TUI Cruises’ Eighth Newbuild Named Mein Schiff Relax

The eighth ship in the Mein Schiff fleet, the first of the InTUItion class, will carry the name Mein Schiff Relax, according to a company statement.

“Communication on various platforms made it clear how important the name of this ship is for our guests. This ship is also something very special for us – it embodies the further development of everything that we have stood for almost ten years with the new ships in the Mein Schiff fleet,” said Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises.

“That’s why we took our time and carefully considered the creation of the ship – along with all the great new opportunities for our guests. It is now clear to TUI Cruises that the new addition to the fleet can only have one name: Mein Schiff Relax. This is exactly what the first ship in the InTUItion class symbolizes – a completely new feel-good experience.”

The Mein Schiff Relax is set to offer the first cruises in the Mediterranean starting in March 2025.

German Market Growth to be Driven by TUI

Mein Schiff 3 photo credit Spacejunkie2 (flickr)

The cruise brands catering to the national German market have an estimated capacity of 2.1 million passengers (double occupancy) in 2023, forecast to grow to 2.5 million by 2020, according to the 2023 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

The growth will mainly be driven by TUI Cruises which will launch three new ships over the time period, boosting its annual passenger capacity from approximately 600,000 to nearly 1 million.

TUI is focused on the German premium market along with Phoenix Reisen and Plantours. In the luxury segment are Hapag-Lloyd and Sea Cloud.

AIDA is the largest national brand today with an estimated annual passenger capacity of about 1.4 million, but has no new builds on order, and barring any further retirements of ships, will maintain its position, dominating the contemporary market segment.

These brands offer a German-language products. In addition, other European brands also market in Germany, including MSC and Costa, as well as North America-based brands.

Germany is the single largest national cruise market in Europe.

TUI Group: 2023 Cruise Ticket Pricing Above 2019 Levels

Reporting full-year earnings, TUI Group noted the high demand for its three unique cruise brands TUI Cruises, Marella Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

The company said that short-term bookings continue to represent a large share of overall bookings. Still, encouragingly, the proportion of mid-term bookings is increasing as customer confidence returns.

The company also said that 2023 booked ticket rates for all three brands are above pre-pandemic levels.