Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK (formerly Thomson), offering cruise holidays around Europe and the Caribbean.
History
Thomson 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 was 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]
The name "Marella" means "shining sea" in Celtic, with the name being adopted to keep the line distinct from TUI Cruises