2026 – June – Naming Ceremony of Mein Schiff Flow – Oops, wrong event

One wrong turn and you accidentally meet TUI Cruises CEO Wybcke Meier and the sales manager for Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. We actually wanted to attend an event with the painter Christian Awe. Instead, we suddenly found ourselves at an internal sales event for top travel agency sellers. Oops.

There were maybe about 30 people in the room, most of whom knew each other. I’m surprised we weren't caught right away.

Well, once we were in, we just stayed quietly seated and listened.

By the way, I’m quite familiar with such events. As an investment consultant at the bank, we had similar training sessions. Personally, I found it particularly interesting because I could have easily sold travel too. That’s something I’m good at as well.

Of course, no trade secrets were revealed at the event. But I can share a little that perhaps isn't widely known.

For example, AIDA is number 1 in the German market, and TUI is number 2. Internationally, TUI is then number 5.

The average age of the guests on the Mein Schiff fleet is actually 52 years. I would have thought it was higher. Although the fleet sees itself as predominantly international, the DNA is considered German, as was stated. This can be sold better in Germany and now also in Austria and Switzerland, and it should remain that way.

Moreover, cruises are still a niche market, but they are also a growth market.

And here comes the exciting part: TUI has secured the construction of two more ships of the same design at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone for 2031 and 2032. This immediately made me think of new naming events.

In fact, Europe is leading when it comes to building cruise ships. There are three major shipyard locations: the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone (Italy), Meyer Werft in Papenburg (Germany) or Turku (Finland), and Saint-Nazaire (France). The Americans also place their orders here.

And where do the respective cruise guests prefer to go? Americans prefer short trips right in their backyard, meaning to the Caribbean. And the Germans? They prefer actually going to Northern Europe, both in summer and winter. Only then do the Mediterranean cruises come, followed by the Canary Islands, with long-distance travel falling to the back.

However, under the roof of TUI, there is another company, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, with their relatively smaller ships that accommodate a maximum of 500 people. They mainly offer higher-priced trips, where a travel agency can naturally earn more.

By the way, the occupancy rates for Relax and Flow are very high, partly almost at 100%, but on average 80%, which is exceptional.

Finally, there were actually critical comments from the audience. One was regarding the sale of suites. Often these are still available due to the price. But when suites are “thrown” at guests here for just an additional 500 euros, without the travel agency getting anything from it, that’s problematic.

In any case, during the entire event, I felt almost like I was an agency owner myself. Absurd and ridiculous, I know, but I would have loved to offer travel immediately. Maybe in the next life.