Celestyal Cruises

Celestyal Cruises
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryHospitality, travel, tourism
FounderLouis Group [1]
HeadquartersPiraeus, Athens, Greece
Area served
Greece Greek Islands Turkey Eastern Mediterranean
Key people
David Noyes (Chairman)[2]
Chris Theophilides (CEO)[3]
George Koumpenas (COO) [4]
Lee Haslett (CCO)[5]
Marios Theodosiou (CFO) [6]
Eduardo Aranda (CSTO)[7]
ProductsCruise ships
ParentSearchlight Capital[8]
Websitehttps://celestyal.com

Celestyal Cruises (formed in 2014[9]) is a succession to Louis Cruises and Louis Cruise Lines. The Cruise line was a subsidiary of Louis plc (founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in Cyprus) until November 2021 when Searchlight Capital Partners took a majority share within the Cruise Line.[10]

Celestyal Cruises has two cruise ships:[11] the MS Celestyal Discovery and the MS Celestyal Journey. The cruise line operates out of Athens, Greece[12] offering itineraries on a 3,4- and 7-night basis[13] around the Greek islands, Turkey, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is reported that it carried 115,000 guests in 2019.[14] Celestyal Cruises operated for six years in Cuba until 2018[15][16] and historically chartered ships to Marella Cruises, previously Thomson Cruises.[17][18][19]

  1. ^ "Company Profile: Louis Group".
  2. ^ "Celestyal Cruises appoints former Carnival boss as non-executive chairman". 17 March 2022.
  3. ^ "New CEO at Celestyal Cruises". 8 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Celestyal Cruises Announces Promotions and Appointments in Key Markets". 26 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Lee Haslett joins Celestyal Cruises as global chief commercial officer". 19 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Celestyal Cruises promotes two Senior Executives and announces new appointments in key markets". 26 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer". 16 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Searchlight Capital Partners takes majority stake in Celestyal Cruises".
  9. ^ "Louis Cruises to Launch New Brand: Celestyal Cruises". 6 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Celestyal Cruises set for expansion with private equity investment".
  11. ^ "Celestyal Cruises is selling its newest ship, Celestyal Experience (**updated**)". 3 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Celestyal Cruises Resumes Operations from Piraeus Port". 16 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Celestyal announces 2022/23 itineraries, includes Celestyal Experience debut". 19 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Interview with Chris Theophilides,CEO of Greece's Celestyal Cruises". 4 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Celestyal Cruises Pulls out of Cuba". 30 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Celestyal Cruises Reports Cuba Is Running Smoothly". Caribbean News Digital. 10 July 2017.
  17. ^ Bond, Mary (6 July 2017). "Thomson Spirit to stay for another year 'due to popular demand'". Seatrade.
  18. ^ Shawn Dake (6 March 2012). "Louis And Thomson Swap Majesty For Destiny". Maritime Matters.
  19. ^ Soo Kim (10 October 2017). "Thomson Cruises rebrands as 'Marella' and announces string of new sailings to Asia". Telegraph.