"We chose this cruise because it visited so many different places in the Caribbean - we only had one sea day in 2 weeks as we did a back to back cruise. When we landed at barbados we walked off the plane on to a..."Read More
Pauline whitaker
10+ Cruises
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Age 70s
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1-10 of 62 Thomson Marella Explorer Cruise Reviews
Arriving in Tenerife after our flight from Manchester we embarked on Explorer. Our first impressions were good. Although the ship is around 25 years old, it is in good condition and has recently been refurbished. Happily, we were given a our first upgrade by TUI. As cruise veterans we have sailed with half a dozen cruise companies, large and small. So TUI , thanks for treat of a cabin upgrade.
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Well having sailed with Thompson on the Thompson Spirit (which was falling to peices) this was a pleasant surprise. The ship isn't new but they have obviously invested a lot of money refitting the ship. Everywhere was clean, the food was great quality and selection (main dinning hall (Latitude 56), buffet restaurant (the market place), an Italian (serves buffet style pizzas and pasta during the ...
Having read a number of negative reviews we went on this cruise (out first with Marella) with no real expectations. We came back quite impressed and would not hesitate booking another cruise provided it came in at a good price/ itinerary.
We have travelled on a number of lines including Oceania, Azamara, Celibrity, MSC, Holland America, Royal Carribean, Pullmantur and Princess. A number of ...
This was a Canaries cruise where we picked the ship up in Santa Cruz Tenerife. We have done this cruise before with another company so had no need to visit the locality again. Although an easy walk into the town, about 20mins. The Explorer is a mid sized ship with about 2000 passengers and 1000 crew on board.
They have been doing this a while now and the whole operation for embarkation was very ...
We chose this cruise because my wife's bucket included waning to see the Northern lights. It didn't disappoint. However there are only a few days during the cruise when this is possible. This is when the ship is inside the Atric circle. ( only 3 day on this itinery) you also need the right weather conditions & they are only visible for a few hours ( normally between about 10pm & 2am).
Our ...
After reading some of the reviews on here, I was not looking forward to this cruise. However, we had an excellent time and I would certainly use the ship again. The vast majority of the negative comments simply did not apply, but maybe we were just lucky. The cabin was excellent and yes the a/c was a bit fierce, but it was very quiet and not intrusive at all. The beds were very comfortable and the ...
Splashed out on an Executive Suite - 10041 - for two weeks over Christmas and New Year. Lovely cabin and huge balcony and first class steward called Ocsana. Overall the food was pretty average but plentiful. We noticed that TUI had made a number of small, but significant, cuts in both staff and menu choices from a previous cruise the year before. Annoying that the German branch of TUI - Mein ...
Chose this cruise as it sailed from Tenerife were we live, therefore no flying. We have sailed the Canaries before but still enjoyed it. The Explorer is a nice ship. Very clean, plenty of room around the various bars.
The entertainment was not as good as the Discovery, just the show dancers and one night a comedian, ok nothing to shout about.
We thought the service was better on Discover we ...
The itinerary and time of year are main reasons we chose this cruise and it did not disappoint. The crew and staff all so kind, helpful and humorous and most importantly skilful whatever their role. Special thanks to Willy and his team who kept our spacious room so tidy and clean and yes the monkey towel sculpture hanging from a mirror did make us jump.
We enjoyed our meals in Latitude 53 and ...
We chose this cruise for the itinerary which was very good.We travelled to Southampton with Inter cruises who were very professional with no problems,but on arriving we had to queue to receive the luggage tags then again to get port side with only one desk open even the ladies on the desk were complaining then again to get checked in where there was a "technical" problem with the computers-it took ...