Marella Cruises

Marella Cruises, previously known as "Thomson Cruises" (rebranded in 2018), is a British cruise line operated by "TUI UK and Ireland" and owned by the "TUI Group." The line offers affordable voyages in Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. Marella's older vessels are chartered from Holland America Line and Celestyal Cruises. The new fleet consists of TUI-owned ships, previously operated by Royal Caribbean and TUI Cruises.

In late April 2020, it was officially announced that the liner Marella Celebration would be retired after 15 years of service with Thomson-Marella UK (either sold or scrapped). The ship was scheduled to be homeported in Dubrovnik, Croatia (June through October 2020, and May through October 2021), in Limassol, Cyprus (Nov-Dec 2020, and March-April 2021), and in Dubai, UAE (Dec 2020 through March 2021). All these voyages (still listed on CruiseMapper) were canceled.

In mid-October 2021, TUI Group announced that Mein Schiff Herz would be transferred to Marella's fleet in 2023. After undergoing a drydock refurbishment, the ship was renamed Marella Voyager and began operations for Marella on June 3, 2023.

On March 31, 2025, TUI Group announced that Marella's existing fleet would be replaced by two newbuilds. On the same day, TUI signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the design and construction of the new ships, with an expected total cost exceeding EUR 2 billion. The new ships are currently expected to be delivered in 2030 and 2032.

Company History and Changes

Thomson Cruises began operations in 1973 but ceased its passenger shipping operations in 1976 due to rising fuel costs, only to restart in 1995.

Marella Cruises is a highly popular brand in the British travel market. It was established in 1965 as a division of Thomson Holidays (now TUI UK), the UK’s largest tour operator and travel agency. Thomson Holidays was a subsidiary of the Thomson Corporation (which was defunct from 1989-2008). Marella's parent company, TUI Group, also owns hotels, the cruise brands TUI Cruises, Marella Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, and the travel brands International Expeditions and Zegrahm Expeditions. Additionally, TUI owns airlines such as Corsair International (France), TUI Airways (UK), TUI fly Nordic (Sweden), TUI fly Belgium, TUI fly Deutschland, and TUI fly Netherlands.

In 1973, Thomson chartered two Greek ocean liners, but the company struggled to capture its audience compared to other cruise lines of the 1970s. Operations were revived in 1995 when Thomson chartered the liner Sapphire (originally named MS Italia, built in 1965 and scrapped in 2010) from Louis Cruise Lines (now Celestyal Cruises). Thomson quickly chartered other ocean liners, including Island Breeze (RMS Transvaal Castle, 1961-2003), Topaz (RMS Empress of Britain, 1955-2008), and The Emerald (SS Santa Rosa, 1958-2012).

Thomson Cruises aimed to replicate the success of Carnival in the USA. Package holidays were already a popular choice in the UK, and the company wanted to achieve the same with cruising. Despite the aging ships, Thomson Cruises attracted an increasing number of first-time UK cruisers with affordable fares and the presence of the company’s travel agencies across Britain. In the 1990s, Thomson began operating as a budget cruise line, improving amenities, ships, and services while offering a wider range of itineraries. This strategy contributed to their success in the UK market.

In 2008, Royal Caribbean sold its stake in Island Cruises to TUI Travel (Thomson’s parent company). In 2009, Island Star left the fleet and joined the Spanish brand of Royal Caribbean, Pullmantur. Island Escape joined the Thomson fleet in 2009, continuing to offer informal cruises to the UK market. Thomson Dream (now Marella Dream) joined the fleet in 2010 under a long-term charter from Costa Cruises.

In March 2015, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) announced they had agreed to sell Splendour of the Seas to TUI in the second quarter of 2016. TUI would lease the vessel to Thomson Cruises to replace Island Escape. In May 2015, TUI Group announced plans for Mein Schiff 1/now Marella Explorer and Mein Schiff 2/Herz/now Marella Voyager to be transferred to Thomson UK over the next few years. Mein Schiff 1 (renamed Marella Explorer) entered Marella's fleet in 2017. In October 2015, Thomson's Island Cruises brand was discontinued after its only ship, MS Island Escape (now Ocean Gala), completed its final voyage with Thomson.

