Marella Explorer 2 Review

4.5 / 5.0
121 reviews

What Happened to our Giardini Naxos Stop ???

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Marella Explorer 2
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Kettle Cruiser
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jun 2019

We chose this cruise because it included places we hadn't visited before. In that respect, it was a success, and might have been even better if the final stopping point of Giardini Naxos on Sicily was not mysteriously removed from the itinerary as we boarded the ship !!! The excuse from the Captain is that it was a tender port and there wouldn't have been enough time to get passengers on and off. Really ? Marella only worked that out on the first day of the cruise ???? Difficult to believe that one.

Passengers were offered £25 pp on-board credit to make up for this second sea day out of 7. On the face of it, a cost to TUI of about £50K. In reality, just getting passengers to buy more of the ship's services. A huge con.

The holiday was going well (including a fabulous flight over the Alps) until we reached Naples airport. I've read other reviews, and our issue of no stairs, no buses to transfer to the terminal and late arrival of baggage is clearly not unique. On the return flight, we were between 1 and 2 hours late departing, again due to inefficient airport staff (or, being generous, using an airport which lacks the capacity to handle multiple arrivals). I will never fly into or out of Naples again !!!

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