Cruise News & Discussion

[Iskra]

I mainly wanted to create a thread for the following bit of news, but I thought that as cruising is a bit of an under-discussed area, I'd make a more general thread.

Marella Cruises cancels 2024-25 Asia and Middle East programme​

By Josie Klein | April 11, 2024, 14:06

Marella Cruises has cancelled its 2024-25 Asia and Middle East programme due to ongoing conflict in the Red Sea.
The line said it was a “difficult decision” to cancel the sailings scheduled to depart between November 1 and April 30, 2025, but it has done so “for the safety of our customers and crew”.
Affected passengers will be given the option of either a full refund or rebooking with a £200 discount.
The line has not yet confirmed new deployment plans.
A spokesperson said: “We appreciate how disappointing this news will be and, therefore, all impacted customers will be contacted by their booking agent to discuss the options available to them.
“Options include being able to rebook with a £200 per person reduction or receive a full refund.
“Once again we apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience caused to impacted customers and we hope to see them on board a Marella Cruise very soon.”

Marella Cruises cancels 2024-25 Asia and Middle East programme | Travel Weekly

‘Difficult decision’ made due to ongoing conflict in Red Sea

travelweekly.co.uk

Quite a number of cruise lines seem to be cancelling or heavily amending anything that involves going through Suez, or near Israel in the Med at this point. Personally, this has led to the cancellation of a Marella cruise that I'd booked from Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia-Sri Lanka-India-Oman, which would barely be affected but the next leg of the ships journey heads through Suez. I was very excited for this one as I haven't been to the Far East, Middle East (this is now my second cancelled holiday to the Middle East!) or been on a Dreamliner which I would have done on that trip, plus the railway interest in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, but oh well.

Instead, I've now booked back-to-back cruises with Princess cruises on Sun Princess (new line for me and first time on such a new ship and my first 'mega ship') which goes from Florida to Bahamas (to their private Island, which I'm a bit unsure about conceptually), Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic, back to Florida then to Mexico, Belize and Honduras before returning to Florida. Flights with Virgin to Miami so still a possibility of a Dreamliner there and I'm mainly interested in the Central American ports. We're meeting some American friends we made on a previous cruise on the second week of that cruise, and I may tie-in with another US friend somewhere.

Previous cruises I've been on:

Carnival: Florida, Bahamas, Florida- just to see if cruising was for me.
Celebrity: Florida, Southern Caribbean islands including Barbados, Antigua, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Maarten. The best cruise line I've been with so far, I was also able to go up on the ships bridge which was a great experience.
Marella: Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, various Greek Islands and a bit of Turkey). I really enjoyed this one and Marella are probably the best operator in terms of value for money that I've travelled with and it does feel a lot easier when one company provides the flights, cruise etc.

My ultimate dream cruise would probably be South America to Antarctica via the Falkland Islands, but that is a bit aspirational at this point

Does anyone have any cruises booked, or been on any particularly memorable ones in the past? Has anyone got any thoughts on traditional size ships vs 'mega ships' or on any particular cruise lines?

 

[jon81uk]

Getting on my seventh cruise with Virgin Voyages on Sunday. Never done any other line and wasn't convinced cruises were for us until we did VV. They have mid-sized ships at 2700 passengers, and there are plenty of small to medium bars to find a space for yourself in. The transatlantic is a nice trip to have a week at sea just enjoying the food and relaxing.

 

[Iskra]

Getting on my seventh cruise with Virgin Voyages on Sunday. Never done any other line and wasn't convinced cruises were for us until we did VV. They have mid-sized ships at 2700 passengers, and there are plenty of small to medium bars to find a space for yourself in. The transatlantic is a nice trip to have a week at sea just enjoying the food and relaxing.

Awesome, what’s the itinerary that you’re doing? I would like to do a transatlantic in the future, but I don’t know if I’d like it if the weather wasn’t great, and currently the most sea days that I’ve done is just one, so I may need to work up towards a cruise involving quite a few in a row.

 

[jon81uk]

Awesome, what’s the itinerary that you’re doing? I would like to do a transatlantic in the future, but I don’t know if I’d like it if the weather wasn’t great, and currently the most sea days that I’ve done is just one, so I may need to work up towards a cruise involving quite a few in a row.

Miami, then 8 nights at sea, Funchal Maderia, sea day, Malaga, sea day, Valencia (was origianlly Palma de Mallorca) and then arrving at Barcelona.
Did this one in reverse (Barcelona to Miami) 18 months ago and the weather was OK, a few raining days in the atlantic and some very rough seas near Gibraltor.

 

[Iskra]

Miami, then 8 nights at sea, Funchal Maderia, sea day, Malaga, sea day, Valencia (was origianlly Palma de Mallorca) and then arrving at Barcelona.
Did this one in reverse (Barcelona to Miami) 18 months ago and the weather was OK, a few raining days in the atlantic and some very rough seas near Gibraltor.

Wow, 9 sea days is quite some going, I bet dry land is a fine sight after that Enjoy, and I’d be interested to hear how it goes.

