PHOTO: The MV Explorer will be renamed Celestyal Odyssey when it joins the new cruise brand in June. (Courtesy of Celestyal Cruises)
Louis Cruises is adding a third ship to its new Celestyal Cruises brand, which is designed to offer an authentic Greek experience through local cuisine and entertainment.
The new ship, to be named Celestyal Odyssey, will join the fleet in June and operate three- and four-day cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean from Athens, Greece, and Kusadasi, Turkey.
The 24,318-ton, 836-passenger ship was originally built in 2002 as the Olympia Explorer for now-defunct Royal Olympia Cruises. It currently operates as the MV Explorer for the Semester at Sea program overseen by the Institute for Shipboard Education at the University of Virginia.
Louis is chartering the ship for three years from V.Ships, which operates and manages the vessel.
"The addition of a third vessel to our fleet is the result of continuous increased demand that is attributed to the repositioning and the redesign of our product," Louis Cruises CEO Kyriakos Anastassiadis said. "We remain focused on establishing Celestyal Cruises as the foremost ambassador of a real Greek experience that is an excellent value for the money."
Celestyal promotes real Greek hospitality through themed events that bring to life Greek culture and history as well as cuisine. The itineraries feature small, lesser-known ports of call in addition to marquee destinations. "These new destinations were launched this past season and were enthusiastically embraced by the market," Anastassiadis said.
The new ship will fit in very well. Purpose-built for the Aegean Sea, it has a Greek ambience with Hellenic poems and names gracing its decks and other areas.
The company also operates the 25,000-ton, 1,200-passenger Celestyal Crystal, built in 1980 and formerly known as Louis Cristal and Leeward. Also in the fleet is the 37,500-ton, 1,664-guest Celestyal Olympia, built in 1982 as Song of America and most recently known as Louis Olympia.
The name Celestyal was chosen to honor ancient Greeks who were among the first to use celestial navigation.
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