We are frequently Cruise and always choose our cruise for the itinerary and as Explorer was the only ship in the canaries at our chosen dates that is the ship we chose. Embarkation was smooth and luggage delivered promptly.

Our first evening we went to dinner in the main dining room Italian section. We put the poor service and the very mediocre food down to the fact it was the first night and we have experienced this before on a first night on Marella and other lines to be fair. Lunch next Day was no better to be honest nor was breakfast. The food was not what you would call bad but it was neither up to the standard we know from any cruise we have ever been on. Marella seem to have reduced their menu in the morning so you can only have egg benedict (always my chosen breakfast most mornings) on one day of the week and this is the same for anything other than English breakfast or omelettes for the main part. They have even stopped offering pastries Although they can be requested I learned. Lunch had burger, veg burger and ploughman’s lunch on the menu every day with a couple of other choices which differed each day. To be fair we found lunch better than dinner probably because they were less busy. The serving seemed pretty chaotic at times

We always book a couple of speciality restaurants anyway so next evening so having booked the 3 dining package and eating in the Mediterranean restaurant we were able to avoid the dining room in the evenings. Read more