Colbrit

Wave hello to a new addition to our fleet 👋 embark on a new adventure onboard Marella Voyager 🗺️

🚢 Setting sail June 2023
🚢10 dining and bar spots to choose from including Marella Cruises favourites like Surf & Turf, Snack Shack and Nonna’s
🚢 Exciting new venues including a Mexican eatery and secret speakeasy bar

Keep your eyes peeled for more info coming soon 👀
 

from Marella socials this morning 

https://travelweekly.co.uk/articles/430528/marella-cruises-to-add-fifth-ship-in-2023

1 hour ago, GOQ said:

It's difficult to guess what Marella's plans will be in the future now that  they have dropped 2 ships (maybe they will get a new one in 2023).  

I had an Northern Lights cruise booked from Southampton to Norway  in September last year which  was obviously cancelled. I don't see Marella resuming this itinerary so my best bet seems to be to look at other cruise lines. P&0 has one October 2022, so that seems to be my best choice. 

They will be getting a new ship which will sail in 2023. The Marella MD confirmed this on a recent Travelweekly interview. 

11 hours ago, swfc said:

Hi does anyone know when the Xmas 2022 cruises come out

   Cheers 

I’m guessing this summer winter 2022/23 will go on sale and then in November they’ll put on sale summer 2023 as they will announce officially the new ship which will sail in summer 2023.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/marella-cruises-takes-hundreds-of-bookings-on-first-day-of-sale
 

MD confirms in interview that there will be a 5th ship in 2023. Confirms announcement will be made to public this year. 

This is the errata displayed when booking-

Please note, for this itinerary and all cruises departing from the UK, in line with current guidance guests may only go ashore as part of a Marella Cruises excursion. This means you won’t be able to explore under your own steam. Shore excursions can be booked for an extra charge, either pre-departure, or when you’re onboard via the Destination Services desk or our Navigate app. 

2 hours ago, Mike.S said:

So I can drive from one part of the UK to another, get out and wander round, but can't if I get off a ship, struggling to see the logic in that

 I understand this is all to do with framework agreed with the chamber of shipping/ government.
 

This is the errata displayed when booking-

Please note, for this itinerary and all cruises departing from the UK, in line with current guidance guests may only go ashore as part of a Marella Cruises excursion. This means you won’t be able to explore under your own steam. Shore excursions can be booked for an extra charge, either pre-departure, or when you’re onboard via the Destination Services desk or our Navigate app. 

Itineraries: Sail The South Coast - Southampton, Dover, Portland

A Taste of the West Coast - Southampton, Greenock, Belfast, Holyhead, Portland

West Coast Wonders - Southampton, Greenock, Liverpool, Belfast, Holyhead, Portland

East Coast Explorer - Southampton, Greenock, Belfast, Stornaway, Kirkwall, Invergordon, Leith, Newcastle, Dover 

British Sights & Seas - Dover, Leith, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Invergordon, Newcastle

East Coast Getaway - Southampton, Kirkwall, Leith, Newcastle

Sail the Irish Sea - Southampton, Portland, Holyhead, Greenock, Belfast, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork

Iberian Explorer - Southampton, Vigo, Malaga, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Lisbon, La Coruña

Mediterranean Explorer - will call at Barcelona Valencia and Lisbon not sure of the rest. 

All customers will need to complete a lateral flow test pre departure and this is available free of charge.

Inside cabins will not be on sale as they will operate at reduced capacity.

I’ve just had a look on the Marella announcements on socials and it says all over 18s to board must be at least 1 week from the date of their second vaccination.

Under 18s to board must provide negative lateral flow test.

My source just told me:

They will go on sale tomorrow Friday 16th April.

Explorer will sail 7 itineraries from 25th June into September. All from Southampton.

Duration between 3-12 nights visiting ports like Liverpool Belfast Dublin and Invergorden. There is also a no fly return trip to Gibraltar Malaga Lisbon on 10th September.

Marella Explorer 2 will also offer sailings from Newcastle this summer with more U.K. ports of call but these will be on sale later.

Announced on Marella’s official FB page:

We’re really pleased to announce we’ll be offering domestic cruises sailing from the UK this year. We can’t wait to welcome you back onboard. More details will be revealed soon.

5 hours ago, dronnygirl said:

Interesting, please keep us updated Colbrit.

Will do - April is traditionally when they brochure launch but I’m sure they’ll say something when they can.

The feeling is that they will offer whatever holidays/cruises they can this summer as soon as they get the go ahead. 
 

I’m very keen definitely on a this type of cruise - always feel there are lots of British places we have on our doorstep that we need to explore.

My source has advised me that Marella are looking to do domestic sailings this summer following the government announcement of these types of sailings being allowed.

Dream was the ship for my second cruise with Thomson, a Caribbean one out of Bridgetown. Whilst I don’t have an emotional attachment to the ship - I’m sad to see such a reduction in capacity with the loss now of two ships but it is to be expected in these times. There are no signs of the FCDO changing their advice on sea cruises so I might look to book one of the River cruises for December Xmas markets and the first sailing in March for my credit vouchers.

I had hoped to book a USA itinerary or the New Eastern Adventure which visits Canada but that’s now not possible - for summer 2022 if reintroduced flying will now be into Melbourne airport instead of Sanford.

I have read on Marella official FB page the news that Dream is to be retired from the fleet immediately. They have therefore made the decision to cover its upcoming sailings for summer 2021 with Discovery instead, therefore cancelling the new USA summer sailings Discovery was due to sail.

