Thomson / Marella Celebration, Cruise Ship

This article look at views of the Thomson (later Marella) Celebration cruise ship.

We first cruised on this ship in 2009, boarding her at Corfu in Greece for a cruise called Pearls of the Aegean.

This one included a visit to Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, from where we went on an excursion to Ierapetra: the most southerly town in Europe.

Another shot of the Celebration in Aghios Nikolaos.

The Celebration and palm trees. The ship was berthed in Katakolon, Greece, the port for visiting the ancient site of Olympia.

Another view of the ship in Katakolon.

We loved the Celebration and returned for another trip in 2010, the Ottoman Treasures cruise. Here is the ship moored up in Istanbul.

Our third trip on her was for the Ancient Wonders cruise. This is Piraeus, the port for Athens.

Thomson Celebration in the port of Alanya, southern Turkey.

In 2014 we took a cruise around the Canary Isles on her. We see her here in Madeira. This cruise included a very special event for us as we had a balcony on the ship and one day a short while after leaving port a blue whale appeared from under the ship directly under our balcony. Typically my camera was in the cabin...

In 2017 we were back onboard for a 2-week trip called Fire & Ice Cruise for which we boarded in the UK in Newcastle and headed north to Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Isles and Shetland. This is a rather dullish day in Stavanger, Norway.

Another overcast and numbingly icy day in Akureyri in Iceland. We were coming back on a smaller boat after a whale watching tour. I had on a t-shirt, shirt, thick arran cardigan and my winter coat and I was shivering with cold!

Isafjord, also in Iceland. It was a sunnier day but hardly a warm one - unless you were a local!

A beautiful setting with the sun casting reflections of the waves onto the white paint of the Celebration. Kollafjørður in the Faroe Islands.

By 2018 Thomson had been rebranded as Marella so it was the Marella Celebration that we boarded in Dubrovnik for the Venetian Vistas Cruise. This photo shows the ship moored at anchor off the Croatian island of Korčula as we leave for the day by tender boat.

Also at Korčula from the shore.

Still in Croatia, this shows the ship's stern as we head back to board her after a day's wandering around the port of Zadar.

We head up the Adriatic for a stop at Trieste, Italy. It would be our last trip on her. Already scheduled for retirement, it was brought forward during the Covid pandemic and she was scrapped.

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