Thomson Cruises adds Royal Caribbean ship to fleet

TUI Group has announced the acquisition of Splendour of the Seas from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

The 1,830-passenger ship will be chartered through the group’s British cruise line Thomson Cruises to become the largest ship in its fleet.

The ship, which will soon be renamed, will replace Island Escape, currently operated by sister company Island Cruises, keeping the overall UK fleet at five ships.

The sale was through TUI Group’s subsidiary TUI Cruises, a joint venture with Royal Caribbean Cruises. Financial details were not disclosed.

Sebastian Ebel, TUI Group CEO Platforms in charge of cruise operations, said:  “As already announced at our annual general meeting, we intend to continually modernise our fleet in the UK in the next few years. The acquisition of the Splendour of the Seas is the first step in this direction.

“We regard the cruise market as a growth market for our group and intend to develop into one of Europe’s leading providers in this segment.”

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