louis cruises cyprus

Louis Cruise Lines  

Special cruises - enquire for details  [email protected]  

Louis Cruises Are The Number One Company In Cyprus For Cruising

Louis Cruises Corporate Video

Some Background Information

Until April 2007 was probably the biggest cruise line you had never heard of. The cruise line company was then suddenly exploded into the world media spotlight, when its newest ship the Sea Diamond tragically ran aground and sank off the coast of Santorini with two French passenger casualties.

Despite spending several years being a low key cruise line, Louis has grown successfully over 20 or so years from a single ship operation into the fifth largest cruise operator in the world.

Louis Cruises Becomes The Largest In The Eastern Mediterranean

Thanks to this great success they have become the largest cruise line in places like Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, and with the recent addition of their new flagship Louis Majesty, they have expanded and are enjoying an annual presence in the Western Mediterranean. Louis also leads the way in chartering ships to other reputable cruise lines, like the UK based Thomson Cruise Lines.

The Cruise Lines is the passenger shipping side of the huge Louis plc company, which is a Cyprus based travel and tourism group founded in 1935 by the young entrepreneur Louis Loizou, who founded the first ever travel agency in the then British colony of Cyprus.

Louis Cruises Goes From Strength To Strength

By the time of his death in 1971, the Louis company had grown into the most successful and dominant travel group on Cyprus, catering for major tour operators and airlines from across the world and operating many profitable travel agencies, hotels and resorts.

Louis Cruises The Family Business

Now still a family run business, the founders son Costakis Loizou, first entered into the cruising industry with the charter of ferries that made short cruises from Cyprus. The great success of this operation resulted in the launch of the Cruise Line in 1986, the companies very own entrance into the cruise line market.

Its first ever cruise ship, the former Finnish cruise ferry the Princess Marissa, successfully operated from it Cypriot port of Limassol and offered short cruises to the Greek Islands, Israel and Egypt.

Louise Cruises Becoming More Successful

Though the Princess Marissa had long been decommissioned, by 1993 three more ships had been added to the Louis Cruise Line portfolio and a thriving short cruise business from Cyprus was in operation. The next big leap came in 1995 and 1996, when two more ships were introduced, the Sapphire and The Emerald which were chartered to the Thomson Holidays tour operated based in the United Kingdom.

Towards the end of the decade came the cruise liner Ausonia, which was chartered to Thomson's main competitor First Choice. Another new ship addition was also added to the Cyprus based fleet called the Serenade. The Louis fleet now numbered eight, with five of its own ships and three chartered to UK tour operators.

Louise Cruises Expansion Plan

The next key element to the company's expansion came in 1999 with the investment of a large stake in Royal Olympic Cruises, the leader in Greek cruise lines. The company already struggling with an ageing fleet, high labour costs and ever increasing foreign competition, was dealt a fatal blow by the 9/11 tragedy.

By December 2003, it began its slow decline with the loss of their only newly built ships, the Olympia Voyager and Olympia Explorer. Still struggling financially through the summer of 2004, Royal Olympic cruises finally collapsed in the autumn of that year.

Louis Cruises Moves Into The Greek Cruise Market

Louis flatly refusing to save the failing company, decided instead to start its own new venture into the Greek cruise market, with the Louis Hellenic Cruises company. This company acquired two of Royal Olympics ships, Triton which was renamed Coral and Seawing which was renamed Perla, and obtained them at way below market value.

Louis Cruises Starts Operations In Greece

By early spring of 2005, Louis Hellenic Cruises was welcoming aboard its very first passengers for Greek Isles cruises from its home port in Piraeus. Louis Hellenic also started the Louis company's first cruises into the North American market.

Louis Cruises In The American Market

Several top American tour operators had include cruises from Royal Olympic in their tour packages in Greece, Turkey or Italy and Louis Hellenic conveniently and eagerly filled this gap in the market. While the company did very minimal marketing in North America, the company's cruises were still widely sold by the biggest name in package tours.

In comparison, the rest of the successful company continued to modernise and expand in size and by 2000 the cruise liner Calypso had joined the Louis fleet increasing its number to nine. In 2003, the company had chartered Nieuw Amsterdam which was briefly the United States Lines Patriot from Holland America and renamed it the Thomson Spirit, which replaced a ship that Thomson had chartered from an alternative company.

The two ships Sapphire and Ausonia had now returned from their charters and entered into Louis's own fleet, allowing their cruise line to finally sell of their ageing ships such as the Princess Amorosa, Princess Cypria and Princess Victoria, which were all successfully sold for scrap.