For FY2017, the company's turnover was GBP 502 million, with EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of GBP 86.5 million and a total number of served passengers of 308,000 (101.7% occupancy). For FY2018, TUI Group’s earnings (from the three cruise brands – TUI, Marella, and Hapag-Lloyd) increased by 10.7%, reaching EUR 901.9 million. The company's turnover rose to EUR 324 million (a 26.8% increase over 2017). Group’s average daily rates increased to EUR 178 (TUI, up from EUR 173), EUR 141 (Marella, up from EUR 131), and EUR 615 (Hapag-Lloyd, up from EUR 594).

In March 2018, TUI Group announced that Marella's fleet would be expanded with the addition of Marella Explorer 2 (formerly SkySea Golden Era, initially Celebrity Century), scheduled for delivery in December 2018. The liner was previously operated by SkySea Cruise Line, an Asian joint venture owned by RCCL (Royal Caribbean) and Ctrip International. SkySea was the first contemporary brand developed for the Chinese market. Operational from May 2015 to September 2018, the new cruise line completed nearly 300 voyages and carried around 0.5 million passengers.

Marella "cruise and stay" holiday packages include hotels or apartments at the beginning or end of the voyage.

Onboard cuisine offers a wide variety of options, from healthy choices to exotic local specialties. Daytime entertainment on Marella cruises is designed for all family members, with activities for children and a special children’s menu. You can relax in the many bars and lounges, or enjoy top-notch entertainment with singers and comedians.

Marella fly-cruise deals from the UK to the Caribbean are available via regional TUI Airways flights from UK airports, including Cardiff, Doncaster Sheffield, East Midlands, Greenock-Glasgow, Newcastle, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester, and London-Gatwick. Flights are to the company's Caribbean homeports Bridgetown, Barbados, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. In 2019, "cruise-only flights" were introduced to Malaysia from Manchester Airport, with TUI Airways (via Boeing 787 aircraft) connecting to Langkawi Island, the homeport for Marella's Far East Asia voyages. Such direct flights are also available from London-Gatwick and Birmingham.

On select cruises, Marella offers free all-inclusive upgrades on the older ships in the fleet. The newer vessels (Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2) offer these all-inclusive packages as a standard fare inclusion. Since summer 2019, Marella has been operating with all-inclusive cruise deals fleetwide.

Since November 2022, Marella UK, in partnership with OneSpaWorld Holdings (a health and wellness company), has introduced ocean-inspired wellness products and services on all its ships. OneSpaWorld's services include Ocean Body Treatments (massages and polishes), Ocean Facial, and Ocean Salon Services. On Marella ships, OneSpaWorld uses premium beauty brands like Elemis, L'Oreal, and Kerastase. The brands owned by OneSpaWorld include Mandara Spa, Bliss Spa, Chavana Spa, and Glow Spa.

(Coronavirus Crisis) Passenger Shipping Pause 2020-2021

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marella UK suspended its entire fleet's passenger shipping operations, canceling all voyages with scheduled departures from March 14, 2020, through late June 2021.

The following are the first departure dates/regions/homeports for all Marella ships in 2021-2022: DISCOVERY (Sept 3/Mediterranean-Greece from Corfu/"Aegean Discovery"), DISCOVERY 2 (April 5, 2022/Mediterranean from Palma de Mallorca), EXPLORER (June 25/UK from Southampton), EXPLORER 2 (July 10/UK from Newcastle).

• Marella's Caribbean 2021 program was canceled, affecting ships DISCOVERY (from Montego Bay, Jamaica) and EXPLORER 2 (from Bridgetown, Barbados).
• DISCOVERY 2's Mediterranean 2021 program (Adriatic and Greek Islands from Corfu) was canceled, with the ship restarting in April 2022.
• DISCOVERY's 2021 homeport in Palma de Mallorca was replaced with Corfu, Greece.
• Two Marella ships (Celebration and Dream) were sold and left the fleet. Marella Dream was originally scheduled to restart voyages on May 4, 2021.

