We are Mike and Dave, a married couple of 20yrs. We love to travel the world and have used You Tube many times to get ideas and information. We both enjoy making videos of our travels and feel it is time to share our experiences and tips to all fellow travellers out there. Our video's will only feature travel and events but the shorts will be a mix of everything, including lots of our mini dachshund 'Lilly'.
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Please can you feature the adapted cabins. They are very different. The ships and we had a poor adapted cabin on our second cruise.
I did premium drinks on my weeks solo cruise on explorer, as I didn't know there would be water stations on the decks and panicked that I'd have to buy it in port 😂 It was nice to have the big bottles of water delivered to the cabin each day, and good to take them on excursions, and I liked getting a hot chocolate for the cinema, as well as not worrying about looking at the cost of drinks. It wasn't too bad a price to treat myself but I'm going again for two weeks and I think it was over £300 to upgrade so we're not! I found the alcohol in most drinks to be okay, but I had one drink (think it was a punch) at 5pm and had to really concentrate to walk in a straight line after just the one!
Since Brexit, sadly alot of the hotel staff no longer work in Blackpool.
Is the immigration forms to.filled out per person and is there a cost? TIA.
Yes love this content, this has been my interests and thoughts also👍
Love a good bargain especially involving travel. Personally have found booking via a website based travel company, you get hit n miss service if it goes wrong and you want them to sort it out. You also need to make sure they are legit and ABTA IATA members. Much prefer using a shop ie Hayes , TUI who will fight your corner when things go wrong that were not dealt with at the hotel/ship/airline. They need the repeat business and recommendations from your friends, co workers etc. Downside of short notice offers, you might have to drive or get to an airport no where close to your local one and might involve an overnight in a hotel. We are lucky 'cos we have come out early retirement and re joined the workforce, BUT classed as self employed so we can block off certain dates for holidays if our work and bookings diary allows that is. Paul and Carol love to Travel use a guy called Dan for all their cruises to get best deals. When we bag a bargain, we never tell fellow passengers how much we paid, can cause bit of resentment. Keep up the vids. have a good cruise.
Like you, I fancied doing Asia with Marella. Was a little shocked that they won't be doing them anymore. I'm assuming this is down to the problems in the middle east and the danger moving though Suez. Look forward to your saving vlogs. Have a great holiday
Tui prices through the roof at the moment
You got my attention on the price, 😮
"Off to Buda with a hop skip and a jump " Really ? Can't really recommend the "Kotor by land and Sea" (@ 47min) excursion - The main interest in this one for us (on our 2nd visit to Kotor) was the Our lady of the Rocks church ( The island you see on the way in), no problem with that part, The problem was the middle part, "the hop skip and jump across the bay", trip to Budva, which involved a 55 min coach trip, then a 20 min walk to the old town to be told to be ready to leave for the walk back in just 25 mins ( so nearly 3 hours travel for 25 min at destination ) I suppose the clue was in the name of the excursion, but the length of trip to Budva relative to the time in the town made that part of the trip somewhat pointless for us, and it wasn't if there was that much of interest to see on the coach to/from Budva either Quite a number of people on the coach we were on expressed a similar view
Great video Mike. I think a monthly video would be a good thing. People are always looking for ways to save money! Have a good holiday both!
Your videos re the Marella Voyager have been superb. So much do we are boarding on 31 August. Upgraded to premium so we can get an array of cocktails, cans of pop, coffee port etc. Even booked in for The Heist. Keep up the great work.
We have booked this afternoon tea for sea day in a couple of weeks as part of Ottoman Odyssey cruise. Our decision to book this was largely down to your excellent vlog. Thank you. 🙏 🎉🎉🎉
Great vlogs series, really enjoyed. Diolch!
Thank you so much, Dave loved your welsh thank you and says Diolch for watching 🙂
Did the swimming pools have the ladder steps or was it a walk in please?
Our first time here we got a taxi to see where death in paradise was filmed, which was great. Second time when we were in Guadeloupe, we were warned not to wear any jewellery. Then to find someone in the hi vis jacket if you needed help. We ended up just having a look round the market and then back on the ship.
Death in Paradise is so popular, we haven't watched it though so we decided to just have an easy stroll around the town. I was a little wary as we had heard bad things about it but we had no problems at all. Would probably advise people to do a trip here though as there wasn't much to see or do in the port/town. 🙂🙂🙂
Another fun video, loved it.
