This was a last minute booking,as we just needed a break,Having never sailed with Thomson/Tui/Marella before because of people putting us off, we decided to give them a try.Having done around 20 previous cruises with 1 Cunard who are in a league of their own,1 with Cruise & Maritime (yuk) never again,The rest were with P&O,who up until going on the Discovery we were quite happy with.The check in at Newcastle was total chaos,no time slot for check in,so everyone turns up together,people waiting in the car park & even on the slip road,which is a danger in itself,then you have to get on a bus to travel a few hundred yards,then check in your card details,then another bus to an area near the ship then about a 5 minute walk to the ship,having said all that Newcastle IS a port & not a cruise terminal,OK that's the bad thing out of the way,The ship itself is a pretty decent ship,she is looking a bit tired in places but she is getting on a bit,One of the nicest atrium's we have seen,a decent theatre,with excellent shows each night off the theatre group,Which P&O don't do 2 or 3 on a weeks cruise,Morgan from the theatre group has an outstanding voice & does a solo show in the atrium,the entertainment overall was good,There was a classical duo called Braximusic who were amazing.The crew are some of the friendliest we have ever met.The food was really good some people were saying the portions where a bit small & only 3 courses,how much food do they want,smaller portions mean less waste & you can ask for more if you want,( sounds like line from Oliver). Probably the best buffet We have ever experienced on land or sea,despite it being all inclusive (which does not include fizzy drinks on their own) we never seen anybody drunk,A bit strange that you can have a vodka or rum & coke,but not just coke.Overall we were really happy with this ship so much so that we have already booked another 2 Marella cruises for next year,Marella need to go to Southampton to see how check in should be done & P&O need to go on a Marella cruise to see how the all inclusive drinks & gratuities & entertainment is done because if other cruise companies can do it so can P&O.