Marella 30th Birthday Cruise

Marella Cruises is certainly our favourite cruise line, although we haven't been on any others we enjoy Marella so much we are quite content to sail with them. This was our 6th cruise, the 4th on Explorer which is a ship we love due to its bars, restaurants, great entertainment amazing staff, something Marella is known for. 

This cruise has been a long wait as we booked it in January 2025, I saw that 2026 was Marella's 30th birthday and that the first week of May all five ships would be celebrating. This was one cruise I didn't want to miss especially as Explorer's itinerary included a stop in Naples for a excursion to Pompeii.

The long wait was worth it, the whole week was amazing with some very special moments. The ship certainly had an extra special party feel with the crew and fellow cruisers joining in the fun.

Explorer is our favourite ship, one reason is the lovely outside bar on deck 11 at the back and with our choice of cabin being deck 9 aft it's only a short lift ride away. Looking at the back of the ship the dark blue windows are the double open floor restaurant Latitude 53 with the Squid and Anchor pub above, the railings with the flag is the smoking outside area for the Squid. Decks of cabins above  with deck 9 being the Children's Club leading up to the canopied outside bar on deck 11, the aft is certainly the place to be. 

We were very pleased to be able to book our favourite cabin and walking in it was like coming home. We knew exactly what went where so unpacking took very little time at all. 

As always there was a lovely welcome letter, the Life Onboard magazine and our arrival day's Cruise News (a daily newsletter left on our bed each evening giving details of the next days port, weather, activities and events). Pool towels are provided with Marella although not something we use. 

It was a lovely surprise this time to also have a few 30th birthday gifts; two pin badges, two luggage labels and two metal water bottles, a very nice to way start the party week!

The food on Explorer is superb, there's so much choice for whatever your dining style. Market Place is a self serve buffet which Hubby uses for breakfast if I'm not wanting anything and we both use for lunch for salads and meats to go with our pasta/pizza from the Italian restaurant in the Mediterranean Bar. It's so relaxed on board with the Market Place, Tapas Bar and Italian that you can mix and match and eat where you like, for us that's usually the Mediterranean Bar.

The main dining room is Latitude 53 on Deck 5, a beautiful dining room with two balances and a sweeping stairway. We use this restaurant for a served breakfast and many of our evening meals. The balconies are now two separate restaurants; Picadilly's and Vista. All three dining options are included but there's a few extra charges if you upgrade (we had the cheese carbonara prepared in the huge cheese wheel when in Vista) with the service as good as any high class restaurant. The waiting staff are so attentive and although you do not have allocated tables if you are on their area again they remember your preferences, they really take pride in their work. 

There are speciality restaurants for which there is a charge and booking is required. We are very content with the main dining options but this cruise decided to try Umi Sushi. It was an amazing experience, nothing like the sushi from our supermarkets at home. Our Japanese experience began with edamame beans served in the pods which you pop to reveal the bean followed by an amazing clear soup. 

We then had three steamed dumplings which tasted delicious, one with a cavier topping. The main course gave us the most difficulty, what to choose! There was a large selection of sushi styles each available in a choice of meat or fish, anything can be mixed and match to make eight sushi portions. I'm not fully sure what all my eight were but each one was absolutely delicious and so delicately made. 

Our sushi experience was completed with sweet  desserts, we left with surprisingly full tums as little bits on the plates did not seem much. I loved this meal and would eat here again, maybe next time I'd understand my choices more. 

Life on board Marella is always fun, it doesn't have to be a special occasion but many cruisers were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. We met some lovely people including a chap we met on Explorer two years ago, so nice to catch up. 

Captain Voytek's welcome is a must for us, he introduces all his main staff and always says his crew is a family; this is certainly true and when on board they make you feel part of that family. Everyone works so hard, always saying hello or good evening, asking how your day was, sharing stories about their families and genuinely seem pleased to see you be that in the bar, the restaurant or passing in the cabin corridors, and it's lovely when you met previous crew members again.

