We have been on many many cruises mostly with Thomson now Marella Cruise's. the ship is lovely and actually we had been on this ship when it belonged to RC. Our cabin was lovely we had a deluxe balcony with a large balcony which I was thrilled about. After a long flight to Jamaica we were held up at the airport for about 1hour waiting for buses, we were tired and hot and had nowhere to sit.

Check-in at the ship was quick and efficient and we got our luggage very quickly. things started to go wrong after that the Captain had to flip the itinerary due to bad weather this was not his fault. I was jet lagged tired and then sea sick, this was not a could start I have never been sea sick before. We went for our evening meal in restaurant 47 the food was cold service was sloppy and the atmosphere was lacking. None of the magic which I normally except from a TUI cruise. Wine was spilt on the table cloth the table was not tidied after the main course. This continued throughout the cruise I might have had one hot meal the whole cruise. the wine was like vinegar.

the Island restaurant was worse you could not get waiter service for drinks if you wanted beer wine or water you could help yourself otherwise you had to go out to the pool deck where you could stand for ages waiting to be served and then they were very off hand. Food was again cold.

One morning my husband asked for a Fanta orange at 9.30am and was informed that you had to pay for it before 10 am what was that all about. The only place that you got really good service was Bar Eleven and that was thanks to Ned
we tried to book the speciality restaurant's with out success . this was our Golden Wedding anniversary we were very disappointed and will not be cruising with Marella Cruises again .

Our cabin stewards were excellent and could not do enough for us. we were in cabin 7128 .

I have just returned from a cruise on the Discovery 2 visiting Cuba. Cozumel.Grand Caynam. Belize. Guatamala. Roatan.

Trujillo and Jamaica. It was a brilliant cruise and the weather was excellent. The ship is very friendly and the crew were also friendly and willing to help what ever the problem was. Entertainment was excellent and plenty going on on board. Guy Stoker the pianist was very entertaining.

I would certainly recommend this cruise ship to other people thinking of cruising, I have been on a few different cruise ships but I really enjoyed Discovery 2 very much. Keep up the good work. First class.

My boyfriend and I (aged 21 and 20) went on Thompson discovery cruise ship on 2nd September 2017 for a week around different parts of Europe. Once we arrived in Palma we were directed by Thompson representatives to the coaches which took us to the ship. Once our luggage was on the coach that was the last we would see our luggage until the crew brought it to us so I would advice you to bring a change of clothes in your hand luggage as you don't know when you will receive your luggage but lucky for us our luggage arrived to us within the hour. Once we got to the ship we had to go check in and during check in you have to present either a credit or debit card (2% charge for credit card) or else £200 in cash so that you are able to buy things on the ship. However everything you buy on the ship is charged to your cabin account, you cannot pay with pay cash but the currency is Stirling. You are able to settle your account bill throughout the week on the ship (with euro or Stirling or both) or else just wait until after and it will be charged to the card that you checked in with. We paid €115 and this changed into £92 so the exchange rate was not very good.

There is a good few shops on board which offer a good range of items, they open half an hour after sailing off and closed around midnight, they do provide a good range of different offers as one of the offers was 50% of Calvin Klein however on the last day of sailing everything in the shops must go so I would leave it until near the end of your cruise before you buy something as you may get a better offer throughout the week.

The ship does offer wifi however it is £8 per hour or £15 per day there is also a few more offers for the week, but we thought this was a bit dear so we never bothered.

The staff are very very friendly, they are more than happy to help you. Housekeeping clean the cabin in morning & evening but you are able to ask them not to clean one or other if you wish. The ship also does laundry services which is very good prices as it cost us £1.70 to have a shirt pressed, they also do services of having it ready by the next day or else the same day before 7pm but there is a 50% surcharge of having it done the same day.

The food is very good on board, they have a buffet called Islands which you are able to go in at any time and take as much as you wish, this is where you will eat breakfast, however you are unable to go in your swimming outfits you must at least have shorts and a T-shirt on. There is also a place beside the pool called Snack Shack which you also are able to go to and have as much food as you like this closes at 6pm and you are able to go up in your swimming outfit.
There is two main restaurants called Gallery 47 and another one called 47. For gents they must be wearing long trousers and a collared shirts or at least a polo shirt. We never tried 47 but the food in Gallery 47 was beautiful could not say a bad word about it. (These two restaurants and the others mentioned above are included in the package you are given)
However there was a couple other fancy restaurants that you need to be nicely dressed for and they however do cost and you need to book in advance. One of the restaurants cost £29.95 so we never bothered as Gallery 47 was included and it was lovely.

