Royal Caribbean vs Marella Cruises
A detailed side-by-side comparison of Royal Caribbean and Marella Cruises covering ratings, fleet size, food quality, entertainment, value for money, and available sailings from UK ports. Updated for 2026.
The head-to-head
Ratings are based on aggregated passenger reviews, editorial analysis, and expert scoring. The cobalt outline marks the stronger line for each attribute.
Who should choose which?
Every cruise line has its strengths and weaknesses. Here is an honest look at who each line is best suited for, based on passenger feedback and our editorial assessment.
Choose Royal Caribbean if you want…
- Families with kids
- Thrill seekers and adventurers
- Mega-ship experience
- Entertainment and activities
Royal Caribbean may not suit you if…
- Quiet/intimate cruise seekers
- Ultra-luxury preference
- Those avoiding large crowds
Choose Marella Cruises if you want…
- All-inclusive simplicity
- First-time cruisers
- Budget-conscious families
- Regional UK airport departures
Marella Cruises may not suit you if…
- Luxury seekers
- Food enthusiasts
- Those wanting UK port departures (fly-cruise only)
Ships at a glance
A quick comparison of each line's fleet including passenger capacity, tonnage, and year of launch.
Royal Caribbean Fleet (28 ships)
Anthem of the Seas
Built 2015 · 4,905 guests
Icon of the Seas
Built 2024 · 7,600 guests
Utopia of the Seas
Built 2024 · 5,668 guests
Marella Cruises Fleet (5 ships)
Marella Explorer
Built 2018 · 1,924 guests
Marella Explorer 2
Built 2019 · 1,814 guests
Available cruises
Current sailings from both cruise lines. Prices shown are per person based on two sharing the lowest-grade cabin available.
Royal Caribbean Sailings
14 NIGHTS14 Night Eastern Mediterranean
Ports: Rome · Santorini · Mykonos · Dubrovnik
5 NIGHTS5 Night Hamburg & Bruges Cruise
Ports: Hamburg · Zeebrugge
Save 1%4 NIGHTSKey West Perfect Day Cruise
Save 1%4 NIGHTSBahamas Perfect Day Cruise
5 NIGHTS5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Ports: Puerto Costa Maya · Cozumel
7 NIGHTS7 Night Italy & France Cruise
Ports: Barcelona · Toulon · Ajaccio · Civitavecchia · Naples · Messina
Save 1%4 NIGHTSWestern Caribbean Cruise
9 NIGHTS9-night Spanish Flair & Solar Eclipse
Ports: Bilbao, Spain · Gijon, Spain · Vigo, Spain · La Coruna, Spain · Paris (Le Havre), France
Save 1%4 NIGHTSBahamas Perfect Day Cruise
Save 1%3 NIGHTSPerfect Day Getaway Cruise
Save 1%7 NIGHTSNorthbound Alaska Hubbard Glacier
Save 1%3 NIGHTSBahamas Perfect Day Cruise
Save 1%8 NIGHTSSouthern Caribbean Perfect Day
7 NIGHTS7 Night Cabo, Vallarta & Mazatlan
Ports: Los Angeles · Cabo San Lucas · Mazatlan · Puerto Vallarta · Los Angeles
5 NIGHTS5 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day Cruise
Ports: Miami · Nassau · Coco Cay · Miami
5 NIGHTS5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Ports: Puerto Costa Maya · Cozumel
7 NIGHTS7 Night Greek Isles Cruise
Ports: Santorini · Mykonos · Athens · Split
Save 1%7 NIGHTSSouthern Caribbean Cruise
Save 3%7 NIGHTSWestern Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona
Ports: Barcelona · Palma De Mallorca · Marseille (Provence) · La Spezia (tours to Florence/Pisa) · Rome (Civitavecchia) · Naples
Hot deal7 NIGHTSWestern Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona
Ports: Barcelona · Palma De Mallorca · Marseille (Provence) · La Spezia (tours to Florence/Pisa) · Rome (Civitavecchia) · Naples
7 NIGHTS7-night Norwegian Fjords
7 NIGHTS7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day
Ports: Port Canaveral · Perfect Day CocoCay · San Juan · Philipsburg
7 NIGHTS7 Night Perfect Day Bahamas Cruise
Ports: New York · Port Canaveral · Perfect Day CocoCay · Nassau
7 NIGHTS7 Night Greek Isles Cruise
Ports: Rome · Santorini · Ephesus · Mykonos · Naples
6 NIGHTS6 Night Western Caribbean Cruise
Ports: Galveston · Puerto Costa Maya · Roatan · Cozumel
7 NIGHTS7 Night Western Mediterranean Cruise
Ports: Barcelona · Majorca · Florence/Pisa · Rome · Naples
7 NIGHTS7 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise
Ports: Colon · Cartagena · Willemstad · Oranjestad
8 NIGHTS8 Night Northern City Escapes Cruise
Ports: Southampton · Kristiansand · Copenhagen · Hamburg · Rotterdam
Save 1%9 NIGHTSCanada New England
8 NIGHTSBahamas & Perfect Day with Miami Beach Stay
Ports: Miami · Perfect Day at Cococay · Nassau
9 NIGHTS9 Night Spanish Flair Cruise
Ports: Southampton · Vigo · Lisbon · Cádiz · La Coruña · Bilbao
7 NIGHTS2-night Seattle & 7-night Alaska Experience
7 NIGHTS2-night Miami & 5-night Freedom of Bahamas & Perfect Day
Save 1%9 NIGHTSCanada New England
7 NIGHTS2-night Venice & 7-night Greek Explorer & Split
9 NIGHTS9-night Spanish Flair
