''Mein Schiff Herz'' (formerly MV ''Mercury'', ''Celebrity Mercury'' and ''Mein Schiff 2'') is the second of two s operated by

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 ...

. Built for

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

at the

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...

shipyard in

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Geog ...

, Germany, she was launched on 11July 1997, and was christened and entered service as MV ''Mercury'' on 27October 1997. In 2008, after some eleven years in operation as ''Mercury'', she was renamed ''Celebrity Mercury''. In 2011, she was transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between

TUI AG 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 ...

and

' owner

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a global cruise holding company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival C ...

At the same time, she was renamed ''Mein Schiff 2''. In January 2019, she was again renamed, as ''Mein Schiff Herz''. Her sister ship ''

Marella Explorer ''Marella Explorer'' is a ''Century''-class cruise ship owned and operated by Marella Cruises. Before joining TUI she cruised as MV ''Galaxy'' with Celebrity Cruises, and later as ''Mein Schiff'' with TUI Cruises. She was laid down at the Meyer ...

'' is the former MV ''Galaxy'', also previously operated by Celebrity Cruises.

History

Seattle-waterfront-with-a-cruise-liner-2186

On 19 May 2006, just prior to ''Mercury''s planned departure for an Alaska cruise, Seattle-based inspectors from the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

arrested the captain of the ''Mercury'' for

intoxication Intoxication — or poisoning, especially by an alcoholic or narcotic substance — may refer to: * Substance intoxication: ** Alcohol intoxication ** LSD intoxication ** Toxidrome ** Tobacco intoxication ** Cannabis intoxication ** Cocaine i ...

during a routine safety inspection. Celebrity Cruises arranged for a replacement, and fired the original captain. Mercury at Cabo San Lucas 4

While cruising from

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

to the eastern Caribbean in February 2010, the ship was struck with a major outbreak of

norovirus Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may also occur. Symptoms usually deve ...

, affecting nearly 500 people on board, out of a total of just over 1,800. According to Celebrity Cruises, those taken ill were treated with over-the-counter medicine. Additionally, a doctor and two nurses joined the ship midway to assist with the outbreak.

TUI Cruises

In February 2011 ''Celebrity Mercury'' left Celebrity Cruises to be renovated by Imtech and join

' fleet as ''Mein Schiff 2'', alongside , her sister ship, the former ''Celebrity Galaxy''. In May 2015, TUI Group announced that as part of their modernization strategy, TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 would be transferred to Thomson Cruises over the next few years. In March 2018

announced that ''Mein Schiff 2'' would remain in the fleet and sail under a new name. In October 2018 the name was announced as ''Mein Schiff Herz''. It was also announced that she will be handed over to

Marella Marrella may refer to: * ''Marrella'', an ancient arthropod * Fabrizio Marrella, a professor of international law Marela may refer to: * Marela (town), a town and sub-prefecture in Guinea * ''Marela'' (butterfly), a genus of butterflies of the ...

Cruises in April 2022. A new ship, built in 2019, is now known as '' Mein Schiff 2''. It was announced that the ship would be transferred to Marella Cruises in April 2022. Later, the transfer was delayed again to 2023. The ship finished her last voyage for TUI Cruises in April 2023. The ship then underwent a refit at

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 ...

in Cadiz and was renamed ''Marella Voyager''. The christening ceremony happened on 31 May in Malaga.

References

External links

Official Mein Schiff 2 page
on tuicruises.com
Official Celebrity Mercury UK site
{{Celebrity Ships 1997 ships Ships of Celebrity Cruises Ships built in Papenburg