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OnlineAlex · 19 February 2019 at 10:56PM

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if I could have some advice. My boyfriend and I have never been on a cruise before, but I am finding myself really drawn to the idea. I have found one sailing on April 16th 2019 with TUI's Marella Cruises (2 people at £743pp), I was just wondering if someone with more experience would be able to answer afew of questions?

Has anyone stayed in an inside cabin before? Should I look to upgrade to an outside (no balcony)? Would it be worth the extra cost. I have also noticed that cabins are more expensive the higher up in the ship you are? is there a reason for this that I am missing?

Is transport to the nearby cities, such as, Rome or Barcelona included in the cost? I can see you have to pay for excursions but these are with a 'tour guide', I have been to a few of the places we dock before and whilst I'm not an expert I can use my guide books to find our way round for the day.

Has anybody had success with discount codes or cashback when booking through TUI? It does seem like a good deal but I would like to save where I can.

Thank you,
Alex

Caz3121 · 19 February 2019 at 11:04PM

worth looking at cruise critic website - there are loads of boards and there will be one for TUI Marella

TadleyBaggie · 19 February 2019 at 11:28PM

My wife and I went on our first cruise last year, also with Marella. Most of the destinations we went to, the port was close enough to the main area to walk, which we did. The only place we went to that was a bit of the way was Chania, Crete but we took an excursion that day. I can't recall if there was a free shuttle or not. I would never have an inside cabin, we upgraded to a balcony last time but for our next cruise in April we opted for just an outside cabin.

I've used Quidco in the past and got cash back.

gettingtheresometime · 20 February 2019 at 12:31AM

Before you go on a fortnights cruise, go on a taster (3/4 night) just to see if you like the idea.

Each company will be tailored towards a different market so research beforehand.

We've had balcony cabins as well as inside cabins. Inside cabins are like living in a cupboard but we don't spend a lot of time in it so don't mind it.

Also consider stupid things like freedom dining where you can turn up when you're hungry as opposed to fixed time dining (where you're told what time you're eating)

As for tours bear in mind if you're not back on the ship at the time it sails, it will sail without you.....we went to Rome last year on an 'official tour' and was an hour late so the ship waited for us - if we'd been on a diy tour we'd have been stuck

zagfles · 20 February 2019 at 12:35AM

OnlineAlex wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if I could have some advice. My boyfriend and I have never been on a cruise before, but I am finding myself really drawn to the idea. I have found one sailing on April 16th 2019 with TUI's Marella Cruises (2 people at £743pp), I was just wondering if someone with more experience would be able to answer afew of questions?

We went on our first one last year on Marella, to the fjords.

Has anyone stayed in an inside cabin before? Should I look to upgrade to an outside (no balcony)? Would it be worth the extra cost.

You get a window, that's the only difference I think, so depends how important that is to you. We got an outside one because the difference wasn't that much (think about £90).

I have also noticed that cabins are more expensive the higher up in the ship you are? is there a reason for this that I am missing?

Think they're a bit bigger, or have balconies. Plus you'd get a better view I guess.

Is transport to the nearby cities, such as, Rome or Barcelona included in the cost? I can see you have to pay for excursions but these are with a 'tour guide', I have been to a few of the places we dock before and whilst I'm not an expert I can use my guide books to find our way round for the day.

On ours none were except one very local bus to the town centre about a mile away. Excursions are where they make the money, think this applies to all cruise companies, they are very expensive and they use fear of not making it back in time if you do your own thing.

Has anybody had success with discount codes or cashback when booking through TUI? It does seem like a good deal but I would like to save where I can.

Thank you,
Alex

Think we used Quidco.

zagfles · 20 February 2019 at 12:43AM

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Also consider stupid things like freedom dining where you can turn up when you're hungry as opposed to fixed time dining (where you're told what time you're eating)

I don't think that applies on Marella, we just went for dinner whenever we wanted, sometimes there was a bit of a queue for a table but didn't last long. Think you can book but we never did, in fact half the time we used the buffet restaurant which was excellent.

Marella is a lot more laid back and less pretentious/formal than other cruise lines.

TadleyBaggie · 20 February 2019 at 2:05AM

zagfles wrote: »

I don't think that applies on Marella, we just went for dinner whenever we wanted, sometimes there was a bit of a queue for a table but didn't last long. Think you can book but we never did, in fact half the time we used the buffet restaurant which was excellent.

Marella is a lot more laid back and less pretentious/formal than other cruise lines.

Completely agree. Another plus for Marella was that all tips were included in the price. And from this summer all ships will be all inclusive. We had a great time last year and quickly booked our next cruise with them.

Polarpenguin · 20 February 2019 at 2:24AM

Caz3121 wrote: »

worth looking at cruise critic website - there are loads of boards and there will be one for TUI Marella

I would highly recommend looking on cruise critic as lots of information on each cruise line & ports to. Lots of very knowledgeable people on there.

I did a Marella Greek Island cruise about two years ago, had an inside cabin. Was certainly big enough for us. Don't spend a great deal of time in your cabin any way. Would recommend looking at a deck plan to check what is above and below your chosen cabin, don't want to be below the casino or night club!!

Some ports have free shuttle buses laid on others use public transport or the cruise line will charge for transport into town.
Do your research and choose the best option for each port.

If your arranging your own flights to your embarkation port, recommend flying in at least a day before, the cruise will not wait if your flight is delayed. If flight is part of a Marella package it is TUi's responsibility to get you too the ship.

shykins · 20 February 2019 at 8:39AM

re your ports. there is a website called whatsinport which gives really good info on the ports and what is near etc

we always book for the cheapest cabin, sometimes we get upgraded, sometimes not. ok its nice to have a window but most of the day we are out and about and only time spent in the cabin is when we are sleeping so a window isnt much use then

most cruise ships have a buffet where you can eat whenever you want. cant really help particularly with Tui as we havent been with them but I believe there are facebook pages that might help more as well as cruisecritic which has already been mentioned

gettingtheresometime · 21 February 2019 at 12:07AM

Meant to add it would be worth checking where the ship actually docks.

As an example P&O advertise Bruges cruises but actually dock in Zeaburggue....yes there's a free shuttle to the nearest town and then you've got a 20 minute train journey to Bruges.

Similarly when we went on a 'Rome' cruise it was a 60 minute road or train journey.

Also bear in mind that should you forget to disable it maritime internet data roaming charges is hideously expensive

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