John

Richard Vogel has been appointed managing director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises joining fellow md’s Sebastian Ahrens and Günther Brauer on the board.

The former AIDA Cruises executive, who joined TUI as director of special projects in 2004, is tasked with the development of a mass-market cruise product under the TUI Cruises brand. He will reporting directly to the board of parent group TUI AG.

Last month TUI said it would stick to its plans to expand its own cruise activities, mainly within the framework of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, following the announcement that it and Carnival Corp & plc were abandoning their proposed joint venture to develop a new cruise brand.

Hapag-Lloyd operates four ships in the German market: Bremen, Columbus, Europa and Hanseatic. In the British market, TUI subsidiary TUI Travel operates five ships under the Thomson Cruises brand, as well as two ships under Island Cruises in a joint venture with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, following the early September merger of First Choice Holidays and TUI’s tourism arm.

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John

Past cruises:
Apr 03 Norwegian Sun - W Caribbean
May 04 Norwegian Dream - Mediterranean
Nov 05 Radiance of the Seas - E Caribbean
Nov 05 Radiance of the Seas - W Caribbean
Oct 06 P&O Arcadia - Spirit of the Caribbean
May 07 Fred Olsen Braemar - Dutch Weekend
Oct 07 Norwegian Gem - Shakedown
Oct 07 Vision of the Seas - Mexican Riviera
Nov 07 Monarch of the Seas - Baja Cruise
July 08 Queen Elizabeth 2 -Holland & Belgium
Nov 08 P&O Artemis - Panama Canal

Seranade of the Seas - Alaska Cruise Cruising in: 179 day(s), 13 hour(s), 43 minute(s)