Variety Cruises

Last updated

Variety Cruises
Type Private cruises
Industry Cruises
Founded2006
FounderLakis Venetopoulos
Headquarters Athens, Greece.
Area served
Greece, Turkey, The Adriatic Sea, North Sea, Costa Rica & Panama, Cuba, the Canary Islands, Seychelles, Costa Rica & Panama, and Cape Verde
Key people
Lakis Venetopoulos, CEO, Chairman and President
Dimitris Vassilakis, COO
Services Cruises
Website www.varietycruises.com
Variety Voyager Variety Voyager at Quay 8 in Port of Tallinn 15 May 2018.jpg
Variety Voyager

Variety Cruises is a private yacht cruise line based in Athens, Greece. It owns and operates a number of small cruise ships and yachts. The company was founded in 2006 by Lakis Venetopoulos. [1]

Contents

History

Variety Cruises was established in 2006 following the merge of Zeus Tours & Yacht Cruises, a third generation cruise and tourism business operating since 1949, and Hellas Yachts, which started operating small ships cruises in 1993. The company’s history dates back to 1949 when the original founder of Zeus Cruises built the company’s first ship Eleutherios in order to fill a need for educational travel in Greece. [2]

In 2013, the company founded a school project in The Gambia entitled The Lamin Koto School Project [3]

Company

The company has established itself as one of the pioneers in theme cruises including gay and lesbian-themed cruises. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Destinations

The cruise lines' first destination was Greece, but since the company's expansion a number of destinations include the Adriatic Sea, Costa Rica & Panama, Cuba, [8] the Canary Islands, Seychelles, and Cape Verde. [9] The company's West Africa destination was featured by CNN for their Rivers of West Africa program. [10]

Fleet

Variety Cruises runs a fleet of eight small cruise ships, in addition to owning and renting a fleet of 4 private yachts. The company's flagship is the Variety Voyager, followed by the Galileo, the Panorama, Panorama II, the Harmony V, the Harmony G, the Pegasos, and the Callisto. [11] The company also owns a fleet of smaller yachts solely available for charter including the Obsession, the Absolute King, Christiane, and the Monte Carlo.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Caribbean International</span> Norwegian–American cruise line

Royal Caribbean International (RCI), previously known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the largest cruise line by revenue and second largest by passengers counts. In 2018, Royal Caribbean International controlled 19.2% of the worldwide cruise market by passengers and 14.0% by revenue. As of January 2022, the line operates 26 ships and has four additional ships on order.

Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1997. Celebrity's signature logo is an "Χ" displayed on the funnel of Celebrity ships, and is the Greek letter chi, for "Chandris".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwegian Cruise Line</span> American cruise line

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the third-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market by passengers as of 2021. It is wholly owned by parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSC Cruises</span> Cruise line registered in Switzerland

MSC Cruises is a Swiss global cruise line based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1970 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the world's largest privately held cruise company, employing about 23,500 people worldwide and with offices in 45 countries as of 2017, MSC Cruises is the third-largest cruise company in the world, after Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Group, with a 10.2% share of all passengers carried in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT tourism</span> Tourism marketed to LGBT people

LGBT tourism is a form of tourism marketed to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. People might be open about their sexual orientation and gender identity at times, but less so in areas known for violence against LGBT people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Cruise Lines</span> Small-ship cruise line with its headquarters in Guilford, Connecticut, United States

American Cruise Lines, Inc. is a small-ship cruise line with its headquarters in Guilford, Connecticut, United States. The line operates thirteen small U.S. flagged cruise ships along the Eastern Seaboard and Western Seaboard as well as the Mississippi-Ohio and Columbia-Snake river systems of the United States.

<i>Star Pride</i> Cruise ship

Star Pride was the first of three German built cruise ships that were initially built for the Seabourn Cruise Line. She was known as Seabourn Pride and is now operated for Windstar Cruises and was the first of her class.

