Island Cruises was a

cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...

that was founded as a joint venture between

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a global cruise holding company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival C ...

and First Choice Travel PLC, each of whom owned 50% of the company. The company operated in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, aiming its products primarily at markets 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 ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

.Ward, Douglas: ''Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships 2006'', pages 358–359, 363. Berlitz Publishing 2006. First Choice was later acquired by

TUI Travel Tui or TUI may refer to: Places * Tui, Pontevedra, Spain * Tui, Iran, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Tui, North Khorasan, North Khorasan Province, Iran * Tui Province, Burkina Faso * Tuis District, Costa Rica * Tui railway station, New Zea ...

. In 2008, Royal Caribbean sold its stake in the company to TUI, and the cruise line's only fully owned ship, the ''Island Escape'', was transferred to TUI's

Thomson Cruises Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. History The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fue ...

. Island Cruises was discontinued in 2015.

History

Island Cruises was founded in 2001 by Royal Caribbean and First Choice Holidays PLC, and began operations in 2002 with one ship, the '' Island Escape''. Initially, Island Cruises had planned to operate in Europe during the summer season (

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 ...

), and out of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

during the winter. Before the first winter season began however, the decision was made to change the winter schedule to 3- and 4-night cruises out of Brazil. During 2002, the Island Escape was featured in the reality television series Cruise Ship, commissioned by

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. Island Cruises targeted the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

family market, offering casual "totally relaxed" cruising. In South America, the company targeted a younger audience. In 2005 a second ship joined the Island fleet, when the was chartered from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. On 6 October 2008 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. sold their share in Island Cruises to TUI Travel PLC, who had acquired First Choice Holidays PLC. At the same time the Royal Caribbean announced they would be ending the charter of ''Island Star'' to Island Cruises in April 2009. Sailings on the ''Island Star'' after April 2009 have been cancelled, and the ship will be re-deployed to

Pullmantur Cruises Pullmantur Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U.S ...

, another subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd as the

MV Pacific Dream ''Horizon'' was a cruise ship that sailed from 1990-2020, and was the first new build for Celebrity Cruises. She was sent for scrapping in Aliaga in 2022. Service history The vessel was ordered on April 28, 1988 at Meyer Werft by Chandris Cruis ...

. Sailings on the ''Island Escape'' are unaffected, but are now being sold under TUI's existing

brand. The brand is still used today, in which Thomson markets the ''Island Escape'' as a part of Thomson Cruises's all-inclusive cruises under the Island Cruises name. In October 2015, the Island Cruise brand was discontinued after the sole ship Island Escape completed her last scheduled cruise with ''Thomson Cruises''.

Former Ships

References

External links

Island Cruises international website

Island Cruises Brazilian website
{{TUI Royal Caribbean Group Defunct cruise lines Transport companies established in 2001 Transport companies disestablished in 2015