All affected bookings received full refunds (100% monetary) or 110% in future cruise credit (FCC), including packages and services purchased through Marella (TUI UK). With rebooking, the fare paid was transferred to FCCs (110%). Holiday package bookings (cruise and land vacations) received a 120% FCC refund or 100% cash refund. All refunds were processed within 4 weeks of the original departure date.

With a wide selection of destinations and itineraries, Marella Cruises can take you around the world. Offering various UK cruises departing from Southampton, Newcastle, and Harwich, as well as fly-cruise holidays from over twenty UK airports, Marella Cruises sails in the Red Sea and the Canary Islands during winter, and the Mediterranean in summer. There are about a hundred different destinations to explore aboard Marella ships.

Marella's UK-Caribbean fly-cruise deals are available via TUI Airways (a sister company of TUI Group). The packages include direct flights from the UK (London-Gatwick and Birmingham) to Melbourne Orlando Airport. Marella also offers optional "cruise and stay" packages, with a choice of 18 different hotels in the Caribbean.

Marella Cruise Itinerary Changes

After the Coronavirus crisis, Marella announced a new ex-UK 2021 summer program in mid-April 2021. These itineraries leave from UK ports and mainly feature coastal cruising along Britain’s shores.

Marella Explorer 1 was homeported in Southampton starting June 25, 2021.

• The 3-night "Sail the South Coast" (a mini-cruise from Southampton) visits Dover and Portland.
• The "Sail the Irish Sea" itinerary (starting August 2021) from Southampton visits Liverpool, Dublin, and Cobh.
• Scottish itineraries from Southampton visit Invergordon, Leith (Edinburgh), and Newcastle.
• The "Taste of the West Coast" itinerary (one-way from Southampton to Portland) visits Greenock, Belfast, and Holyhead.

Marella Explorer 2 was homeported in Newcastle upon Tyne starting July 10, 2021.

Marella Celebration (1984-built, formerly ms Noordam and Thomson Celebration) joined the fleet in 2005. During summer, the ship operated Adriatic Sea roundtrips from Dubrovnik, Croatia. In winter, it offered Persian Gulf cruises from Dubai. For summer 2018, the ship was relocated to Dubrovnik for an adults-only cruise program, featuring full-day port stays in Bar, Korcula, Zadar, Venice, Trieste, and Split. The ship also introduced two new 7-day itineraries, themed "Sail Three Seas" (visiting Valletta, Malta; Messina, Sicily; Cephalonia Island; Igoumenitsa; Kotor) and "Greek Mystique" (visiting Chania, Crete; Piraeus-Athens; Kalamata; Corfu Island; Kotor).

• In late April 2020, Marella announced the retirement of the Celebration after 15 years of service with Thomson-Marella UK.
• Marella Celebration was scheduled to homeport in Dubrovnik, Croatia (June through October 2020, and May through October 2021), in Limassol, Cyprus (Nov-Dec 2020, and March-April 2021), and in Dubai, UAE (Dec 2020 through March 2021). All these scheduled departures were canceled. Among them were two repositioning cruises (via Suez Canal) visiting Singapore. Both relocation voyages ("Wonders of the Far East" and "Flavours of the Far East") were planned as 14-day itineraries, featuring a late-night stay in Singapore.
• Marella Celebration had also planned three new itineraries from Limassol, Dubai, and Dubrovnik. The 6-night "Ancient Adventure" (from Dubrovnik) visits Piraeus-Athens and Rhodes Island. The relocation voyages between Limassol and Dubai ("Continental Crossing" and "Arabia Awaits") visited Aqaba-Petra (Jordan) and Salalah (Oman).

Thomson Majesty (1992-built) joined the fleet in 2012 and operated roundtrips to Madeira and the Canary Islands from Tenerife and Gran Canaria. In 2018, the ship was sold to Mano Cruises and now operates as Crown Iris.

Thomson Spirit (1983-built, formerly ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Patriot, ms Spirit) joined the fleet in 2003. The ship offered year-round European itineraries, including Western Mediterranean cruises (from Malaga and roundtrip Madeira) and Canary Islands cruises (departing from Tenerife and Gran Canaria). Thomson Spirit's last cruise for Marella was scheduled for October 21, 2018.