Louis Cruises Further Expansion

Further expansion was on the agenda when in 2004; Louis acquired ships from the struggling My Travel Group, whose Sun Cruise brand had brought the introduction of mass marketed cruises to the United Kingdom. One ship was resold, but two were included into the Louis fleet the first Sunbird (former name Song of America, from Royal Caribbean's) was chartered out to Thomson and renamed Thomson Destiny, while the second Carousel (former name Song of Norway) became Louis' next ship rename Aquamarine.

Louis Cruises Add More Ships To The Fleet

In 2006 even more ship were added, with the Orient Queen originally NCL's Starward and Sea Diamond previously the Baltic cruise ferry Birka included in the fleet. By it's 20th anniversary the Louis fleet would number 13. With the new charters to Thomson with Calypso and Aquamarine (renamed Arielle) to German Based Transocean Tours, the company now had five ships chartered to major tour operators and eight included in its own fleet.

The company also set up a franchise agreement that allowed them to operate ships in the Eastern Mediterranean on behalf of easyCruise. Entering into 2007, the future for the Louis company had never looked more certain.

Louis Cruises Has A Tragedy

Suddenly when everything was running so smoothly, tragedy struck. When on April 5th, 2oo7 the newest and largest of the Lois fleet, Sea Diamond hit a reef just off Santorini on its very first cruise of the season. All passengers and crew, except two missing French passengers were safely evacuated from the ship, several hours before the ship finally sank in the early hours of April 6th.

News of this tragic accident was reported and watched on televisions throughout the world. In Britain one of the company's key markets the Louis Group had already made headlines for the wrong reasons, when in 2006 two British children had died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty boiler at a Louis resort in Corfu. The tragic accident that befell Sea Diamond was yet another terrible blow to the Louis reputation.

Louis Cruises Explanation For The Tragedy

In an inquest a year later, a spokesman for the Louis Group claimed a faulty map was the cause for the grounding and subsequent sinking of Sea Diamond, and new evidence has recently emerged which actually support that claim. Even with these tragic accidents, the company though a little tarnished still remains one of the largest and most reputable names in tourism across the Eastern Mediterranean.

Louis Cruises Expansion On Hold

After the Sea Diamond accident, any expansion planned by Louis had to be put on hold while the company tried to find a suitable ship to replace their other sunken vessel. Most of the Sea Diamonds charters had to taken over by other members of the fleet, such as Thompson Spirit and The Emerald, whose own charters for that summer hadn't yet begun.

Even Pullmantur Cruises' Oceanic II which was also on lease from a Greek owner was also chartered to cover a few of the cruises, while Monarch Classic Cruises' Ocean Countess, now renamed Ruby by Louis was chartered for the remaining summer cruises.

Finally a more permanent replacement was chartered with the Louis Cristal, the former NCL Leeward which was about the same size as Sea Diamond, but was several years newer and contained much better facilities. Cristal was a prime example to the industry of the continuation in modernising of the Louis Fleet and yet more additions were to be made shortly.

Louis Cruises Disposes Of The Ausonia

With the introduction of new SOLAS regulations which became effective in 2010, meant the company would dispose of its ship the Ausonia. The company's charters to Thomson already included Thomson Celebration, along with its sister ships Thomson Spirit and Thomson Destiny. The Calypso charter had ended and in the winter season of 2010-2011, started operating for Louis in the Red Sea on several short three and four night cruises.

Louis Cruises Has A Sojourn Into India

The company enjoyed a brief entrance into the short cruises in India with their ship Aquamarine, before the ship was re-chartered with the Aegean Pearl for short cruises in Spring 2010 to the Greek Islands. Their ship Ocean Countess also went on UK based charters for Cruise and Maritime Voyages in April 2010.

The big news came when the company attempted to purchase to much larger ships from NCL, the Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Majesty which were due to be delivered in 2009. A deal for the Norwegian Dream has subsequently fallen through, but the Norwegian Majesty was finally delivered in November 2009. after some 18 month lease back to NCL.

After some clever tweaking for the European market, the Majesty was chartered into service by December 2009 and was aptly named Louis Majesty, the largest ship in the Louis fleet and the first ever ship which would be chartered to cruise all year round in the Mediterranean.

The ship represented a slow but ever evolving modernisation for Louis fleet, finally introducing the company's first ever on-board a la carte restaurant for passengers to enjoy fine dining while on their cruise.

Now with ships like the Cristal sailing out of Piraeus, and both the Orient Queen and Coral offering 10 to 14 night cruises from Marseilles and Genoa. The recent expansion and modernisation of Louis Cruises has cemented its place has a real major player in the cruise line industry worldwide. 

Copyright 2011 the-real-cyprus.com

Schedule For 2014

Sadly due to the political climate in the Middle East, no trips are going to Israel, Egypt, the Lebanon or Syria until further notice.

A sad thing as a trip to any or all of those places would really round out your visit to Cyprus.

Let us hope peace and tranquility will once again prevail.

