Marella Cruises

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, TUI's joint venture with Royal Caribbean.[3][4]

In 2012, Marella Cruises held approximately a 1% market share of the worldwide cruise industry.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7] 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 MS 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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10][11] 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.[12] The same was announced for Marella Dream in October 2020.[13] Both ships were scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey, in 2022.

In March 2025, Fincantieri agreed with TUI AG to build two new cruise ships for Marella Cruises in Italy, for delivery in 2030 and 2032.[14][15] In September 2025, however, it was announced that those ships would not be built. Instead, TUI Cruises would receive two ships, larger than those originally planned for Marella.[16]

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.[20]

External Links