Celestyal Cruises

Celestyal Cruises (formed in 2014) is a succession to Louis Cruises and Louis Cruise Lines. The Cruise line was a subsidiary of Louis plc (founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in Cyprus) until November 2021 when Searchlight Capital Partners took a majority share within the Cruise Line.

Celestyal Cruises has two cruise ships: the MS Celestyal Discovery and the MS Celestyal Journey. The cruise line operates out of Athens, Greece offering itineraries on a 3,4- and 7-night basis around the Greek islands, Turkey, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is reported that it carried 115,000 guests in 2019. Celestyal Cruises operated for six years in Cuba until 2018 and historically chartered ships to Marella Cruises, previously Thomson Cruises.

History

Louis Cruises

Celestyal Cruises is a subsidiary of the Cyprus-based travel and tourism group Louis plc, that was founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in Cyprus. During the 1970s the company began chartering ferries for short cruises Cyprus, which eventually led to the purchase of the cruiseferry MV ''Prinsessan'' from the Finland-based Birka Line for $4 million in 1987. Renamed , the ship started making cruises from Limassol to the Greek Isles, Egypt and Israel under the then newly established Louis Cruise Lines band. By 1994 the company had acquired three more ships, all of which were used in the short cruise market from Cyprus.

In the mid-1990s Louis Cruise Lines entered the business of chartering ships to other companies, chartering (renamed ''Sapphire'') to the UK-based Thomson Cruises in 1996. The following year the newly acquired ''The Emerald'' was also chartered to Thomson. In 1999 Louis chartered the 1998-acquired SS ''Ausonia'' to First Choice Holidays, one of Thomson's competitors in the UK market. By this time the Louis fleet consisted of a total of eight ships. Also in 1999, Louis acquired a stake in the Greece-based Royal Olympic Cruises. Royal Olympic was already in difficulties by the time Louis became involved with the company, and the 11 September 2001 attacks dealt a further blow, finally leading to the collapse of Royal Olympic in 2004.

During the early 2000s Louis further modernised their fleet by acquiring ''Calypso'' in 2000, and chartering MV ''Nieuw Amsterdam'' from Holland America Line in 2003, immediately sub-chartering her to Thomson as . In 2004 Louis acquired from the fleet of the UK-based Sun Cruises (which had gone out of business). Another former Sun Cruises ship, , was chartered from a Norway-based investment company and sub-chartered to Thomson Cruises. The new acquisitions also made possible the sale of three of Louis' older vessels. Also in 2004, following the collapse of Royal Olympic Cruises, Louis Cruise Lines purchased two of their former ships at bargain prices and established their own Louis Hellenic Cruises brand for the Greek cruise market.

Further expansion came in 2006 with the purchase of MV Orient Queen and , another former Baltic Sea cruise ferry purchased from Birka Line, while ''Calypso'' was chartered to Thomson and ''Aquamarine'' (renamed ''Arielle'') to Transocean Tours. Additionally Louis entered a franchise agreement with easyCruise to operate ships in the Eastern Mediterranean on behalf of easyCruise in the future. Disaster struck in April 2007 when the ''Sea Diamond'' sunk off Santorini, Greece. All but two of the ship's passengers were safely evacuated, but the sinking resulted in a flurry of negative publicity for Louis. MV ''Oceanic II'' and were chartered as temporary replacements for the ''Sea Diamond'', until – former Silja Line cruise ship MV ''Silja Opera'' – entered service in July 2007. In 2008 the ''Arielle'' was returned from her charter to Transocean Tours, reverted to her earlier name ''Aquamarine'' and entered service under the Louis Hellenic Cruises brand. By early 2008 the Louis Hellenic Cruises brand appeared to have been abandoned.

In April 2008 Louis Cruise Lines agreed to purchase MV ''Norwegian Dream'' and MV ''Norwegian Majesty'' from Star Cruises. The agreement at the time was to charter the ships back to Star Cruises/Norwegian Cruise Line until November 2008 and December 2009, respectively. However, in September 2008 Louis cancelled the purchase of the ''Norwegian Dream'' due to "technical issues relating to the vessel". In May 2008 Louis Cruise Lines purchased ''Thomson Destiny'' and ''Thomson Spirit'' that had previously been operated under charter. At the same time ''Princesa Marissa'' and ''Serenade'' were sold for scrap.

