My experience on board the Marella Explorer

If you follow me on social media then you'll know I recently spent an incredible week on the Marella Explorer with my aunty Jo - I went on their Idyllic Italia cruise, and it was absolutely amazing. There is simply so much to say about the ship, the holiday, the places we visited ...the blog posts are going to be coming for a while so buckle in! Today I want to talk about the ship itself, and I'll break it down into sections so it hopefully won't be so overwhelming. Enjoy!

Our cabin

We had an outside cabin with a balcony, which does cost a lot extra but honestly, having the balcony is SO worth it if you can spend the extra. We would wake up super early each day and head out onto the balcony to watch the sunrise as we sailed into each port. This was so special and so beautiful to watch, especially sailing into Valletta. The cabin (9107, on the 9th deck) was spacious with two single beds, a very decent-sized bathroom, plenty of clothes storage, a sofa-bed and a vanity table. We had a TV which we didn't really use (except for Bridge Cam) as well as a safe and a fridge. The balcony was also plenty big enough, with a sun lounger, table, 2 chairs and a hammock! We couldn't fault our cabin, nor could we fault the incredible team who cleaned it. 

Sunrise Sail-in @ Messina; towel mouse made by our housekeeping team; Jo on the hammock

Sunrise sail-in @ Valletta; outfit photos on the balcony; selfie on the balcony

 

The food & drink on the Marella Explorer

My aunty really went all out on this booking and upgraded us to premium all-inclusive, which meant we got the extra drinks options included. This was great for her as it meant specialty coffees from the Coffee Port (deck 6) were included, and for me it meant I got the fancy gins and all the cocktails. I've done a tiktok rating all the cocktails I tried if you want to watch that! My favourite place to drink on board was the Squid & Anchor pub (deck 7), especially during the day when they do the quiz, bingo and mini-events like the captain Q&A; I also loved The Lounge on deck 6, for its ambience and friendly staff.

Food from Latitude 53; sex on the beach on deck

In terms of food, we used to have breakfast in the Mediterranean each morning - it's right next to the Marketplace buffet on deck 11, but much quieter. You can take your food from the buffet into the Med, and it's just a lot nicer and more peaceful. I had sausage butties every morning, sometimes followed by pastries! I really rated the Snack Shack (deck 11) for lunch - we loved sitting in the 'beach huts', and you can get both hot food and pre-packaged cold food here. In terms of dinner, my favourite was the pasta & pizza side of the Med; you get a little sheet to basicaly build your perfect dish. Soooo good. The main dining restaurant, Latitude 53 on deck 5, was great too as was Vistas, the dedicated Italian section of the main restaurant. The only place we didn't particularly rate was the tapas side of the Med!

Entertainment on board

We saw three of the main shows while on board, and the cast were absolutely phenomenal - we went to the cast Q&A at the Squid and Anchor too, which was fab. The first show we saw was Rockology, a fantastic mix of rock music performed by these amazing singers and dancers. Next up we watched Cogs, which is a very 'marmite' show in that people either seem to love or hate it; I really enjoyed it, though the storyline is a bit bizarre. The costumes, however, were fantastic. The last show we watched was Movies, which was a brilliant take on some really famous songs and theme tunes from some fantastic films. I think this was my favourite show overall!

me & Jo in the Broadway Show Lounge; Cogs; quiz time in the Ship & Anchor; my certificate for getting up to dance...

 

Other entertainment I loved on board the Marella Explorer included Jobie and his guitar, often found in The Lounge. Gorgeous voice and amazing song choices! I also just loved the quiz and bingo section of the afternoon in the Squid & Anchor, as well as the trivia/quizzes/competitions on the pool deck too.

Marella Explorer staff

As is to be expected, 99% of the staff on board are amazing; they can't do enough for you, they remember your drinks, they are friendly and genuinely kind. They work so so so hard and deserve all the praise in the world. Some of the best people looking after us on board were Ayush from housekeeping, Grace from the Coffee Port, Arnold from The Lounge, cruise director Davey and his assistant Liam, and of course the amazing Captain Steve.

Getting around on board

There are deck plans and maps all over the ship, and it's always really clear where you need to be as well as where you are - the staircases are even colour coded so you know whether you're at the aft, mid or front of the ship! Everyone still gets lost on board, though, which is really quite fun anyway. I would also like to say we had quite a few wheelchair users on board at the same time as us, and from what I could tell (and from overhearing various conversations) the disabled access is really good. So that's a bonus!

 

Hopefully this has covered plenty of the on-board experience on the Marella Explorer, but if you have any specific questions please leave me a comment or even drop me an email so I can help you out. Get ready for the rest of the cruise content! I'll have a LOT more cruise content coming, so follow me on Facebook or Twitter to be the first to read.