Fantastic experience
TUI Discovery Cruise Review to Europe
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 37
Highlights of the Mediterranean
Sail date: July 08, 2017
Ship: TUI Discovery
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 6604
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Wonderful experience, lovely ship, staff happy and make you feel like part of a family and treat you as a person and not a number as they do on the bigger ships. Great atmosphere. So good we booked to go again with the Tui Discovery on our return home.Embarkation
Embarkation went very smoothly and efficiently, we were greeted with smiles from the staff and a welcome cold drink of orange or water.
On our day of embarkation it was extremely hot.
We were dealt with very quickly and were soon able to relax in our cabin
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We enjoyed eating in the restaurants, a good choice of food on the menu, waiters were very efficient, friendly and professional.
The buffet had a good selection of food but felt that more for vegetarians could have been provided. Nonetheless there was still a good variety available and understand it is difficult to cater for Individual needs. There was plenty of choice of soft drinks and tea/coffee available.
Onboard Activities
We found the crazy golf suited us and relaxing in the pools and hot tubs. There were plenty of activities to try including the track around the top deck in which you could walk or run.
Entertainment
We enjoyed the entertainment we attended, especially the lady who hosted the quiz in the venue. A very funny lady. Great fun
Children's Programs
We did not bring any children with us, after raising our family this was our first holiday together for 36 years.
Service and Staff
The service from the waiters was very attentive and friendly, they chatted to us about our day. Kept our glasses topped up with chilled water.
Our room stewards Dawin and Antonio were fantastic, they kept our room clean and made up twice a day, nothing was too much trouble. Both were very friendly and always smiling. A friendly chat with them whenever we met.
After a confusion with a lady member of staff on destination services, who was offhand with me and appeared to not have the knowledge or inclination to help us with our enquiry about our excursion details, She sent us on the run around, eventually she suggested we should get our cabin steward to sort out the details. Luckily Darwin pointed us back to the destination services desk, if we had not returned we would have missed our excursion at 9am the following day, the vouchers we had from our travel agents were the wrong tickets.
On our return we were extremely fortunate to meet with Victoria Bender on the Destination services desk who was absolutely brilliant. she sorted out our tickets for our excursions and made it clear, where possible the coach numbers we had to look for. She also sorted out other queries that we had so quickly and efficiently. Very friendly lady, very funny, she made us feel very relaxed and reassured.
We feel she is an asset to Tui Discovery team.
All staff need to have their hard work recognised.
Ship Quality
The ships layout is very good.
The common areas were spotlessly clean and well maintained, the staff were always cleaning and although you could see them cleaning around everyone they were very discreet.
Cabin / Stateroom
Our cabin was very comfortable and size was adequate for a couple. The cabin was kept clean by our cabin stewards who were brilliant. Darwin And Antonio came in twice a day to make up the room, if we needed anything it was immediately provided.
Suitcases can be stored under the bed, plenty of hanging space and drawers for clothes. The bathroom is adequate size with clean towels provided when needed.
Ship tip
Enjoy every minute. A wonderful experience. Staff are happy and always smiling, they make you feel like extended family. Our holiday was so good we booked again on our return home for our next holiday with this ship to go to Norway 2018. We hope to meet the Darwin, Antonio and Victoria again.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands
Very interesting. We did an excursion here. Our guide, who was originally from Lancashire, was passionate about Corsica, he gave us so much history of the island and tried to show us as much scenery as possible. Extremely interesting excursion. Very good with the people with disabilities, he didn't rush them, he waited till all the group were together before proceeding so everyone could hear clearly what he was saying. Always checking and counting his group.
Excellent guide
Our excursion to Rome was wonderful, so much to see. Our guide was lovely, she explained as much as she could about the buildings and history. My wife and I wanted to see the Trevi fountain but being disabled and having difficulty walking, I was unable to walk to the fountain in the time provided for sight seeing. Our guide took us to a taxi rank, asked the driver to take us, wait and return us back to the same place. This was out of her way , very thoughtful lady.
Stunning place to visit
Port was lovely, our excursion was great, after s coach ride we the went on a mini train into Pisa. Fantastic sights.
St Raphael Did not visit port
We had done so much walking around Pisa, I needed to rest to gain some strength back in my legs. We stayed on our balcony and watched children being taught to sail.
Port was good and well organised. the guide on our excursion took us to a park first, which was beautiful. A lot of walking which tired me, I think the guide forgot that she had people with disabilities with her and walked at a pace that was difficult to keep up and hear what she was saying. However the park was beautiful. On our return to the coach we're drove to see the Sagada famille church. We were unable to get close to the church which meant more walking. The sight of the church was spectacular, we the continued on, another man in the group pushing a wheelchair had to run a couple of times to up with the guide, I struggled and was in a lot of pain, however I didn't want us to get lost and lose the rest of the group. Crossing over a busy road, I was the last to catch up on a busy corner, because of the noise of the traffic it was difficult to hear what she was saying, we managed to catch her say that this place was a meeting place and to be back by 1pm, she then proceeded to tell everyone where to use the WC. Everyone went off and my wife asked her to repeat where the WC was, the guide appeared to be in a hurry to get away and quickly told us to walk down the end of the road and turn right. Trying to confirm what time to be back she turned and was gone. We went in search of the WC. Her directions were incorrect, after walking a fair distance and unable to find the WC we turned to come back, as we passed one of the ships my wife noticed some of our group at the back of the shop in s queue. Realising it was the queue for the WC I also queued. There was only one toilet for each. So the queue was a considerable length. On leaving we returned to our meeting point, the time was 12. 35pm, thinking we were early we stood and waited until 2pm, I was now in immense pain and having nowhere to sit down I needed to get back to the ship. The guide did not phone my wife's mobile to check where we were, knowing I had walking disabilities she left us behind. Fortunately my wife found a taxi rank and the taxi took us back to the ship. An extra €25 we didn't expect to pay out.
My wife went to destination services to report what had happened and to inform them we were back on the ship. The lady on the desk was the First Lady we had spoken to who could not resolve our query about our excursion tickets. She abruptly told me she had already been informed about it, everyone else made it back so it was our fault. Guides do not need to contact anyone or provide emergency numbers when they are in an area close to the ship. Luckily one of the group handed in our jumpers that were left on the coach.
Very disappointed with this guide. I was late for my medication and in immense pain. Spoilt the day.
Disembarkation
Disembarkation was well organised, coaches ready to take everyone on to their next destination
Traveler Photos
