''Marella Discovery'' (formerly ''Splendour of the Seas'' and ''TUI Discovery'') is a former

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flori ...

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

now sailing for

Marella Cruises Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. History The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fue ...

. The second in the line of the Vision-class ships, she features a seven-story lobby, rock-climbing wall, and a 9-hole miniature golf course. Following the announcement on 9 October 2017 that

Thomson Cruises Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. History The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fue ...

would be renamed Marella Cruises,

TUI Group TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

also announced that TUI Discovery would adopt the name ''Marella Discovery'' at the end of October 2017, and also that she would become the first ship in the Thomson fleet to be based in Asia, home porting Malaysia in Autumn 2018, following the end of her UK debut season.

History

''Marella Discovery'' was built for Royal Caribbean International as ''Splendour of the Seas'' by

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...

at their shipyard in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The ship was assigned the yard number "B31", and was launched on 17 June 1995 by Lisa Wilhelmsen. The ship is registered to the port of

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

, in the Bahamas. Maiden voyage for ''Splendour of the Seas'' commenced on 31 March 1996. On 31 October 2011, Royal Caribbean and Spanish shipyard

Navantia Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sectors. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The heir to t ...

signed a contract for ''Splendour of the Seas'' to receive structural modifications, maintenance to the propellers, propeller shafts and rudder, and interior upgrades, including new dining and public areas, 124 new balconies, and improvements to staterooms. The work was expected to take about five weeks to complete. Until April 2016, ''Splendour of the Seas'' was based in Brazil during the southern hemisphere summer, doing a series of itineraries from three to twelve nights throughout South America, and is based out of Venice, Italy during the northern hemisphere summer, sailing seven night cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean. In March 2015, Royal Caribbean sold ''Splendour of the Seas'' to

TUI Cruises TUI Cruises is a cruise line based in Germany. It was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between the German tourism company TUI AG and the American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company. Th ...

who was then sub-chartered to

, with the final sailing for Royal Caribbean departing on 4 April 2016. The ship was renamed ''TUI Discovery'' and was based in

Palma, Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorc ...

and

Bridgetown, Barbados Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

starting in June 2016 after refurbishment. She was originally going to be renamed ''Thomson Discovery'', but the name was changed to ''TUI Discovery'' as part of their rebranding. On 22 October 2015 whilst sailing on a cruise in the Mediterranean, ''Splendour of the Seas'' suffered an engine-room fire, which was extinguished after 2 hours by the crew. There were no injuries reported by Royal Caribbean and the ship continued its journey to the port of Venice. ''Splendour of the Seas'' spent her last season with Royal Caribbean International by sailing from Dubai on 7-8 night cruises, visiting destinations such as Muscat, Oman and Abu Dhabi throughout November 2015 - March 2016.

Design

The gross tonnage of ''Marella Discovery'' is 69,130, and she has a displacement of . The cruise ship is in

length overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

, with a beam of , a draft of in summer conditions, and an

air draft Air draft (or air draught) is the distance from the surface of the water to the highest point on a vessel. This is similar to the " deep draft" of a vessel which is measured from the surface of the water to the deepest part of the hull below th ...

of . The propulsion system consists of five

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

Vasa 12V46B engines, which supply each to the ship's two, diameter, fixed pitch propellers. Maximum speed is , with the ship taking and 6 minutes, 45 seconds to come to a full stop. Main propulsion is supplemented by two bow thrusters and a stern thruster. Two , , the ship is also equipped with stabilizers.

Facilities and layout

The ship has eleven passenger accessible decks, with passenger accommodation located on decks 2 to 3 and 6 to 8. Up to 2,074 passengers can be carried, in 902 cabins. Most of the outdoor public facilities are on decks 9 and 10. Indoor passenger facilities include a theater, casino, and a main dining room. The standard crew complement is 720, with accommodation for another 30 if required; most crew accommodation is located near the bottom of the ship, on deck 0 and 1. The bridge is located forward on deck 8. Onboard equipment can generate of fresh water every day, of which will be used aboard during the same period.

Gallery

References

External links

Royal Caribbean official information about Splendour of the Seas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marella Discovery Ships of Royal Caribbean International Ships built in France 1995 ships