Marella Explorer 2 deck plans

Marella Explorer 2 (1995-built as "Celebrity Century", last refurbished in 2023 November) was the oldest ship in Celebrity Cruises fleet. The vessel is now part of Marella Cruises (TUI's UK brand) and belongs to the Century-class - with sisterships Marella Explorer (built as "Celebrity Galaxy", fka "Mein Schiff 1") and Marella Voyager (built as "Celebrity Mercury", fka Mein Schiff 2 and Mein Schiff Herz). In 2015, Royal Caribbean (RCCL, shipowner) established in China a new joint venture company (SkySea Cruise Line) together with Ctrip International Ltd. The new brand started operations with the newly refurbished Celebrity Century, operating in China (until 2018) under the name "SkySea Golden Era".

Marella Explorer 2 cruise ship deck plan shows a total of 907 staterooms for 1814 passengers (max capacity is 2177) served by 860 crew-staff. The boat has 13 decks (10 passenger-accessible, 6 with cabins), 6 restaurants (including 1 specialty), 15 lounges and bars, 2 swimming pools, 4 Jacuzzis (outdoor whirlpool hot tubs), 10 elevators.

Marella Explorer 2 2019 refurbishment review

The drydock conversion of SkySea Golden Era into Marella Explorer 2 was done at Navantia Shipyard (Cadiz Spain) in the period January 28 - March 27 (2019). Before that, the vessel visited COSCO Shipyard (Zhoushan China) for general maintenance before the 1-month long repositioning (via Suez Canal) to Europe (Mediterranean).

The 8-week drydock project involved ~1520 people (contractors, partners, Marella's crew, ~300 Trimline specialists) and 190,000+ manhours. The project included new carpeting shipwide (~43 km2 / 16 mi2 carpets were laid), ~70 km (43,5 mi) of network cables, installing a total of 640 WiFI points, complete repainting (hull and superstructure). The liner was loaded with 9,5 tons of Marella-branded merchandise and ~1000 crew uniforms and show costumes.

New (added during the refit) venues were Clubhouse Bar, 19th Hole (two golf simulators, golf buggy-seating, craft beers, golf-themed cocktails), Flutes (wine bar), Nonna's (Italian trattoria for traditional pizza and pasta), The Beach Cove (BBQ dishes). Topdeck's Veranda (VIP sunbathing area) was doubled in size (in comparison to the sistership Marella Explorer 1). A new cabin category was also introduced (Royal Suite, sized 102 m2 / 1100 ft2).

The drydocking project was managed by Trimline Ltd (marine interior refurbishment specialist) and also included redesign and refreshing of most onboard venues and public areas - Lido Marketplace (restaurant), Indigo Club, both Coffee Ports (USB ports added), Squid and Anchor Pub, Broadway (show bar lounge), Latitude 53 (restaurant), Vista (MDR/dining room).

SkySea Golden Era 2017 refurbishment review

On November 16, 2017, SkySea Cruises announced the completion of ship's drydock refurbishment (October 25 through November 11) done at COSCO shipyard (Zhoushan, China). For this renovation project, SkySea partnered with CSSC (China State Shipbuilding Corporation) and G-Art (interior design and renovations).

• The dry-dock included routine maintenance works, as well as adding 2 new conference halls (meeting rooms) on decks 7 and 12.
• "SkySea Board Room" (Deck 7) has max capacity 50 seats.
• "SkySea Conference Room" (Deck 12) has capacity 100 seats.
• Grand Restaurant was renovated with a new Chinese theme.
• A new beauty salon was opened via a partnership with PhiSkin. Ship's retail shops were expanded. A new pharmacy was added as a retail offering.