In 2009 the company changed its name to Louis Cruises. In 2010 Louis Cruises became a five ship fleet due to having laying up the SS ''The Emerald'' & due to the SOLAS 2010 and the selling of the in order to renew the fleet.

In 2012 the company signed a new charter agreement with Thomson Cruises and the MS Louis Majesty will switch over and be on charter until 2017. By 1994 the company had acquired three more ships, all of which were used in the short cruise market from Cyprus. In return, the Thomson Destiny will return to the Louis fleet and will be renamed ''Louis Olympia''. She will then be deployed on 3/4-day sailings out of Piraeus and Kusadasi to the Greek Islands and Turkey.

The was sold for scrap in May 2012, and the SS ''The Emerald'' was sold for scrap in August 2012, along with ''The Calypso'' late 2012, all three ships were laid up for two years due to SOLAS 2010.

The ''Coral'' was scrapped in late 2013, and the''Louis Crista'' was charted to Cuba Cruises, but still operating under the Louis brand. In early 2014, Louis Cruises announced a new livery. All Louis ships will receive a Louis Cruises logo on their white hall, along with a red and blue stripe next to it. The "Louis Olympia" was the first ship to receive the new livery in early February 2014.

2015

Celestyal renovated some of its fleet in 2015. 43 new balconies were added to ''Celestyal Crystal'', and 227 outside cabins, 21 junior suites, and nine suites were refurbished on ''Celestyal Olympia''. The former is used for cruises in Cuba and Greece, and the latter travels in Greece.

2016

In July Celestyal imposed a short-term pause in calls at Turkish ports in the wake of the failed coup there.

In October, it was announced that Celestyal Cruises CEO, Kyriakos Anastassiadis, would become Chairman of Cruise Lines International Association Europe with effect from January 2017.

2017

In May, Celestyal launched its redesigned website which was designed to include cruise information as well as company news and details for its value program, Celestyal Inclusive Experience.

Celestyal began a partnership with Hays Travel in September to expand its customer base across the UK, making its cruises available through Hays Tour Operating Limited. Celestyal has also partnered with Air Canada Vacations, Transat, Hola Sun Holidays, Apple Vacations, Iglu and Planet Cruise.

In late 2017, Celestyal announced that it would be extending its cruise season in Greece to 10 months, including seven-night Aegean cruises with overnight destinations in Mykonos and Santorini, and that its 2019 Greek islands itineraries leaving from Piraeus, would have longer stays with more destinations, included Mykonos, Samos or Kusadasi, Patmos, Heraklion (Crete), Rhodes and Santorini. Louis Cruises would add their ''Majesty'' to the Celestyal fleet in Greece for Aegean cruises in 2018, when its charter to Marella Cruises, previously Thomson Cruises, had ended though in July 2018, the ship was sold to the Israeli company Mano Maritime.

2018

In January, Celestyal decided to pull out of Cuba after five seasons, citing the company's need to focus on the growing demand coming from its Greek operation.

In June, Chris Theophilides succeeded Kyriakos Anastasiadis as the Celestyal's CEO, and in August Capt. George Koumpenas was promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Leslie Peden to Chief Commercial Officer. The company announced in December 2018 that it was targeting a 21 percent growth in guest numbers from 108,000 in 2018 to a targeted number of 130,000 guests in 2019.

2019

In April Celestyal announced that it would be extending its 2020 season with a new winter itinerary for ''Celestyal Olympia'', with a six-week season in the Adriatic homeporting at Venice from December 2020.

2020

In January 2020, Celestyal Cruises president Kostakis Loizou was honoured for his significant contribution to the Greek cruise industry during the annual general assembly of the Association of Cruise Ship Owners and Maritime Agencies (EEKFN). In February Theophilides revealed that the cruise line's estimated contribution to the Greek economy for 2014-2018 had reached €102.5 million annually. He noted that €28m was in direct operating expenditure and €4.1m to Greek food and beverage suppliers.

In November, Celestyal Cruises announced it had completed a brand refresh with a new logo and strapline - Experience Life, Experience the Journey. The new look brand would debut on its new flagship ''Celestyal Experience''. Peter Economides, owner and founder of brand creator Felix BNI said, "We wanted to capture the Greek DNA through the Greek love of life and to express it in a modernized interpretation of the brand design."

The cruise programme was severely disrupted in 2020 and 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

In January 2021 Celestyal Cruises entered a new partnership with Versonix Corporation to provide its Seaware booking platform to the cruise line. It was said that Versonix was chosen due to Seaware's enhanced revenue management and customer relationship management capabilities.