Our cabin crew did an amazing job, although we're not untidy people, making our cabin up each morning and turning our bed each night leaving the most important Marella chocolate on our pillows. Thank you Endik, Sagar and Bhuwan for our superb towel creatures, it was a joy to comeback each evening to discover a new 'pet' in our room. 

The Lounge bar with its quirky wavy bar top is what makes Explorer our favourite ship. It's a fantastic place to sit and enjoy a drink pre dinner, pre show or late into the night. The shape of the bar enables fellow cruisers to chat across, sing along to the live bands and really get to watch/know the bar staff. This year Denis and John looked after us very well, Denis made me a beautiful rose from a serviette and prosecco cork (it is safely here at home now). The bar staff are great at creating a party vibe most evenings but especially on their cocktail night when they perform their tricks, so clever and great fun.

Entertainment is a big part of cruising and there's so much on offer depending on your preferences. There is always something happening around the pool, often a dance class in the Indigo bar, crafting in the daytime around the ship and lots of variety in the Squid and Anchor including the hardest quiz at sea and daily bingo. There are often question and answer sessions too which are very interesting; Captain Voytek is a great chatter (we always go to his Q&A) and this year we went to The Showcast chat, great to learn about life behind the stage.

The evening show is a big part of our cruise life, the Marella show cast perform 12 shows over 14 days, each one different so if you are cruising for two weeks there will never be a repeated show. That's a lot of songs and routines to learn; their voices, dance routines and performance standard is amazing and worthy of West End productions. Each week there is a guest act on giving the showcase a much deserved night off. On entering the Broadway Show Lounge there's a variety of drinks to take to your seat with its little table and on leaving the Showcast are at the doors, always happy to chat about the show which just adds to the family ship vibes.

The final night of a cruise is always special as we get to say thank you to the crew and show our appreciation. In the main dining room the baked alaska is paraded around with the chefs and serving staff waving napkins, as do all the diners. It's a great moment in the stunning balconied Latitude 53 although this time it was on the big birthday night.

In the Broadway Show Lounge after the first show of the last evening there is a crew parade with members of all the crew teams representing their departments. We spotted one of our cabin crew enthusiastically parading holding one of the many towel animals they fold. It really does show how much Marella is a family, the length of applause evidence of how much we all appreciate their hard work. 

My post so far has been about life on board, nothing about being a celebration cruise, that's Marella every cruise and why we keep returning. However it was a special cruise with many special moments. 

Sailing out of Naples there was a 1990s pool party with many cruisers wearing 'back to the 90s' t-shirts and other 90s outfits. There was plenty of music from the decade with tribute acts on the pool stage. Hubby and I did not stay out long as we'd had a tiring day visiting Pompeii but those that did had a great time under the night sky.

As part of the celebration Eddie the Eagle Edwards was a guest speaker. A full Broadway Show Lounge enjoyed listening to how he became a ski jumper, his time at the Olympics and his life afterwards. He's quite a determined chap who overcame many hardships to reach his goal of being an Olympian.

The 7th May was the official Marella birthday celebrated by all the ships. We were in Ajaccio, Corsica, along with Marella Discovery 2. Corsica is a French island and the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. The captains of both ships joined local dignitaries and Napoleonic re-enactors in an official birthday ceremony. Passengers from both ships joined in the celebrations with many of the ships' officers also on shore.

This was followed a few hours later by both ships sailing out together, a rare occurrence and quite a moment. The setting was stunning with Ajaccio being in an inlet there were mountains either side of us. Explorer sailed out first with everyone on the pool deck celebrating with great music and party hats. Discovery 2 followed behind and was soon along side, what an experience to sail together.

Captain Voytek came out on the side bridge, I'm sure Discovery 2's captain was too but a little too far away to see. Both ships began sounding their horns, it was a toot off which everyone enjoyed. This is one memory I will never forget, it was superb. 

The big birthday celebrations grand finale was again on the pool deck; Boyzlife, Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden, performed a number of their hit songs with everyone singing and dancing along ... what an atmosphere (blurred photo as on high zoom)

We had a superb cruise, as always a great cabin, good food, fabulous entertainment and sn amazing crew, and of course we booked again especially with a generous Birthday discount.

