Manchester Hotel: Premier Inn, Manchester Airport (M56/J6) Runger Lane North

We have one must-have and one would-be-nice-to-have when it comes to choosing a hotel prior to embarking on a holiday somewhere: it must have parking since we’ll be driving; it would be nice if it was close to a local real ale pub since we’d like a chance of a local drink if we’re staying outside our home region. The Premier Inn, Manchester Airport fit the bill perfectly on both counts and, as its name implied, it was very close to the airport too.

Checking in was simple enough although the machines to allow you to generate your own key card to the room didn’t have the ability to add on car parking so that had to be done in person at a nearby desk. After a close-to-five hours drive up from the south coast (with a short service station break after Oxford for a bite to eat) it was good to stretch our legs, throw the cases down, freshen up a bit, let Facebook friends and family know we’d arrived in The North safely, and snap a few photos of the room just in case nobody else on the internet has ever posted a photo of a Premier Inn hotel room before. I’m not even going to check; I’m just going to assume I’m the first person to do this.

The Romper Pub, Manchester

Five minutes after checking into our room in the hotel we were back out the door and heading towards the nearby pub we’d seen on the map, The Romper. This was only a walk of under ten minutes but did involve heading down an unlit road with trees on one side and fencing on the other and lots of cars parked along it, some with people in them, some with people standing around outside them.

Okay, so this is a bit scary.

We’re close to the airport. They’re probably taxi drivers waiting for dispatch calls.

They’re all silent.

Are you trying to imply they’re undead taxi drivers?

No, I’m saying it all feels like they’re criminals and we’ve stumbled into the middle of something.

It’s more likely dogging we’ve interrupted than engagements in anything nefarious. But I’m sure they’re just taxi drivers.

Well, they’re still scary.

All taxi drivers are. Anyway, I can see the pub now.

You too will be able to see the Romper pub when you spot the lion sculpture outside it. Initially a confusing piece of artwork this transpires to be thanks to the pub’s previous incarnation as The Red Lion and the origin of its present name (at time of writing) derives from a nickname applied to the unflattering sign it once sported, apparently closer in appearance to a “romping kitten” than any king of the jungle.

The pub itself was very nice. Large, lovely old stone and wooden beams everywhere. Staff were friendly. Some fellow patrons were a smidge boisterous – one was standing on a seat at one point and banging on the ceiling; what a charmer – but that could happen anywhere. Importantly, some bloody lovely regional beer that absolutely necessitated a second pint and a decent range of gin too.

Manchester Airport

In the morning we left the hotel and travelled the three minutes or so to park in the long stay parking at the airport that we’d pre-booked. Important tip: make a note of the level you park on and don’t rely on the level colour. We were on an orange level which seemed like an easy way to remember it until we returned from our trip abroad and discovered the elevator signs and external signs used different shades of oranges, reds, and yellows that confused us when pressing buttons and left us panicking that someone had stolen our car until we’d made three trips to different levels to check things out.

This was our first time flying out of Manchester Airport so it was all new and weird. It’s a far more compact airport than Gatwick or Heathrow but that made it very simple to find the TUI representative standing at the head of a snaking line of people with cases ready to board a TUI flight somewhere. We were allocated seats at that time (as we’d not been able to do so online for some reason) and were given a priority label for our luggage for unloading purposes as we were cruise passengers. Otherwise, we shuffled along with everyone else, got to play with the self-weighing and luggage tag-sticking machines they had, then pushed our bags onto the conveyor belt and headed off through security. The manual approach to checking your own bags in was a novel experience and not awful but I think we both prefer that someone at a desk do all that for us.

There weren’t many options for breakfast in the airport and the size of the queues made our minds up for us: Frankie and Benny’s won out the day. Beer and cider before eight in the morning? You bet! We were on holiday!

Naples Airport

Our flight to Naples was on one of TUI’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft and the one named Mrs Patmore specifically. You can read the story behind the plane’s name here. With it being a short trip to Italy no headphones were made available so the onboard entertainment wasn’t able to be used nor was any free meal part of the flight. My wife had her Kindle and I had my book and a window seat so could alternate between escaping into science fiction and saying irritating things like “Ooh, we’re over water!” and “Ooh, we’re no longer over water!” For a few hours that was just fine.

As we were near the rear of the plane and the plane came to a stop away from the terminal at Naples airport we got to debark from the rear exit which was an unusual experience for us. Also unusual was standing out on the concrete and tarmac for fifteen minutes waiting for a shuttle bus to come but preferable to spending any more time in the seats.

