Marella Voyager launched for TUI subsidiary following major makeover

Marella Voyager has entered service with TUI’s Marella subsidiary following a bow-to-stern makeover that saw the 1997-built ship brought up to date and in-line with Marella’s existing fleet.

The fifth ship in the Marella fleet most recently sailed as Mein Schiff Herz but was transferred to the British cruise line during the fleet consolidation efforts that impacted the global cruise industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marella Voyager has received new venues onboard, including Silver Fork offering British classics with a twist; a new Mexican restaurant, Abuela’s, serving dishes such as tacos, burritos and nachos, as well as a bar called The Exchange.

“The launch of Marella Voyager marks an exciting moment in time for us,” said Managing Director of Marella Cruises, Chris Hackney. “Marella Voyager is part of our strategic vision to continually modernise and grow our fleet.”

“We pride ourselves on continuing to offer more for our customers, whether that’s new ships, new destinations, our all-inclusive as standard offering and fantastic, friendly service,” he added.

Marella Voyager spent 36 days in dry dock in Cadiz, during which 477 days worth of work was carried out on the ship to completely transform and update her.

Some 11,460 dry dock working hours were put in by a team of 630 contractors, 193 technical crew, 120 yard personnel staff, a team of 12 from technical projects, as well as hotel staff.

The ship boasts 37,600sqm of new carpeting, enough to cover five standard size football pitches, and 18,500 litres of paint, enough to fill 14 six-seater hot tubs.

There are 6,000 metres of technical cabling, and 70,000 new tiles have been fixed to the walls, floors and counters in the new food hall venue, The Kitchens, which has been kitted out with 20 tons of new catering equipment – about the same weight as three African Elephants.

As part of Marella Voyager’s refit and refurbishment, she also now offers passengers 150 new dishes across her 17 restaurants and cafes. Some 25% of the new meal options are also vegetarian.

When it comes to entertainment, 586 hours, or approximately 24 days, have been spent rehearsing 12 new production shows.

Over 500 bespoke costumes have been designed and created exclusively for the shows – about 16 times more than a fashion designer would show on a runway at New York Fashion Week and over 850 individual tracks of instruments have been arranged and recorded, equating to 38,250 minutes of recording time, according to Seatrade Cruise News.

The entertainment team will host an array of interactive activities and performances onboard the vessel, and have already curated 300 ‘Teatime Teaser’ quiz questions, ready to put passengers to the test.

With 900 seats, Marvella Voyager has the largest capacity of seating in a Broadway Show Lounge of the whole Marella fleet.

The ship is now sailing her inaugural Western Mediterranean season from Palma, Majorca.