Renaissance Cruises was a cruise ship operating company that was founded in 1989 and owned by Fearnley & Eger Rederi in Oslo, Norway. It was purchased by Edward Rudner as the company faltered during the Gulf War. It operated year-round cruise itineraries to the Mediterranean Sea, the Greek Isles, Tahiti and the South Pacific, northern Europe and Scandinavia. The company ceased operations on 25 September 2001, having accommodated up to 220,000 guests in 2000. While the company had been in poor financial health for quite some time, the economic decline resulting from the September 11 attacks in 2001 is credited with the demise of this cruise line. It was headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marella Cruises</span> British cruise line

Marella Cruises is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celestyal Cruises</span>

Celestyal Cruises is a succession to Louis Cruises and Louis Cruise Lines. The Cruise line was a subsidiary of Louis plc until November 2021 when Searchlight Capital Partners took a majority share within the Cruise Line. Celestyal Cruises has two cruise ships. The MS Celestyal Olympia and the Celestyal Crystal. The Cruise line operates out of Athens, Greece offering itineraries on a 3,4- and 7-night basis around the Greek islands, Turkey, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is reported that it carried 115,000 guests in 2019. Celestyal Cruises operated for six years in Cuba until 2018 and historically chartered ships to Marella Cruises, previously Thomson Cruises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P&O Cruises Australia</span>

P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with operational headquarters as part of Carnival Australia, based in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R Family Vacations</span> LGBT vacation entertainment company

R Family Vacations is an LGBT vacation entertainment company that provides luxury cruise ship trips with a focus on inclusive activities for children and services including same-sex marriage ceremonies. They are a subsidiary of Tzell Travel Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AIDA Cruises</span> German cruise line

AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A., which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primarily to the German-speaking market; as seagoing "club resorts", AIDA ships have on-board amenities and facilities designed to attract younger, more active vacationers. As of January 2023, the cruise line operates 12 ships.

Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) was a British passenger shipping company headquartered in Purfleet, Essex, United Kingdom. The company ceased operations in 2020 and entered administration.

CroisiEurope is an international river cruise company. It operates a fleet of river cruising vessels along the rivers of Europe, Russia, Mekong, Burma (Myanmar), Africa, South America and the United States.

<i>Carnival Vista</i> Cruise ship

Carnival Vista is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is the lead ship of her namesake class, which includes two additional Carnival ships, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama, as well as two Costa ships, Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze.

<i>Carnival Panorama</i> Vista-class cruise ship

Carnival Panorama is aVista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. After Carnival finalized the ship's order with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in December 2016, the vessel had her keel laid in January 2018 and she was formally delivered in October 2019 as the last Vista-class vessel and the flagship of the fleet; she has served in the latter role until the Mardi Gras debuted in 2021. Measuring 133,868 GT and 323 m long, she is the largest of Carnival's three Vista-class vessels. Since her debut in December 2019, she has been homeported at the Port of Long Beach and sails week-long itineraries to the Mexican Riviera.

Silver Muse

Silver Muse is a cruise ship owned by Silversea Cruises. It was constructed by Fincantieri in Genoa and joined the company's fleet in April 2017.

Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours is a privately held Cruise Line and Touring Company, founded by Australian businessman Glen Moroney in 1986. In 2007, Scenic opened its first UK office, with its UK headquarters in Manchester. Its inaugural European river cruise took place a year later with the launch of its first river ship, Scenic Sapphire.

Lüftner Cruises, also operating under Amadeus River Cruises, is a cruise operator based in Innsbruck, Austria that offers European river cruises.

References

  1. ↑ Tagliabue, John (27 May 1997). "Rough Going for Greek Merchant Fleet". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Variety Cruises' CEO Fillipos Venetopoulos has a big vision for small ships". seatrade-cruise.com. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Media Center". Varietycruises.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Top 10 Cruise Lines for Gay and Lesbian Travelers - Cruise Critic". Cruisecritic.com. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Variety Cruises Announces Gay Cruise in Greece Benefitting the Trevor Project - Frontiers Media". Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Variety Cruises courts gay community, yoga enthusiasts: Travel Weekly". Travelweekly.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Variety Cruises expands gay voyages for 2013". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Cuba on a Small Ship - Panorama Review - Cruise Critic". Cruisecritic.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Our Destinations". Varietycruises.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "West africa the variety cruises way". CNN iReport. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "Media Center". Varietycruises.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.