Marella Dream accidents and incidents

01 October 2020Other Incidents

(Marella Dream) On October 1, 2020, Marella Cruises announced the retirement of the 34-year-old cruise liner, after 10 years of service (2010-2020). All Marella Dream cruises scheduled between May 4 and December 30, 2021, were cancelled.

A total of 37x Marella Dream cruises (most in the Mediterranean, some in the Canary Islands) were cancelled. All Mediterranean voyages were transferred to Marella Discovery 1, which was rescheduled for homeporting in Palma de Mallorca Spain (instead of Port Canaveral USA). As a result of the redeployment, Marella Discovery's summer 2021 Caribbean program was cancelled.

Among the scheduled/cancelled Marella Dream itineraries was a 14-night Transatlantic repositioning cruise (from Malaga Spain to Bridgetown Barbados, December 9-23, 2021) and two 7-night Caribbean roundtrips from Barbados (departures on Dec 23 and Dec 30).

01 October 2020Other Incidents

(Marella Dream) On October 1, 2020, Marella Cruises announced the retirement (end of the charter) of the cruise ship. The 34-year-old vessel left the fleet after 10 years of service with Thomson-Marella (2010-2020).

A total of 37x Marella Dream cruises (mostly Mediterranean) scheduled between May 4 and December 30, 2021, were cancelled. Marella Dream's Mediterranean voyages (Palma de Mallorca roundtrips) were all transferred to Marella Discovery 1, which was rescheduled for homeporting in Palma de Mallorca instead of Port Canaveral (Florida USA). As result of the redeployment, Marella Discovery's summer 2021 Caribbean program was cancelled.

Among the scheduled/cancelled Marella Dream itineraries was a 14-night Transatlantic repositioning cruise (Malaga to Bridgetown Barbados) and two 7-night Caribbean roundtrips from Barbados, all planned for December 2021.

27 March 2020Crew / Passenger Deaths

(Marella Dream/Coronavirus) On March 26, 2020, while en-route to Gibraltar (UK), the ship requested a medevac for a 48-year-old male crew (Indonesian). The medical evacuation was planned for March 27 (~7:30 am). Overnight, the man's condition worsened and he died ~3 hours prior to the medevac.

According to local media sources, the man had displayed respiratory difficulties (consistent with Coronavirus). Gibraltar's Chief Minister in a press conference announced that the ship will not be allowed to disembark the body. Marella Dream was also commanded to leave Gibraltar's territorial waters. The body was offloaded in Malaga (Spain) on March 28.

Marella Cruises commented that the man "had underlying health issues" (but was not tested for COVID-19) and "there are no positive cases" on the cruise vessel.

01 May 2018Sea Pollution

(Marella Dream) On May 1, 2018, Balearic Islands Port Authority dispatched vessels for emergency services in the waters off Majorca Island as Marella Dream spilled oil. Spanish coastguard boats and 112 emergency services started an operation to contain the spill caused by leakage from the ship’s fuel tank.

The incident was reported ~10 am. Emergency services started cleaning the spill after the spill around the vessel’s stern was contained. The arrived in Palma from Ibiza, finishing 10-day repositioning cruise (itinerary April 21 - May 1) from Canary Islands (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria) to Palma de Mallorca.

02 May 2012Ship Listing

(Thomson Dream) On May 2, 2012, at ~9:30 am while approaching Gibraltar UK, the ship made two sudden maneuvers, the second of which resulted in severe tilting/listing to port. The incident resulted in an emptied onboard swimming pool, smashed tableware, broken furniture, and TVs, distressed passengers, minor injuries.

Over the next ~10 min, the vessel gradually righted itself. On the following evening (May 3), the Captain announced that the incident was caused by a “slip of the hand”.

The ship was on 20-day Transatlantic repositioning cruise crossing from the Caribbean to UK (itinerary April 15 - May 5).

January 2011Fire Accident

(Thomson Dream) On January 17, 2011, rumors spread online about an engine room fire accident during the New Year Cruise (Caribbean itinerary from Bridgetown Barbados, departure December 30). The itinerary was not affected, and injuries were not reported.

May 2010Structural and Technical Issues

(Thomson Dream) During an 8-day Mediterranean cruise (itinerary May 25 - June 2) from Palma de Mallorca (Majorca Island), passengers reported issues regarding the ship's sewage system (public restrooms and cabin toilets overflowing).

Thomson Cruises officially confirmed "plumbing-related issues", stating that the problem was completely resolved.

26 February 2010Ship Collision / Allision

(Costa Europa) On February 26, 2010, upon berthing and due to harsh weather, the ship collided with the pier at call port Sharm Al-Sheik (Egypt). The collision accident resulted in 3 crew killed, 4 injured (3 passengers, 1 crew), severe hull damages (a 2 m / 6 ft wide hole) and listing to port.

The dead crew (from Brazil, India, and Honduras) worked in the ship's galley/kitchen. They were all asleep in their cabins when the collision occurred. The 4 injured (3 British female passengers) and 1 Italian male crew) were ambulanced to a hospital in stable condition.

The ship arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh from call port Safaga Egypt. The Suez Canal repositioning cruise (Dubai to Savona Italy) was canceled. All passengers were disembarked in Sharm al-Sheikh and flown back home. The next scheduled voyages ((departures March 4 and March 22) were canceled.

Note: Actually, this type of marine accident is called “allision” (striking a fixed object) as opposed to “collision” (striking another vessel).

28 February 2009Propulsion / Power Loss

(Costa Europa) In February 2009, while navigating in the Indian Ocean, the ship suffered engine problems resulting in reduced speed, canceled call port and passenger mutiny (as a reaction to the revised itinerary).

During the 14-day "Jewels of the Indian Ocean" cruise (itinerary February 14-28) the ship experienced several propulsion problems. It underwent dock repairs in port Mombassa (Kenya), but the speed issue continued. Passengers also reported black smoke from the engine room. The scheduled stop in Saint-Denis (Reunion Island) was reduced to a "technical stop", which sparkled confrontation between passengers and crew.

Passengers staged a protest, calling for the Captain, who reportedly apologized and admitted that the voyage "had been ‘ruined". Costa Cruises initially offered as compensation 2 options - EUR 300 in onboard credit or EUR 600 future Costa cruise booking discount, which were later combined.