MS Marella Dream
MS "Marella Dream is a cruise ship previously owned by TUI UK Ltd. and operated under charter by Marella Cruises. She was built in 1986 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, West Germany as MS "Homeric for Home Lines. In 1988 she was sold to Holland America Line and renamed MS "Westerdam. In 1990 she was lengthened by at Meyer Werft. In 2002 she was transferred to the fleet of Costa Cruises and renamed MS "Costa Europa. In April 2010 she left the fleet of Costa Cruises on a ten-year charter to Thomson Cruises, under  the name MS "Thomson Dream". She is the last new build for Home Lines to remain in active service. Following the announcement on 9 October 2017, that "Thomson Cruises" was renamed Marella Cruises, TUI Group also announced that Thomson Dream adopted the name "Marella Dream" at the end of October 2017. She was retired from Marella Cruises in November 2020. Concept and construction. The "Homeric" was planned during the first half of the 1980s as a replacement for the aging in the Home Lines' fleet. Meyer Werft in Papenburg, West Germany was chosen as the shipyard to build her. The  ship was named in honour of the company's earlier , a popular ship that had been destroyed by a fire in 1973. The new "Homeric" was launched on 28 September 1985 and was the largest cruise liner ever launched on a slipway in a side-ways manner. She performed her sea trials between 26 and 30 December 1985, but she was not delivered to Home Lines until 6 May 1986. Following the sale of the ship to Holland America Line (and the sale of HAL itself to the Carnival Corporation), the ex-"Homeric", now named "Westerdam", returned to Meyer Werft on  30 October 1989 for a $84 million refit. The ship was lengthened by and many of her interiors were rebuilt. The refit (one of the most extensive ever performed on a passenger ship) was completed on 12 March 1990. In 2002, prior to entering service as "Costa Europa" for Costa Cruises, the ship received a £5 million refit, with some of the public rooms redecorated and six balcony suites added. Service history. 1986–88: "Homeric". During her service with Home Lines the "Homeric" was used for cruises from New York to Bermuda during the northern hemisphere summer season and  cruises in the Caribbean during the rest of the year. While popular, especially with Home Lines' loyal base of repeat passengers, the ultimate success of the "Homeric" in service with the historic company has been questioned. One author described her in summation as the "giant swan song" of the company. Certainly, times were changing and the end of the company reflected trends in the quickly evolving cruise market. Home Lines was finally purchased by the Holland America Line in 1988. 1988–2002: "Westerdam". In November 1988 the "Homeric" joined the fleet of Holland America Line and was renamed "Westerdam" (different sites  state different dates for her transfer to the HAL fleet). In service with her new owners, the "Westerdam" cruised to Alaska during the summer season, returning to the Caribbean for the winter. Soon after Home Lines had been purchased by Holland America, HAL itself was purchased by the Carnival Corporation. HAL's new owners decided to invest heavily in the fairly new "Westerdam", and between October 1989 and March 1990 she was extensively rebuilt and enlarged at Meyer Werft. When the "Westerdam" entered service for HAL, she was registered in The Bahamas, but in 1996 she was re-registered to  the Netherlands. In 2002, following the delivery of several newbuilds for Holland America Line, the "Westerdam" was transferred to the fleet of Costa Cruises. 2002 – April 2010: "Costa Europa". Following the transfer to Costa Cruises in April 2002, the "Westerdam" was renamed "Costa Europa" and re-registered in Italy. On 27 April 2002 she started on her first cruise for her new owners from Genoa, subsequently being used for cruises around Europe. April 2010-October 2017. "Costa Europa" left the fleet of Costa Cruises in April 2010, being bareboat chartered to the United Kingdom-based Thomson Cruises for ten years . The charter agreement also includes an option for Thomson Cruises to buy the ship after five years. The ship was renamed "Thomson Dream" for her service with Thomson. "Thomson Dream" received a refurbishment at the end of 2012 and introduced into the Platinum collection of cruises. October 2017 - October 2020. Up until 1 October 2020 she served as the "Marella Dream" for cruises with the newly rebranded Marella cruises, previously known as Thomson Cruises. Sadly on 1 October 2020 Marella announced that the Marella Dream would be retired from the Marella fleet. All her summer sailings were transferred to "Marella  Discovery". Marella announced that the "Marella Dream" would leave their fleet. The future of the ship has still yet to be said but scrapping is very likely considering the age of the vessel. Incidents. 