EasyCruise
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| Leisure Travel | |
| Fate | Sold to Hellenic Seaways and discontinued. |
| Founded | April 2004 |
| Founder | Stelios Haji-Ioannou |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Athens, Greece |
| Owner | Hellenic Seaways |
| Website | easyCruise (via the Web Archive) |
EasyCruise (styled as easyCruise) was a cruise line of Greek ferry operator Hellenic Seaways. It was sold to them in August 2009 for £9 million by founder and Cypriot/British business man, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. They launched their first cruise ship EasyCruiseOne in 2005. Unlike other cruise lines, EasyCruise's business model offered passengers an inexpensive no-frills vacation with a la carte pricing for on board food and services. EasyCruise ended operations in early 2010.
Stelios, who has a family background in shipping, decided to form a budget cruise line which he hoped would mirror the success of his budget travel airline, easyJet.
In April 2004, the initial ship was acquired for an approach to cruising that was aimed at attracting younger customers who wished to spend the majority of their time on shore rather than on board a megaship. The ship would offer the barest of amenities, allowing very cheap prices to be advertised. Value would be added by charging separately for each service aboard which is normally included in the quoted price of other cruise liners. Given the minimal facilities on board, the ship would position from port to port at night or in the early morning as the passengers slept, in order to allow the maximum time in each port ashore.
After a few months of negotiation and refurbishment, the ship, formerly known as Neptune 2, was renamed EasyCruiseOne. On 9 May 2005, the ship finally left for her maiden voyage.
The service began by operating night-time departures calling between ports in St. Tropez, Cannes, Nice, Monaco, Imperia, Genoa and Portofino in the summer. For Summer 2007 EasyCruise relocated to the Greek Islands for a 14-night itinerary taking in the ports of Piraeus (Athens), Mykonos, Paros, Sifnos, Poros, Spetses, Milos, Ios, Amorgos, Naxos, Folegandros and Serifos. Previously it was possible to join the ship at any port and stay for a minimum of 2, to a maximum of 14 nights, but now you can embark solely at the port of Piraeus where it visits three times in the 14 nights. Therefore, you can create a cruise for either 3, 4, 7, 10 or 14 nights. For the winter season EasyCruise has travelled to the Caribbean calling at Barbados, St Vincent, Martinique, Bequia, Grenada and St Lucia in 2005-2006, and for Winter 2006-2007 EasyCruiseOne sailed a 1-week itinerary calling at St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Antigua, Nevis, St. Barts and Anguilla calling at St. Maarten twice.
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Wikipedia