Thomson Cruises skifter namn til Marella Cruises

Refvik

Administrator
Staff member
All aboard Marella Cruises

Thomson Cruises sets sail under a new name


Thomson Cruises, part of the TUI Group, has announced that later this month it will embark on the biggest evolution in the company’s history as it is rebranded to Marella Cruises. The move comes at the same time as Thomson changes to TUI later this month. The rebrand will see the UK’s third largest cruise line set sail towards new horizons with the modernisation of the fleet, including next year’s launch of Marella Explorer currently sailing as Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 joining the fleet in 2019. Cruise is a core part of the TUI Group’s growth and investment strategy. In addition to Marella Cruises, the Group operates TUI Cruises with the ‘Mein Schiff’ fleet and Hapag Lloyd Cruises featuring the ‘MS Europa’ and MS Europa 2’, the only two cruise vessels in the world awarded a 5-Star-Plus rating by the Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships Guide. The TUI Group currently operates 16 cruise vessels in total.

With Marella Cruises still part of the world of TUI, customers will be offered fantastic itineraries, great service and entertainment on board all six ships with the friendliest staff at sea. The word Marella, which means ‘shining sea’ in Celtic, was chosen by the company to reflect its spirit of exploration and discovery across the seas. Those choosing a Marella Cruises holiday will be able to take advantage of flights on their doorstep across 22 regional UK airports, as well as a wide Cruise & Stay programme that combines a cruise holiday with a stay at one of more than 140 hotels across 10 destinations worldwide, including the luxurious TUI Sensatori collection.

All of the extras that customers have grown to know and love with a Thomson Cruises holiday will still be offered with Marella Cruises, such as tips and service charges included in the price. All Inclusive is as standard on Marella Explorer, Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2, previously TUI Discovery and TUI Discovery 2. Cruises set sail at night meaning fewer days spent at sea and more time spent ashore. Thomson Cruises’ industry-renowned staff and crew will also still be a big part of the holiday experience; ensuring passengers receive the warmest of welcomes and the friendliest service at sea throughout their time onboard.

Helen Caron, Distribution and Cruise Director at TUI UK and Ireland said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for our business. We’re really proud to offer an experience that guests can, and want to, come back to again and again and moving forward as Marella we have modern additions to our fleet and more destinations, choice and experiences than ever before, which reflects our spirit of exploration and discovery within the new brand.”

To celebrate the launch of Marella Cruises, the company has unveiled exciting new itineraries across Asia as part of its winter 2018 programme. The newly renamed Marella Discovery will sail to 18 exotic new ports of call on 14 new adult-only itineraries, including Colours of the Far East, departing from Bangkok, Thailand and Enchanting Far East, setting sail from Langkawi in Malaysia. Marella Discovery’s South East Asian adventure will take it to vibrant destinations such as Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Kuala Lumpur. In addition to this lusted-after corner of the world, Marella Discovery will also sail to India, calling at fascinating ports including Mumbai, Mangalore, Mormugao (Goa), Cochin (Kerala) and Colombo (Sri Lanka), and to the Middle East, with highlights including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat.

Helen Caron continued: “I’m absolutely delighted to unveil our latest destinations for winter 2018. Asia is an incredibly diverse part of the world and I have no doubt that our customers are going to love their adventures across countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, India and Oman to name a few. These captivating destinations, along with our new ships, famously friendly staff and value for money, make this is the perfect time to look ahead.”

For the first time in the company’s history, two ships will be based in Barbados for winter 2018. Marella Explorer will sail its first ever winter season from the Bajan paradise and will be joined by Marella Celebration, operating established itineraries, Thomson will also be rebranding later this month, moving to one aligned, global brand as TUI.

Notes to editors
Passengers sailing on cruises in Asia and the Caribbean will fly to their embarkation destination on TUI Airways’ fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Marella Cruises

Marella Cruises, part of TUI UK and Ireland, is the third largest cruise line in the UK. There are currently five ships in the Marella Cruises fleet – Marella Dream, Marella Celebration, Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2 and Spirit (which won’t take the Marella name as she leaves the fleet after her final sailing next summer). Marella Explorer, currently operating as Mein Schiff 1 will begin sailing in summer 2018 and Mein Schiff 2 will join the fleet in 2019.

Majesty will continue to sail as Thomson Majesty until 26th November.

Marella Cruises offers a unique experience with unrivalled entertainment and food on board, tips are also included giving customers the peace of mind they need when budgeting for their cruise holiday.

TUI UK and Ireland is a member of TUI Group.

Kilde: TUI Group
 
...and Mein Schiff 2 will join the fleet in 2019.

Mein Schiff 2 Remains in TUI Cruises’ Fleet

German cruise line TUI Cruises revealed that Mein Schiff 2 will remain part of the company’s fleet.

As explained, the cruise line’s second cruise ship will continue to sail for TUI Cruises under another name and will not, as originally planned, be transferred to Marella Cruises.

