We are looking forward to travelling to Asturias. But are not sure whether to stay in Llanes or Ribadesella. They seem very similar!
We like pretty towns with good restaurants and nice bars to drink the sidra!
Any advice & opinions on either place are very much appreciated 🙏
Don't see much about Marella here so hopefully someone will find this helpful. Warning it is a long read...!
Took my partner for the first time - done a few Marella cruises in the past with my elderly mother and found them to be ok - nothing amazing - the all inclusive aspect is great - but this itinerary was brilliant and took us to a few places we've never been to plus revisiting a few old favourites.
We usually do road trips which we love but are generally very busy so thought it would be nice to have a lazier holiday. As it turned out this was just as hectic - doing excursions 6 days out of 7 but at least most things were organised for us and we didn't have to worry about finding accommodation or places to eat or drink.
Marella includes flights from/to the UK plus the transfers and this makes for a very easy & stress-free trip.
We sailed on Marella Voyager on a repositioning cruise - one way only as opposed to the usual return trip - from Palma in Mallorca to Ajaccio in Corsica, Rome, Naples, Messina in Sicily, Kefalonia and ending in Corfu Town. Honestly, it was the best cruise I have ever done.
Having previously sailed on Discovery, Discovery 2 and Explorer 2, the Voyager was definitely the best so far. The Summer House at the back of the ship was lovely. It didn't have an indoor pool though but fortunately we didn't need it on this trip. It was definitely more modern than the Discovery ships. All the ships are easy enough to navigate after a few days, they're so small compared to some other ships out there.
In the past the food was ok - it was better prior to Covid but after that clearly cuts had been made which is fair enough - but this time it really was very good! The new addition of the included Piccadilly's restaurant was fantastic - we really did feel that we were eating in one of the speciality restaurants.
They've also done away with the buffet restaurant and now have The Kitchens instead - and the food was a lot better for it. There were freshly made sausage & bacon baps which were heated up for you and were a great option for a morning when you had an early start for an excursion and no time for a proper sit down breakfast.
The evening entertainment on Marella has never been great - apart from some of the Broadway shows - but this time it was much better with a singer playing great songs with his acoustic guitar and a very good comedian.
We did upgrade to a balcony cabin - well worth the money especially as we sailed past an erupting Stromboli in the early hours - such a special moment to be sat out there 🌋 There was one sea day on this itinerary and they always get a bit chaotic so it was nice to have that peaceful space to just watch the sea go by with us taking turns to go to the bar for drinks 😁
There are also proper shower doors on Voyager (as did Explorer 2) unlike the dreaded clingy shower curtains we got on Discovery, although that may have changed now. Lots of storage space too for such a small space & plenty of hangers even for my excessive amount of packing!
We upgraded to the Premium All Inclusive to get better drink choices - again well worth it. My partner generally only drinks cider and he had the choice of bottled Bulmers and Magners instead of just Strongbow on tap. Good coffees and teas to in The Coffee Port which otherwise would not be included. Be warned however - you cannot get bottled water even on Premium AI - back in the day even on basic AI package you'd get a bottle in your cabin every day. Not any more. There are water fountains all over the ship though, you just have to be vigilant about keeping your bottles topped up!
Marella offer some brilliant excursions but be warned they are not cheap...! We were tempted to DIY it at a few stops but in the end decided to do a few just for the ease of it and it was well worth it, particularly for Pompeii and for getting to and from Rome. We did pre-book hire cars for our stops in Kefalonia and Corfu and it was great to have that freedom.
Marella has a bit of a 'Butlins at sea' reputation which is very unfair in my opinion. I have never seen any awful behaviour - sure there are lots of people who go just for the all inclusive and do just spend all day drinking but everyone's just jolly, friendly and having a great time! Even though there are lots of passengers getting on in years there are just as many couples in their 20's/30's/40's/50's plus lots of family groups.
I think that just about covers it, feel free to ask any questions!