There is no update on Dream’s & Discovery’s planned winter 2021/22 sailings.

On 9/3/2020 at 12:50 PM, so,ton saint said:

Thank,s Colbrit for early information, i did notice Dream was with Discovery on the St,martin  cruise schedule any news.

I’ve been informed:

Explorer will sail Tuesdays/ Wednesdays from Tenerife and Gran Canaria home ports. A third itinerary called Island Escape will be available with an overnighter in Funchal.

Explorer 2 will sail Tuesdays from Montego Bay. The repositional from Europe to Caribbean will be from Naples and not Dubrovnik, a 19 night sailing. Flavours of the Caribbean has the overnighter in Havana and 1 sailing in the season of the Panama Canal Experience.

Discovery will sail on Sundays from Barbados. The 21 night repositional will be from Cape Canaveral to Bridgetown vía Canada and East Coast of USA. New itinerary of Taste of the Tropics includes 2 isles of the US Virgin Islands and San Juan Puerto Rico.

Discovery 2 will have one sailing of the Ancient Affair itinerary in Nov 21 before setting off to Asia. The home ports are Limassol - Aqaba - Muscat and Colombo before arriving in Langkawi & Laem Chabang for homeports, then Hong Kong and Singapore homeports between February and March, returning to Langkawi & Laem Chabang before returning to Europe. Dubai and those Gulf States have been dropped from the whole programme, only Oman is visited. Sailing days at Thursdays and Fridays. 

Dream will sail Island Explorer & Canarian Flavours itineraries in Nov 21 on Mondays (Gran Canaria) or Tuesdays (Tenerife) it will then reposition from Malaga to Bridgetown on a 14 night sailing “Atlantic Sunrise” and homeport in Bridgetown sailing on Thursdays. The repositional from the Caribbean to Europe will be a 12 night sailing Atlantic Sunset finishing in Palma where it will then sail in April 22.

1 minute ago, jack10952 said:

When are these likely to put on sale?

 

8th September on website - 10th official launch.

30 minutes ago, nancyneptune said:

 

 

Do you know if there will be flights from Scotland for these cruises please ?

I haven’t been advised about the flights, sorry. 

Hi all -

My source has let me know the following:

Marella Discovery 2: Asia and 2 new sailings from Hong Kong and Singapore. New ports visited in Vietnam, Philippines & Brunei.

Marella Discovery has a 21 night repositional when it leaves Orlando calling at ports in USA and Canada before returning to winter home base of Barbados. New home ports of US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Marella Explorer 2 will do the sailings from Montego Bay with Flavours of Caribbean reintroduced which has the overnighter in Havana.

There will not be a physical brochure printed for this launch but a digital magazine has been prepared.

If I find out more I’ll update.

Colbrit 

I understand that this was taken out of context. My understanding is that they might sell the ships to TUI Cruises - the joint venture between Royal Caribbean and TUI. They did the same with Hapag Lloyd I think?

26 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

I must be missing something 🤔 have the Government lifted all travel restrictions? 

No, but I imagine they are putting it out there for consumer confidence for when they can re-start the programme.

Until the insurance industry can sort out insurance I for one will not be travelling and I say that with a heavy heart as I love cruising.

In my household is my 70 year old Dad who had Covid19 recently whilst we’ve been in lock down abroad and was hospitalised with a DVT and pulmonary embolism. I can’t risk bringing Covid19 into our home when he’s in the U.K.

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

This is on the BBC site this morning

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52644291

 

Selling of unprofitable activities sounds ominous, if Marella can't make a profit is it for the chop?

Marella has been the darling of TUI U.K. & Ireland for a long time bringing in profits. I wouldn’t think it would be in for the chop - the company will continue with its asset rich strategy - it’s own airline it’s own ships it’s own hotel brands (Riu - TUI Blue - Sensatori etc) but cutting costs - I don’t think Celebration was selling well and that’s why they took forward her retirement. Tough decisions - no one wants another Thomas Cook debacle.

On 5/1/2020 at 10:14 AM, so,ton saint said:

 

Normally its mid November , last year was october but the person who comes up with answer will be Colbrit so i think we will have to wait and see in this present climate.

My source hasn’t revealed anything - Marella have really kept their cards close to their chests. Information about the Celebration and the new cancellations they revealed this week went public before my source was made aware.

4 hours ago, Margaret Rees said:

We booked via the TUI website ,on line. Last Friday we decided to try and call and ask what was going to happen . We failed to get through despite trying 200 + times on various lines we were given . Then later in afternoon we were sitting with paperwork in front of us and TUI called ! No argument over refund or attempt to pursuade us to do anything else and 7 days later money back on card !

The only thing we wondered is whether they detected our number calling 200+ times and decided to call us ? 

You must have been on a list to call - they can’t save numbers on the telephony system - your 200 calls would have been noted on their stats as calls waiting/received but that’s about it.

1 hour ago, Jim The Scot said:

Am I missing something?Looking at the cancellations the Dream seems to be redundant until May 2021 🙁,or is it Marella way of saying that its following the Celebration

 I think they have crunched numbers and looked at cancellations they’ve had and trimming costs. Does Dream belong to Marella or is it on a lease? I don’t understand how it works I’m just guessing. Can it be returned to the owner maybe enforcing a force majeur clause? 
 

Now is not the time to bring new customers to cruise - people are going to be cautious for a long time. A smaller fleet until they can be sure if the sales. I wonder what they would do with D2 until Feb 2021? Where do you store cruise ships?