Luggage took its sweet time arriving on the carousel (whether those priority labels made a difference it’s not possible to say) but after it had finally turned up we found the TUI cruise representative and once sufficient numbers of us were present we were led out of the airport and to a nearby waiting bus where only a short drive sat in the way of boarding Marella Discovery.

In the next post of this travelogue series covering our cruise through the Suez Canal to Jordan I’ll cover our first day on the ship, a quick walk around it while still docked in Naples harbour, and the food and drink we forced ourselves to taste-test.

Deluxe Balcony Cabin 7072

First stop was to our cabin. We’d booked a Deluxe Balcony grade of cabin but hadn’t selected a specific room as there was an additional charge to do so and with this being our first cruise with Marella we didn’t have anything against which to decide where the best room might be.

I’m going to interrupt my own account of our first day aboard Discovery now with a quick aside to mention some of the booking differences between what we’re more used to with Princess and P&O, and what the TUI/Marella experience is like. With Princess, from our third cruise onwards when we finally found our feet with this whole cruising thing, we’ve always selected the room we want to be in. During the booking process you’re simply asked whether you’d like to pick a room or not and we choose to. We also never opt for an upgrade because you’re really gambling with other people’s ideas of “better” if you do that. With P&O they offer two price points for booking, those being the Select price where you choose your room and get a few perks or the Saver price where you’re allocated a room based on what’s available. We always choose Select. A Marella cruise booking is a little like defaulting you into the Saver option offered by P&O. Generally, everyone pays the same price for the type of room they’re in but if you want to throw some more cash their way then they’ll let you have first pick of the rooms rather than wait for the allocation system to slot you in somewhere. Now that we’ve completed a cruise with Marella we might well do that next time but we had no problems with the room we ended up with.

Deluxe Balcony Cabin 7072 is roughly at midship on the port side of the vessel. Our preference when cruising is forward and starboard but this turned out to be a decent location as it was close to the elevators and staircases which meant getting from our room to the buffet area for breakfast took around 30 seconds. If eating is important to you then you could do a lot worse than pick this room or ones in the vicinity.

The room was close in layout to a Princess mini-suite in that it had a seating area (which didn’t get a lot of use from us to be honest) but was otherwise mostly what we’ve come to expect from cabins on ships. I didn’t take very many photos because you can find plenty of them online and who am I to deprive those people of potential web traffic!? The only things I’d note about this room are:

• The wardrobe doors will kill you if they get a chance. The bi-fold arrangement caught our fingers half a dozen times and fellow cruise bloggers who you’ll be hearing about quite a lot during this Journey to Jordan travelogue set, Paul and Carole, have an even more brutal tale of assault from this piece of furniture that they might be willing to share.
• If you’re a fan of sitting on the toilet and staring at the toilet roll just out of reach then you are in for a treat on Marella Discovery. I can picture the person in charge of designing the cabin turning to her colleague and saying “So, how long are your arms? Okay, thanks. I’ll just add on another thirty centimetres then.”
• Showering was a two-person job half the time. No, not for the sexy reasons you’re thinking of. One person needed to be on guard to stop the bathroom from flooding which it did no matter how careful the person under the water was trying to be. I’d like to think that our steward was used to always picking up one absolutely drenched-through towel every evening because it was a known problem and didn’t think we were the sort of weirdos who wrapped ourselves in one when washing but we’ll never know for sure.

For the record, we’re a completely different sort of weirdos.

We’d been to the port of Naples once before, that being a stop during our Royal Princess cruise back in 2016 (there are a couple of posts here: Royal Princess – Italy) and so I’d been excited to see the Casa Del Portuale building again that I knew to be there. However, it transpired that on that previous cruise we’d been docked in the more industrial area of the port whereas Marella Discovery was alongside at the dedicated cruise terminal some way from it. On the one hand a shame because it’s a gorgeous piece of brutal architecture but on the other hand a better chance to appreciate Naples as being a little more attractive than it had seemed on that first visit. The views were more varied and I was very pleased to be able to see Mount Vesuvius from our balcony with other points of interest being a San Giorgio-class amphibious transport dock ship, San Giusto, and a horse’s arse.

Marella Discovery Atrium

To the hub of the cruise ship next, the atrium. This was a very bright, very open area, with plenty of natural light coming down and from alongside. We haven’t cruised with Royal Caribbean before (their family-friendly reputation is us-hostile so they’ve never been in the reckoning, although we have spotted some Asian itineraries they do that have started to worm their way into our travel-planning thoughts) but if you have then the Discovery will be pretty familiar to you as the ship is a Vision-class vessel and formerly the Splendour of the Seas. We were very impressed by the atrium area although as the cruise went on we started to find some issues with a lack of seating space in the evening and the final set of steps leading down to the ground floor were so smooth and reflective it felt like we were risking life and limb every time we descended them.