So happy you enjoyed it, we had lots of fun in Tobago. I was about to answer your question about the pools but while i went to check on a video to be sure i have lost it from my comments. So just in case i don't find it, the entry to the pools have very easy access by steps with handrails that you just walk in. Its very easy. Hope this helps. 🙂
@@midatravel that’s fantastic, thank you so much xx
Managed to get both booked up for our October cruise. Day 3 and day 10.
It seems that people either love it or hate it and we definitely were on the love it side, great laugh and we were lucky that our performers were amazing. I hope you have as much fun as we did. 🙂🙂🙂
@@midatravel thank you.
Aww loved the piano playing and the little bit of singing. Diolch. Loved the dancing 😂
Well next time we are definitely going to try and do the Karaoke so although Dave may entertain with his delightful voice i will clear the room!!!! 😂😂😂
@@midatravel 😂😂😂
@@midatravel well the Welsh do have the reputation of being great singers! My husband is proof that that’s not true 😂😂
Another great video, thank you. Voyager looks identical to explorer.
The Voyager is exactly the same as the Explorer class in design but i am glad that Marella have added the Exchange and Silver Fork. The Kitchens is also unique to the Voyager but i wasn't so much a fan of that. 🚢🚢🚢🌞🌞🌞🍹🍹🙂😎😎😎
Oh that’s a shame about the trip. How disappointing!
It was a disappointing trip but at least we got to spend some time on an amazing beach which sort of rescued the day. Fortunately most of our trips were very enjoyable. 🙂🙂🙂
Great videos, thank you. Binge watching a load 😂😂😂😂
Wow, you have watched so many, really appreciate your support and your lovely thoughtful, helpful comments. 🙂🙂🙂
@@midatravel you’re very welcome. Loved them all. We’re off on discovery in a couple of weeks, need some sunshine after our weather.
I’ve read quite a lot about seats being lost after initial booking. Since then I tend to go on to TUI flight extras on a weekly basis to check our seats still exist.
I think your very wise to keep checking, we will always check from now on, having experienced what can happen. 🙄
Absolutely loved Havana, especially the beautiful architecture!
I am absolutely with you on this one, we love exploring new cities and to me Havana was so beautiful, definitely the architecture was a highlight. Could have spent a few more days there, maybe we may have to return one day. 🤔
We had Xmas on Explorer last Xmas loved it. Only problem is we want to do it every year now. Back on for xmas and new year this year.
I absolutely loved Christmas sailing with Marella. Being in Costa Rica on Christmas day was a memory i will always cherish. Returning back to the ship having found the elusive sloths was very satisfying, especially with a lovely Christmas dinner waiting for us. I want to do it every year, all of the hassle removed, but unfortunately for me Dave wants to be with his family at Christmas, which i don't blame him for as they are my family too. I'll keep working on him though! I'll have to tell him to bring them all with us! 😂😂😂
@@midatravel swings and roundabouts. Every second year 🤣🤣
Dem boys definitely know how to get the crowd involved. Great entertainers.
The lead singer had so much charisma, Dave told me today that they are on Voyager now, so wish they were on Explorer, we sail on Friday. 🙂
@@midatravel oh we’re on voyager in October so hopefully still be on. They have done quite a few UK gigs.
Never done the afternoon tea before, looks lovely and huge portions.
It was amazing on Discovery 2 and would definitely recommend it to anyone on that ship. I am a big eater and i couldn't eat all of the food! Not so good on Voyager but i think it was more because the venue is smaller and they mixed up our dietary requirements.
@@midatravel yes agree, that came across on the videos. Definitely would be discovery if I ever did it. To be honest though, I don’t think we could fit it in. lol 😜
Great video thank you. My only criticism is that you complain that you have to carry the kettle to the other side of the room to boil it - really complaining about that?
Thanks for the nice comment. I guess its hard what to include and what we don't, we always look back at our video's after and remember all the things we missed. We also think that sometimes we were maybe a bit harsh. The kettle is a bit of an issue for me as i do have hand problems so i am very wary of moving a kettle with boiling hot water backwards and forwards from one side of the room to the other, it does come with safety issues for me. I also think that maybe it was more to do with the lack of a plug where the kettle and tea tray was located which for me made no sense. I hope that our enthusiasm for Marella always comes across, the problems in no way have deterred us from sailing with them again. Thanks for watching. 🙂🚢🍹🌞😎😃
@@midatravelyes your enthusiasm definitely comes across thank you. We’ve booked the two exchange nights for later in the year. Looking forward to it.