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As member of the Louis Group, Louis Travel consists of the following major divisions: Incoming Tourism Agency, Outgoing Tour Operating, Retail Travel and Port Agency.

Incoming Tourism/ Destination Management Company

• Represents major international tour operators in Cyprus
• Assists tour operators in sourcing the right products, contracting the best prices and providing special offers
• Processes hotel, car and transfer reservations
• Provides meet and assist services at the airports and hotels island-wide through its multilingual representatives
• Offers extensive sightseeing tours programs
• Creates exciting tailor-made programs for special interest groups
• Provides professional services such as conferences, seminars and exhibitions planning
• Caters to incentive groups with innovative themed events and team-building activities
• Pioneers in sports tourism for professional teams’ training, as well as for recreational pursuits

Outgoing & Retail Travel Services

• Maintains a network of IATA accredited retail outlets in Cyprus
• Arranges air tickets, hotel reservations, transfers, car hires and sightseeing tours worldwide
• Creates extensive fly, cruise and stay programs in the Cypriot market
• Markets wide range of destinations through own brochures and social media
• Maintains a successful track record for organised groups with a big number of repeating clients
• Provides comprehensive and high-quality corporate travel service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

Port Agency Services

• Offers port agency services, as well as shore excursions for cruise ships calling in Cyprus ports

The experienced team of Louis Travel, being customer-centric, quality-focused and dedicated, achieves the ultimate customer satisfaction.

Description

Specifications, orient queen cruise ship.

Orient Queen is a cruise ship owned by Louis Cruise from 2006. On 2014 she was renamed into Louis Aura and she is currently executing cruises to the Greek islands departing from Cyprus. The total capacity of the ship is 895 passengers. The facilities are an a la carte restaurant, buffet, 2 lounges, 4 bars, casino, mini-golf, 2 pools, sauna, gym, medical clinic, spa and massage room, beauty salon, hair salon, Internet area, Duty Free and Travel Value shop.

On 2020 she sunk after two massive explosions in Beirut.

Photo Gallery

Pictures from the Orient Queen Cruise Ship

• Date Launched: 1968
• Out of service Date: 2020
• Tonnage: 15,781 grt
• Length: 552 ft
• Beam: 79 ft
• Speed: 16 knots
• Guest Capacity: 895
• Total Staff: 329
• Officers: European
• Crew: International
• Ship Type: Mainstream

IA - Inside Standard Stateroom

• Occupancy: Up to 4 guests
• Number of Cabins: 40
• Amenities: 2 beds, 3rd/4th berth, bathroom with shower

IB - Inside Standard Stateroom

• Number of Cabins: 68

IC - Inside Superior Stateroom

• Occupancy: Up to 2 guests
• Number of Cabins: 53
• Amenities: Matrimonial, bathroom with shower

ID - Inside Premium Stateroom

• Number of Cabins: 4
• Amenities: Matrimonial, bathroom with bathtub

XS - Outside Single Stateroom

• Occupancy: Up to 1 guests
• Number of Cabins: 6
• Amenities: Bathroom with shower

XA - Outside Standard Stateroom

• Occupancy: Up to 3 guests
• Number of Cabins: 19
• Amenities: 2 beds or matrimonial, 3rd berth, bathroom with shower

XB - Outside Standard Stateroom

• Number of Cabins: 36
• Amenities: 2 beds or matrimonial, 3rd/4th berth, bathroom with shower

XC - Outside Superior Stateroom

• Number of Cabins: 20
• Amenities: 2 beds or matrimonial, bathroom with shower

XD - Outside Premium Stateroom

• Number of Cabins: 57

XE - Outside Deluxe Stateroom

• Number of Cabins: 15
• Amenities: Matrimonial, sofa bed, bathroom with bathtub or shower

SJO - Junior Suite

• Number of Cabins: 2
• Amenities: Matrimonial, sofa bed, bathroom with bathtub (obstructed view)

SJ - Junior Suite

• Number of Cabins: 30
• Amenities: Matrimonial, sofa bed, bathroom with bathtub

• Number of Cabins: 5
• Amenities: Matrimonial, sofa, bathroom with whirlpool bath

The Cruise Company

Louis Cruises

Get a question.

Do not hesitate to conatct us. We are an expert team and we are happy to assist you.

• 0030 210 9484 185
• [email protected]

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Cruise Enquiry2

Cruise enquiry.

Leading Tourism Organization in the Southeastern Mediterranean.

Welcome to louis plc.

Louis plc, member of the Louis Group, is currently one of the leading Cyprus organizations engaged in the tourism industry in the Southeastern Europe. Louis plc mainly focuses on the hotel sector, through its subsidiary Louis Hotels Public Company Ltd (26 hotel units both in Cyprus and the Greek islands) and in the cruise sector, through its associate Celestyal Cruises Ltd.

