TUI Cruises has released the first cruises for its newest cruise ship, Mein Schiff 7. The German cruise line is part of the TUI Group and operates under a joint venture with the Royal Caribbean Group. Under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, Mein Schiff 7 will begin operations in 2024.
The first season for the newest ship in the fleet will sail in the Baltic region, with cruises from Kiel and Warnemunde, Germany.
Mein Schiff 7 to Enter Service in 2024
TUI Cruises released new details of its latest cruise ship, Mein Schiff 7. The cruise line is a joint venture between TUI and Royal Caribbean Group and currently operates six cruise ships worldwide.
The seventh vessel, Mein Schiff 7, is currently under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland and will become the newest cruise ship in the fleet since the 2019-built Mein Schiff 2.
With space for 2,900 passengers, the new ship will be one of the most environmentally friendly cruise ships around, running on lower-emission marine diesel with a sulfur content of 0.1%, and is equipped with catalytic converters that provide a nitrogen oxide reduction of approximately 75%, and has shore power connectivity.
In addition, Mein Schiff 7 will be built so that the ship can also run on methanol, prospectively green methanol. Green methanol (bio- or e-methanol) is considered a climate-friendly fuel, provided it is produced from renewable energies. This makes the ship’s propulsion almost CO2-neutral.
“The vision of TUI Cruises is clear: in the long term, we want to move towards emission-free and climate-neutral cruising and offer the first climate-neutral cruises by 2030. The decision to prepare Mein Schiff 7 for methanol propulsion is an important investment in the future for us,” says Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises.
On board the new ship, guests will find the same high-quality service and food and beverage offerings the line is well-known for. Guests will find a new Asia & Sushi Restaurant onboard, but also a new Italian restaurant and a European cafe offering coffee and pastries,
“The high-quality culinary variety within the Mein Schiff inclusive services and in the exclusive specialty restaurants is one of the hallmarks of the Mein Schiff fleet. On Mein Schiff 7, we will inspire our guests with the new concepts and offer them unforgettable feel-good cruises with many highlights.” Meier continued.
First Cruises Available for Booking
Construction on the 115,000 gross-tons Mein Schiff 7 started earlier this year, on June 14, 2022. TUI Cruises expects the vessel to be ready for operations by 2024, with the first cruise sailing to the Norwegian Fjords and Arctic on June 23 from Kiel, Germany.
Mein Schiff 7 will initially sail on 8- to 17-day Nordland voyages; from mid-August, guests can then discover the highlights of the new ship on 8 to 10-day Baltic Sea voyages from/to Warnemünde.
Ports of call on the first cruise for Mein Schiff 7 include Stavanger, Eidfjord, Molde, and the North Cape, followed by a visit to the most northern city in the world, Longyearbyen on Spitzbergen. Following that, there will be calls to Trondheim and Alesund before returning to Kiel on July 7.
Mein Schiff has more ships lined up. In Italy, the company has two 160,000 gross-ton LNG-powered cruise ships on order at the Fincantieri shipyard. These vessels, Mein Schiff 8 and Mein Schiff 9, are reported to have space for approximately 4,000 guests and 1,100 crew members.
