The new trump card of TUI Cruises

The favorite place on the youngest member of the TUI Cruises fleet: I don't have to think long - the covered basket loungers at the Überschaubar offer a great view of the pool area and the sea. Pure holiday feeling. On July 14th the official christening with Lena Meyer-Landrut, who fulfills all the requirements as godmother: the lucky charms must not be redhead or green-dressed. Those who were lucky enough to be on one of the pre-inaugural trips in the Baltic Sea were full of praise for the floating small town, which will start its maiden voyage towards St. Petersburg in mid-July. The cabins are spacious and tastefully furnished, the food in the various restaurants is excellent, and there are many retreats on the ship, despite the 2500 passengers who fit on the newbuild. Since 2009, TUI Cruises ships have been cruising the world's oceans, and the handful of pre-inaugural trips also served to establish procedures - necessary with 1000 crew members from all over the world. The first trips with the newcomer are fully booked until September.

When entering the 'Mein Schiff 5', one is first impressed by the size of the new ocean liner. With a length of almost 300 meters and a width of 36 meters, older cruise ships seem like nutshell, on the 'Blauer Balkon' the adventurous look down 37 meters through a plexiglass pane. Nevertheless, there is no impression of total overcrowding, not even of mass tourism. The Atlantik restaurant has 1000 seats, but those who book the cozy relaxation lodges with a view of the sea, for example, feel like they are in seventh heaven. The interior design and the design of the outdoor areas are modern. It is also visually clear that TUI Cruises is targeting a demanding audience. 40 square meters of space per passenger and a share of 82 percent balcony cabins are by no means the norm in the cruise industry. The ship, built at the Meyer Werft in Turku over 18 months, is aimed at passengers who do not look at every euro during the most beautiful weeks of the year. Keyword 'Premium All-Inclusive'. This refers to the concept that almost all drinks are included in the price of the trip, most restaurants anyway. However, guests have to pay an additional charge for some things in exclusive bars. Many customers also choose the shipping company because the drink costs are within reason. And of course, there is also the possibility to dine in one of the restaurants that require an additional payment, such as the 'Schmankerl', where Austrian specialties are served, or the Asian-inspired 'Hanami', behind which the Berlin two-star chef Tim Raue stands. There are more luxury suites with their own sun decks, which are often the first to be fully booked, an 1800 square meter spa and sports area, and an extra large pool area with a 25-meter pool, a handful of whirlpools, and a smaller outdoor pool that children love.

In terms of entertainment, the new addition to the fleet also offers some innovations. The absolute highlight is the studio with a mobile hologram stage that transports well-known artists on board. The human eye can easily be deceived by this unique program. Musical star Ute Lemper, comedy legend Dieter Hallervorden, cellist Jan Vogler, and the four-time breakdance world champions Flyings Steps have been recruited for the project and now appear as lifelike 3D illusions in the studio, so real that the viewer feels like the artist is live on stage. The guest is constantly supposed to experience something new. This requires fresh ideas to be generated for the new ship constructions.

The Germans are now almost as cruise crazy as the Americans. 1.8 million went on a cruise last year, and this year the two-million mark will probably be exceeded for the first time, with a large part of the bookings being made with the two German brands TUI Cruises and Aida. The growing number of ships also poses ecological challenges for the shipping companies, because smoking chimneys and polluted air do not really fit with the most beautiful weeks of the year. The shipping companies will have to deal with energy efficiency, nature conservation, wastewater, and waste disposal even more due to stricter limit values. But not every alternative is feasible, much of it simply fails due to the lack of infrastructure: 'If we were to supply our ships with electricity in the ports, for example! it would lead to a blackout on several Caribbean islands,' considers the 39-year-old environmental officer of the 'Mein Schiff 5', and even the use of low-emission liquefied gas is not the measure of all things. 'Who wants to guarantee that the ship is really completely empty during refueling', says the spokesperson for TUI Cruises. The shipping company has already ordered the next three ships - ships 7 and 8 will then replace the first two, the oldest cruise ships in the fleet. The growth path is to continue. In 2019, TUI Cruises wants to have a fleet of six ships, the most modern in Europe with a market share of 25 percent. Last year it was still 19 percent.