2009 passenger mutiny. In February 2009, "Costa Europa" had engine trouble on an Indian Ocean cruise and passengers mutinied after scheduled stops were cancelled. 2010 dock collision. On 26 February 2010, "Costa Europa" collided with a dock at Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt, after attempting to dock in bad weather. The collision killed three crew members and injured at least four other people, three of them  passengers. The incident tore a wide hole in the hull, and the ship was listed to port to lift the damaged area clear of the water. The report into the incident, to be handled by the Italian maritime authorities based in Genoa, had still not been handed to the IMO in January 2012. Coronavirus pandemic. On 2020.03.27, a 48-year-old Indonesian crew member of MS "Marella Dream" died on board the ship with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 while the ship was anchored near Gibraltar. A spokesperson for owner TUI Group stated that "[t]he crew member had underlying health issues  and had not tested positive for Covid-19 and there are no positive cases of Covid-19 on board the ship", leading sources to conclude that either he had not been tested, or that he had died of the virus. Gibraltar officials refused permission for the disembarkation of the body, asked the ship to leave British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, and stated that any inquiry into the death of the crew member was the responsibility of Malta, the ship's flag state. "Marella Dream" later docked in Málaga, Spain, on 2020.03.28, to disembark the deceased crew member. Design. Exterior design. The "Homeric" was  built with a terraced forward and rear superstructure, with lifeboats placed fairly high. She had a relatively large funnel, with a large arch behind it to deflect some soot away from the rear decks. In original Home Lines livery she had a white hull and superstructure, with a blue decorative riband separating them. Her funnel and radar mast, the structures immediately below them and the cranes on her forward deck were painted yellow. The ship's name was painted in tall letters on the side of the superstructure below the radar mast. On entering service with Holland America Line, the  Westerdam received HAL's dark blue hull colours, with her funnel and radar mast painted white. The 1989–90 lengthening altered her exterior appearance somewhat. The windows of the added section are larger than those forward and aft. As "Costa Europa", the ship was painted all-white, with a yellow funnel and a small flag of the EU painted on the side of the superstructure. As "Thomson Dream" the ship retains an all-white livery, but with a blue funnel bearing the TUI/Thomson group logo. Interior design. Unusually for a cruise ship of her time, the "Homeric" was built with  a somewhat ocean liner-like layout, with her dining room in particular reflecting liner-like design, being located on a lower deck. She was also built with a sizeable promenade deck and a one-deck-high theatre. She was built with two swimming pools, one to the rear of the ship and another amidship which was covered with a magrodome. During the 1989–90 refit, two lounges in the forward section of the ship were combined to create a large two-level theatre, with the original theatre retained as a cinema. In HAL service, she was decorated with artworks drawing on  the history of the Dutch Empire. On entering service with Costa Cruises, the ship was refurbished, with some of the interior decorations changed to brighter and more southern / Pan-European style. The original theatre was built in with six balcony suites, and a new ballroom with a hardwood dance floor replaced an earlier lounge. Despite the refit, most of the ship's decorations have been retained from the HAL days, resulting in the "Costa Europa" having somewhat different interior decorations from her "Italian-style" fleetmates. Media appearances. "MS Westerdam" was featured in the 1997 comedy film "Out to Sea" with  Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The ship appeared on BBC One Watchdog during an investigation into customer complaints: the report found broken airconditioning units and sewage and plumbing problems during the first few voyages with Thomson. The company were also criticised for broadcasting "misleading" advertisements, claiming the ship was "luxury, brand new and 5*" when in fact it was over 24 years old.