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TUI Welcomes Mein Schiff 4’s New Captain Adam Swietlik

TUI Cruises promoted Captain Adam Swietlik as the Captain of the Mein Schiff 4.

In a LinkedIn post, the company said: “Swietlik has been part of the TUI Cruises family since 2014 and has taken on various responsible positions within our fleet during this time, most recently as Staff Captain for several years.”

The company said that Swietlik succeeds Captain Panos Varotsos, and that with more than 20 years of experience at sea and his team-oriented leadership style, he brings the best prerequisites for his new role.

“We wish Swietlik and his crew onboard Mein Schiff 4 all the best, much success and always a hand’s breadth of water under the keel,” TUI Cruises stated.

According to Schiffe Und Kreuzfahrten, Swietlik joined Celebrity Cruises in spring 2010 and, in 2014, moved to TUI Cruises. He worked at the company for five years and was then promoted to Staff Captain in 2019. Świetlik officially assumed command of the vessel on July 19, 2026.

According to the article, Swietlik will first sail the Mein Schiff 4 in the Adriatic Sea.

The ship is currently operating seven-night roundtrip cruises from Trieste, Italy, with visits to ports across Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, and Slovenia. The seasonal program will continue until October.

Swietlik will be the third new TUI Cruises captain brought on in 2026. At the beginning of the year, Kira Schikorr steered the Mein Schiff 6 in Asia for the first time, and Alexander Orendt first captained the Mein Schiff 3 from Bremerhaven.

The company said that the promotions are due, among other things, to the growth of the Mein Schiff fleet.

The Costa Luminosa is back in service for Carnival Corporation’s Italian brand as the ship today sailed from Trieste, becoming the company’s second ship to resume operations in 2021 after the Costa Smeralda reentered service earlier this month from Savona.

The Luminosa will offer Adriatic Sea itineraries and also call in Greece as part of Costa’s four-ship sailing plan for summer 2021, all operating under the company’s Costa Safety Protocol.

In addition to Trieste, Costa Luminosa’s one-week itinerary includes visits to Bari and Corfu, Athens, Mykonos and Katakolon/Olympia. The deployment is scheduled through mid-November, totalling 27 departures.

Costa Luminosa’s restart was celebrated in Trieste by Costa Cruises President Mario Zanetti, together with several key figures, including the Mayor of Trieste, Roberto Dipiazza; the Councilor of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Pierpaolo Roberti; the Captain of the Trieste Coast Guard, Vincenzo Vitale; and the CEO of Trieste Terminal Passeggeri, Francesco Mariani.

“With the restart of the Costa Luminosa, we are finally bringing cruises back to the Adriatic Sea and Greece, one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, and reviving a sector of great importance to the economy of many European countries, including Italy, as well as the eastern part of the Mediterranean,” said Zanetti.

“Just to illustrate the importance of this restart, before the pause caused by the pandemic, our company generated an annual economic impact of almost €13 billion in Europe, creating over 63,000 jobs. We are particularly pleased to be resuming from Trieste, a city that has always welcomed us warmly, and which will be the home port of Costa Luminosa not only this year but also in 2022. We look to the future with optimism, and we are working to make Trieste even more strategic for cruises, promoting sustainable development and a quality guest experience,” he added.

Next for Costa, on June 26, the Costa Deliziosa will restart with week-long cruises in Greece. July 4 will see the departure of the Costa Firenze with one-week cruises in Italy.

In addition, starting on July 3 Costa Smeralda will begin sailing in international itineraries, with one-week cruises in Italy, France and Spain.

“Trieste welcomes the return of the Costa Cruises ships. In recent years we have developed a very important collaboration with the company that guaranteed a regular presence of Costa ships in our beautiful city. Trieste is a city with a tourist vocation and the return of Costa rewards us for the work we are doing, but above all, it means that tourists are back,” said the Mayor of Trieste, Roberto Dipiazza.