Marella Cruises pre-tax profits rose by €26 million to €167m in the last financial year, marking the strongest financial performance in its 30-year history.
Sebastian Ebel, CEO of parent TUI Group, described the result as ‘outstanding’.
Announcing the profit today, as part of TUI Group’s overall 2024/25 results, Sebastian said: “We are really proud of what the team in the UK has achieved.”
Marella’s five ships were 99% full throughout the year and the average daily rate was up 2% compared with the previous 12 months.
Marella CEO Chris Hackney said: “Beyond our financial performance, we’re proud to have set new benchmarks in customer experience, with record customer satisfaction scores, and our highest ever retention levels with our customers returning time and time again.“These achievements also highlight our unique product offering with our all-inclusive proposition, end-to-end service with regional flying, West End style entertainment and exceptional service from our crew.
“As an award-winning ocean cruise line brand, I want to thank our incredible teams and loyal customers for making this milestone possible.”
Earlier this year, TUI announced that it had cancelled plans to build two new ships for Marella. Instead, it opted to use the shipyard slots to build two, bigger ships for TUI Cruises, saying at the time that the German-based cruise brand will ‘gradually diversify into the UK’ market.
However, speaking at a press conference today, Sebastian said: “We very much believe in the future of Marella.
“We do see that there are significant opportunities for Marella, how we will structure it is something that needs to be discussed, needs to be determined, but, if I look at today’s view, we are so pleased that we do see good opportunities for Marella.”