It was around the atrium that we upgraded to the Premium Drinks Package and that’s worth mentioning. If you cruise with Marella then the basic drinks plus gratuities are included in the price. That’s already a great deal because unlike certain other lines I could mention with a basic drinks package (cough, Celebrity, cough!) the basic drinks package for Marella covers a huge range of what’s available on board and what most normal people would like to actually drink. Premium drinks can be bought but there’s a small surcharge (very small) unless you want to upgrade the package. And here’s where Marella excels again: it’s £50 per person per week. That’s a tiny fraction over £7 a day to be able to drink anything, including the speciality coffees. For us this was an easy decision to make when you compare similar pricing on other lines. A feature of drinking to be aware of is that the drinks package only applies between 10:00 and 02:00 for some unfathomable reason. If you want a drink outside those times then you will pay extra.

Anyway, drinks package upgraded we promptly went and ordered some Bellinis and were charged for them because the upgrade hadn’t gone through the computer system quickly enough. Our waitress apologised and let us know we could talk to reception and get the charge removed but we couldn’t be bothered. We’re not the sort to quibble over a few quid here and there. We’re the sort who then get another drink immediately afterwards. Oh, and we loved the slanted glasses.

The Shops And The Pub

It doesn’t feel right to turn to your other half and say “Let’s go check out the shops and the pub” when you’re on a cruise ship but that’s what happened next. Of course, it was still early so the pub bar hadn’t opened and as you possibly already know, no shops open while a ship is in port because all the staff are ashore laughing maniacally at the low prices on land so this wander through these two areas of the ship was rather perfunctory.

The boutique shops were exactly what you’d expect to find on a cruise ship: some cruise line souvenirs, basic clothing, snacks, perfumes, designer bags, that sort of thing.

The Squid and Anchor pub was not exactly what you’d call a traditional-looking pub considering this was a British cruise line. Its name was arguably quite misleading in that it was more a general entertainments lounge than anything else. I think for the name I’d have liked some more features in line with a pub and perhaps more than just the squid and anchor motif on chairs and menus to bring that theme in more. However, it was a mostly fine venue with the only thing to consider if attending something where the screen at the front is in use being that some seats had very obstructed views thanks to the pillars.

Marella Discovery Speciality Dining Restaurants

Our initial exploration of Marella Discovery next brought us to the very top of the ship, deck eleven directly over the atrium. This was the location of Bar Eleven, the ship’s late night drinking and dancing venue and somewhere we knew we’d end up most if not all nights on this cruise. That’s the kind of people we are.

Just off from Bar Eleven were the two speciality dining restaurants Surf and Turf (no prizes for guessing what sort of food that specialises in) and Kora La (a general Asian restaurant). Prior to embarking on this cruise we’d decided we would be trying all the dining options anyway but it was good to see how the rooms were set up just to be certain. They both met with our approval, especially the views afforded by Kora La, so the next time we passed the self-assistance machines off the atrium we used our cruise card and booked dinner in each of them for the following two nights.

Miniature Golf, Rock Climbing, And Swimming Pools

Out onto the top deck of Marella Discovery next, the location of most of the photos you’ll see from cruise ships because this is where all the daytime fun happens. We’re not fun people – we’ve been called intimidating and irritating in roughly equal measures but fun doesn’t factor into most people’s reckoning – but we don’t begrudge others having some of it on occasion.

Heading aft brought us some more pleasing views of Naples, including those from the ship’s port side where coast guard and naval vessels were tied up. This was late afternoon, on the cusp of evening starting, and the sun was sinking in the early November sky bringing a cool dusk with it. The back of the ship on the top deck is where you’ll find a couple of the sporting activities you can enjoy. A miniature golf course decorated with boulders is the first thing you’ll come across. Behind that is the rock climbing wall, an activity I’d never tried before but which I told my wife prior to the cruise I was going to have a go at while at sea because it felt like the sort of random experience to boast about that we quite enjoy. Sadly, I didn’t make it mostly thanks to forgetfulness on my part but also partly because the time when you can climb is limited by appropriate staff being around, and on the one day when I did remember and when there were staff around I was so hot from just standing by the wall in direct sunlight that the thought of strapping myself into a harness and suffering the exertion of climbing as well just sweated itself out of my body.

