Royal Caribbean Cruises has reached an agreement with TUI Group for the sale of its cruise ship 'Splendour of the Seas', which the tourism group will acquire through its subsidiary TUI Cruises, a joint venture between the tour operator and the North American cruise line. The ship will be leased to the British cruise line Thomson Cruises, a subsidiary of the tourism group, to operate in the British market starting in the summer of 2016.
With this acquisition, TUI Group takes another step in its plan to modernize its cruise operations in the UK in the coming years, as already announced during its last shareholders' meeting.
Royal Caribbean President and CEO Richard D. Fain emphasized that the sale of this ship is in line with the company's goal of divesting itself of older ships.
The president of the giant Royal Caribbean confirmed that the crew of the sold ship will remain with the company and will be transferred to other ships of the American shipping company.
Specifically, the ship will replace the 'Island Escape', operated by the subsidiary Thomson Cruises Island Cruises. This will keep TUI Cruises' total fleet in the UK at five ships.
The 'Splendour of the Seas' has a capacity of 1,830 passengers and 760 crew members and offers more than 900 cabins, almost 40% of which have balconies. It joined the Royal Caribbean fleet in 1996 and was built by Chantier de l'Atlantique, now STX France, in Saint-Nazaire, France.
The ship, in service since 1996 and refurbished a few years ago, will be the largest vessel in the Thomson Cruises fleet. Following its integration into the TUI Cruises fleet, the ship will be given a new name.
The TUI Group currently operates a fleet of cruise ships through its 12 subsidiaries: TUI Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten, and Thomson Cruises. The group's cruise division, TUI Cruises, will begin sailing with the 'Mein Schiff 4' this summer, while the 'Mein Schiff 5' and 'Mein Schiff 6' will be delivered in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
