I have a tear in my eye as I just found out that Marella Cruises has revealed it is set to retire its two oldest “classic ships” — Marella Celebration and Marella Dream– in five years’ time.
The two ships, who between them have clocked up an impressive 68 years’ service, will leave the fleet by 2024, according to the line’s managing director, Chris Hackney. I have travelled on both and they are lovely as well as having the friendliest crew at sea…..
Mr Hackney is reported to have said: “The ships have been in the fleet a number of years and the next stage will be looking at replacement plans for when we retire those ships further down the line.”
“I would say Dream and Celebration will retire in the next five years. That’s realistically the timeline. We haven’t got concrete plans for when they leave and what replacement options will be — clearly we are in the market to grow and not shrink,” Hackney revealed.
However, before that Dream is heading for a two-month dry dock in January 2020 that will see the ship undergo a complete refurbishment.
The line hasn’t released further details on what the refurbishment will involve yet, though Hackney added: “Dream will be having a refurb to make sure it is up to the standard our customers want and expect. The dry dock will give us chance to look at all areas and get done what we need to have done.
“We’ve got some draft plans for the ship, but they haven’t been finalised at this stage. There will need to be more of a review on that, but we’ve got time to do that after Explorer 2’s launch.”
The 1,814 passenger Marella Explorer 2 debuts on April 2 as the line’s first adults-only ship, sailing seven-night Western Mediterranean itineraries out of the line’s new Naples home port. The ship boasts a number of firsts for Marella, including new shows, a new clubhouse bar called The 19th Hole; an elegant Prosecco and Champagne bar called Flutes, and The Beach Cove which will take on a beach-barbecue theme.
If you want to talk about all that Marella has to offer you just call me on 03333002480 I worked on Marella Dream for 8 months and have sailed on Celebration too.