 

[childwallblues]

For 2024/25 Fred Olsen flagship Bolette is operating out of Liverpool in place of Borealis.

 

[Bungle965]

Thought given I’m onboard at the moment I’d speak a little about Sun Princess from Princess Cruises.

It’s the inaugural season for this vessel and my thoughts after near enough 2 weeks on the vessel is that it’s a good vessel with some issues.

Park19 which is like a little adventure park on the top deck isn’t open and looking at the posts on a facebook group hasn’t been open at all since it has been launched, not the biggest issue although would have been fun to try it out.

Missing out Kotor, apparently because of issues with berthing at the port, arguably something Princess should have known about for a long time and isn’t a quick fix. We had a substitution with Bar instead which was a nice place although not much to do there.

Venue’s on the ship are far too small for the number of guests on the boat, routinely having to queue to enter the Dome over an hour before the show starts is pretty common, we attempted to go for an 8pm showing the other day and found that the venue had already reached maximum capacity arriving at 7pm.

Lack of a quiet area on the ship, compared to some of the older vessels this one doesn’t have a library or any kind of quiet reading area that we have seen, the International Cafe unfortunately becomes an overflow for whatever performance is going on in the Piazza (At the time I was trying to read there was an egg dropping challenge going on! I gave up with the book as I actually found myself being entertained with watching the various contestants )

Those are some of bigger gripes I had, however the staff as usual with Princess have been absolutely fantastic and it makes up for some of the gripes.

 

[Iskra]

Thought given I’m onboard at the moment I’d speak a little about Sun Princess from Princess Cruises.

It’s the inaugural season for this vessel and my thoughts after near enough 2 weeks on the vessel is that it’s a good vessel with some issues.

Park19 which is like a little adventure park on the top deck isn’t open and looking at the posts on a facebook group hasn’t been open at all since it has been launched, not the biggest issue although would have been fun to try it out.

Missing out Kotor, apparently because of issues with berthing at the port, arguably something Princess should have known about for a long time and isn’t a quick fix. We had a substitution with Bar instead which was a nice place although not much to do there.

Venue’s on the ship are far too small for the number of guests on the boat, routinely having to queue to enter the Dome over an hour before the show starts is pretty common, we attempted to go for an 8pm showing the other day and found that the venue had already reached maximum capacity arriving at 7pm.

Lack of a quiet area on the ship, compared to some of the older vessels this one doesn’t have a library or any kind of quiet reading area that we have seen, the International Cafe unfortunately becomes an overflow for whatever performance is going on in the Piazza (At the time I was trying to read there was an egg dropping challenge going on! I gave up with the book as I actually found myself being entertained with watching the various contestants )

Those are some of bigger gripes I had, however the staff as usual with Princess have been absolutely fantastic and it makes up for some of the gripes.

Thanks for your interesting feedback. At least they managed to substitute you a port and didn’t just cancel it altogether. Not good to hear about crowded venues. Do you know what capacity the ship was sailing at on your trip? Also, did you have a balcony cabin, because I tend to think if you’re after peace and quiet onboard that’s usually the place to find it?

How was your transatlantic @jon81uk ?

 

[jon81uk]

How was your transatlantic @jon81uk ?

It was good, busier than past trips and felt like there was a slightly older crowd, but there was a good mix of people. We made a few friends and enjoyed having all those sea days to relax on.
This was my first eastbound transatlantic and the time change hit us harder, losing an hour every other day for a few days made us tired, also it was often on party nights, so we would stay up to 2am and then suddenly its 3am!

 

[Bungle965]

Thanks for your interesting feedback. At least they managed to substitute you a port and didn’t just cancel it altogether. Not good to hear about crowded venues. Do you know what capacity the ship was sailing at on your trip? Also, did you have a balcony cabin, because I tend to think if you’re after peace and quiet onboard that’s usually the place to find it?

How was your transatlantic @jon81uk ?

Yes, Bar was pretty interesting (especially if you're a fan of Soviet era buildings) I'm pretty sure both 7 days were near enough sold out.

Partner for sure wants a balcony next trip, I'm not so fussed the difference being that most other Princess vessels had libraries if you wanted a quiet space which is why I called it out as being an omission here.

 

[PeterY]

I was one of those people, you'll never get me on a cruise.

At short notice last year, I booked with my brother, a twin bedded cabin, it keeps the cost down for a 12 night cruise around Iceland. I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would. To be honest I wasn't that fussed about doing another one. So I've booked again with my brother another 12 night cruise starting in July, cruising around the UK with Princess. Basically because I don't drink, it's cheaper cruising than staying in a Premier Inn and an endless supply of food. .

 

[childwallblues]

Cunards new cruise liner Queen Anne is currently on a Round the British Isles Cruise and will be in Liverpool tomorrow when her official naming ceremony will take place at the Cruise Liner Terminal.

 

[Snow1964]

MSC cruises has teamed up with iryo to run trains to embarkation ports, high speed trains to Barcelona.

