cruise line headquarters limassol cyprus area served eastern mediterranean services cruise ship operations and chartering parent louis group plc website http www.celestyalcruises.com celestyal cruises formerly louis cruises and louis cruise lines is a cyprus based cruise line that operates cruises from cyprus france italy india and greece the operations from greece were previously marketed under the name louis hellenic cruise lines but as of 2008 there is no mention of the brand on louis website . 2 the company also charters several ships to thomson cruises . although celestial started operating short cruises out of cyprus in the early 70s celestyal cruises was officially established in 1986 as louis cruises when mv princesa marissa its first owned cruise ship was purchased . celestyal cruises is a subsidiary of louis plc and member of louis group the leading tourism group in the eastern mediterranean founded in 1935 by the late louis loizou acknowledged as the father of cyprus tourism . louis plc is a public listed company whose shares are quoted in the cyprus stock exchange . the celestyal cruises fleet consist mainly of older second or third hand ships . one of its past vessels the emerald was the last ocean liner built in the us to be in service . she was laid up in 2012 due to not being compatible with solas 2010 . contents 1 company history 2 awards 3 fleet 3.1 current ships 3.2 chartered ships 3.3 former ships 4 references 5 external links company history edit mv aquamarine anchored off patmos greece in july 2008 . louis cruises is a subsidiary of the cyprus based travel and tourism group louis plc that was founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in cyprus . during the 1970s the company began chartering ferries for short cruises cyprus which eventually led to the purchase of the cruiseferry mv prinsessan from the finland based birka line for 4 million in 1987 . renamed mv princesa marissa the ship started making cruises from limassol to the greek isles egypt and israel under the then newly established louis cruise lines band . 3 4 by 1994 the company had acquired three more ships all of which were used in the short cruise market from cyprus . 3 in the mid 1990s louis cruise lines entered the business of chartering ships to other companies chartering mv princesa oceanica renamed sapphire to the uk based thomson cruises in 1996 . 3 5 the following year the newly acquired the emerald was also chartered to thomson . 6 in 1999 louis chartered the 1998 acquired ss ausonia to first choice holidays one of thomson s competitors in the uk market . 3 7 by this time the louis fleet consisted of a total of eight ships . in 1999 louis also acquired a stake in the greece based royal olympic cruises . royal olympic was already in difficulties by the time louis became involved with the company and the 11 september 2001 attacks dealt a further blow finally leading to the collapse of royal olympic in 2004 . 3 during the early 2000s louis further modernised their fleet by acquiring calypso in 2000 and chartering mv nieuw amsterdam from holland america line in 2003 immediately sub chartering her to thomson as mv thomson spirit . in 2004 louis acquired mv aquamarine from the fleet of the uk based sun cruises which had gone out of business . 3 another former sun cruises ship mv thomson destiny was chartered from a norway based investment company and sub chartered to thomson cruises . 8 the new acquisitions also made possible the sale of three of louis older vessels . also in 2004 following the collapse of royal olympic cruises louis cruise lines purchased two of their former ships at bargain prices and established their own louis hellenic cruises brand for the greek cruise market . 3 mv sea diamond was acquired in 2006 but sank off santorini in 2007 . further expansion came in 2006 with the purchase of mv orient queen and mv sea diamond another former baltic sea cruise ferry purchased from birka line while calypso was chartered to thomson and aquamarine renamed arielle to transocean tours . additionally louis entered a franchise agreement with easycruise to operate ships in the eastern mediterranean on behalf of easycruise in the future . disaster struck in april 2007 when the sea diamond sunk off santorini greece . all but two of the ship s passengers were safely evacuated but the sinking resulted in a flurry of negative publicity for louis . 3 mv oceanic ii and mv ruby were chartered as temporary replacements for the sea diamond until mv cristal former silja line cruise ship mv silja opera entered service in july 2007 . 3 9 in 2008 the arielle was returned from her charter to transocean tours reverted to her earlier name aquamarine and entered service under the louis hellenic cruises brand . 10 by early 2008 the louis hellenic cruises brand appeared to have been abandoned . 2 in april 2008 louis cruise lines agreed to purchase mv norwegian dream and mv norwegian majesty from star cruises . the agreement at the time was to charter the ships back to star cruises norwegian cruise line until november 2008 and december 2009 respectively . 11 however in september 2008 louis cancelled the purchase of the norwegian dream due to technical issues relating to the vessel . 12 in may 2008 louis cruise lines purchased thomson destiny and thomson spirit that had previously been operated under charter . at the same time princesa marissa and serenade were sold for scrap . 