There was one or two nights that the whole ship got dressed up in fancy dresses and suits or tuxedos which was a good night as if you got down early enough you got to meet the captain. You were then able to go down to the live room in which live entertainment was shown every night around the ship.

There is a very good range of drinks included in the package you are given (Smirnoff, Gordon's, Tanqueray, Jamison, sherries, a very good range of cocktails, red&white&rose, sparkling wines, soft drinks and other spirits etc) the cocktail of the day is included in this package however you do need to pay a charge of £1.50 each time you want it. There is a premium drinks package that you can upgrade to for an extra £50 (you are able to do this on the ship) which includes gray goose, more cocktails, cans of soft drinks and bottle water and other spirits. However you can still get these drinks on the package given to you but you must pay each time.

There was a few games that went on during the day around the pool area like afternoon trivia etc, the crew get involved in some of the games which they did make it quite fun during the day. There is an ice cream machine on board but it is only available from 12pm-3pm. There is a few activities available on board but they close at certain times which includes Table Tennis (10am-7pm) Mini Golf(10am-9pm) and the wall which was open at certain times but it closes at 7.30pm and if it is a windy day then it will not open due to health and safety.

You are able to go on excursions during the days that the ship is in dock which will last around the earliest 4hours or longer. If you book some excursions before you go the tickets will be in waiting in your cabin for you getting there. However if you do not book any before the cruise you still able to book them while you are on board and you will receive your tickets straight away. It tells you on the ticket what time the tour will be leaving at and that you should be there around 10/30 minutes before hand depending on the tour. However if you are due to go on an excursion I would make sure you are down in plenty of time as one of our excursions was due to depart at 9.30 and we left at 9.20 lucky enough we got down in plenty of time to still get to the excursion as we spoke to another couple and they were down 15 minutes before the tour was due to leave and their coach had already gone they weren't able to get their money back or go on another tour.

The plugs on board are European straight sockets and they also have round sockets. There is no fridge in room, but they do have a mini bar sitting out but is extra for each item. The safe is free to use, there is some hangers are already in the wardrobe along with a fb but a good range of the channels is about the cruise.

Our experience with Thompson Cruises was good but we would be unsure to be going back due to the lack of activities there is on board and also we were the youngest people on board, as there was no other young adults on board which meant after certain times there wasn't really anything for us to do which made it seem a bit boring at night time.

Everyone that I spoke to raves about a cruise, but I was left totally underwhelmed by this holiday.

I did expect nice food, great service & fabulous entertainment. What I got was decidedly different.......the staff were unfriendly & on some occasions downright rude! The bartender in the glass house in particular was very rude & actually charged us for a drink which was listed as all inclusive until I complained to reception. The food was okay, but nothing special. In fact one meal that I ordered had a steak that was so tough I literally could not chew it.

The pool was not observed by staff or parents & children & teenagers were swinging from the canopy over the hot tubs, running wild around the pool & throwing toilet tissue into the pool-which isn't pleasant to swim through. Signs everywhere state no babies in nappies in pool-everyday there were about 2-3 babies in there but staff said nothing. The games room with x-box was a joke-not one worked for the whole 2 weeks we were onboard.

Paid price of 5 star & got 3 star at best-never again!

We have just finished a cruise on the TUI Discovery (yesterday). This is a good looking ship, with an excellent team on board, and plenty of entertainment for adults. There were very few children on board.

Itinerary = Villefranche, Naples, Carrina, Messina, Monte Carlo, Monaco. There are just a couple of niggles....but worthy of note.

First time cruiser, and something my wife and I have wanted to do for years. I have to say at this point, there were a couple of things that’s started the holiday on the wrong footing. Firstly, and before you do anything else, one of the first things Thomson does is take £1 per passenger for a charity that it champions. It TAKES this money whether you agree or not, and although you can visit reception to get this CHARGE refunded, I found it petty. With over 1800 passengers on board, that is a lot of money. When it comes to charity, I like to "donate", and not have the money taken from my account whether I like it or not.

