Overall, a great cruise, lots of fantastic memories, great crew, very friendly, interactive with the kids. The ports were also really good, none of them were places I wouldn't consider going back to at some point. Second cruise with Marella, and would go back again in the future.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
The port in Palma is really slick, got off the coach from the airport, had already uploaded card information and photo, so just validated and got on. After the muster actions, was in the cabin about 20 minutes after arriving.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Cannot speak for the buffet as did not use it. The MDR 47 degrees and the Italian MDR Gallery 47 were both really good, variety of menu in the MDR across the whole cruise. Service at peak times with a large travelling party with dietary requirements was sometimes a little slow, but given the size of the group and the requirements, this is perfectly acceptable.
Kora La the specialty Asian is a favourite of the group, went three times and was beautiful each time with great service.
Of all of the bars, the atrium was the slowest service, we broke a glass one night by accident which seemed to upset the waitress, who would not serve us again after that. Not sure why, but that level of service is against everywhere else on the ship, where the staff cannot do enough, and generally go out of their way to help you.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Only used the outdoor pool with the kids, it was ok, very busy at times, salt water as you would usually expect, emptied every other day and refilled.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The musicians were very good on board, all of them great in different ways, would highly recommend the musicians they had on board. Did not attend any shows.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
It was ok but the age brackets for the different clubs are a bit odd, as our 7 year old had to go in with the 3-7 group, the next is 8-13. So some of the activities were not to his liking.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone on the ship we met, regardless of role always smiled, said hello, asked how our day was when needed, helped us along. One day we got off and the Captain was greeting passengers, he spoke to the kids in our party, gave them a fist pump, had a photo, chatted to them, genuinely nice person.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
It's a nice ship, looking like it needs modernising in places, but the layout was good, easy to find everywhere after only a day or so, all the common areas were very clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
This was a junior suite cabin, modernised, with open storage areas. Didn't look like a lot of storage to be honest when we first boarded, however looks were deceiving, plenty of room, storage under beds for suitcases, nicely laid out, lots of room even with the sofa made up for the two kids. Bathroom was a nice size, decent shower as well, with plenty of room.
Cabin stewards did a great job every day and night, good towel art left most of the time as well.
Ship tip
Avoid dining between 7-8pm in the MDR, this was by far the busiest time.
Home port for the season, had a nice walk around, great local coffee stops, went to the Cathedral as well which was a stunning building, plenty of taxi's outside here as well and a street full of restaurants.
Beautiful place, again, busy with two other ships in, bus transfer to the edge of the port, then a 5-10 minute walk to the town. Had to have pizza as the home of pizza, was absolutely incredible.
Did a wine tasting tour here, good hour coach from the small port to the winery, great scenery on the way and amazing guide who explained lots about the area. I loved that TUI decided to use a small, local winery, rather than one from a large company, it was great to see how it is produced and take part in the tasting.
As good as getting on really, only made worse by other passengers, cases all lined up in deck order, but people wandering around not reading simple signs to collect their luggage made it a bit of a mad house. Easily on the coach and back to the airport though.
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