Thomson Cruises will become Marella Cruises

2017-10-11

Thomson Cruises, the UK’s third largest cruise line, this week shared the breaking news that it will soon become Marella Cruises.

This is the first time in the history of the cruise line that it will be sailing under a new name. The exciting rebrand of Thomson Cruises will take place from November, at the same time that Thomson changes to TUI.

The new name, Marella, means ‘shining sea’ in Celtic and was chosen to reflect Thomson Cruises’ spirit of exploration and discovery. To celebrate the launch of Marella Cruises, new exotic itineraries have also been announced for winter 2018/2019 with cruises visiting Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Goa, Sri Lanka and beyond. Marella Cruises’ exciting fly cruise collection includes departures from up to 22 regional UK airports.

New name, same friendly welcome

Marella Cruises will offer the same great service with the friendliest staff at sea that Thomson Cruises are known for. Loyal Thomson Cruises guests will be happy to experience the same friendly welcome and onboard entertainment that they are used to onboard.

The Marella Cruises fleet will consist of the following ships:

Thomson Spirit - will be known as Spirit
Thomson Majesty - will remain Thomson Majesty
Marella Celebration - previously Thomson Celebration
Marella Dream - previously Thomson Dream
Marella Discovery - previously TUI Discovery
Marella Discovery 2 - previously TUI Discovery 2
Marella Explorer - launching in 2018

NEW Asia 2018 cruises with Marella Cruises will go on sale from 26th October.

Thomson Announces Further Sailings for Thomson Spirit

2017-08-31

When they declared the planned decommission of Marella Spirit in November 2017, Marella Cruises were met with surprise and some unhappy feedback from loyal cruisers.

As a result of the passionate and heartfelt comments for Marella Spirit, the cruise line had a re-think. They listened to popular demand and have since put together a new sailing schedule which stretches through to summer 2018, with the last cruise now embarking on October 21st, 2018.

This new programme will allow faithful fans of Marella Spirit an increased opportunity to cruise with her, and enjoy all the wonderful onboard facilities once again. As the first ship of the Marella Cruises fleet, it is no surprise that experienced cruisers were not ready to lose their ‘Spirit’, considering the great number of memories that have been made onboard. Favourite onboard features include:

The Sports Deck – an entire top deck devoted to sports such as basketball and football
The Kids Club –free childcare allows parents to chill out whilst kids are entertained
Variety of pools and whirlpools – suitable for all the family
Cinema – see newly released blockbusters in this comfy theatre room
Casino – a range of games to choose from, as well as lessons if needed!
Mixture of dining options – with the dining room, buffet, and specialist dining options

The ship is said to have a unique, relaxed atmosphere that enables cruisers to feel as if they are holidaying in a home away from home. See our Marella Spirit cruises or call to reserve your booking today.

NEW SHIP TUI Explorer announced for Thomson Cruises

2017-03-30

Thomson Cruises has just announced that its largest ship to date will set sail in 2018.

New ship, TUI Explorer, will offer a similar cruising experience to TUI Discovery and TUI Discovery 2 but with even more choice for dining, leisure and entertainment.

Thomson’s all-inclusive cruising style will be standard for TUI Explorer and guests will be able to enjoy plenty of choice and flexibility during their time onboard.

Notable new features for TUI Explorer include new cabin types, such as larger inside cabins (16m2 larger than Thomson’s other standard inside cabins) and new spacious family balcony cabins sleeping up to five people.

The onboard spa will feature a Finnish sauna, a couples room, luxury treatment suites and an adult only sunbathing area known as The Veranda.

New sushi counter, Um Sushi and new glass roofed dining area The Mediterranean housing a pizzeria, hot stone grill and tapas restaurant, will add even more choice to the Thomson Cruises dining experience. Guests can look forward to ten venues in which to dine onboard TUI Explorer (some at a supplement).

Spectacular ocean views can be enjoyed from new bar Indigo located on top deck and indoor entertainment gets an uplift with the cool colour changing bar and live music of The Lounge.

Maiden season will see TUI Explorer sailing the Western Mediterranean from Palma in May 2018 with port calls including Barcelona, Rome, Naples and Florence. Expected to be on sale this spring, check back for further details.

See our current Thomson Cruises sailings

Thomson Cruises acquires Legend of the Seas

2016-06-07

The Thomson Cruises fleet is expanding with the acquisition of Legend of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International. Thomson are also set to receive Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 from TUI Cruises in 2018 and 2019.

Legend of the Seas which comes from Royal Caribbean International’s Vision Class, will be renamed TUI Discovery 2 and will be the sister ship to the newly launched TUI Discovery. She will be under Thomson Cruises operations from May 2017 and homeport in the Mediterranean.