Can you still get a beer etc in the exchange as well as the cocktails. Can you book online before boarding please?
Yes you can still get beer in the Exchange. The cocktail (all premium) is just their signature menu. You can book online but for us it was quite difficult as it was on one day and disappeared again the next. Then kept appearing sporadically. Keep an eye on Speciality dining because that is where it will appear. Definitely recommend booking this early as there is limited availability. We loved it.but does seem to be very marmite. 🚢🙂🌞🍹😎
we opted for an outside window cabin very disappointed we got a porthole cabin like a dark cave. Theses rooms should not be priced the same as window cabins they are very inferior. we are nurses and are use to early morning rises but did not expect on holiday to be awakened between 6 am and 7 am comimg into dock due to shuddering and noise our cabiin number was 5000 avoid at all cost, The only positive was the amazing cabin crew maria and tea who kept the cabin spotless and comfortable.
We were so worried about getting a port hole instead of a square window, it should i think be clearly stated when you book this type room. We have also been lucky with having quiet cabins, that or we are heavy sleepers . Have heard of people having similar issues, did you complain at reception, we know people who were moved but i guess that can only happen if other cabins are available. 💤🚢🍹🌞🙂
好兵帅克！
🙂
That was pretty was pretty lazy. I prefer the older ones
Definitely agree with you but still good to watch.
Hi, were the speciality restaurants Christmas dinner on 25th too? Or did they do their normal menu?
Not sure about the speciality restaurants. We went to one of 2 Christmas dinner sittings in Latitude so i would presume that these were the only Christmas dinners on the ship that day and anywhere else would be as usual. You are advised to go to a location day before to sort out your table and seating time. Can't be 100% certain though as we didn't see other options for that day. 🙂
Tienen un parecido a los carabineros de c Chile..
Exeter is our nearest airport right on the A30 and about 15 minutes in the car. Beauty of flying from Exeter Airport is, instead of check in normally 3 hours, you only need 2 hours as it's not at all busy after the collapse of BMI which was a busy central hub base, also all on one level. Downside you get stung for a weeks car parking. £90 the cheapest for a week onsite. Exeter to Corfu 12.40 departure, early evening flight back. If you guys were flying out of their, could have dropped in for a cuppa, or get free secure parking🤣 Key West the piper plays during sunsets
Exeter sounds like a great airport choice, shame its nearly 200miles away for us, but for a cheap holiday, cuppa and free parking 😉 it would be worth doing some time. We have similar to this with East Midlands airport which has now become our favourite, parking simple and airport is much quieter than the bigger ones. On our sunset Key West cruise the piper was no where to be seen, such a shame but maybe gives us a reason to go back sometime. 🙂
Been plugging your channel on them facebookey marella groups. off on a cruise in a few minutes taking one of our supported disability adults.... down the river exe. no cabin, no pool but a bar apparently 😀 posh ferry
Marching to the beat of a Russian drum?
I enjoyed it but i do get your sentiment. 🤔
Having spent 2 holidays (3 weeks) in Zadar, its worth noting that the pictures they use are basically click bait. There is no traffic in the old town so tuc tuc's would only be in the new town which isnt that exciting. The island is also nowhere near the old town either. Zadar old town is beautiful, and I would advise just walking around yourself. There's plenty to see and explore and lots of excelent bars and restaurants. Sunsets there are stunning, and everone gathers at the sea organ (look that one up) to watch.
