New to cruising?

A muster drill is our essential passenger safety drill – it’s part of international maritime law – and everyone onboard attends one at the start of the cruise.  

Our safety video is the first part of the drill – it plays on your cabin’s TV on arrival, so please make sure you watch the full loop. The second part is called mustering, and it takes place on the first evening of your cruise. You’ll be given a time to go to this. At the mustering, you’ll familiarise yourself with your emergency meeting point, and scan your cruise card to show your attendance. Details of your muster station are found on your cruise card, and on the safety notice on the back of your door. Please note, you don’t have to take your life jacket with you.

If your cruise is sailing from the Caribbean, your luggage is transported as part of our bonded luggage service. This means you don’t need to collect your luggage at your arrival airport, as it will be delivered directly to your cabin. So, once you step off the plane, you can head straight to your coach transfer to the ship. 

If your cruise has bonded luggage included, we’ll let you know in your booking confirmation. The service may not always be available, so please check your paperwork before you travel. Your luggage label will be available 14 days before you travel, and you’ll need to make sure it’s secured to your suitcase. 

Please note, this service is only available if you’re travelling to the Caribbean on a TUI flight.  Anyone flying with a different airline – or to another destination – will need to collect their cases and bags from the allocated luggage carousel on arrival at the airport, and head to the coach transfer to the ship.

Our standard All Inclusive package includes selected draught beers and ciders – plus bottles and cans – selected wines by the glass, standard spirits and aperitifs. Cocktails like Mai Tais and Long Island Iced Teas are on the menu, too, as well as soft drinks, including mocktails and fruit juices. 

Choose to upgrade to Premium All Inclusive, and you’ll get some extra cocktails, like mojitos and margaritas, premium gins, rums and tequilas. Plus, you’ll get a wider selection of whiskies and brandies. You’ll also get canned soft drinks, and most drinks from The Coffee Port are included, too. You can choose to upgrade to Premium All Inclusive when you’re booking, or while you’re onboard.

Yes, there are a few phrases you might hear that you may not be familiar with if you’ve never been on a cruise before. Here are some examples...  

• Aft – this is the rear of the ship  

• Forward – this is the front of the ship  

• Starboard – this is the right of the ship  

• Port – this is the left side of the ship  

• Tender boat – this is a small boat used to take you between the ship and the port 

• Embarkation – this is the term we use for boarding the ship 

If you hear something you don’t understand, feel free to chat to a member of our team – they'll give you all the info you need.

All our ships have at least six eateries where you can grab meals and snacks as part of the standard All Inclusive package. This covers a table-service restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with Piccadilly’s – a new British inspired restaurant – and an Italian place. If you fancy a quick bite, you can pick up hot and cold plates from Snack Shack. 

You’ll always find some speciality restaurants onboard, too. Some fan favourites include a Surf & Turf Steakhouse and a pan-Asian place. These are chargeable, and we recommend you pre-book to make sure you get a reservation. You can book these extra restaurants through Cruise Control and Navigate. 

If you’re in the main dining restaurant and you fancy pushing the boat out, you can pay for a premium dish from our ‘Treat Yourself’ menu. 

It’s good to note that room service, drinks and snacks from the minibar, bottled water and branded ice-creams are chargeable, too.

When you board the transfer bus at the airport, you’ll be given a welcome letter. A member of staff will go through the next steps of your journey with you, and you’ll also be given a cruise card. This card will be registered to you at the check-in desk at the port, before you go through a security check similar to the kind you’d have at an airport. Then, you’ll make your way to the gangway, scan your cruise card and board the ship. If your cabin’s not quite ready – it may not be available until 2pm – you can feel free to use the ship’s facilities and grab some lunch when you’re boarded.

Our ships are cashless, and the prices onboard are all in pounds. You can charge everything you buy onboard to your cabin account. These accounts are opened when you board the ship, and they can be settled by cash or by credit/debit card. 

If you want to settle your account with cash, we’ll need a £200 deposit for each week of your cruise. All Marella ships accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards, as well as Delta debit cards – you just need to register your payment card when you check in. 

Before the end of your cruise, you’re advised to check your balance on Navigate, and take a screenshot of the statement so you have a copy to hand when you leave the ship.

At Marella Cruises, we’re proud to offer accessible holidays at sea. Most of our ships are accessible, and we'll do everything we can to cater for your needs. Our Assisted Travel Team can answer any questions you have and advise you on things like ship accessibility, bringing equipment onboard, adapted facilities and medical care – you can reach them on 0800 145 6920. We’d recommend giving them a call before you book your cruise. 

We’ve also teamed up with AccessAble to create detailed access guides for all of our ships. They’ve got all the info you’ll need to work out which ship is right for you.

Wi-Fi's available to purchase onboard all our ships via Navigate, and we have a few different packages to choose from. If you’re not using your Wi-Fi, we encourage you to turn it off – this will help you get the most out of your package. Please remember, the nature of being at sea means that Wi-Fi connectivity can sometimes be slow.

Navigate is our onboard hub where you can book a restaurant, check your onboard account and view the daily entertainment schedule, all without leaving your cabin. You can access Navigate on your smartphone, tablet or laptop onboard for free – you don’t need to pay for W-Fi to use it.

The onboard dress code varies for each restaurant, and it’s broken down into three categories – Beachwear, Casual and Smart. The first is a come-as-you-are affair, so bikinis and trunks get the thumbs up, but please wear something on your feet for safety reasons. Casual, meanwhile, speaks for itself – we’re talking tops and shorts or a sundress. Then you’ve got Smart, which is when you’ll need to dress up a little. You can wear shirts or polo shirts, trousers or tailored shorts, skirts or dresses, smart trainers, shoes or sandals, but we ask that you leave sportswear, flip-flops and non-tailored shorts in your cabin. If you want to add a jacket or a tie, that’s completely up to you – keep in mind, though, that our Dress to Impress nights give you the chance to get really suited and booted.  

To find out which restaurants have which dress code, check out the dining facilities on each of our ship pages. 

You'll need a visa to enter some of the countries we sail to, even if you're not stepping ashore – keep an eye out for the 'ESTA required' logo on our itinerary pages. We’ll let you know about this when you book, too – you'll see it in the ‘important information’ section. If you're travelling on one of our itineraries from La Romana that includes the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, you'll need to apply for an ESTA at least 72 hours before you travel. 

Both Barbados and the Dominican Republic include an electronic immigration document in their entry requirements. How you’re travelling to these countries affects which forms you need to complete, and when – you can get all the info you need on our FAQs page.