Marella Celebration Review

4.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

Never mind room 101 - don't go near cabin 020!!

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Marella Celebration

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Sail Date: Oct 2010

We pick our cruises for their itineraries and as I've always wanted to go to Istanbul, Ephesus and Athens, this seemed ideal. We were dubious about travelling with Thomson as I associate them with family resort type holidays of the 'Benidorm' variety but friends of ours, seasoned cruisers, had stayed on the Celebration before and recommended it. The price also seemed too good to be true. So we booked it through an agent saying we wanted an outside with an unobstructed view but I should have been more attentive when he said we would be close to the lift,as close we were. Why do lifts go bing bong when they reach a floor. You know you're there because the doors open. Why do they have to announce that fact!! For most of the trip,night and day those doors were going bing bong. We were also close to the door that leads out to the sports deck so we had kids and staff in and out slamming the door all day as well as the staff phone about 6 feet from our door that used to ring as early as 6.45 am even though there were no staff about to answer it.

The cabin was described as de luxe but was far from that. It was like stepping back into the 70s with dated furnishings and lighting and had obviously been altered several times with defunct switches and a mini bar fridge area that was cobbled together. The veneer on some of the furniture had chunks missing,the curtain linings were badly damaged and the blind was stuck together with gaffer tape. The enamelled basin in the bathroom was badly chipped, the toilet bowl marked and stained, the tiles around the bath were mildewed and the floor tiles were lifting. The toilet vacuum system was something else. Either it filled with water to the brim before flushing or you could push the button wash and dry your hands and leave the room or even the cabin before it flushed. The boat suffered a lot of movement and vibration even on the 9th deck and this made the cabin door rattle so badly we had to stuff it with paper to stop it every night. When we mentioned the toilet and the door to our cabin steward he said this was normal however they did fix a leak in the ceiling though they didn't think that was a problem either!

The food was fair though not outstanding and was obviously done to satisfy quantity rather than quality. There was quite a choice at all meals but I don't eat anything that I can't identify and as most of the dishes were minced mashed or disguised with sauce or gravy [so much gravy!!] I was stuck with bread and cheese several times. Even a mixed grill came awash with gravy. Most nights in the lido buffet were themed nights i.e. Indian, Tex Mex, far eastern, etc. There was often a choice of a carvery joint but this wasn't all the time.

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