7 NIGHTS2-night Venice & 7-night Adriatic & Greek Explorer
Save 1%11 NIGHTSTennis US Open Men's Semi Final with Bahamas and Perfect Day from Cape Liberty
Ports: New York (Cape Liberty) · Orlando (Port Canaveral) · Nassau · Perfect Day at Cococay
Save 1%7 NIGHTS3-night Miami & 4-night Bahamas & Perfect Day
7 NIGHTS2-night Seattle & 7-night Alaska Experience
7 NIGHTS7-night Spain & France
Save 6%7 NIGHTSWestern Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona
Ports: Barcelona · Palma De Mallorca · Marseille (Provence) · La Spezia (tours to Florence/Pisa) · Rome (Civitavecchia) · Naples
Save 6%7 NIGHTS2-night Venice & 7-night Greek Treasures
8 NIGHTS8-night Spain & France Cruise
35 NIGHTSHawaiian Explorer & Transpacific with Vancouver and Sydney Stays
Ports: Vancouver · Seattle · Kailua Kona, Hawaii · Napali Coast · Honolulu, Oahu · Papeete, Tahiti
7 NIGHTS5-night Salou & 7-night Legend of the Med
7 NIGHTS2-night Venice & 7-night Greek Icons & Split
Save 4%7 NIGHTS2-night Miami & 5-night Freedom of Bahamas & Perfect Day
7 NIGHTS3-night Miami & 4-night Key West & Bahamas
7 NIGHTSPRICE DROP! 7 Night Spain & France Cruise
Ports: Southampton · Cherbourg · La Coruña · Bilbao · Le Havre · Southampton
Marella Cruises Sailings
Save 2%7 NIGHTSMediterranean
Ports: Palma de Mallorca
7 NIGHTSMediterranean
Ports: Limassol
Save 2%7 NIGHTSGreek Mystique
Ports: Dubrovnik · Athens · Olympia (Katakolon) · Corfu · Kotor
7 NIGHTSAdriatic Delights
Ports: Dubrovnik · Venice (Trieste) · Koper · Zadar · Split · Kotor
7 NIGHTSSail Three Seas
Ports: Malta · Catania · Argostoli · Corfu · Kotor
7 NIGHTSAdriatic Affair
Ports: Kotor · Split · Zadar · Venice (Trieste) · Koper
Save 2%7 NIGHTSTreasures of the Mediterranean from Majorca
Ports: Palma · Olbia · Naples · Civitavecchia · Ajaccio · Palamos
7 NIGHTSSail Three Seas
Ports: Malta · Catania · Argostoli · Corfu · Kotor
7 NIGHTSAegean Gems from Cyprus
Ports: Limassol · Souda Bay · Piraeus · Izmir · Mykonos · Rhodes
7 NIGHTSHighlights of the Mediterranean from Majorca
Ports: Palma · Majorca · Ajaccio · Corsica · Civitavecchia (tours to Rome) · Livorno (tours to Florence/Pisa)
Save 10%11 NIGHTSTransatlantic Passage to Paradise from Malaga to Barbados
Ports: Malaga · St. John's, Antigua · Roseau · Bridgetown, Barbados
14 NIGHTSEscape to the Caribbean from Malaga
Ports: Malaga · Tangier · St. John's · Basseterre · Roseau · Castries
Save 2%14 NIGHTSParadise Islands & A Christmas in the Tropics from Barbados
Ports: Bridgetown, Barbados · St. John's, Antigua · Road Town, Tortola · Philipsburg, St. Maarten · Basseterre, St. Kitts · Roseau
7 NIGHTSCanarian Flavours
Ports: Tenerife · Gran Canaria · Lanzarote · Agadir · Funchal · La Palma
7 NIGHTSAtlantic Islands from Tenerife
14 NIGHTSA Taste of the Tropics & Paradise Islands from Barbados
Ports: Bridgetown, Barbados · Castries, St. Lucia · Pointe-à-Pitre · St. George's, Grenada · Scarborough, Tobago · Kingstown, St. Vincent & Grenadines
7 NIGHTSCanarian Flavours
Ports: Tenerife · Gran Canaria · Lanzarote · Agadir · Funchal · La Palma
14 NIGHTSParadise Islands & A Christmas in the Tropics from Barbados
Royal Caribbean vs Marella Cruises: the bottom line
Choosing between Royal Caribbean and Marella Cruises ultimately comes down to what kind of holiday you are looking for. Both are well-established cruise lines with loyal followings, but they cater to different preferences and budgets.
Royal Caribbean, founded in 1968 and headquartered in Miami, USA, operates a fleet of 28 ships. It is categorised as a contemporary cruise line and scores 4.6/5 overall based on 24,500 reviews. The line is particularly strong for families with kids and thrill seekers and adventurers, making it a natural choice for cruisers who value those attributes.
Marella Cruises, established in 1995 from Luton, UK, has a fleet of 5 ships. As a value line rated 4.1/5 from 7,800 reviews, it excels at all-inclusive simplicity and first-time cruisers. If those are your priorities, Marella Cruises deserves serious consideration.
On food, Royal Caribbean scores 7/10 compared to Marella Cruises's 5/10. For entertainment, Royal Caribbean comes in at 10/10 versus Marella Cruises's 6/10. Value for money favours Marella Cruises with a score of 9/10.
Our recommendation: browse the available sailings above and compare itineraries, dates, and total cost including what is bundled in the fare. The best cruise line is the one that matches your specific needs, budget, and travel dates. Use the scores as a guide, but remember that individual ship and itinerary matter just as much as the cruise line brand.
Royal Caribbean vs Marella Cruises — FAQ
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