Hi Peter, thanks so much for your really helpful comments. Have to say that Tuk Tuks in Croatia is not what i would have expected to find, so was a little surprised that they feature in Split as well. Guess they are small and cheap to run. Definitely not for us but good info that traffic is not allowed in the old town and therefore why would you miss the old town? Definitely what we are looking forward to seeing and will definitely be walking everywhere to burn off some of those calories. I have one question for you, we were considering a boat trip (not with cruise line) to some of the islands and beaches and also for a bit of snorkelling. Did you do this and if you did is it worth doing. Unfortunately i think we sail away at 5pm so won't be seeing that sunset from the sea organ but won't be forgetting that when we return for a stay. (Krka needs to be done). 🙂
We did do a brilliant boat trip when we were there, but it was an all day one 9am to 5pm, which wouldn't suit your time scale. It was about £35 each, which included snacks, main meal and some drinks. Two stop offs for swimming, and a sail around the islands. Well worth it if you there longer than a day. Not sure what trips may suit you, but I think a walk around Zadar old town will be more than enough. Have a great holiday, look forward to seeing your report 😊
Loving the Marella content 👍
Thanks so much for your support, your a star and i can't wait to hear all about your cruise. 🚢😎💃🍹🌞😎💃🍹
Possible to buy? I need something like that as an art huge piece in some airbnb plan
Would have to be a big space. Would be pretty cool and i would imagine you could commission a piece like this but unfortunately i have no idea who from. Good luck in finding something similar, would be amazing! 🙂
I am going on this exact cruise March 25 as my second cruise as a solo traveller. I have found your videos such fun to watch with heaps of useful information not only about the ship but also all the excursions. Loved the one where you went through all the excursions on offer as I have been able to see what might be available when I go then plan what I would like to do. How far in advance of you travelling were you able to view on the Tui app what would be available to book. I keep looking so as to get in early for the ones which sell out fast. You are both such great fun down to earth guys. Keep doing what you are doing :}
Hi Ben. Its an amazing cruise and itinerary, so much to see and do and so many different islands. Your comments came at a really good moment. I have just put out an excursions vlog for our Adriatic cruise and with it being an hour long i really did consider whether i should take it down as no one was going to watch it. You wrote such a lovely comment about our other one for Caribbean and it made me realise if just one person finds it useful then it makes us happy. So a big thank you for a boost when i needed it! The Voyager was new last year and the Caribbean was a new itinerary so the cruise planner was very frustrating as things appeared in bits and drabs as they were still finalising details with tour companies. I think Tui say 3 months before the cruise but i am sure ours was about 4months before, so i would keep checking from about November weekly. I would like to do something with regards to solo travellers in the future, would like to know more about what Marella do to make things easier for you. If you need any further advice just drop us a line and we will always help where we can. Thanks again for such lovely comments, means so much to us. 🚢🚢🚢🍹🍹🍹🌞🌞🌞🙂🙂🙂😎😎😎
Great video ❤
Thank you!!
@midatravel I'm staying in a couple of months time :)
Thanks again lads, just got back last week from the voyager and I think you are spot on with the kitchens, took us a couple of visits to get used to and the drinks machines were so frustrating. We are on the explorer 2 in September which we have done before and found the food better than on Voyager. One thing that disappointed was the small nightclub/casino, absolutely tiny in our opinion but the squid and anchor was better on the outside deck because it was deeper and had glass so the view was much better. Swings and roundabouts I guess. We found the exchange a bit marmite i.e. my wife loved it and me not so much. Kora la is the stand out for us as it was on explorer 2. Amazing to hear about reception staff as we had the same issue on the very last day, they wouldn't put apiece of paper in the bin for me as I had touched it! The fact that one of them had touched it and given it to me made me feel that I was somehow unclean and they were not. Didn't let it spoil our experience though. Looking forward to your review of explorer as we are already planning for next year.
Hi Steve, thanks so much for not only watching our vlogs but for taking the time to leave such useful comments. Its also really nice for us to have someone comment on their return as its good for us to know that we have probably reviewed it right even though we hope people don't experience the same negatives as we do and always enjoy reading other peoples experiences. We are doing the Explorer in a couple of weeks so looking forward to comparing it with Discovery 2 and Voyager. We thought the food on Voyager was so much better than Discovery 2, especially the speciality restaurants so hope its same on Explorer. We also loved The Exchange, but its strange how it divides opinion, its a love or hate thing. Its a shame you also had such a negative experience with reception, its quite shocking how they treated you but it did not come as a surprise to us. Definitely an area that Marella should be looking at and maybe giving some additional training. We find it so strange when staff everywhere else are so wonderful. Looking forward to Explorer and hope we come back with lots of great content to share. Thanks again for all your support. 😎😎😎🚢🍹🌞
Igen!
