Access Guide
Cruise Ship Terminology
- Please see below the cruise ship terminology used within the Marella Access Guides.
- Disembarking: This is when you leave the ship at the end of your trip.
- Embarking: This is when you board the ship at the beginning of your trip.
- Tender Boat: Also called a lifeboat, a tender is a small boat that takes you from the ship to shore when the cruise ship anchors in a harbour.
- Aft: This is the rear part of a ship.
- Forward: This is the front of a ship.
- Midship: This is the middle of a ship.
- Port: This is the left side of the ship as it’s facing forward.
- Starboard: This is the right side of the ship as it’s facing forward.
- Lido: Lido is an often-used term used to describe the deck where you’ll find the outdoor pools.
Start of Cruise
- On Marella Discovery 2 passengers at the majority of ports board using a ramped gangway, which leads onto Deck 1.
- The gradient of the ramped gangway is usually steep with handrails on both sides.
- The gradient of the gangway may vary depending on the port or the tide.
- A member staff can provide assistance if required.
- There are members of staff available at the bottom and top of the gangway.
- On arrival passengers leave their main luggage at the port terminal building and the luggage will be taken to their room by a member of staff.
- Please note some destinations have bonded luggage which means your luggage is taken straight from the plane to the ship, so there is no requirement to collect luggage from the luggage belt.
- Passengers can find this information in their customer documentation.
- At some ports passengers board via a footbridge which connects to Deck 4.
- There is a hand sanitiser located at the bottom of the gangway.
- There is a security gate located just beyond the gangway, the gate is 75cm wide.
- On the first day of the cruise there is a safety briefing.
- This takes 15-20 minutes to complete.
- Emergency Muster Stations are located on the Promenade, outside on Deck 4.
Day Trips and Excursions
- Information and booking day trips and excursions are done at Destination Experiences which is located on Deck 5.
- The Destination Experiences team will have access information about the trips.
- Please speak to the team about any access issues before booking an excursion or tour.
- Disembarking and embarking is done at the majority of ports on Deck 1 via the ramped gangway.
- The gradient of the ramped gangway is usually steep with handrails on both sides.
- The gradient of the gangway may vary depending on the arrival port or the tide.
- A member staff can provide assistance if required.
- At some ports disembarking and embarking is done on Deck 4 via a footbridge.
- There is a hand sanitiser located at the bottom of the ramped gangway.
- There is a security gate located just beyond the ramped gangway, the gate is 75cm wide.
- At a few ports the ship will not be able dock in the port.
- In these situations access to the port is via a tender boat.
- Access from the ship to the tender boat is via Deck 1.
- There is stepped access down to the pontoon.
- There is one step from the pontoon onto the boat.
- There is then stepped access to the seating areas.
- The seating areas are located at the front and rear of the boat.
- The seating is fixed and in rows.
- Passengers must be able to leave their wheelchair and use the stairs to access the tender boat.
- Marella Cruises can provide information on whether tender boats are used for any excursions on each cruise.
- At some ports passengers require their passports, whereas at times you will just need to take your Marella Cruises Ship Card to the security gate and have it scanned before disembarking and have it scanned when returning to the ship.
End of Cruise
- On the night before the last day of the cruise passengers will receive an information leaflet in their cabins advising them of the disembarking process on the day of departure.
- On the day of departure information about disembarking times is displayed on the screens around the ship.
- Passengers will depart in groups for cruises that disembark at Newcastle or Southampton.
- For cruises disembarking with flights back to the UK, passengers will disembark according to flight times and transfers back to the airport.
- Flight times will vary.
- Please note some destinations have bonded luggage on the return journey which means your luggage is taken straight from the ship to the plane, so there is no requirement to take your luggage from the ship to the airport.
- Passengers will be advised of this whilst on the ship.
- On Marella Discovery 2 at the majority of ports passengers depart on Deck 1 via the ramped gangway.
- At a few of the ports passengers depart on Deck 4 via the footbridge.
- There is a security gate located just before the ramped gangway, the gate is 75cm wide.
- The gradient of the gangway is usually steep with handrails on both sides.
- The gradient of the gangway may vary depending on the port or the tide.
- Staff are available for assistance if required.
- There is a hand sanitiser located at the bottom of the ramped gangway.
- On departure passengers collect their main luggage from the dock.