Thomson Cruises Considering Rebrand

[Sailaway487]

Royal caribbean who have a 50% stake in the Mein Schiffs own Celebrity cruises so Celebrity Century launched in 1995 and 71,000 tons matches the Mein Schiffs!

 

If Thomson got Celebrity Century and refurbished it, then they could later down the line go for Mein Schiff from TUI Cruises when they decided to get rid of them, thus having sister ships.

 

It seems like TUI Cruises don't want Celebrity Century now from its recent orders, so it going to Thomson would make some sense.

[Grez]

Been looking at various forums on here over the past couple of days, and it seems that quite a few have rumours regarding ship changes.

 

Those ships that seem to be leaving their fleets are:

 

Celebrity Century

 

Holland America Lines Statendam Class:

MS Statendam

MS Maasdam

MS Ryndam

MS Veendam

 

Mein Schiff

 

With a Platinum style refurbishment, any of these ships would be good for Thomson. I still think that a new build might only be a 'hope' at the moment, and a more realistic step for Thomson would be to get a newer ship and refurb it.

 

Wouldn't be interested in the HAL ships, but would love to have Century and Mein Schiff.

[davecttr]

I wonder just how much freedom TUI have with the use of their Mein Schiffs. With a 50% share in the venture and ownership of the ships I would have though that Celebrity/RCI will have to be consulted and agree. The Mein Schiffs are specifically targeted at the german market and fit in with other RCI national brands such as Pullmantur and CDI.

 

Surely moving a ship to the british market would just mean competition for the Celebrity brand? I suspect a lot of USA corporate types just think the UK is another state as far as marketing goes, after all we speak a cute form of english:rolleyes:

 

On the Celebrity forums the guess is the Century will go to France?

 

This leaves HAL but I see no evidence of the ships mentioned leaving the fleet. They are suitable middle aged vessels of about 50,000 tons and about 1,500 passengers so would suit Thomson style.

[skioncruises]

Wouldn't be interested in the HAL ships, but would love to have Century and Mein Schiff.

 

Celebration and Spirit were both built and are still owned by HAL. Dream was operated by HAL two years after being built.:)

[Grez]

Celebration and Spirit were both built and are still owned by HAL. Dream was operated by HAL two years after being built.:)

 

Fair point, but i just don't like the looks of the Statendam class of ships. I wonder if that's because of the way that HAL paint their ships? Thinking back, I've never liked the way Dream looked in HAL livery.

[stevedeccaman]

Everyone in on this thread ,4099 views and counting :eek:

 

staying at backstage me at moment waiting for Jim an Kalos input ;)

 

Stevie :)

[Sailaway487]

The HAL ships would make sense as they have a similar sort of layout to the rest of the fleet, and it would be the logical step up to another ex-HAL ship. Similar size to Thomson Dream, but more balcony cabins, two-storey restaurant and a proper atrium area.

 

Wouldn't mind Thomson sailing Celebrity Century though as, even though it is quite large, it would perhaps give me hope that perhaps Mein Schiff could be transferred to Thomson at some point.

[stevedeccaman]

he is watching :cool:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_9000

 

Stevie ;)

[happy v]

ur right happy. I went on that cruise in 2002 and it was great i did it on a small ship called the sea wing and it was one of the best holidays ive ever had. :)

 

Thanks Newplaces, there's always someone on here who knows what you're talking about.

Hopefully we can have that experience sometime soon.

[Sailaway487]

Thanks Newplaces, there's always someone on here who knows what you're talking about.

Hopefully we can have that experience sometime soon.

 

Been doing a bit of research on other cruise lines around the area. It seems Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong are very popular stops. Sounds wonderful! Tried to look at some cruise schedules to see if Thomson had anything docked, but no luck. :(

[happy v]

Been doing a bit of research on other cruise lines around the area. It seems Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong are very popular stops. Sounds wonderful! Tried to look at some cruise schedules to see if Thomson had anything docked, but no luck. :(

 

I was wondering when you'd get around to that ;):D:D

[Sailaway487]

Just thought I'd bump this one up as I noticed it was the second Cruise Show this weekend, this time in Birmingham. Was wondering if there was anyone who went who managed to get any more information out of any of the staff there about possible changes?

 

Also, I thought this might be a good thread to go through to see if there was anything to add to the Q&A. :)