Thank you Marella for such a great celebration of your 30 years cruising, we were thrilled to be on Explorer to join in the festivities. 

Sparkenhoe Cheese

We live in Warwickshire close to the Leicestershire border, the A5 Roman Watling Street splits the two counties with the beautiful Fen Lanes on our doorstep.

This area has many independent businesses from food specialists to antique barns, it is also the area where the Battle of Bosworth was fought and Richard III died - he's the king that was found in a car park and is now in Leicester Cathedral.

We have visited the fabulous Dreamy Cow ice cream farm where they make ice cream from the milk from their own dairy herd but we haven't been to Sparkenhoe Cheese  before so took a drive through the lanes to the farm.

This 380 acres farm has arable fields as well as clover pastures where their 150 Holstein-Friesian cows and 150 Romney ewes with their lambs graze. The farm practices regenerative farming which cares for the soil using natural grazing, crop rotation and regeneration of the soil. The herd produce the mik needed for the cheese making with the raw milk going straight to the cheese room at 5am.

Sparkenhoe Red Leicester is made using traditional methods with the wheels of cheese being wrapped under cloth and matured for 6-8 months for the traditional red and 12-14 months for the vintage red. 

Sparkenhoe Blue and Sparkenhoe Shropshire Blue are made the same way with the cheeses pierced at 4-6 weeks to form the blue veins and matured for 4-6 months.

The cheeses have won many awards including Sparkenhoe Red Leicester being voted the best artisan cheese in the world.

As well as their Sparkenhoe cheeses the farm shop sells a few artisan cheeses from elsewhere. They all looked delicious and it was very hard to choose.

The farm also has a cafe with inside and outside seating. There's variety of savoury and sweet with their cheese toasties being very popular, as were their cheese scones.

The lambs outside were so cute and certainly had healthy lungs as they were bleating very loudly. Inside the farm dog had everyone smiling as he/she was lying at a table tail wagging frantically for fuss then moving on if no fuss given, occassionally lyingĺ on its back to request a tummy rub, so cute.

Our visit coincided with a celebration day for me, six years since my consultant rang (during lockdown) to say they had got all the cancer and I was clear. In someways it feels like it only happened yesterday, in others it feels a lifetime ago.

To celebrate we had a bottle of Laithwaites Il Papavero Prosecco, this was my Dad's favourite Italian wine label especially the rosso. 

Our local cheese farm purchases were the stars of our sharing dinner with Sparkenhoe Tradional Red, Sparkenhoe Blue and Bosworth Field being our selection. The cheese was superb along with our cooked meats, olives, nuts, crusty bread and my homemade apple chutney.

All the cheeses were lovely, the first time I've had cheese made from raw milk and there is definitely a richness and complexity I've not tasted in other cheeses. My favourite was Bosworth Field and I'd like to try the Vintage Red next time

Tenerife

A hotel/resort holiday is not our usual get away  Our holidays are mostly self driven round France or Germany or cruising with Marella although we have stayed at Sea Star hotel in Icmeler a few times.

Having visited the Canary Islands as day stops on our cruises we decided to have a week in Tenerife to explore the island more .... it didn't quite go as expected but we have some super memories. 

It was lovely to see Mount Teide high above the clouds as we flew into Tenerife South Airport, it's Tenerife's largest volcano and is responsible for much of the pumice and black soil found all over the island.

Our flight also flew over our holiday destination. This part of Tenerife has developed mainly through tourism. There's a 10 mile promenade starting in Costa Adeje - further left of my photo - along Playa de las Americas and on to Los Cristianos - a working port on the far right of my photo.

Our hotel was not in the hub of the hotels, bars and restaurants but slightly inland next to the large golf course. It was a 20/30 minute walk to the sea front taking various routes. Our hotel is where the red dot is, the blue dot is a building that featured in our time in Tenerife but more of that later.

We had no knowledge of where to stay and booked the holiday fairly close to actually going away. We chose Villa Mandi simply on value for money and reviews, we booked our self catering package through Tui.

