Phoenix Reisen is a Germany-based

travel agency A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

that also operates a fleet of

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 tours known as ...

s. The company first entered the cruise business in 1988 by chartering the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-owned cruise ship .

History

Phoenix Reisen first begun operating cruises under its own brand in 1988 when the company chartered the West German-built cruise ship from the

-based

Black Sea Shipping Company Black Sea Shipping Company (russian: Черноморское морское пароходство, uk, Чорноморське морське пароплавство) is a Ukrainian shipping company based in Kyiv. The company was established ...

on a 20-year charter agreement. In 1993 a second ship joined the Phoenix Reisen fleet, when was chartered from V-Ships. Unlike the ''Maxim Gorkiy'', which retained the colours of her owners in Phoenix service, the ''Albatros'' was painted in Phoenix Reisen's own colours with a turquoise funnel displaying the company logo. Due to numerous mechanical problems, Phoenix Reisen decided to prematurely terminate the charter of the ''Albatros'' in December 2003. As a replacement Phoenix quickly chartered MS ''Crown'' in January 2004, which was renamed . In 2005 the company fleet expanded to include three ships for the first time when was chartered from V-Ships. A fourth ship followed in 2006 with the charter of , a higher-class vessel compared with the rest of the Phoenix Reisen fleet. In 2008 the first ''Alexander von Humboldt'' was replaced by a larger vessel chartered from

Club Cruise Club Cruise was a Netherlands-based cruise ship company, that chartered vessels to other operators, including Transocean Tours and Phoenix Reisen. The company had also operated ships under its own brands, first in 1999 on short cruises from the Ne ...

, confusingly also named (before entering service the ship was marketed as ''Alexander von Humboldt II'', but she eventually received the same name as the ship she replaced). In late 2008 the charter of the ''Maxim Gorkiy'' ended, and due to high fuel prices combined with the high fuel consumption of the ship's steam turbines Phoenix Reisen decided not to renew the charter. In May 2009 Phoenix Reisen chartered from Nina SpA. In April 2011, the company took delivery of MV Artania, which formerly sailed as MV ''Artemis'' for

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the shipping company P&O and was founded in 1977. Along ...

. In July 2019 the fleet was increased with a former HAL ship.

Fleet

Current Fleet (Ocean)

Former Fleet

References

External links

{{commons category
Phoenix Reisen official website
Companies based in Bonn Cruise lines Shipping companies of Germany Travel and holiday companies of Germany