Highlights onboard include a rock-climbing wall, mini-golf course, indoor swimming pool and spa, plus an outdoor movie screen showing popular features poolside. Guests can relax with all-inclusive dining options and eight exciting bars to choose from.

With a capacity of 1,832 (double occupancy), the soon to be TUI Discovery 2 boasts 915 cabins with nearly half featuring balconies. Cruise holidays onboard TUI Discovery 2 go on sale next month with destinations and itineraries to be released soon.

“It’s an exciting time at Thomson Cruises as we bring to life our modernisation and transformation strategy to benefit UK cruise customers” - said Thomson Cruises MD Helen Caron of the exciting news.

Thomson Cruises To Gain Royal Caribbean Ship

2015-03-02

Thomson Cruises have revealed their fleet will expand next year with the addition of a Royal Caribbean ship.

Royal Caribbean have confirmed selling Vision-class ship Splendour of the Seas to Thomson Cruises for an undisclosed amount. The 1, 830 passenger ship will leave the Royal Caribbean fleet in April 2016 and transfer to the Thomson Cruises fleet.

This transfer will see the largest ship for the Thomson Cruises fleet and enable the cruise line to offer guests new experiences such as rock climbing, mini-golf and multiple dining venues.

Michael Bayley, CEO of Royal Caribbean International said "Splendour of the Seas has been a treasured member of the Royal Caribbean International family since she entered service. She has offered countless guests memorable vacation experiences and we look forward to continuing to provide the same Gold Anchor Service our brand is known for right up to the last sailing".

Helen Caron, Managing Director for Thomson Cruises added "We’re very excited to be welcoming the ship to our fleet next summer. This is the first step in our fleet modernisation and transformation strategy and will bring an enhanced offering to our customers with more balcony cabins than ever before, a wider choice of suites, an increased number of dining options and extra entertainment and activity facilities. We are confident that our customers will enjoy sailing on the new addition to our fleet."

Thomson Cruises are expecting itineraries to go on sale at the end of this month.

Thomson Cruises Announce 2014 Ex-UK Programme

2013-03-20

Thomson Cruises have announced their 2014 Ex-UK programme which includes all new sailings from Liverpool to complement cruises departing from Harwich and Newcastle. Thomson Cruises will also be cruising to the Arctic for the first time in 2014.

Thomson are offering three cruises from Liverpool in 2014 offering varied itineraries and destinations. The inaugural cruise is a seven night cruise visiting Dublin, Cork Galway, Greenock and Douglas. There longest cruise is a 10 night holiday to Iceland calling at; Akureyri, Isafjord, Reykjavik, Kirkwall, Portree and Belfast. There is also a three night mini cruise calling at Edinburgh and finishing in Newcastle.

2014 boasts new Arctic ports of call with the Thomson Spirit head to Longyearbyen & Ny Alesund in Spitsbergen and the Magdalema Fjord in Norway. Thomson have also added Haugesund, Alta, Bronnoysund and Leknes in Norway as new destinations.

Other new itineraries from Thomson Cruises in 2014 include the Best of British — a seven night cruise from Newcastle calling at Falmouth, Waterford, Dublin, Tobermory, and Kirkwall. Their Fire & Ice cruise, visiting Stornoway, Reykjavik, Isafjord, Akureyri, Lerwick, Bergen, Ulvik, and Eidfjord from Harwich. Thomson Spirit will also be offering two sailings to the Baltic capitals.

The last piece of exciting news from Thomson Cruises, is their adult-only sailings in 2014. These five cruises onboard Thomson Spirit offer the Baltic, North Cape, Fjords and the Med across a variety of dates and sail from Harwich or Newcastle.

To celebrate the launch of their 2014 Ex-UK programme, Thomson Cruises are offering free parking or coach transfers and £100 of onboard spend (per couple) on all Thomson Spirit sailings between May and September 2014 when booked before 30th June 2013.

Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort
© Iglucruise

Cruise ship helping volcano-hit holidaymakers get back home

2010-04-19

The chaos surrounding the grounding of flights due to volcanic ash has meant that cruise ships are being deployed to help stranded holidaymakers, it has been reported.

Among the companies to help out is Thomson Cruises, which has sent out the Island Escape to bring back hundreds of passengers from Madeira to the UK.

All the passengers on the ship were originally going to fly back from the Portuguese islands, although the company has said that they will be brought back on board.

In addition to this, approximately 300 extra passengers, who had been on holiday in Madeira, have been given spaces on the ship to get them back home.

The Island Escape is capable of carrying 1,606 passengers and regularly takes holidaymakers around the Canary Islands and the western Mediterranean.

A seven-night journey in May will take the vessel to destinations such as Mahon and Villefranche, with passengers able to visit Florence and Pisa during the course of the trip.

Written by Chris Smith

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