A gaggle of French entrepreneurs has acquired one of many former Holland America Line cruise ships bought through the pandemic with plans to revive their effort for a cruise line marketed to France. The previous Holland America Line Maasdam lately adopted the brand new title of Renaissance and Compagnie Française de Croisières (CFC) primarily based in Marseille plans to announce in September its new cruises.
Studies point out the CFC is being began up by companions Clément Mousset and Cédric Rivoire Perrochat. Each of the executives had been working with UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages with plans to launch the devoted French cruise operation. CMV had marketed cruises beginning in 2016 to France and in late 2019 introduced plans for these executives to launch a French division of the corporate. They have been to begin cruising year-round in Could 2021. CMV reported it will refit the cruise line’s vessel Astor and rename her Jules Verne. The plan, nonetheless, didn’t proceed as a result of suspension of cruising in March 2020 and the monetary collapse of CMV later that summer season.
The executives are deferring particulars of their new effort till the September press convention. Nevertheless, they’re being linked to the sale of the previous Holland America Maasdam, which has been laid up in Greece for the reason that summer season of 2020. Greek traders which additionally personal Seajets a Greek ferry operator bought a sequence of cruise ships largely from Carnival Company as the corporate sought to speed up the disposal of older ships through the pandemic-related business pause. Maasdam was renamed Aegean Delusion however remained idled whereas it was believed Seajets sought a purchaser or long-term constitution.
In-built 1993, the 55,500 gross ton cruise ship was the second in a brand new class of vessels constructed for Holland America Line by Fincantieri shortly after the road was acquired by Carnival. Accommodating 1,200 passengers, the cruise ship was a key a part of Carnival’s enlargement and modernization of Holland America. In later years, she had been changed by bigger cruise ships whereas Holland America positioned the Maasdam on longer cruises and sending her to unique locations. She alongside together with her sister ship Veendam and two different sisters that have been working for P&O Australia have been all bought by Carnival in 2020. Three of the ships have been acquired by Seajets which provided them for resale whereas the fourth ship was acquired by Portuguese traders and now working on constitution to Nico Cruises.
CFC’s efforts to launch a French-speaking cruise line usually are not the primary latest effort at growing the market. Earlier than CMV’s plans for France, Spain’s Pullmantur tried to develop the French cruise market. In 2008, working with Royal Caribbean which had acquired Pullmantur, they launched Croisières de France, a brand new cruise model utilizing the 1981-built Europa renamed Bleu de France. The cruise ship was bought in 2011 however they changed her with different ships from Pullmantur earlier than disbanding the model in 2016.
Different cruise traces together with Ponant are primarily based in France however market their ships internationally. The brand new cruise line might be predominately marketed in France and the on-board operations might be French-speaking. Particulars on the primary cruise and the itineraries are anticipated to be introduced on September 6.
High photograph of Maasdam in 1999 in Oslo, Norway by Roger Wollstadt (CC BY-SA 2.0 license)