MSC operates ships from Southampton, but as far as I'm aware nothing planned to Southampton, and nothing from St Pancras to Barcelona

MSC Cruises announced a strategic collaboration with iryo, a private high-speed train operator in Spain owned by Trenitalia's partners, Air Nostrum and Globalvia. The alliance aims to increase accessibility of Spain’s homeports via rail connections across the country.

From this month and coinciding with the start of the new season, passengers who book an ex-Spanish cruise with MSC Cruises will be able to combine their booking with iryo services, allowing them to get from their cities of origin to the port of embarkation quickly and efficiently through the high-speed line.

MSC Cruises currently has eight embarkation ports in Spain, having considerably increased its presence in Spain since 2019, where it had three homeports (Valencia, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca). Since then the ports of Tarragona, Alicante, Malaga, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and, this year, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have since been added.

With the iryo service, multiple cities in Spain such as Madrid, Zaragoza, Seville, Cordoba and Malaga will now be connected, via high-speed, to the embarkation and disembarkation ports where MSC Cruises operates, such as Barcelona and Valencia.

In addition, the number of cities connected through this agreement is expected to increase. The rail-cruise offer will have a transfer service between the port and the train station, and will be available throughout the winter season.

MSC Cruises and iryo partner to improve rail to port accessibility across Spain

MSC Cruises and iryo, private high-speed train operator owned by Trenitalia's partners, Air Nostrum, Globalvia, partner to increase rail Spanish home ports

www.seatrade-cruise.com

 

[Bungle965]

MSC cruises has teamed up with iryo to run trains to embarkation ports, high speed trains to Barcelona.

MSC operates ships from Southampton, but as far as I'm aware nothing planned to Southampton, and nothing from St Pancras to Barcelona

MSC Cruises and iryo partner to improve rail to port accessibility across Spain

MSC Cruises and iryo, private high-speed train operator owned by Trenitalia's partners, Air Nostrum, Globalvia, partner to increase rail Spanish home ports

www.seatrade-cruise.com

I never found Barcelona that bad, Rome on the other hand can be a nightmare.

Cruise companies like to make out that at Civitavecchia the only option you have is to take on of their uber expensive transfers to the City, there is buses but often demand doesn’t match supply to the station.

Athens (Piraeus) is another which is hard work.

 

[thejuggler]

We have just returned from an 11 day trip on Celebrity Apex, ex Southampton with calls at Greenock, three Icelandic ports and Kirkwall. Whilst being far from a cruise addict, having done 6 over 15 years on three different designs of ship the new Edge class probably isn't for us again. No forward facing lounge and there were limited options in the bar at the rear so views out were limited.

Ship is only 4 years old so still sparkly and new, but it won't win prizes for looks. Despite being about 130,000 tonnes it has very few interior cabins, most have a window or what is termed a veranda, which is a full height window, the top half of which can be opened so you get fresh air, but no balcony. For our northern Atlantic cruise it worked well as we would probably not have used a balcony as it was too cold. Absolute Capacity is about 3,500 (typical numbers 3,000) but there were only 2,600 on board so not overcrowded.

2 days at sea up to Iceland with continual 5-7m waves sorted out those with and without sea legs. We were fine thanks to taking Stugeron.

Ports of call were excellent. First trip to Glasgow and a ride on the subway for us. It was our second visit to Iceland which is an amazing place and over the last 8 years Reykjavik has changed with lots of stylish new development. We will be going back to Orkney for a longer break, probably next year as 6 hours on shore at Kirkwall wasn't enough.

 

[Iskra]

We have just returned from an 11 day trip on Celebrity Apex, ex Southampton with calls at Greenock, three Icelandic ports and Kirkwall. Whilst being far from a cruise addict, having done 6 over 15 years on three different designs of ship the new Edge class probably isn't for us again. No forward facing lounge and there were limited options in the bar at the rear so views out were limited.

Ship is only 4 years old so still sparkly and new, but it won't win prizes for looks. Despite being about 130,000 tonnes it has very few interior cabins, most have a window or what is termed a veranda, which is a full height window, the top half of which can be opened so you get fresh air, but no balcony. For our northern Atlantic cruise it worked well as we would probably not have used a balcony as it was too cold. Absolute Capacity is about 3,500 (typical numbers 3,000) but there were only 2,600 on board so not overcrowded.

2 days at sea up to Iceland with continual 5-7m waves sorted out those with and without sea legs. We were fine thanks to taking Stugeron.

Ports of call were excellent. First trip to Glasgow and a ride on the subway for us. It was our second visit to Iceland which is an amazing place and over the last 8 years Reykjavik has changed with lots of stylish new development. We will be going back to Orkney for a longer break, probably next year as 6 hours on shore at Kirkwall wasn't enough.

Sounds interesting. I'd like to visit Orkney, although apart from my ultimate dream cruise to Antarctica, I'm not overly drawn to the idea of cruising in cooler climates. My parents (who cruise more than I) rate the new Celebrity ships, but I guess it depends what you like in a ship. Personally, I agree with you and think they look ugly. They are currently on the Celebrity Solstice which is arriving in Hawaii today from Vancouver after a number of sea days.