8 in 2009 the company changed its name to louis cruises . in 2010 louis cruises became a five ship fleet due to having laying up the ss emerald & ms sapphire due to the solas 2010 and the selling of the mv aquamarine in order to renew the fleet . in 2012 the company signed a new charter agreement with thomson cruises and the ms louis majesty will switch over and be on charter until 2017 . 13 in return the thomson destiny will return to the louis fleet and will be renamed louis olympia . 14 she will then be deployed on 3 4 day sailings out of piraeus and kusadasi to the greek islands and turkey . 15 the ms sapphire was sold for scrap in may 2012 and the ss emerald was sold for scrap in august 2012 along with the calypso late 2012 all three ships were laid up for two years due to solas 2010 . the coral was scrapped in late 2013 and the louis cristal was charted to cuba cruises but still operating under the louis brand . in early 2014 louis cruises announced a new livery . all louis ships will receive a louis cruises logo on their white hall along with a red and blue stripe next to it . the louis olympia was the first ship to receive the new livery in early february 2014 . in september 2014 louis cruises rebranded itself as celestyal cruises . 16 awards edit in december 2010 lloyds list named louis cruises the greek passenger line of the year at their annual greek shipping awards ceremony . 17 fleet edit current ships edit ship built builder entered service with celestyal cruises gross tonnage flag notes image celestyal crystal 1980 w rtsil turku new shipyard 2007 present 25 611 tons malta operates cruises to greece turkey cyprus and the caribbean . celestyal olympia 1982 w rtsil hietalahti shipyard 2005 2012 present 37 584 tons malta currently operating on 3 4 day cruises from greece . celestyal nefeli 1992 union navale de levante 2016 present 19 093 tons malta currently operating on 3 4 day cruises from greece . chartered ships edit ship built builder in service with celestyal cruises gross tonnage flag notes image thomson spirit 1983 chantiers de l atlantique 2002 2003 33 930 tons malta under charter to thomson cruises until 2017 ; 18 19 previously patriot spirit and nieuw amsterdam . thomson majesty 1992 kvaerner masa yards 2009 2012 40 876 tons malta under charter to thomson cruises until 2017 ; 19 previously louis majesty . louis aura 1968 a.g. weser werk seebeck 2006 2015 15 781 tons malta under charter to rivages du monde ; 20 21 former ships edit ship in service with celestyal cruises notes image mv princesa amorosa 1994 2000 scrapped . mv princesa victoria 1994 2004 scrapped . mv princesa cypria 1988 2005 scrapped . ss ivory 1998 2005 sold to golden star cruises then scrapped at alang india march 2010 10 ms sea diamond 2006 2007 sunk near santorini greece 6 april 2007 . mv oceanic ii 2007 since 2010 ms veronica as an accommodation ship . mv ruby 2007 became mv ocean countess for cruise & maritime voyages before catching fire while laid up ; scrapped in 2013 . 10 mv princesa marissa 1986 2008 sold for scrap 2008 . 8 mv serenade 2000 2008 sold for scrap 2008 . 8 mv aegean pearl 2004 2010 sold to israel in 2010 ; she was also known as perla 22 and lastly known as venus before being scrapped in 2013 . mv aquamarine 2005 2011 sold to corporacion de cruceros nacionales as the mv ocean star pacific scrapped at alang india . ms sapphire 1996 2012 sold for scrap ss emerald 1995 2012 sold for scrap ms the calypso 2007 2012 sold for scrap ; previously regent jewel . mv coral 2004 2013 sold for scrap ; previously triton . mv celestyal odyssey 2014 2015 references edit about louis cruise lines . louis cruise lines . retrieved 22 march 2008 . a b cruises from greece . louis cruise lines . archived from the original on 14 december 2007 . retrieved 22 march 2008 . a b c d e f g h i douglas newman 7 october 2007 . cruise ship reviews louis cruise lines . cruise critic . retrieved 28 january 2008 . micke asklander . m s finnhansa 1966 . fakta om fartyg in swedish . archived from the original on 31 jul 2012 . retrieved 28 january 2008 . micke asklander . m s italia 1967 . fakta om fartyg in swedish . archived from the original on 29 jul 2012 . retrieved 28 january 2008 . micke asklander . s s santa rosa 1958 . fakta om fartyg in swedish . archived from the original on 31 jul 2012 . retrieved 28 january 2008 . micke asklander . s s ausonia 1957 . fakta om fartyg in swedish . archived from the original on 1 aug 2012 . retrieved 28 january 2008 . a b c d newman doug 7 may 2008 . louis sells princesa marissa and serenade ; buys thomson destiny and thomson spirit . at sea with doug newman . retrieved 8 may 2008 . micke asklander . m s sally albatross 1992 . fakta om fartyg in swedish . archived from the original on 7 sep 2012 . retrieved 28 january 2008 . a b c cruise ship news aegean shuffle . maritime matters . 25 january 2008 . archived from the original on 25 december 2007 . retrieved 26 january 2008 . louis acquires norwegian dream and majesty . cruise business review . cruise media oy ltd. 23 april 2008 . retrieved 23 april 2008 . no dream for louis cruises . cruise business review . cruise media oy ltd. 30 september 2008 . retrieved 30 september 2008 . dead link majesty to replace destiny in thomson cruises fleet . 2012 03 06 . archived from the original on 2012 04 16 . http maritimematters.com 2012 03 louis and thomson swap majesty for destiny http cruisebusiness.com index.php option com content & view article & id 2404 louis cruises to rename thomson destiny as louis olympia & catid 43 latest