Quite a spectacle 🙂
Nice but l prefer the King's Guards
Kings Guards are a different class. 🙂
Have you thought of self catering? We go to Sitges several times a year and always hire an apartment from StaySitges . We love the independence and being able to come and go as we please. All apartments have washing machines which means we can travel with just hand luggage.
Hi Ian. Very good advice. Not sure whether you go for the bear events at all but the event in September is so popular that so many places sell out well in advance and that is especially the case for airbnb properties or apartments. Because of the demand prices also go through the roof. We usually use airbnb a lot so appreciate the benefits of having a full apartment with all its conveniences rather than a hotel. We went May this year as it is half the price for accommodation and less crowded and will def consider looking for an apartment if we go in May again. 🙂
we dont drink only pop and latte so dont think its worth us paying more money
We just pay for the odd premium drink and that works for us, mainly coffee in our case. Soft drinks are available on tap so even though cans are premium, on tap is not so that is really good. I think you will manage fine on the all inclusive and just having the odd coffee will be a lot cheaper than having the premium package. Have a great cruise. 🍹🍹🍹
@@midatravel but is there coffee all day for free or will i need to upgrade and i do drink a lot of it
@@maritimedronefilming9511 You won't need to pay. Coffee is available free at most of the bars and restaurants. You only pay for coffee at the 'Coffee Port' which just has better specialised coffee, iced coffees and flavoured coffees. We treated ourselves to a pumpkin spiced latte but didn't have alcohol in ours and they were £1.75 without the alcohol and £2.50 with, so even as a one a day treat it would be no where near what you would pay for premium package. This was on the Voyager but will be same across their whole fleet. Hope this helps.
Hi Mike, love your vlogs. But you guys really need to try P&O Arvia Excellent ship
Hi, thanks so much for watching and for your lovely comment. Our cruise next month will be our 3rd with Marella and will complete our set of Voyager, Explorer and Discovery. We have loved our Marella cruises but you are right, as hard as it will be to leave Marella we do need to try other cruise lines and P&O are definitely on our radar so thanks so much for your recommendation of Arvia. Will definitely be in our considerations for our next cruise. 🚢🚢🚢🍹🍹🍹🌞🌞🌞
You guys seem lovely. I was curious about marella cruises as I normally do celebrity, which are lovely, but are getting outrageous in terms of cost. Nice to get a viewpount from others especially from guys like us 😉. Cheers x
Hi Mark, thanks for your lovely comments. We sailed with Celebrity 14yrs ago and although we enjoyed it, we did not get the cruising bug. I was hesitant about trying Marella but when i delved deeper i found so many more good reviews and of course no one can match them for value for money, especially with the all inclusive drink package that comes free. We have loved our previous 2 cruises with Marella and although we won't give up our land based holidays or city breaks i do feel i have the cruising bug in me now. I love the fact that passengers are so much friendlier and a much better age range. I find that although they lack some of the amazing features on some of the bigger cruise ships i don't really want them. Marella are all about fun and yes you will find faults, not everything is perfect. Food on Discovery was mediocre but food on Voyager was excellent. Will always recommend them but just hope everyone has the same experience that we have. Always happy to help if any questions. 🚢🌞🍹🕶🙂
Thank you for this. Very useful, I agree, would be useful if maybe they send you a link and password to access this when you check in on cruise control or something similar. Would give you something to do at the airport to familiarise yourself with the app and how to get the best use out of it. Slightly unrelated question, I am travelling with a friend and wanted to know if you can separate your spend on board? Is the card linked to your payment option or do you only leave one payment option at reception?
I think its such a shame that they don't have an actual app. It does take a little getting used to so just like you say it would help if you could familiarise yourself beforehand. If you are on the same booking then you will share an account. If you have booked seperately then you will have seperate accounts. Might be worth asking at reception to seperate your accounts if possible. Have a great cruise 🚢🚢🚢🌞🌞🌞😎😎😎💃💃💃
I don't think you didn't let the viewer see the menu pages for long enough . . perhaps a series of "stills" at the end would be good for us viewers.
Thanks for your comments David. Always looking to improve so love hearing from people like yourselves as to what we can do better. I think we always thought that people would pause if they wanted to look longer at the menu's but next time we will hold them for longer or as you say show them at the end. Thanks for watching. 🍹🍹🍹🚢🚢🚢🙂🙂🙂