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 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 know ...

company, that chartered vessels to other operators, including Transocean Tours 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 European mainland, 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 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 Pa ...

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 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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

-based

Nouvelles Frontieres Nouvelles ( wa, Novele) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It was a municipality until the fusion of the Belgian municipalities The fusion of the Belgian municipalitie ...

. In 2002 the ship was chartered to the

-based

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

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

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

-based company and continued under charter to her previous operator, the

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

-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 SeaC ...

. 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") , ...

-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 (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 Transocean Tours, 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 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, 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 ...

, 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 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 center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

for the 2008 northern hemisphere 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 Transocean Tours until April 2009. Following the end of the charter she will be sold to

. * – under charter to

for the 2008 northern hemisphere 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.

References

{{reflist Defunct cruise lines