Are Marella Cruises the best kept secret in cruising?

Are Thomson (sorry Marella Cruises, bad habit) the best kept secret in cruising?

You probably read that question, as I did typing it, with a confused look on your face.  Marella Cruises, the best kept secret in cruising, surely not!  For most people when you say Thomson or Marella Cruises, and ask them what they think of them, their reaction is often one of displeasure and statements of ‘oh I would never cruise with them’ or ‘only if I have to’.  But why?

I think for a lot of people, the image they have of Marella, is the old school image, of old basic ships, with basic accommodation and facilities and not much in the way of entertainment, and a cruise line that cannot compete with the likes of the big guys in cruising.  Once upon a time, I would have absolutely agreed with you. 100%.

Even now, when talking to customers about certain ships, I will give customers a discrete warning of what to expect on board in comparison to other cruise lines they may have been on.

But what has changed to bring them to my attention in such a way and why do I only warn people with certain ships?

Well for me Marella started to change their game with their game with the introduction of the Marella Dream (Formally the Costa Europa) into the fleet.  Although the ship was given a complete refurbishment as she was introduced, they couldn’t hide away from the facilities that came with a ship from a much larger and more modern fleet.  The theatre was bigger for better produced shows, there were more restaurants on board than any other Marella Cruise ship and with another ship into the fleet meant more itineraries and ports than they had ever offered.

In my opinion, the dining was a big development for Marella with the Dream.  Before, most of their dining had been based around one restaurant, often a buffet restaurant, for all meals, rather than having a main dining room for evening meals with waiter service.  Often this could be a sticking point for a lot of experienced cruisers, used to such facilities from larger cruise ships.

Oh, and I must mention, all their ships are now fully all inclusive for cruises in 2019.  Even better.

The Dream was received extremely well by passengers, both old and new to the brand.  Following the Dream saw the introduction of the Marella Discovery and the Marella Discovery 2 (formally Splendour of the Seas and Legend of the Seas respectively) and this week we have seen the arrival of the Marella Explorer to be followed by the Marella Explorer 2 in 2019 (Mein Schiff 1 and 2 from the German arm of TUI).  Again, all the ships currently in place here have adopted a lot of their features from more experienced and larger cruise brands to great appeal to customers.

One thing that I do think sets Marella apart from a lot of her competition is her itineraries and this is where having smaller ships gives them an advantage.  When I look at some of their itineraries, I am shocked at how port rich they are in comparison to a lot of other lines.  Unless you are going on a transatlantic voyage or something similar, you don’t really go on a cruise for your days at sea.  Well at least I don’t.  More ports mean more places to see, which is the whole idea of taking a cruise.

In addition, smaller ships mean more off the beaten track ports where the larger ships couldn’t even dream of getting into.  Have a look at the 14-night itinerary I found below:

• Corfu Town, Corfu
• Ermoupoli, Syros
• Kusadasi, Turkey
• Skiathos Town, Skiathos
• Piraeus (for Athens), Greece
• Argostoli, Kefalonia
• Corfu Town, Corfu
• Koper, Slovenia
• Venice, Italy
• Split, Croatia
• Dubrovnik, Croatia
• Kotor, Montenegro
• Corfu Town, Corfu

Yes, you have some of the standard port you see on a lot of itineraries as these are always your big attractions, but you also have some less visited ports as well.  Plus, with smaller ships, there are less crowds to compete with for that ultimate photograph.

If you’re well cruised and looking for some new destinations to visit, then it might be worth looking at Marella for something a bit different.

Above are just a few of my reasons why it might be worth looking at a cruise with Marella for your next holiday, and I could have honestly given you many more.  Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.  You might be surprised.