Laid up in Gibraltar for several months, Plantours said it took a huge effort to get the ship ready for service within only a few days. Crew from Plantour’s Hamburg flew to the ship in the beginning of June and went to work readying her for service, including the reorganization of the hotel department under Ligabue Catering.

Director of the Cruise Division, Riccardo Polito, said that the time window was tight. After arriving on 6 June, 156 employees had to be trained aboard the Deutschland. In addition, 10 fully loaded trucks awaited the ship in the port of Kiel for the cruise which took place June 9. Further provisioning took place in Iceland and Greenland.

The 1998-built, 520-passengers Deutschland was built for Peter Deilmann Cruises, which after some difficult years and attempts to reorganize under new owners eventually shut down.

The first cruise for Plantours sailed with 370 passengers. The Deutschland sails to Greenland again on July 7 and July 15.

Plantours also sails the 420-passenger Hamburg.