Tag Archives: Marella Cruises

Marella Cruises has revealed details of the new ship Marella Voyager

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Marella Cruises has revealed details of the new ship Marella Voyager’s bar and dining options ahead of its launch this summer.

The all-inclusive vessel will include new venues such as Silver Fork, a British-themed speciality restaurant; The Arts House, a bar with an arts and crafts space; and The Kitchens, a food hall with eight eateries rolled into one. The ship also offers a spa, pool and show lounge.

Marella will also debut its first Mexican restaurant, Abuela’s, which will offer a range of dishes such as tacos, burritos, nachos and fajitas.


From its homeport in Majorca, Voyager will sail to destinations such as Barcelona, Naples, Sicily and the south of France. In the winter, it will offer eight-night itineraries from Barbados.

Chris Hackney, managing director of cruise for Tui UK and Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to present an exciting evolution of our fleet in Marella Voyager.

“She really takes things to a new level, building on our current ships’ best features, whilst adding new venues that we know our customers will be excited to try.


“We understand what guests want from their cruise and what they love about our existing ships, so by ensuring we keep some Marella Cruises favourites as well as adding a different flavour to Marella Voyager, we will be providing more choice for our loyal customers and providing an exciting introduction to the brand for new customers.”

The line has also announced plans to offer sailings in Canada for the first time as part of its winter 2023/2024 programme, which goes on sale on 21 July. 

Will Marella Cruises Be Handed Over To TUI Cruises?

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TUI Cruises is set to grow in size and reach, according to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine.

The newspaper reported that British cruise line Marella Cruises, which is currently owned by TUI Group, will be integrated into TUI Cruises – a joint venture between TUI Group and Royal Caribbean Group.

The handover of Marella will grow TUI Cruises, which currently operates in the German market, into a European cruise line. Earlier, in 2020, another cruise line, Hapag Lloyd Cruises, was integrated into the TUI Cruises brand in a similar fashion.

Marella Cruises currently has a fleet of four ships – the Marella Explorer, Marella Explorer 2, Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2. The cruise line recently confirmed to Cruise Industry News that it would be growing its fleet to five ships in 2023 but did not disclose which ship those plans would involve.

Crew Members Go Months Without Shore Leave During Pandemic

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Some crew members working back onboard have not stepped a foot ashore for months, according to Cruise Industry News’ research.

Employees of AIDA, Norwegian Cruise Line and Marella Cruises, and other major cruise lines have said on the grounds of anonymity that they have largely not been allowed to leave the cruise ship they’re working on, with one crew member admitting that this left him feeling “pretty depressed.” Some crew interviewed asked not to identify their ships or employers. 

An employee working on the Norwegian Jade said that he and his fellow crew members have been on board for two months with only one shore leave – for vaccination purposes.

“We left the ship escorted with busses to get our vaccinations done where there were military police. Once vaccinations got done, we were escorted back to our bus to go straight back to the ship,” he said.

“Everyone was assigned to a group with a leader and counted before (boarding) the bus and on the bus,” he added.

However, according to him, Norwegian’s no-shore-leave policy will be re-evaluated once the ship cruises with guests for two months.

“Shore leave might be discussed,” he said. “If a crew member is coming to travel, bring a long lens camera because right now it’s about staying healthy while supporting our families.”

A crew member with a major cruise line also said that he was not allowed to go onshore.

“Before the pandemic, crew shore leave was allowed whenever crew member was off duty, with shuttle buses organized more or less every 30 minutes, or you could go on your own,” he explained.

An employee working on a Marella cruise ship for the last two months said that he was lucky to be able to go ashore before shore leave was banned entirely.

“I have been ashore once for 30 mins, which was strictly to buy essentials and come straight back. Shortly after, shore leave was banned entirely by the company because they are restarting operations soon, and they worry that if a crew member brought COVID onboard they wouldn’t be able to have passengers,” he said.

“I’ll be on board for another few months but highly doubt I’ll be able to go ashore again,” he added.

According to him, prior to the pandemic, crew members could go ashore “more or less every day.” Not being able to leave the ship, as well as lack of socialization, is making crew members “pretty depressed,” he said.

However, other crew members were more optimistic.

“Shopping-wise, the cruise lines have brought the necessities onboard to purchase. They also have agreements with Amazon and port agents so that you can still purchase personal items online. Ships need to stay in the guidelines right now in order to keep us up and running,” one crew member said.