Phoenix Reisen is a Germany-based travel agency that also operates a fleet of cruise ships. The company first entered the cruise business in 1988 by chartering the Soviet Union-owned cruise ship .
History Phoenix Reisen first begun operating cruises under its own brand in 1988 when the company chartered the West German-built cruise ship from the Soviet Union-based Black Sea Shipping Company on a 20-year charter agreement. In 1993 a second ship joined the Phoenix Reisen fleet, when was chartered from V-Ships. Unlike the Maxim Gorkiy, which retained the colours of her owners in Phoenix service, the Albatros was painted in Phoenix Reisen's own colours with a turquoise funnel displaying the company logo.
Due to numerous mechanical problems, Phoenix Reisen decided to prematurely terminate the charter of the Albatros in December 2003. As a replacement Phoenix quickly chartered MS Crown in January 2004, which was renamed . In 2005 the company fleet expanded to include three ships for the first time when was chartered from V-Ships. A fourth ship followed in 2006 with the charter of , a higher-class vessel compared with the rest of the Phoenix Reisen fleet.Ward (2008). p. 188 In 2008 the first Alexander von Humboldt was replaced by a larger vessel chartered from Club Cruise, confusingly also named (before entering service the ship was marketed as Alexander von Humboldt II, but she eventually received the same name as the ship she replaced). In late 2008 the charter of the Maxim Gorkiy ended, and due to high fuel prices combined with the high fuel consumption of the ship's steam turbines Phoenix Reisen decided not to renew the charter. In May 2009 Phoenix Reisen chartered from Nina SpA. In April 2011, the company took delivery of MV Artania, which formerly sailed as MV Artemis for P&O Cruises. In July 2019 the fleet was increased with a former HAL ship.
Fleet Current fleet (Ocean) Ship Built In service Registered Owner Tonnage Flag Notes Image 1991 2006 onwards Amadea Shipping Company 1988 2019 onwards Amera Shipping Company 1984 2011 onwards Artania Shipping Ltd / Artania GmbH
Former fleet Ship Built In Service Chartered from Tonnage Flag Status Image 1969 1988–2008 Black Sea Shipping CompanySovcomflot Scrapped at Alang, India in 2009 1957 1993–2003 V-Ships Scrapped at Alang, India in 2004 1977 1997-2000 Danube Shipping Company Scrapped at Aliağa, Turkey in 2013 1973 2004-2020 Albatros Shipping Company Scrapped at Alang, India in 2021 1990 2005–2008 V-Ships Since 2008 sailing as Minerva for Swan Hellenic 1990 2008 Club Cruise Currently sailing as the Voyager for Voyages of Discovery 1948 2009 Nina SpA Undergoing scrapping at Ghent 1998 2026 Absolute Nevada LLC It was chartered from Absolute Nevada. It was sailing as World Odyssey for Semester at Sea from September until April each year.
References
External links
Phoenix Reisen official website Rundreisen mit Phoenix Reisen (in German)