Marella Cruises
FormerlyThomson Cruises
Company typePrivate Limited Company
IndustryTransport
Founded1973
Key people
Christopher Hackney [1]
(Managing Director)
ProductsCruises
ParentTUI Group
Websitetui.co.uk/cruise.html

Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia.

History

The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fuel costs the venture was terminated in 1976. In 1995, Thomson restarted their cruise line after their competitor Airtours had made a successful entry in the cruise business under their Sun Cruises brand. On 9 October 2017, TUI Group announced that Thomson Cruises would be rebranded in late October 2017 as Marella Cruises, with all of the existing Thomson fleet adopting the name change either from Thomson or TUI to Marella (except Thomson Spirit which will be renamed Spirit and Thomson Majesty which will be transferred to Celestyal Cruises). The line also announced that it would base TUI Discovery in Asia for the Winter season of 2018, with the ship being based out of Malaysia, the first in the line's history.[2]

In 2012, Marella Cruises holds approximately a 1% market share of the worldwide cruise industry.[3]

In May 2021, with the cruise sector planning for revival following the COVID-19 pandemic, TUI were reported to be planning to merge Marella Cruises with their TUI Cruises joint venture with Royal Caribbean, as they had already done with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.[4]

Fleet

MS Island Escape was added to the Thomson fleet in April 2009, as a result of parent company TUI's acquisition of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s share in Island Cruises that took place in 2008.[5] As of March 2013, Thomson operates the Island Escape under its all-inclusive Island Cruises brand.

In March 2015, Royal Caribbean International announced that they had agreed to sell Splendour of the Seas to TUI Cruises in the second quarter of 2016, and that TUI would lease the ship to Thomson Cruises to replace the Island Escape.[6]

In May 2015, TUI Group announced that as part of their modernization strategy, TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 would be transferred to Thomson Cruises over the next few years.[7]

In October 2015, the Island Cruise brand was discontinued after the sole ship Island Escape completed her last scheduled cruise with Thomson Cruises.

In March 2017, it was announced that Mein Schiff 1 would join the fleet in May 2018, and would become the TUI Explorer.

In July 2017, Thomson had announced that they would be extending the Thomson Spirit Lease until October 2018, and she will be based out of Palma for 18 April and then based in Malaga from May 2018 with her last cruise being on 21 October 2018.

In March 2018, it was announced that Royal Caribbean Cruises and Ctrip were to close the SkySea Cruise Line brand and that the line's sole ship SkySea Golden Era would join the Marella fleet in place of Mein Schiff 2 which would stay with TUI Cruises.[8][9] The former Mein Schiff 2 was renamed Mein Schiff Herz and joined the Marella fleet in 2023 as Marella Voyager.

In April 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that Marella Celebration would be immediately retired from the fleet.[10] The same was announced for Marella Dream in October 2020.[11] Both ships were scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey, in 2022.

Current

Ship Built Builder Entered service
with Thomson/Marella Cruises		 Gross tonnage Flag Home Ports Summer 2024/Winter 2024-25 Notes Image
Marella Discovery 1996 Chantiers de l'Atlantique 2016 69,130 tons  Malta Marmaris, Turkey
Bridgetown, Barbados		 Previously Splendour of the Seas, TUI Discovery. Sub-chartered from TUI Cruises. Renamed Marella Discovery in October 2017.
Marella Discovery 2 1995 2017 69,130 tons  Bahamas Palma De Mallorca, Spain Singapore Previously Legend of the Seas, TUI Discovery 2. Renamed Marella Discovery 2 in October 2017.
Marella Explorer 1996 Meyer Werft 2018 76,522 tons  Malta Corfu, Greece Tenerife/Gran Canaria,Canary Islands Previously Celebrity Galaxy, Mein Schiff 1, sold to Marella in 2018.
originally planned to be named TUI Explorer
Marella Explorer 2 1995 2019 71,545 tons  Malta Dubrovnik, Croatia La Romana, Dominican Republic Previously Celebrity Century, SkySea Golden Era, sold to Marella in 2019.
Marella Voyager[12] 1997 2023 77,303 tons  Malta Palma De Mallorca, Spain Bridgetown, Barbados Commenced Service as Mercury/Celebrity Mercury

originally planned to join the fleet in 2019 with the name TUI Explorer 2, later replaced by the SkySea Golden Era/Marella Explorer 2[13]

Replacement for the Marella Dream.[14]

Former

Ship Built Builder In service
with Marella		 Gross Tonnage Notes Image
SS Ithaca 1956 Deutsche Werft 1973– 1976 8,977 tons scrapped 2003
SS Calypso 1955 Harland & Wolff 1975–1976 20,204 tons originally Southern Cross, scrapped 2004
SS Island Breeze 1962 John Brown & Co. 1997–2000 26,632 tons scrapped 2003
MS Sapphire 1967 Cantieri Navale Felszegi 1996–2002 12,263 tons scrapped 2012
SS The Topaz 1956 Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering 1997–2003 25,516 tons scrapped 2008
SS The Emerald 1958 Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock 1997–2008 26,431 tons scrapped 2012
Marella Spirit 1983 Chantiers de l'Atlantique 2003–2018 33,930 tons scrapped 2018
Marella Celebration 1984 2005–2020 33,960 tons scrapped 2022
Thomson Destiny 1982 Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard 2005–2012 37,584 tons laid up
The Calypso 1967 Fincantieri 2006–2009 11,162 tons scrapped 2013
Island Escape 1982 Dubigeon-Normandie S.A 2009–2015 40,132 tons scrapped 2018
Marella Dream 1986 Meyer Werft 2010-2020 54,763 tons scrapped 2022
Thomson Majesty 1992 Kvaerner Masa-Yards 2012-2015 40,876 tons Currently operating for Mano Maritime.

Accidents and incidents

On 9 February 2013, five crewmen of MS Thomson Majesty were killed in Santa Cruz de La Palma whilst checking a lifeboat. The lifeboat ropes snapped and it plunged 65 ft from the upper deck into the sea. It overturned as it hit the water, trapping them underneath. Three crewmen were taken to hospital, but five others - three Indonesians, one Filipino and one Ghanaian - drowned as rescue attempts were made.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "JavaScript is disabled in your browser". Travelweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Thomson Cruises to Rebrand as Marella Cruises and Base Ship in Asia". www.cruisecritic.com.
  3. ^ "2012 World Wide Market Share". Cruise Market Watch. 20 November 2011.
  4. ^ Kutowski, Timo (28 May 2021). "TUI beginnt mit Verkauf von Hotels ("TUI starts selling hotels")". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to Sell Its Interest in Island Cruises to First Choice Holidays Ltd". Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. 6 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  6. ^ "Splendour of the Seas Sold to TUI for Thomson Cruises". cruiseindustrynews.com. 2 March 2015.
  7. ^ Mathisen, Monty (13 May 2015). "TUI: Thomson to Get Mein Schiff 1 and 2". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  8. ^ Mathisen, Monty (20 March 2018). "Royal Caribbean and Ctrip to Kill SkySea Brand". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  9. ^ Mathisen, Monty (20 March 2018). "SkySea Shutdown Sparks Ship Transfer Shuffle". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  10. ^ "Marella to Retire Celebration". Cruise Industry News. 29 April 2020. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Marella to Retire Marella Dream". Cruise Industry News. 1 October 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Lloyd's Register Vessel Search". Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Mein Schiff Herz: Premierenfahrt mit spektakulärem Programm". Mein Schiffsexperte - TUI Cruises.
  14. ^ "Marella Cruises Debuts New Ship, US Itineraries in 2023". www.cruisecritic.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
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