Club Cruise was a

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

-based

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

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 United Kingdom, British markets and river cruise, river cruise ships in Germany. The company was formed in 1954 and first began operating cruises i ...

and Phoenix Reisen. 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

History

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

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

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 by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

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

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

-based Travelscope. Two additional ships were acquired in 2006. was purchased from a

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

-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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

-based Phoenix Reisen. MS ''Walrus'' was purchased from SeaContainers. She was renamed and chartered to the

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

-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 und ...

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

Sovcomflot Sovcomflot () is Russia's largest shipping company, and one of the global leaders in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons, as well as the servicing and support of offshore exploration and oil and gas production. History In 1973, the Gover ...

. 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. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n shipyard about ordering three ships. In late 2007, Club Cruise purchased the

cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...

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, a 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 19 ...

, 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 Travelscope 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 Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

, the company were unable to sell any cruises. Due to this the company have chartered the ''Van Gogh'' to the Russia-based

Metropolis Tur A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

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

* * 2006 - 2008 * under charter to Phoenix Reisen. * * 2008 * under charter to Phoenix Reisen. * MS Astoria * 2007 - 2009 * under charter to

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

. * MS Club 1 / Van Gogh * 1999 - 2008 * under charter to

for the 2008

summer season.

Former ships

* (2007–2008) – Originally the

''Finnjet''. Purchased by Club Cruise to be rebuilt into a cruise ship, November 2007, but sold for scrap in May 2008. Finnjet

References

{{reflist Defunct cruise lines