Marella Dream (1986, formerly MS Homeric, ms Westerdam, Costa Europa, Thomson Dream) joined the fleet in 2010 and left in 2020. During summer, the ship offered Eastern Mediterranean roundtrips from Corfu, Greece. In winter, it operated Caribbean roundtrips from Jamaica (Montego Bay), with Transatlantic repositioning crossings between the Caribbean and Europe.

• On October 1, 2020, it was announced that the retirement of the 34-year-old Marella Dream would occur after 10 years of service with Thomson-Marella UK (2010-2020). All Marella Dream cruises scheduled between May 4 and December 30, 2021 (37 itineraries) were canceled. All Marella Dream Mediterranean 2021 voyages were transferred to Marella Discovery 1, which was rescheduled to homeport in Palma de Mallorca, Spain (instead of Port Canaveral, USA). As a result of the redeployment, Discovery 1's summer 2021 Caribbean voyages were all canceled.

Marella Discovery 1 (1996, formerly "Splendour of the Seas" and "Thomson Discovery") joined the fleet in 2016. The ship offers year-round Western Mediterranean roundtrips from Palma de Mallorca.

Marella Discovery 2 (1995-built, formerly "Legend of the Seas" / Royal Caribbean and "TUI Discovery 2") joined the fleet in Spring 2017. The ship operates Mediterranean cruises (departing from Malaga, Spain) and Canary Islands cruises (out of Tenerife to ports in the Canaries, Morocco, and Madeira).

Marella Explorer (1996-built, formerly Mein Schiff 1, initially "Celebrity Galaxy") began operations in 2018, offering 7-day Western Mediterranean cruises from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, visiting popular French Riviera ports in France.

Marella Explorer 2 (1995-built, formerly "SkySea Golden Era", initially "Celebrity Century") started operations in April 2019 with 7-day Mediterranean itineraries departing roundtrip from homeport Naples, Italy.

Marella Voyager (1997-built, formerly "Mein Schiff 1" and "Mein Schiff Herz", initially "Celebrity Mercury") joined Marella's fleet in June 2023. Following a drydock, the boat's Maiden Voyage departs on June 3, 2023, from Palma de Mallorca (Majorca Island, Balearic Spain).

Caribbean 2025-2026 Itineraries (Ships Marella Discovery & Marella Discovery 2)

In July 2024, Marella UK added two new Caribbean ports of call for the Marella Discovery (Isla Catalina/Dominicana and Ponce/Puerto Rico) starting December 16, 2025.

Marella’s winter 2025-2026 Caribbean itineraries (open for booking on July 18, 2024) feature 167 hotels available for cruise-and-stay guests, operated from 14 UK airports.

Marella Discovery's new port calls are part of the "Tropical Isles" itinerary, leaving roundtrip from homeport La Romana/Dominicana. The voyage visits San Juan/Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie/St Thomas USVI; Fredriksted/St Croix USVI; Ponce/Puerto Rico; and Catalina Island, then returns to La Romana.

Additionally, starting January 8, 2026, the Marella Discovery 2 operates the "Exotic Islands" Caribbean itinerary, visiting destinations in Barbados, St. Lucia, Aruba, Curacao, and Grenada.

New overnight port stays are available in Willemstad/Curacao, with Barbados cruise-and-hotel options at Hilton Barbados Resort (Needhams Point) and Radisson Aquatica (Hastings).

Marella Cruises to Cuba

Marella Explorer 2's 7-night "Flavours of the Caribbean" itinerary visits Cuba with an overnight in Havana. The 7-day roundtrip from Jamaica (Montego Bay) also visits Mexico (Cozumel) and Grand Cayman Island (George Town).

Marella offered roundtrips to Cuba from Jamaica (Montego Bay) with Marella Dream. Itineraries started in 2017, with the maiden voyage on January 31 (7-night to Grand Cayman, Havana, and Cozumel). In 2020, two Marella ships (Celebration, Dream) were sold and left the fleet.