TUI Cruises is 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 ...

based in

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 ...

. It was formed in 2007 as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between the German tourism company

TUI AG TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

and the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

operator

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 ...

, both of whom hold a 50% stake in the company. The company started operations in 2009 and competes with

AIDA Cruises AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2003. Based in Rostock, Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primarily to the German-speaking market; as seago ...

for the German market. It targets German-speaking customers who opt for a premium cruise experience. The onboard product, including food, entertainment and amenities, is custom-tailored for German tastes and German is the main language used onboard its ships. In February 2020 TUI announced the purchase of Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten. The take over was completed in July 2020.

Fleet

Current fleet

Due to lack of new-building capacity, TUI Cruises started by acquiring the cruise ship ''Celebrity Galaxy'', which was built by

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...

and was owned by another RCCL subsidiary,

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

. She left the Celebrity fleet on 16 March 2009. After acquiring ''Celebrity Galaxy'', the ship headed to

Lloyd Werft Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven. It was founded in 1863 by the shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd, first mainly used as a repair workshop for the company’s own merchant fleet. This new yard was established in ...

shipyards in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

. She arrived on 27 March 2009, and received a €50 million, 38-day conversion to upgrade her facilities to suit a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-speaking market. After the conversion, she was re-christened on 15 May 2009 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

bearing her new name, ''Mein Schiff'' (''My Ship''). TUI planned to build two 2,500-passenger, 100,000-GT cruise ships in 2011 and 2012. On May 27, 2010, it was announced that another ''Century''-class ship, ''

Celebrity Mercury ''Mein Schiff Herz'' (formerly MV ''Mercury'', ''Celebrity Mercury'' and ''Mein Schiff 2'') is the second of two s operated by TUI Cruises. Built for Celebrity Cruises at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, she was ship naming and la ...

'', would become the latest addition to TUI's fleet, renamed ''Mein Schiff 2''. Due to this ''Mein Schiff'' was immediately renamed ''Mein Schiff 1''. ''Mein Schiff 2'' entered service with TUI in February 2011 after its extensive refurbishment, with the addition of more verandas, an expanded fitness area and design elements which are also found on ''Mein Schiff 1''.Celebrity Mercury to become second ship in TUI Cruises fleet
''Cruise Industry News''. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010 TUI and

STX Finland STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three shipyards in Finland, in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of STX Europe, a group of international shipbuilding compan ...

announced a contract on 27 September 2011 to build a 97,000-GT vessel named ''Mein Schiff 3'', which was delivered in 2014. The vessel is approximately long and approximately wide. The ship has 1,250 staterooms, most of which have balconies, with a capacity of 2,500 passengers and a crew of 1,000. The ship includes several restaurants, a theatre, spa and nightclub. The contract included an option to build a second ship, dependent on the approval of TUI Cruises shareholders. It was announced on November 5, 2012 that TUI had taken up the second option for the sister ship to the ''Mein Schiff 3'', to be named ''Mein Schiff 4''. On April 22, 2014, ''Mein Schiff 3'' entered service. In March 2015,

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flori ...

announced that they had agreed to sell to TUI Cruises in the second quarter of 2016, and that TUI would lease the ship to

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 ...

to replace the ''Island Escape''. In May 2015,

TUI Group TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

announced that as part of their modernization strategy, and would be transferred to

over the next few years, as a result, 2 replacement ships ''neue Mein Schiff 1'' and ''neue Mein Schiff 2'' were ordered. On January 15, ''Mein Schiff 5'' was launched. On April 28, ''Mein Schiff 6's '' was laid down.

Future fleet

Former ships

References

External links

TUI Cruises official site
{{TUI Cruise lines Royal Caribbean Group TUI Group 2007 establishments in Germany Companies based in Hamburg