Variety Cruises Explained

Variety Cruises
Type:Private cruises
Foundation:2006
Founder:Lakis Venetopoulos
Location:Athens, Greece.
Area Served:Greece, Turkey, The Adriatic Sea, North Sea, Costa Rica & Panama, Cuba, the Canary Islands, Seychelles, Costa Rica & Panama, and Cape Verde
Key People:Lakis Venetopoulos, CEO, Chairman and President
Dimitris Vassilakis, COO
Industry:Cruises
Services:Cruises
Homepage:www.varietycruises.com

Variety Cruises is a private yacht cruise line based in Athens, Greece. It owns and operates a number of small cruise ships and yachts. The company was founded in 2006 by Lakis Venetopoulos.[1]

History

Variety Cruises was established in 2006 following the merge of Zeus Tours & Yacht Cruises, a third generation cruise and tourism business operating since 1949, and Hellas Yachts, which started operating small ships cruises in 1993. The company’s history dates back to 1949 when the original founder of Zeus Cruises built the company’s first ship Eleutherios in order to fill a need for educational travel in Greece.[2]

In 2013, the company founded a school project in The Gambia entitled The Lamin Koto School Project [3]

Company

The company has established itself as one of the pioneers in theme cruises including gay and lesbian-themed cruises.[4] [5] [6] [7]

Destinations

The cruise lines' first destination was Greece, but since the company's expansion a number of destinations include the Adriatic Sea, Costa Rica & Panama, Cuba,[8] the Canary Islands, Seychelles, and Cape Verde.[9] The company's West Africa destination was featured by CNN for their Rivers of West Africa program.[10]

Fleet

Variety Cruises runs a fleet of eight small cruise ships, in addition to owning and renting a fleet of 4 private yachts. The company's flagship is the Variety Voyager, followed by the Galileo, the Panorama, Panorama II, the Harmony V, the Harmony G, the Pegasos, and the Callisto.[11] The company also owns a fleet of smaller yachts solely available for charter including the Obsession, the Absolute King, Christiane, and the Monte Carlo.

Notes and References

  1. News: Rough Going for Greek Merchant Fleet. Tagliabue. John. The New York Times . 27 May 1997 . 2018-07-30. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20160419182850/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/27/business/rough-going-for-greek-merchant-fleet.html. 19 April 2016. live. dmy-all.
  2. Web site: 2021-11-04 . Variety Cruises' CEO Fillipos Venetopoulos has a big vision for small ships . 2023-08-10 . seatrade-cruise.com . en.
  3. Web site: Media Center . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180731032713/http://www.varietycruises.com/english/home/mediaCenter/0/variety-cruises-lamin-koto-school-project-rivers-of-west-africa-cruise/35 . 31 July 2018 . 2018-07-30 . Varietycruises.com . dmy-all.
  4. Web site: Top 10 Cruise Lines for Gay and Lesbian Travelers - Cruise Critic. Cruisecritic.com. en-us. 2018-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160405043414/http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3. 5 April 2016. live. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: Variety Cruises Announces Gay Cruise in Greece Benefitting the Trevor Project - Frontiers Media . 5 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160603053017/https://www.frontiersmedia.com/frontiers-blog/2012/07/15/variety-cruises-announces-gay-cruise-in-greec/ . 3 June 2016 . dead . dmy-all .
  6. Web site: Variety Cruises courts gay community, yoga enthusiasts: Travel Weekly. Travelweekly.com. en. 2018-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160419222841/http://www.travelweekly.com/cruise-travel/insights/variety-cruises-courts-gay-community-yoga-enthusiasts/. 19 April 2016. live. dmy-all.
  7. News: Variety Cruises expands gay voyages for 2013. USA TODAY. 2018-07-30. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20180731032708/https://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/01/28/variety-cruises-gay-voyage-europe/1871001/. 31 July 2018. live. dmy-all.
  8. Web site: Cuba on a Small Ship - Panorama Review - Cruise Critic. Cruisecritic.com. en-us. 2018-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160417024601/http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=502412. 17 April 2016. live. dmy-all.
  9. Web site: Our Destinations. Varietycruises.com. 2018-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160315232954/http://www.varietycruises.com/english/home/cruiseCalendar. 15 March 2016. live. dmy-all.
  10. Web site: West africa the variety cruises way. CNN iReport. en. 2018-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160419194155/http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-814125. 19 April 2016. live. dmy-all.
  11. Web site: Media Center. Varietycruises.com. 2018-07-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406062107/http://www.varietycruises.com/english/home/mediaCenter/0/variety-cruises-announces-acquisition-of-the-my-callisto/62. 6 April 2016. live. dmy-all.