Rendering courtesy of TUI Cruises
TUI Cruises, the German brand operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and TUI Group, has ordered two more cruise ships from the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland.
The newbuilds, scheduled for delivery in 2018 and 2019, will replace Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2, which will move to Thomson Cruises, a British company also part of the TUI Group. The first two ships were built as the Celebrity Cruises' Galaxy and Mercury.
"The evolution of TUI Cruises has been extraordinary," said Richard D. Fain, RCCL chairman and CEO. "The addition of two newbuilds reinforces TUI's leadership position in the premium cruise market and further solidifies the successful partnership of our two companies."
The size and capacity were not revealed in a press release, but Mein Schiff 5 and Mein Schiff 6, due to enter service in 2016 and 2017, will be about 99,000 gross registered tons in size. Mein Schiff 4, which just entered service in early June, is of similar size and accommodates 2,506 passengers, double occupancy.
"We regard the cruise market as a growth market for our group," said Sebastian Ebel, who is responsible for cruise activities on the board of TUI Group. "By expanding our activities in this segment we want to drive the planned revenue and earnings increases for the TUI Group and at the same time develop into one of Europe's leading cruise providers."
TUI Cruises CEO Wybcke Meier said the company has "firmly established itself in the German-speaking market, with occupancy of our fleet totaling more than 100 percent last year."
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