Marella Discovery Review

4.0 / 5.0
546 reviews

DIsappointing Inaugural Cruise

Review for the Mediterranean Cruise on Marella Discovery
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Charming Oldie
2-5 Cruises • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016

My wife and I have been customers of Thomson since 1994 and have cruised four times - two on the Majesty and one on the Dream (and now one on the Discovery). Our cruise was the inaugural cruise and was very disappointing. We embarked at Mallorca and had to find our own way to our cabin (3529). We never saw our cabin steward throughout (if we had one that is). We only saw cleaners daily. The cabin was spacious and there was a lot of storage for an inside cabin. A downside was the telephone mounted on the wall on the right in the middle of the cabin. To answer it at night we would have to get out of bed, put the light on to see the telephone. Bedside lights were overhead in such a position as to make it impossible to sit up and read unless laying and sitting sideways to one corner. Everything else was fine. Eating: Firstly `Islands` (the Buffet) was very badly laid out and very disorganised. The food was edible but nothing startling. The staff cleared away the table almost before you finished. We did not eat there much. 47 degree Restaurant was very attractive but the staff were evidently inexperienced in the main. It could take ages for the courses to appear and clearing away was slow and irritating at times. Half of the staff appeared happy but the other as if they did not want to be on the ship but they themselves were willing and worked hard. Gallery 47 was the best and that was an Italian part situated above 47 degrees. That was better staff and they were more on the ball and very much happier. The food was not too bad but again clearing away was slow. My big gripe was handling the wine. I had a bottle of Pino Grigio which they kept losing (I am not a very heavy drinker). Every evening (in both restaurants) they took ages to find that bottle and once, in desperation, I bought a bottle of Merlot but it happened with that as well. I noticed on occasion that my Pino Grigio was not mine but somebody else`s. Still, I wanted wine and so I just accepted it but the next evening when they found it, it was a bottle with less in it. Neither restaurant was staffed exclusively with males but had a selection of female waiters which was a nice change. For the size of the ship it did a lot of `rockin-n-rollin` as we approached the edge of a depression more than once and I wondered if we were too slow for the stablisers to operate correctly. Would we go on the ship again - maybe in a couple of years. It was expensive for what it was this time and my wife and I are thinking perhaps we should have a change and go to P&O or the like.

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