Marella Cruises introduces two new chocolate and cheese afternoon tea concepts across entire fleet

August 14, 2025

Marella Cruises

Marella Cruises, TUI UK&I’s ocean cruise line, is expanding its afternoon tea offering with two unique additions: The Chocolate Bar - Afternoon Tea and The Cheese Table - Afternoon Tea. These new dining options will alternate every two weeks and will be available within the all-inclusive offering across the fleet of ships from August 2025.

The Chocolate Bar – Afternoon Tea is a chocolate-themed experience with every item infused with varying gradients of white, milk and dark chocolates. Highlights include a flowing chocolate fountain, chocolate scones, patisseries, mini cakes, and a Baker’s Box featuring chocolate twists, chocolate strudel, and loaded chocolate chip cookies.

Guests can also get creative at the Build Your Own Chocolate Trifle station, layering rich brownie and velvety chocolate mousse. The onboard crew will guide guests in customising their toppings, with options including whipped cream, shaved chocolate, salted caramel, cherry or orange compotes, crushed waffles, and chocolate sauce to make their own marvellous creations.

The Cheese Table – Afternoon Tea offers a savoury twist on tradition, curated with a mix of sweet and savoury bites served both hot and cold. This afternoon tea features a show-stopping The Raclette Bar, complete with melted cheese served over fresh sourdough bread and a selection of gourmet accompaniments.

The afternoon tea also includes a Cheese Board complete with five different cheeses, served with grapes, crackers, celery, apple, pickled onions, mustard, and cornichons. It also includes: savoury bites, cheese and bread twists, sandwiches, sweet and savoury scones, patisseries and mini cakes.

To finish, guests can top it off with a Build Your Own Cheesecake Cone station, decorating their own creamy vanilla cheesecake mix in a cone with toppings such as blueberry or mixed berry compote, lemon curd, salted caramel, and biscuit crumbs.

The main buffet area on each ship has been enhanced with new buffet offerings including a fruit cutting station, with a variety of fruits from around the world and a pop-up salad bar.

Luke Saunders, Food and Drink Development Manager at Marella Cruises said: “We are pleased to be expanding our afternoon tea selection onboard across our ships. After two successful trials across a couple of ships, feedback from customers shows us that they love the latest afternoon teas. We are looking forward to our new and returning customers getting their sweet and savoury fix for when they are next onboard.”

These new afternoon tea offerings will join familiar favourites such as the Great Musical Afternoon Tea, a weekly event across Marella’s whole fleet that brings the West End to Marella Cruises, with dishes inspired by famous musicals*.

The afternoon teas and buffet enhancements will be a part of the all-inclusive offering onboard all Marella Cruises’ available ships in the buffet areas: Islands (Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2), The Market Place (Marella Explorer and Marella Explorer 2) and The Kitchens (Marella Voyager).

*This is a chargeable event for £18.95 per person

Marella Cruises is part of TUI UK and Ireland and TUI Group. It is the third largest cruise line in the UK. As of 1 June 2023, there are five ships in the Marella Cruises fleet, Marella Discovery, Marella Discovery 2, Marella Explorer, Marella Explorer 2 and the newest ship to the fleet, Marella Voyager. Marella Cruises offers all-inclusive holidays as standard, with all tips and service charges included. Customers can enjoy exceptional service and award-winning entertainment throughout their cruise holiday. Marella Cruises has also received accolades at the Wave Awards in 2024 as Best for Entertainment and Good Housekeeping Reader Recommended for onboard service since 2019.

TUI UK&I Press Office

pressofficeuk@tui.co.uk

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