The vision of Louis plc is to establish itself as the leading tourism organization in the Southeastern Europe, by offering high quality services to its customers and to its business partners and by upgrading the tourism product offered in both Cyprus and Greece.

The company further aims to strengthen and enhance its strategic alliances with major international tour operators, as well as to expand its activities by adding new hotel units and upgrading the existing ones.

Louis Hotels was established in the early 1940’s as part of Louis Tourist Agency and assumed a leading role in the tourism industry in both Cyprus and Greece.

Louis plc, launched its own cruising operations in 1986, even though it had been involved in the representation of passenger vessels and cruise ships in the past.

Hotels Sector

It all started when the late Louis Loizou, widely considered to be the “father of tourism” in Cyprus purchased the “Semmering” hotel and leased the “Grand Hotel” in the Cyprus mountains. He then purchased “Louis Hotel” located at Ledra Street in Nicosia and in 1969 the luxurious “Ledra Palace” hotel, a landmark of Nicosia.

Cruising Sector

The period between 1989 and 2001 was a period of rapid growth for the cruise sector. During this time, the Group acquired in total 10 ships. In 1996, a cruise ship was chartered for the first time to Thomson Cruises, owned by TUI, the world’s largest tour operator. Following the growing trend in the cruise sector, Louis plc creates in 2014 a new brand, “Celestyal Cruises”.

Company Structure

Celestyal Olympia

Hilton nicosia, amada colossos resort, kerkyra golf, althea beach, louis chris le mare villa, corcyra beach, creta princess aquapark spa, louis nausicaa luxury villas, imperial beach, infinity blue, ledra beach, paphos breeze, phaethon beach, plagos beach, st. elias resort waterpark, zante beach, lti louis grand hotel, nausicaa beach, primasol louis ionian sun, sofianna resort spa, the king jason paphos, the king jason protaras, mykonos theoxenia, the royal apollonia.

Louis Cruises Cyprus

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Get in [ edit ]

By boat [ edit ].

During summer there are boats from Kazan , Samara and other destinations on the Volga River.

By train [ edit ]

The train takes you here from Moscow (from Kazanskaya train station) in approximately 16 hours or from Volgograd in about 20 hours. Ulyanovsk Main Station is located 6 km from the city center.

Get around [ edit ]

Ulyanovsk has an extensive public transportation network that includes buses, trolleys, and trams. It is very affordable, but congested and may be quite confusing. You won't find any route maps or schedules, neither at bus stops nor in buses. Fee collectors usually don't speak English. Express buses and semi-private van routes are more comfortable and more expensive. Taxis are not expensive, and that's your best bet if you want to get somewhere (relatively) quickly, in (relative) comfort (almost all cars are old Russian ladas or over 10 year old non-Russian cars), and without much hassle. They are also most likely to have English speaking drivers (one in 1000) and superloud Russian pop music.

Getting between the banks of the Volga is a problem. There is a two lane bridge connecting the banks and it's nearly always congested, so if you're unlucky, it can take a couple of hours. Most locals avoid going over the bridge if they can. A four-lane bridge was planned to relieve these problems.

See [ edit ]

As the home town of Lenin, it's worth visiting the Lenin Memorial Centre and Gardens and museums based in his former houses. There is also a museum dedicated to the poet 'Goncharov' and the war memorial at the end of the main street 'Ulitsa Goncharova' offers breathtaking views over the Volga.

Do [ edit ]

In winter, try cross-country skiing along the Sviaga river, in summer take a boat ride over the reservoir.

Buy [ edit ]

The city's main shopping centre 'Tsum' is basic to say the least but does offer some basic shopping.

Eat [ edit ]

• Shpinat , Ulitsa Kirova, 79 ( in Rakurs Hotel ), ☏ +7 842 258-53-41 . An upscale restaurant with small portions but big on presentation if that appeals to you. ( updated Feb 2021 )
• Gonzo , Ulitsa Goncharova, 48+7 842 244-44-22 ( across from Hilton Garden Inn ), ☏ +7 842 244-44-22 . Lots of tasty Russian dishes, particularly heavy on meat. ( updated Feb 2021 )
• Veprevo Koleno , Ulitsa Federatsii, 11 , ☏ +7 951 094-51-15 . featuring Czech food and beer. ( updated Feb 2021 )
• Gallery Restaurant , Ulitsa Goncharova, 25 ( inside Radisson Hotel ), ☏ +7 8422 41-74-71 . 09:30-02:00 . Buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner featuring Russian and international items.  
• Lobby Bar , ul. Goncharova 25, ground floor ( inside Radisson Hotel ). 09:30-02:00 . Quick bites.  

Go next [ edit ]

The capital of Tatarstan , Kazan , is a stunning city just 7 hours train ride from Ulyanovsk.

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