It was a lovely hotel resort, built to look Moroccan or Turkish in style it's apartments were more like small village houses with many walkways and stairs.

Our apartment was on the ground floor and faced the pool with plenty of palm trees. We could see a little bit of the golf course. 

Inside was superb; a small kitchen with fridge, hob and microwave, a lounge with tv, large bathroom with twin hand basins and separate bedroom with plenty of storage space and a very large bed.

We are not sunbathers so did not sit by the pool, we do like the sun to be on our terrace but sadly our terrace was always in shade from having the apartment above so quite chilly sitting out sometimes. This did actually turn out to be a bonus as it also meant we were sheltered from the rain, unlike the sunbathers who were often seen dashing in from the rain, only to be out again as soon as it stopped.

The pool was always busy with people there quite early in the morning but never overly loud, I think it would be in the high season. When quiet the view from our patio was lovely, especially at night.

The first few days were filled with blue skies and a lovely light breeze. We strolled along towards the promenade looking at bars and restaurant menus as this holiday we booked room only (another first). The second day was St Patrick's Day and everywhere had green themed decorations up with the numerous Irish bars preparing for a very busy day.

The coast was lovely, great views in both directions with huge palm trees and gentle waves. A storm was forecast, this has been the worst winter for the Canary Islands with rain and high winds most weeks which is unusual, people holiday here for some winter sun. By the third day the wind was quite strong and the dark clouds moved in.

The main mile in Playa de las Americas is known for its high end shops, plenty of restaurants and the famous Hard Rock Cafe. It was all a bit blingy for us with everything obviously built for tourists, although impressive we missed seeing old buildings.

The promenade goes through a tunnel as it enters Los Cristianos which has been decorated with some amazing artwork. The detail is incredible and certainly makes a feature of what otherwise would be plain concrete. The turtles were my favourite, so beautiful.

Our island stops whilst on our Canary Island cruises has sparked an interest in succulent and cactus plants. We now have quite a few at home but nothing the size of those in Tenerife, some are many years old, they grow so well on the dry volcanic soil.

Of course our holidays wouldn't be our holidays without discovering and enjoying food & wine. We had some lovely meals out, a full English breakfast one morning, as well as cooking in our apartment. 

The Cava from the local Mercadona supermarket was superb, I'm not a Cava fan but this was lovely, maybe because is was semi secco so not very dry.

We found bottled wine to be surprisingly expensive, maybe because we were in a touristy area and not really Canarian wine so we took a chance on boxed wine... it was ok but nothing special.

We did however try and really really like the Tenerife Barraquito, a layered cocktail of condensed milk, Liqueur 43, black coffee and frothy milk.

And of course on St Patrick's Day we did go to the Irish bars where a pint of Guinness was a must, as was wearing a Guinness hat hee hee

Unfortunately day four of our holiday things changed.... the weather was very wet and very windy. We stayed at the apartment in the day but did go out later for a meal in a Spanish Tapas restaurant we had prebooked. Plans changed as the restaurant was closed with a handwritten note on the door, we're not sure but the rain was causing flooding and it was a cellar restaurant.

We had a lovely meal at a restaurant on the promenade all be it under the tentage with the rain pouring down. Taking a taxi back to the hotel everywhere was wet and unfortunately I tripped up rushing into the hotel. 

After a few hours in the hospital (the blue dot on the photo) we returned to the hotel early hours of Friday, me with a broken right wrist (plastered), a right black eye, a bruised left hand, two bruised knees and broken glasses. 

A return visit to the hospital for a fit to fly document followed the next day. The weather was not great for the rest of the week with lots of rain and high winds.

It was not how we thought our holiday would be but with Hubby's help and dodging the showers when venturing out we still enjoyed our last few days .... cake and wine sort out most of life's hiccups. 

I am now under the care of our local hospital and hopefully the cast will come off soon and all will be well for our upcoming cruise.

Tenerife was not what we expected, the area we stayed in was very touristy, maybe we should have stayed in the north of the island. It has made us realise that we enjoy our cruises where we can explore a new place every days out and our European road trips where we are free to roam and explore more than hotel resorts but it's always good to see the world and we did discover Barraquitos!

