Louis Cruise Lines announces the sale of two of its older cruise ships namely MV Princesa Marissa and MV Serenade. The sale forms part of the already announced company policy for the renewal and continuous upgrading of the Louis Cruise Lines fleet.

Louis Group became interested in Sea Tourism early on in its 73 year old history. In the mid 1940s, right after the Second World War and due to the wave of migration of those times, Louis began to provide travel services for Cypriots emigrating abroad with the chartering of ships sailing to South Africa and Australia. Subsequently, the company acted as the general agent in Cyprus for the leading Greek, French and other international passenger shipping companies. These first steps and the group’s activities in sea transport constitute the foundations of Louis Cruise Lines, which started its operations in 1986 with the purchase of MV Princesa Marissa.

MV Princesa Marissa was the group’s first fully-owned cruise ship and her services led to the company’s recognition as a pioneer in developing and offering 2 and 3-day cruises from Cyprus to the Holyland, Egypt, Beirut, Syria and Rhodes as well as longer cruises to Piraeus and the Greek islands. MV Princesa Marissa had a catalytical role in placing Cyprus on the world cruising map, while simultaneously she laid the grounds for the development of Louis Cruise Lines, the 5th largest cruise operator in the world today with a leading position in the Eastern Mediterranean.

During her 22 year long service and her cruise programs out of Limassol, MV Princesa Marissa carried more than 1,300,000 passengers of all nationalities to an array of destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Among them, hundreds of thousands of Cypriots who had for the first time the opportunity to take a cruise for their holiday. Louis Cruise Lines bids farewell to her first Lady, saluting her important and long lasting contribution not only to the company but also the Cyprus tourism industry and the local economy alike. Louis considers the sale of MV Princesa Marissa as the closing of the first chapter and the recent purchase of MV Norwegian Dream and MV Norwegian Majesty as the beginning of the second chapter of its exciting history.