After eight years, 10 months and four weeks of operation, totaling 3,254 days, the ship that started the TUI Cruises brand has left its fleet.

TUI bid farewell to the Mein Schiff 1 last week, having sailed the vessel between May 15, 2009 and April 11, 2018.

The 1,924-guest ship originally launched as the Galaxy for Celebrity Cruises, built at Meyer Werft and entering service in 1996, before being transferred to TUI in 2009.

TUI christened the ship in Hamburg on May 15, eight years ago, launching the German brand at the time with artist Ina Muller as the godmother.

The final port of call for the ship? Palma de Mallorca. The vessel has been transferred to sister company Marella Cruises, and will be refurbished over the next month to better serve Marella’s British customers.

The new Mein Schiff 1 launches service for TUI Cruises in May, ushering in a new era of ships as the Meyer-Turku-built vessel will have capacity for 2,900 guests at 110,000 tons.