Thomson Cruises has announced that later this month it will rebrand as Marella Cruises. 

The move comes at the same time as Thomson changes to TUI.

The rebrand will see the cruise line add to the fleet with Marella Explorer next year, and new routes in the pipeline.

Marella Cruises is still part of the world of TUI. The new name means ‘shining sea’ in Celtic and it was chosen by the company to reflect its spirit of exploration and discovery across the seas.

The rebrand will include Marella Explorer, Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2, previously TUI Discovery and TUI Discovery 2.

Helen Caron, distribution and cruise director said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for our business. We’re really proud to offer an experience that guests can, and want to, come back to again and again and moving forward as Marella we’ve got brand new, modern additions to our fleet and more destinations, choice and experiences than ever before which really reflects our spirit of exploration and discovery within the new brand.”

To celebrate the launch of Marella Cruises, the company has unveiled new itineraries across Asia as part of its winter 2018 programme.

The Marella Discovery will sail to 18 exotic new ports of call on 14 new adult-only itineraries, including Colours of the Far East, departing from Bangkok, Thailand and Enchanting Far East, setting sail from Langkawi in Malaysia.

For the first time two ships will be based in Barbados for winter 2018. Marella Explorer will sail its first winter season from the destination and will be joined by Marella Celebration.