Secondly...."WIFI". When you are on board, you have no communication with the outside world whilst "at sea", as there is no other option whilst "Cellular At Sea" is showing. We all know that a major part of your holiday is taking photos, and posting to social media/WhatsApp/Instagram or "Face Ache". Thomson know that they have a captive audience here, and promptly charge you £8 per hour, or per 75mb. Now, over a 7 day cruise, that can amount to a sizeable chunk of money. When you have spent a small mortgage on a deluxe cabin, being charged to use WIFI was just another penny pinching aspect that leaves more than a bad taste in the mouth. Sadly, these days, "All Inclusive" does NOT mean what you think, or expect. To stop at a small coffee bar for a cuppa and a cake, and then be charged almost £8 for them privilege, mainly because certain aspects of food and drink ARE chargeable, but there is no indication of this at the point of sale/cafe/wherever. If you like fine dining.......once again, you have to pay extra for it. Although there are 3 restaurants and cafes you can use.... there are also 4 that you cannot, unless you pay a surcharge. I used to think that when you bought an "all inclusive" package, you could leave your wallet/purse in the cabin.....not the case at all.

The TUI Discovery is NOT a new boat as they would have you believe, and is in fact what used to be called the "Splendour of the Seas". It has had a refit, a new coat of paint and a rename, but I guess I am being as petty as Thomson themselves have been!

When you travel, a lot of folks take a travel iron with them, in order to iron out a few creases before venturing out to dine. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to use portable travel irons on board.....BUT, you guessed it..... you can PAY to get your clothes ironed in the laundry....way to go Thomson.

Had a great time on the discovery doing the 7 shores and paradise islands round the Caribbean.

Food and drinks were always available and good quality. Didn’t spend the day on ship as was on different islands every day so spent time on the beaches. Pity the ship doesn’t dock nearer to beaches as some days it was a 20/25 minute trip in a taxi to the nearest ones.

The staff work so hard and are always smiling even though they work long hours with only a few hours off each day.

The 47 restaurant on deck 4 was brilliant - only tried the 47 Italian on deck 5 once but good as well. The buffet like any other, normally had breakfast here or grabbed a bacon butty at the snack shack as always made to order.

The entertainment wasn’t up to much could do with a shakeup but they tried their best.

All in all no complaints had a fab time and hope to cruise again

Having just joined the Thomson (Tui) fleet in the last few months The Discovery formerly Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas is a fantastic ship, in fact it has just won Cruise Critics Best New Ship award.

I have been on other Thomson ships I can easily state that this is new ship is a big leap up in both standard and facilities.

Although not the largest ship having on average 1800 passengers and 740 staff on board at any one time there is a general feeling of space and personal service on board which is lacking in many of the new large ships with upwards of 3000 passengers.

Being All Inclusive it was pleasantly surprising to see the large variety of premium drinks available and the standard of food served in all the restaurants.

There are plenty of sunbeds available however the prime spots do get full very quickly.

Cabins are generally well furnished with ample space and storage however some cabins (balcony deck 6) there is a slight shortage of space and storage.

The food on board was of a high standard with a great choice, the extra charge A La Carte restaurants are also very good and if you are a Sushi lover you will love the Sushi restaurant which I think is exceptional value.

The gym (yes I know) on board is very well equipped with a choice of equipment for cardio and weight.

Mini Golf and the climbing wall are a great feature and will entertain for a while. The entertainment is again better than on other Thomson ships however in my opinion there is still room for improvement in some areas, perhaps introduce more professional guest acts.

The crew work incredibly hard for up to 18 hrs a day and for 8 months straight, I don't know how they do it and still be so cheery and friendly, they are brilliant and go out of their way to make sure you are looked after.

I know many turn up their nose and look down on a Thomson Cruise ship, indeed we met several in the various ports we visited who were openly pretentious because they were on a P&O or Royal Caribbean cruise ship, having said that we had a few passengers on The Discovery who had cruised with these companies and they had nothing but praise for the ship and staff and claimed it was much friendlier on The Discovery.

I can highly recommend The Discovery, in fact we were so impressed we have already booked for The Discovery 2 when it joins Thomson's later this year.

I may not be a cruise snob like some of you other reviewers. Maybe we caught a lucky break or something but we thought this ship, the itinerary and the whole experience was fantastic.

This was our first cruise so have nothing to compare it to but when I have the opportunity to take all our family on it I would not hesitate to take them with us on the very same one and experience it too. The staff were amazing, they work so hard and always had a smile. The ship may be older but you can see it is always being cleaned and looked after.

We had a couple of issues with our toilet not flushing and that was sorted so quickly.

Love this ship.......if you are thinking of booking this but are unsure.....do it, you won't be disappointed!