through the day, meet-ups for solo travellers, and loads of methods to satisfy individuals.
Reasonably priced
Good package deal offers, tons of drinks and eating choices coated within the all-inclusive package deal, affordable costs for the speciality eating places and the spa, and really fairly priced excursions. However all of the extras are optionally available and certainly not essential to have an excellent time – so you might simply spend per week aboard with out spending a penny greater than your cruise charge.
The factor I like finest about Marella Cruises is that they let you might have precisely the form of cruise you need. Not one of the actions felt “compelled” or obligatory. In the event you needed to lounge by the pool all day consuming cocktails, that was completely allowed. However in the event you needed to fill your days with aqua aerobics and trivia quizzes, there was at all times 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 every part you might probably need to know in regards to the ship, however be at liberty to remark under if in case you have a query!