I must confess to really liking the TUI logo on the ship’s funnel and also liking the way it was lit up. Incidentally, if you’re wondering about whether the ship is a TUI ship or a Thomson ship or a Marella ship then let me try to explain. TUI are the parent group who operate German and English hotels, flight operations, and cruise lines. Thomson were part of it but were rebranded to be TUI UK. The English cruise line was then rebranded as Marella while the German line are still technically TUI Cruises but everyone knows them as the Mein Schiff ships because they’re all called that with numbering after them (e.g. Mein Schiff 1, Mein Schiff 2, etc.), the reason for that being that German names for beautiful concepts such as discovery and exploration and jewels and glamour all run to around one hundred and twenty letters in length, are unpronounceable, and cost a fortune to paint onto hulls.

The main swimming pool area was just forward of midships on Discovery’s top deck and it looked incredibly pretty and felt very serene in the cool and quiet of the darkening evening. This would contrast markedly with a typical sea day on the ship when the entire area more closely resembled one of those Where’s Wally? drawings with barely a metre of deck space able to be seen amongst the throng of recliners and bodies rammed around the water’s edge.

Continuing our tour of the top deck we reached the front which held a small, slightly sheltered spot for lounging in the sun with a maritime/navigational sculpture and a great view ahead of the ship. In Naples this meant gazing across the water to Vesuvius once more. I do like a volcano.

Marella Discovery has an indoor swimming pool as well, located in a spot named The Glass House. Not to be confused with the place with the same name on P&O ships, this was a very nice spot too which, with hindsight, we should have taken more advantage of. I guess there will have to be a next time to address this shortcoming. What suffering. Oh no. How will we cope. Et. Cetera.

Food And Drink On Marella Discovery

Sailaway wouldn’t be until 23:00, the muster drill would be a little before that, and it had been a long day for us with not much to eat at this point so we decided on an earlyish dinner with the chance to try a few drinks after that in the lounges and bars that would be open by this point. Or even before that. We grabbed a pre-dinner drink in the atrium because, well, because we could.

After comparing menus of the two sections of the main dining room we selected the Italian option of Gallery 47 and the food would be good enough and more to our liking than that in the main section throughout this cruise.

Antipasti and bread was followed by our starter choices of Bruschetta for me and Calamari for my wife, fairly standard options for us in Italian restaurants in general. Our meal was accompanied by more glasses of red wine than I can remember, a benefit of those all inclusive drinks packages.

Saltimbocca Alla Romana for me and the unfortunately-named Stinco Di Maiale for my wife made up our main courses.

I finished with A Trio Of Tiramisu while Lemon Meringue Tart was the dessert across the table from me, and we both washed it down with a whiskey.

Waiter service during dinner was fantastic but let’s be clear: the food wasn’t spectacular. Then again, we weren’t expecting spectacular. The food was very good, though, and if you’ve nothing super-fancy to compare it to then you won’t be disappointed. We did have fancy things to compare it to and we still weren’t disappointed because we knew what sort of cruise line Marella were and where their budget sat in what they would provide. We were very satisfied throughout the cruise.

There was still quite some time at the conclusion of our meal before we’d need to gather for the muster and the pub was open at this point so deciding what to do next was fairly easy. Also, the drinks volume was mounting up by this point and you don’t want to stop when that happens or you’ll get a headache. We were only thinking of our health and not wanting to colour our perception of time aboard Discovery with pain. So, to the Squid and Anchor once again it was!

The drinks menu shows you just what’s included with the drinks package aboard Marella Discovery as well as the supplement you’d need to pay if you don’t upgrade your package. If you think you’d spend more than £7 a day then upgrade. I think it would be fair to say that we got our money’s worth on this cruise.

The muster drill took place on the promenade deck of the ship. I’m not sure quite how much of it people were paying attention to on the back of most of the day drinking (because we weren’t the only ones, that’s for certain) and I wouldn’t want to do it in driving wind and rain but it was quite pleasant in the Italian night air and thankfully short.

As Marella Discovery left Naples we made our way to Bar Eleven. You can order from a standard shipwide menu or one specifically for the venue with the special menu including some premium infusion and smokey cocktails. Both sorts of drinks menus are below.

Being the children that we are we had to try some of the special cocktails. The theatre with the presentation and pouring of the drinks is worth the cost alone.

We had a few more drinks, we listened to the music, we might even have danced at one point. Only one thing is very clear and that’s that we both felt horribly and wonderfully hungover when we woke up the following morning. Even had we been stone cold sober we both agree that there was nothing but very good first impressions of the ship and especially its staff and crew.

In the next post in this Marella Discovery travelogue series we’ll see some more of the ship, see what the first of many sea days is like, touch things from outer space (ooh!), and have our first close encounter with some fellow bloggers.