Valentine's Day Wine Tasting

Last month Hubby and I hosted another wine tasting evening for our friends, there was no definite theme although we did include a few nods to it being Valentine's Day.

The room always looks good when everything is set up; glasses, quiz sheet and importantly the wine list with tasting notes.

It had been requested that we try new wines which is a little tricky as we have been hosting these evenings for over 12 years, probably 3 times a year ... that's a lot of wines already tasted. 

However with new wines in our supermarkets appearing and our recent trip to The Wine Society we did serve 12 new wines.

Our evening started with Asda's Wine Atlas Garda made from Garganega grapes using the charmant method when the second fermentation is in large stainless steel tanks. This was a lovely sparkling wine enjoyed by everyone with flavours of red apple and lemon sherbet.

Our rose and white wines all had something interesting on their labels and were from France, Austria, Sicily and Portugal 

As we were trying new wines our French wines were my favourites with a difference. I have enjoyed Duo de Deux Mers from the Wine Society many times but it was a first to try Duo des Plages, a rose made from Cinsault and Grenache. From Rousillon in Southern France this rose had plenty of fresh fruit with a smooth finishing giving a subtle grapefruit flavour.

I really enjoy Sauvignon Blanc from the Tourraine region in the Loire Valley and this white caught my eye with its unusual spelling, Le Cheteau. It was very much enjoyed by those who like Sauvignon Blanc.

Carricante from Sicily is a new tasting for our group. Wine making is an important part of Siclian heritage with this grape variety being grown in Eastern Sicily for at least 1000 years. Carricante wa a light wine with floral notes and peaches flavours with a subtle mineral edge to its finish.

Our other two wines were from The Wine Society, one was in their Enomatic Wine tasting machines, the other had an unusual label depicting a bell. 

Gemischter Satz from Familie Mantler was a delicious Austrian wine made from two grapes we had tried before and a new variety. This unoaked white was 80% Gruner Veltiner, 15% Muller-thurgau and 5% Muskateller. It was a really good wine that we would not have discovered if it hadn't been an offered tasting at The Wine Society.

The bell on the label of Casa Ermeinda Freitas Sino Grande pays homage to the daily rhythm of the Vineyard that was established in 1920. From one of Portugal's largest producers this wine made using Fernao Pires, Antao Vaz and Verdelgho was full of apple flavours with citrus high notes.

All our red wines had striking black and red labels,  nod to Valentine's Day.

Our first wine was Asda's Extra Special Sicilian Reserve. A Nero d'Avola wine full of dark fruits with a superb note of chocolate on its finish. Produced in a warm Mediterranean climae with cooling coastal breezes it is aged in French oak barrels before a further 12 months maturation in the bottle.

Staying with an Italian wine our next tasting was Masso Antico Primivito from Puglia. It's name is taken from Masseria, an old farmhouse on their first vineyard that was covered in old gnarled vines, hence the detail on the label.

Four Portuguese varieties were used to make this delicious deep red wine; Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Cao. Beefsteak The Beast is matured in port barrels and as its name suggests pairs well with steak.

From The Wine Society and full of dark fruits flavour Baccolo Appasimento Rosso Veneo was enjoyed by everyone. A tribute to the ancient wine divinity Baccus, Barcelona had intense flavours from the Merlot and Corvina being partly dried before pressing.

Our final red was from one of my favourite French wine producers, Cellier des Dauphins. The Reserve Intense is a blend of Cotes du Rhone grapes Grenache and Syrah with the addition of Mourvèdre giving a complex flavour of blackberries, blueberries, plums, spice and vanilla.

All the reds were very well received, each having subtle differences that highlighted the right pairing and occasion for each to be enjoyed.

Our final tipple of the evening was Asda's Espresso Martini Cream Liqueur. I did think of pouring everyone a Baby Guinness but as this had very similar flavours I thought it worth a try as an easier pour. It was delicious, a great easy drink but not quite a Baby Guinness shot or Espresso Martini. 

Another super tasting with a few extras for Valentine's, I wonder what wines will be next!