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 destina ...

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 Tourism, tours k ...

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

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-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 (; ) is a Ukrainian shipping company based in Kyiv. The company was established during the Imperial Russian rule in 1833. Following the World War I and reorganization of the former empire as a Soviet state, company w ...

on a 20-year charter agreement. In 1993 a second ship joined the Phoenix Reisen fleet, when was chartered from

V-Ships V.Ships is a ship management company, part of V.Group Holdings Limited which is registered in Monaco but headquartered in London, England; and has over 60 offices in 30 different countries. Its 51% majority shares are owned by the American equ ...

. 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 Net ...

, 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 turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s 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 MV ''Artania'' (previously ''Royal Princess'' and ''Artemis'') is a cruise ship chartered since 2011 by Phoenix Reisen, a German-based travel agency and cruise ship operator. She was built for Princess Cruises by Wärtsilä at the Hietalahti sh ...

, 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 Corporation & plc#Carnival UK, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the freight transp ...

. 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

(in German) Companies based in Bonn Cruise lines Shipping companies of Germany Travel and holiday companies of Germany