Marella Cruises

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

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

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]

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.

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

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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7][8]

In April 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that Marella Celebration would be retired from the fleet effective immediately.

In October 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that Marella Dream would be retired from the fleet effective immediately.

Current
ShipBuiltBuilderEntered service
with Thomson/Marella Cruises		Gross tonnageFlagHome Ports 2019/2020NotesImage
Marella Discovery1996Chantiers de l'Atlantique201669,130 tons MaltaCorfu, Greece
Langkawi, Malaysia/ Bangkok, Thailand		Previously Splendour of the Seas, TUI Discovery. Renamed Marella Discovery in October 2017.
Marella Discovery 21995Chantiers de l'Atlantique201769,130 tons BahamasPalma De Mallorca, Spain Montego Bay, Jamaica Previously Legend of the Seas, TUI Discovery 2. Renamed Marella Discovery 2 in October 2017.
Marella Explorer1996Meyer Werft201876,522 tons MaltaNewcastle, England Tenerife/Gran Canaria Canary IslandsPreviously Celebrity Galaxy, Mein Schiff 1, sold to Marella in 2018.
originally planned to be named TUI Explorer
Marella Explorer 21995Meyer Werft201971,545 tons MaltaNaples, Italy
Bridgetown, Barbados		Previously Celebrity Century, SkySea Golden Era, sold to Marella in 2019.

Future
ShipBuiltBuilderWill enter service
with Marella Cruises		Gross TonnageFlagNotesImage
Mein Schiff Herz1997Meyer Werft202377,303 tons Maltaoiginally planned to join the fleet in 2019 with the name TUI Explorer 2
later replaced by the SkySea Golden Era/Marella Explorer 2[9]

Former
ShipBuiltBuilderIn service
with Marella		Gross TonnageNotesImage
SS Ithaca1956Deutsche Werft1973– 19768,977 tonsscrapped 2003
SS Calypso1955Harland & Wolff1975–197620,204 tonsscrapped 2004
SS Island Breeze1962John Brown & Co.1996–199826,632 tonsscrapped 2003
MS Sapphire1967Cantieri Navale Felszegi1996–200212,263 tonsscrapped 2012
SS The Topaz1956Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering1997–200325,516 tonsscrapped 2008
SS The Emerald1958Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock1997–200826,431 tonsscrapped 2012
The Calypso1967Fincantieri2006–200911,162 tonsscrapped 2013
Thomson Destiny1982Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard2005–201237,584 tonsCurrently operating for Celestyal Cruises.
Island Escape1982Dubigeon-Normandie S.A2009–201540,132 tonsscrapped 2018
Thomson Majesty1992Kvaerner Masa-Yards2012-201540,876 tonsCurrently operating for Mano Maritime.
Marella Spirit1983Chantiers de l'Atlantique2003-201833,930 tonsscrapped 2018
Marella Celebration1984Chantiers de l'Atlantique2005-202033,960 tonsRetired earlier than expected in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Marella Dream1986Meyer Werft2010-202054,763 tonsRetired earlier than expected in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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.

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. "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.
  5. "Splendour of the Seas Sold to TUI for Thomson Cruises". cruiseindustrynews.com.
  6. Mathisen, Monty (13 May 2015). "TUI: Thomson to Get Mein Schiff 1 and 2". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  7. Mathisen, Monty (20 March 2018). "Royal Caribbean and Ctrip to Kill SkySea Brand". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  8. Mathisen, Monty (20 March 2018). "SkySea Shutdown Sparks Ship Transfer Shuffle". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  9. User, Super. "Mein Schiff Herz: Premierenfahrt mit spektakulärem Programm". Mein Schiffsexperte - TUI Cruises.
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