The British Marella Cruises, part of TUI UK & Ireland, will acquire Golden Era instead of Mein Schiff 2, according to the company.

“Demand for cruises in the German-speaking region continues to be high and Mein Schiff 2 is extremely popular with our guests,” Wybcke Meier, TUI Cruises CEO, said, adding that the ship will remain “a centerpiece” of TUI Cruises’ fleet until April 2022.

Mein Schiff 2 has been deployed in the service of the Hamburg-based cruise line since 2011. Previously known as Celebrity Mercury, the vessel was purchased from Celebrity Cruises at the end of February 2011 and underwent a complete refit at Lloyd Werft shipyard.

In line with its fleet expansion efforts, TUI Cruises will introduce two new ships – one in 2018 and another one in 2019.

Consequently, TUI Cruises, a joint venture between TUI group and Royal Caribbean Cruises, will have a fleet of seven ships.

Additional newbuild, Mein Schiff 7, is scheduled to join the company in 2023.

Kilde: World Maritime News
 
Kva skjer da med bygg nr. 1393 ved Meyer Turku til TUI Cruises som var planlagt å overta namnet "Mein Schiff 2", blir denne nå "Mein Schiff 8" eller?
 
TUI Bids Farewell to Mein Schiff 1

After eight years, 10 months and four weeks of operation, totaling 3,254 days, the ship that started the TUI Cruises brand has left its fleet.

TUI bid farewell to the Mein Schiff 1 last week, having sailed the vessel between May 15, 2009 and April 11, 2018.

The 1,924-guest ship originally launched as the Galaxy for Celebrity Cruises, built at Meyer Werft and entering service in 1996, before being transferred to TUI in 2009.

TUI christened the ship in Hamburg on May 15, eight years ago, launching the German brand at the time with artist Ina Muller as the godmother.

The final port of call for the ship? Palma de Mallorca. The vessel has been transferred to sister company Marella Cruises, and will be refurbished over the next month to better serve Marella’s British customers.

The new Mein Schiff 1 launches service for TUI Cruises in May, ushering in a new era of ships as the Meyer-Turku-built vessel will have capacity for 2,900 guests at 110,000 tons.

Kilde: Cruise Industry News


Foto: Ukjent
 
The Marella Explorer Class

The 1,924-berth Marella Explorer, formerly TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 1 and before that Celebrity’s Galaxy, has just completed a major refit in Cadiz, departing yesterday for her new summer base of Palma. The Explorer departs on her first revenue voyage on May 19.

The Explorer is the biggest ship yet in the Marella fleet, with 962 cabins, nearly 40% with private balconies. Two of her new features will be Indigo, the ship’s new bar, club and casino, and the first Champneys Spa at sea.

The four-week dry dock involved a workforce of around 1,600 providing more than 200,000 hours labour. They laid 17.5 square miles of carpet, more than 37 miles of data cabling and installed 650 Wi-Fi access points. Ten tonnes of Marella-branded items, including uniforms and 1,000 show team costumes were also delivered.

Although based in Palma by summer, the Marella Explorer will move to Barbados in the winter time in order to offer cruises among the southern Caribbean islands.

Her near sister ship, the 1,814-berth Marella Explorer 2, which will join the fleet in May 2019, will be reserved for adults only. And like Marella Explorer, she will feature a Champneys Spa at sea.

Marella Explorer 2 will enter the fleet as a result of the closing down the SkySea Cruises China joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises and Chinese travel firm Ctrip.

From May 2019, the Marella Explorer 2 will sail from her new summer base of Naples, offering cruises to Venice, Rome, Dubrovnik, Split and Piraeus on four new itineraries. She is presently trading in the Far East as SkySea Golden Era.

Marella Explorer 2 began life as the Century, the first of a trio that included the Galaxy and Mercury. Mercury is now trading as Mein Schiff 2 and conceivably could make it into the Marella fleet at some time in the future when one of the cruise line’s chartered ships goes back to her owners.

As the first of the trio, the Century was completed to a length overall of 807 feet, while sister ships Galaxy and Mercury were stretched almost 60 feet to 866 feet.

Marella Cruises, until recently Thomson Cruises, will also become a solely all-inclusive product during 2019.

The first all-inclusive trials were conducted twenty years ago on Thomson’s 972-berth cruise ship The Topaz, between 1997 and 2003. Now, all Marella ships will become all-inclusive, which will make them dofferent from the usual “nickel and diming” cruise ships always shilling for more revenue.

Kilde: Cybercruises.com
 
Kva skjer da med bygg nr. 1393 ved Meyer Turku til TUI Cruises som var planlagt å overta namnet "Mein Schiff 2", blir denne nå "Mein Schiff 8" eller?

Dagens "Mein Schiff 2" skifter namn til "Mein Schiff Herz"
 
Når "Mein Schiff Herz" blir en del av Marella Cruises etter en oppgradering, vil den få namnet "Marella Voyage"
 
Back
Top