This was the third cruise we have taken, but the first with Marella, and what a lovely surprise we had, I’d been reading the reviews of Discovery 2 on fb and had mixed feelings about the ship, but I needn’t have worried had a fabulous 14 days cruise, the fist week was not fabulous weather, in fact, we had only 3 days of sun and choppy seas for a day, but the entertainment on board and the lovely people we made friends with kept us busy and took our mind off the awful weather. The second week was great too and the weather soon picked up, will we sail with Marella again? You bet we will.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was just as straightforward as walking up and onto the ship, no long lines of people.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The main dining room 47 was beautifully clean and looked a picture, I really am a faddy eater but I found no problems at all finding something on the menu that suited me.
The Gallery 47 Italian restaurant was fantastic, ate there 4 nights, beautifully presented and the choice was great, the service was exceptional and I have absolutely no complaints.The buffet had something for everyone, whether a light lunch or full blown meal, we actually ate there on 2 occasions for our evening meal as we both didn’t feel like having the formal 3 course meal, and it was great.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Well I can only rate the activities as a by stander, as both Hubby and myself are a bit too long in the tooth for joining in, but we watched the guests climbing the wall, and it looked very hard but enjoyable, didn’t do any fitness activity, oh except walk the track on top part of the way round, my Fitbit said 16000 steps that day😉.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Oh the shows were absolutely fantastic, as good as any you’d have to pay good money in the West End of London, great singers, dancers and actors all of them. I can honestly say that they were the best I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. The musicians were a pleasure to listen to, and what can I say about the entertainment in the Venue, we went in there every evening after watching the show in the theatre and every night was just brilliant fun, Sean, Alex and Daisy are such a great team.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I think the waiters did a marvellous job, how they remember who ordered what ,and where they are sitting,I’ll never know we have absolutely no complaints at all.
We were on deck 6 and Emily was our room steward, what a star she is, so polite and always happy, she kept our room spotless. We only encountered a couple of negative waiters, one female, one male, who just were not very pleasant, and not friendly at all. I suppose they probably had an off day or 6.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Loved the layout of the ship, the design was very pleasing on the eye, I think the Atrium looks spectacular at night all lit up with different colours.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Overall I thought the cabin size was good but did find that although it’s lovely to have a kettle for tea and coffee it did take up too much of the dressing table, would have preferred it to have been on a separate shelf, or table. The bed was so comfortable and always spotless. I would have preferred to have had a fridge in the cabin as I had to keep my medication in the fridge at reception, I think I’d have booked a different cabin had I realised when I made the booking, but didn’t read any reference to a fridge. So that is the reasons I’ve dropped a star.
Ship tip
Don’t take any notice of negative comments, because you can’t be expected to please everyone, what doesn’t suit one person you’ll probably love, just go with an open mind and you’ll thoroughly enjoy the experience. We did.
We loved Palma, we just did our own thing, shared a taxi into town with another couple, very reasonable 9 Euros, did a bit of sightseeing and shopping, then went on the open top hop on hop off bus, had a good tour round then hopped off back at the port. A very enjoyable day. Loved it.
We stayed on board as the weather wasn’t very good, we hadn’t booked any excursions as I have very painful arthritis and wasn’t sure about the walking and whether I’d be up to it.
We really liked Palamos, as usual we just made our own way around the area, found the locals to be really friendly, and the area very pleasant, would love to visit again.
The only Port we were disappointed with, too far to walk into the centre, the square was just too far for me to walk, I thought the area around the port was rather smelly and looked dirty, won’t care if I never visit this place again, if I did think I’d stay on board.
Loved Cadiz, the fish market is an amazing sight must not be missed, and the fruit stalls are full of the most amazing fruit, the architecture is fabulous, would love to spend a couple of days there.
Been to Alicante before but my goodness it has certainly changed since then, even though the weather wasn’t too good, kept raining we thoroughly enjoyed this lovely clean place.
All ran very smoothly although a very early start, had to be off ship by 7.00 am, cases labelled, and quite easy to find our coloured label, Taken to the bus and off we went to the airport.
Lovely review, very helpful. Shame the Cabin lost a star because you didn't read the description. Maybe next time treat yourself to a higher grade cabin.
Rome is alot of walking, so you made the right choice. Also with Lisbon as the old (pretty) town is all cobble streets and slopes.
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