Club Cruise was a

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

-based cruise ship company, that chartered vessels to other operators, including

Transocean Tours Transocean Tours was a German cruise line that operated ocean-going cruise ships in the German and British markets and river cruise ships in Germany. The company was formed in 1954 and first began operating cruises in 1972, using ships chartered ...

and

Phoenix Reisen Phoenix Reisen is a Germany-based travel agency that also operates a fleet of cruise ships. The company first entered the cruise business in 1988 by chartering the Soviet Union-owned cruise ship . History Phoenix Reisen first begun operating crui ...

. The company had also operated ships under its own brands, first in 1999 on short cruises from the

and during 2008 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

cruise market under the banner of Van Gogh Cruises. Club Cruise was reportedly seeking to list itself in the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

History

Club Cruise was founded in 1999 to operate short cruises out of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

with one ship, . The service was not a success, and the company ceased operations after the 1999

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

summer season. Subsequently, the ''Club 1'' was renamed MS ''Van Gogh'' and chartered to the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

-based Nouvelles Frontieres. In 2002 the ship was chartered to the

-based

Travelscope Joseph Rosendo (born September 20, 1946, Miami, Florida) is an American travel journalist, News presenter, broadcaster, television personality and public speaker. Since 2007 he has been the executive producer, host, director and writer of the Am ...

. Two additional ships were acquired in 2006. was purchased from a Bahamas-based company and continued under charter to her previous operator, the

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

-based

. MS ''Walrus'' was purchased from

SeaContainers Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two main business areas: transport and container leasing. It filed for bankruptcy on 16 October 2006. In 2009 its maritime container interests were transferred to a new company SeaCo ...

. She was renamed and chartered to the

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

-based

Vision Cruises Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

. In 2008 she was renamed and also chartered to Phoenix Reisen. In 2007, Club Cruise acquired from

Sovcomflot Sovcomflot (russian: ПАО «Совкомфлот», ПАО «Современный коммерческий флот», , Modern Commercial Fleet). Sovcomflot is Russia's largest shipping company, and one of the global leaders in the maritime ...

. Sovcomflot had chartered her to the

-based

, and Club Cruise continued this charter. During the same year Club Cruise were reported to be planning an ambitious new building programme of six ships. In early 2008 the company were reportedly negotiating with a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n shipyard about ordering three ships. In late 2007, Club Cruise purchased the cruiseferry GTS ''Finnjet'' from SeaContainers. She was renamed with plans to convert her to a cruise ship, but due to higher-than-anticipated costs of the conversion the plan was abandoned and the ship was sold for scrap in May 2008. Around the same time it was reported that Club Cruise were experiencing financial difficulties and as a result were looking to sell the ''Astoria''. This was realised in June 2008, when the ''Astoria'' was sold to

Saga Cruises Saga Shipping, also known as Saga Cruises, division of the Saga plc, is a cruise line headquartered in Folkestone, England. Saga Cruises exclusively markets to and operates for people aged 50 and over. History 1997–2005: Development In 1 ...

, with delivery in April 2009, following the end of her charter to Transocean Tours.

Van Gogh Cruises

Van Gogh Cruises was established in January 2008, following the collapse of

who had previously chartered from Club Cruise. Due to the popularity of the ship in the UK cruise market, Club Cruise decided to establish a new subsidiary to operate her, staffed mostly by ex-Travelscope employees. Van Gogh Cruises was planned to tale over most of the existing 2008 and 2009 itineraries Travelscope had planned for the ''Van Gogh''. Due to difficulties in acquiring membership of the Association of British Travel Agents, the company were unable to sell any cruises. Due to this the company have chartered the ''Van Gogh'' to the Russia-based Metropolis Tur for the 2008

summer season. Originally Van Gogh Cruises planned to restart operations in 2009 after ABTA membership had been acquired, but the company has ceased operations.

Fleet

Ships chartered out

* – under charter to

. * – under charter to Phoenix Reisen. * – under charter to

until April 2009. Following the end of the charter she will be sold to

. * – under charter to Metropolis Tur for the 2008

summer season.

Former ships

* (2007–2008) – Originally the cruiseferry ''Finnjet''. Purchased by Club Cruise to be rebuilt into a cruise ship, November 2007, but sold for scrap in May 2008.

References

{{reflist Defunct cruise lines