Celestyal announced in October that it would return to cruising on March 14, 2022 with its offering of 3 and 4-night cruises followed by 7-night cruises on April 30, and the following month said that Thessaloniki would be added as a homeport for its Idyllic Aegean itinerary.

In November, Searchlight Capital Partners bought a majority stake in Celestyal Cruises. Louis plc, Celestyal's Cypriot parent, said that Searchlight, which had an asset portfolio valued at $6bn, would immediately provide an initial tranche of €30m ($33.8) in senior debt financing to the Piraeus-based cruise company, together with a €10m revolving credit facility. The agreement also provided for additional funding of up to €30m to support development plans. Louis would spin off Celestyal into a separate limited partnership company, Celestyal Holdings, in which Searchlight will hold a 60% stake.

COVID-19 Pandemic

As a consequence of the pandemic, Celestyal Cruises suspended all cruises from 13 March 2020, and it was later decided to extend the suspension until 6 March 2021, due to the ongoing uncertainty about travelling to Europe that summer.

Celestyal resumed cruises in June 2021 with its Idyllic Aegean itinerary. Celestyal Cruises put ''Celestyal Olympia'' into operation as a second ship in June 2021 with a new itinerary - Legendary Archipelago, visiting Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Agios Nikolaos and Rhodes as well as Limassol in Cyprus. In August Celestyal announced that it would stop cruises at the end of August 2021 and suspend its autumn and winter seasons due to the increasing number of travel restrictions.

In October 2021, Celestyal Cruises announced that it would restart cruiss on March 14 of 2022 with their offering of 3 and 4-night cruises followed by 7-night cruises on April 30, 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Celestyal Cruises acquired the former ''Costa neoRomantica'' from Costa Cruises, and the vessel was renamed ''Celestyal Experience'' in August of that year. A year later, the company said, "due to the prolonged effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided not to increase the size of Celestyal Cruises’ fleet at this time and will instead continue to operate the cruise ships ''Celestyal Olympia'' and ''Celestyal Crystal'' which served the company's needs well prior to the pandemic. In addition, the sale f ''Celestyal Experience''is expected to further support the liquidity of Celestyal Cruises." The ship was renamed ''Antares Experience'' by new owners, but sent for scrapping in November 2021.

Awards

At the 2015 Greek Tourism Awards, Celestyal received four awards, one of which was the Gold Award for Themed Events. It also received two Silver Awards and one Bronze Award. The following year, it won the Cruise Line Revelation Award at the Excellence Awards in Cartagena, Spain. Celestyal received the Best Value Cruise Line of 2016 at ''Cruise Critic'' UK Editors' Picks Awards, as well as four Greek Tourism Awards in 2016.

Also in 2017, Celestyal received five top Critic Cruiser's Choice Awards, as well as five awards at the Greek Tourism Awards.

Cruise Critic Awards

In December 2017, Cruise Critic UK Editors' Picks Awards recognized Celestyal with Best for Service. ''Marella Spirit'' also received three Cruise Critic UK Editors' Picks Awards.

Cruise Critic UK Editors’ Picks Award in December 2018 awarded Celestyal Cruises for Best for Service and received four Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Awards: two first-place awards (for Shore Excursions and Value) and two second-place awards (for Service and Entertainment).

In December 2019 Cruise Critic's 11th UK Editors’ Picks Awarded Celestyal Cruises Best for Service 2019.

MedCruise Awards

In August 2020, Celestyal Cruises was awarded first prize at the MedCruise Awards 2020 for its solidarity initiatives amid the pandemic and its commitment to develop the cruise sector in the Eastern Mediterranean.

TV Coverage

Cruising with Jane McDonald

Celestyal was featured in the final episode of the second season of Jane McDonald's Channel 5 show, ''Cruising with Jane McDonald'' in 2017. McDonald went on a Cuban cruise that stopped in Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba and Montego Bay, Jamaica with an overnight in Havana.

In January 2019 it was announced that Cruising with Jane new series would feature Celestyal's Idyllic Aegean Cruise featuring the Greek Islands.

Music Videos

In June 2017, Greek urban pop band "REC" were onboard ''Celestyal Olympia''to shoot the summer scenes of its new video clip entitled "A heart on the sand".

Fleet

Current Ships

Former Fleet

References

External links

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* {{official website, https://celestyal.com

Transport companies established in 1986
1986 establishments in Cyprus
Cruise lines