The British Cruise Line MARELLA CRUISES formerly Thomson Cruises that was founded in 1973 is one of the Cruise Lines that the Maltese Archipelago is included in their itinerary .
During Week 18 of 2024 three (3) cruise liners stopped at Malta as their scheduled port of call – MARELLA EXPLORER calling at Valletta on Wednesday 1st May.
MARELLA DISCOVERY calling at Valletta on Friday 3rd May berthed at Pinto 1 and 2 wharves.
She was built for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) International as the Vision Class liner SPLENDOUR OF THE SEAS with yard number B31 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique , France. She was launched on 17th June 1995 and her maiden voyage commenced on 31st March 1996.
During March 2015 RCCL sold the liner to TUI Cruises who was then sub-chartered to Thomson Cruises, originally going to be renamed THOMSON DISCOVERY but was renamed TUI DISCOVERY as part of their rebranding.
Following the announcement on 9th October 2017 that Thomson Cruises would be renamed Marella Cruises, TUI Group also announced that TUI DISCOVERY would be renamed MARELLA DISCOVERY.
More images can be found here – https://maltashipphotos.com/photo/marella-discovery-03-05-2024/
And the third liner was the 248 metre long MARELLA EXPLORER 2.
She was built for Celebrity Cruises as the lead ship of the Century Class liner CENTURY with yard number 637 by Meyer Werft at Papenburg, Germany.
More images can be found here – https://maltashipphotos.com/photo/marella-explorer-2-04-05-2024/
MARELLA CRUISES husbandry agent is Melita Marine Group – https://melitamarinegroup.net/ who they appreciate our work and are part of our SPONSORS too.
Valletta Cruise Port – For more information about Valletta Cruise Port kindly visit their website – www.vallettacruiseport.com