Overview
About
Passengers: 1,830 | Crew: 753
Passengers to crew: 2.43:1
Launched: 1996
Cabins
Balcony
Cabin size: 139 - 172 sq. ft.
Connected rooms: 50
Accessible rooms: 0
Maximum passengers: 4
Number of cabins: 270
Reviews
Traveller rating
- 219
- 105
- 82
- 29
- 50
Time of year
Language
Selected filters
- Filter
- English
5th Marella cruise picked for the Itinerary. Pros great staff on the whole Good Itinerary, we did Marella excursions, Istanbul busy but enjoyable, Izmir , very interesting great excursion. Bodrum enjoyable excursion, Crete on our own was good , Rhodes Town walkable from the ship and very pleasant. Junior suite very nice as usual . Cons, food not great in the included venues . Certainly below restaurant standards , Marella seem to think because you are given a menu and it is served that is enough but the choices are boring, uninspired. Queuing each night is unacceptable, when you get into the restaurant there are plenty of empty tables , need more staff . Too many sunbeds crammed around the pool for me and still towels left on beds for hours . We did a 3 night stay after in Marmaris the hotel food was the best I've ever seen , quality and choice .…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Our 3rd marella cruise and once again an enjoyable experience. We stayed in a junior deluxe balcony cabin on 7th floor and the room was kept spotless during the week we travelled, thanks to Jaiya our housekeeper and his colleagues. Jaiya always greeted us with a smile and asked if everything ok with room, and the towel animals that greeted us on our return to the cabin were a tonic too The room itself was fine, and the shower a lot bigger than a standard balcony cabin we usually have, but the railings on the balcony itself were quite rusty which I guess is down to age of the ship and the salty sea water. Food in most restaurants fine, but 47 restaurant a bit of a disappointment as the two visits on this holiday were met with a long wait and the food being served lukewarm Food in the glasshouse was lovely, but limited menu during the day so tended to have the same thing each day Islands restaurant very busy, too many people walking around each food station at the same time, some people not using tongs provided, or leaning over you when you were getting your own food, or walking into you as you carried food/drinks back to the table was quite off putting. I found some guests very rude and unhygenic in this respect Entertainment team not as good as with previous cruises, but they do try to get the guests involved with daily quizzes on the pool deck on in the Squid & Anchor. I noticed some of the entertainment team lacked confidence as if they have not being doing the job for long so still nervous around people, whilst one or two had too much confidence and became annoying. The onboard entertainment catered more for the older guests ie pianist, old time dancing, but from what I could see, most people enjoyed We only attended one evening show in the theatre which was the reps show Diva. Found the theatre not friendly for non disabled passengers but who have some mobility issues. Once the lights go off and you are sat at the back of the theatre, it is quite dangerous to exit via the steps to fetch a drink/visit the bathroom, and we witnessed a few guests alling up and down the steps carrying drinks. The steps are not all full steps, just half a step, so should all be lit up or have strip lighting on each step to prevent these accidents. The excursions we did not do so cannot comment ,but we did leave the ship at every port and enjoyed every location except for Athens, as we had to catch a taxi into the main centre, which took an age due to the volume of city traffic and when we got there, found most of the restaurants or bars only welcomed you if you were buying a meal, not willing just to serve drinks. Overall a great holiday due to the company we travelled with, and fantastic weather…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Last marella cruise we will be doing. As somebody has already said, deluxe is not deluxe anymore. No bottled water in rooms when upgrading rooms or premium packages, no extras despite these being advertised. Seems these are removed from listing for 2025 cruises advertisements but not 2024 but extras removed from cabins. Then when asking someone they respond as if you should know, seems the staff aren’t even aware these extras are still being advertised. So many problems with people and their bank cards placed on the system. Marella taking money from accounts then saying they haven’t received any money for accounts even though bank statements show full amounts taken (not pending). Also, there’s a cherry charge for each person automatically put on your cabin account bill to which you aren’t asked if you would like to opt in for, they just add it to your account so if there’s 1800 people a week on a cruise holidaying that’s £1800 made by marella which they say goes for charity, marella then can claim they pay towards charity, all a con to enable tax reductions etc, they all do it but there’s something quite immoral about just taking money from patrons without telling them or at least asking them, especially as TUI charge £2 when booking your holiday. You can request the charge be removed but in reality who will do that and marella know it. All in all, a few pleasant members of staff, some quite rude, processes for reception, tenders I felt were not great, room standard, food standard and just a disappointing experience. Seems standards have slipped, maybe to make more profit. I won’t be booking another cruise with marella again any time soon. There’s plenty of cruise options so will be giving marella a wide birth.…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
We had two weeks on Discovery the cruise was purely picked down to the destinations. Second cruise with Marella and all in all very good. The ship was the cleanest we have been on, cabin was spacious and lots of storage ( must have been refurbished since we were last on) Like the glass house a lot… it was quieter and more civilised than islands at times! Some guests ignored use of tongs in the buffet and just grabbed at cheese, biscuits etc which put me off. Food was very good overall and plenty of options to mix it up. We didn’t do the premium drinks package and the one included was perfect for us. The shows were good, liked the pianist and one of the bands. The entertainment was dire on the pool deck ( you had to escape it by positioning yourself either at the front or back of the ship if you wished to sunbathe and not be subjected to it. It appeared that the constant quizzes and competitions all of which were loud and intrusive were the highlight of some of the passenger’s holiday ( each to their own but if you like butlins at sea type entertainment then this will be for you) Organised trips were excellent, great guides and transfers! Tender operation extremely well executed in Mykonos. Sadly we didn’t get to Santorini due to the weather conditions, I am sure a difficult decision for Captain Ryan to make as I think the majority of passengers were looking forward to seeing it. The ship would have been booked to visit when the cruise itinerary was published and unfortunately as it was a tender it was deemed not safe for the island transfer. Whilst we were disappointed we understood the reasoning and passenger/crew safety is key. Thanks Marella Discovery…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Yet again another amazing week with Marella. This time aboard the Discovery and Aegean Jewels. Staff next level friendly and helpful The cruise director described Marella cruise ships as stepping into your local pub and feeling at home - bang on the money. You can dress up or dress down, you can cruise how you want to. Plenty to do all day and night but places for quiet too. Shows and live music fantastic. Food fabulous Drinks great (we didn’t do premium). Transfers amazing. Each port amazing and plenty to choose from to do and all so well organised. I cannot wait to book another cruise…a new port everyday what’s not to love.…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful