Mein Schiff 1

Overview

The Mein Schiff 1 recorded in the dataset is the second ship to carry that name for TUI Cruises — and the distinction matters, because the first Mein Schiff 1 (a converted Celebrity Cruises ship) was still in the fleet when this one was ordered. The 2018 ship is a purpose-built newbuild from Meyer Turku in Finland, the lead ship of the enlarged generation of TUI's "Blu Motion" design, and at her delivery she was described by her operator as the starting point of a new generation for the German premium market. She is about 20 m longer than the four Blu Motion ships that preceded her, with more cabins, a redesigned stern and a stronger emphasis on the sport-and-wellness positioning that defines the Mein Schiff brand. The dataset row is sparse — name, operator, status and a 2018 launch year only — so published figures in this guide are flagged where they are relied on.

Key specifications

The dataset records no IMO, tonnage, dimensions, capacity, crew, speed, builder or class for this hull; that gap is reported with this guide. Published sources give a consistent picture. Her gross tonnage is 111,500 GT. Her length is about 315 m and beam about 36 m. Passenger capacity is published as about 2,894 guests (3,132 in some delivery reporting, which appears to be a maximum figure) with about 1,092 crew and 1,437 cabins. Her IMO number is not given in the sources consulted for this guide and is not stated here rather than guessed. Her yard number at Meyer Turku is given in CruiseMapper's ship history as NB-1392. She is classed, in TUI's fleet organisation, with the enlarged Blu Motion group alongside Mein Schiff 2 and Mein Schiff 7.

Design and construction

The ship was ordered on 1 July 2015. Steel-cutting took place on 16 August 2016 at Meyer Turku, the keel was laid on 13 February 2017, and she was floated out on 29 September 2017 in the presence of TUI Cruises' chief executive Wybcke Meier and Meyer Turku's Jan Meyer. She was delivered on 25 April 2018. The design stretches the preceding Blu Motion ships (the Mein Schiff 3–6 series) by some 20 m, and the extra length went into accommodation and public space rather than into a new concept: the brand's established elements were retained and enlarged, including the 25 m outdoor pool and the glass "Diamond" at the stern — on this generation a steel-and-glass window structure about 50 m wide above the propellers, housing the Diamant Bar — while a covered sports arena, a longer (438 m) jogging track and expanded spa and gym areas reinforced the wellness positioning. Environmentally, she was reported about 10% more energy-efficient than Mein Schiff 6, with catalytic converters fitted to main and auxiliary engines to cut nitrogen-oxide emissions. Design partners included Wilson Butler Architects, CM Design and Tillberg Design.

Naming, launch and maiden voyage

The name is the story. TUI Cruises' first ship, the former Celebrity Galaxy, had been renamed Mein Schiff 1 in 2010; when the newbuild programme matured, the line chose continuity over novelty, transferring the old ship to sister brand Marella (as Marella Explorer) in 2018 and giving her name to this ship. She was christened on 11 May 2018 in the Port of Hamburg, at the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai, with two godmothers: the Olympic beach-volleyball champions Kira Walkenhorst and Laura Ludwig. The dataset's launch year of 2018 is, strictly, her delivery and entry-into-service year; the float-out took place on 29 September 2017. Her maiden voyage followed the Hamburg christening in May 2018; no more precise maiden-voyage date is given in the dataset.

Career by operator

One name, one operator, no transfers: the table is short because the career, so far, is simple. The context around it is the growth of TUI Cruises itself — a joint venture serving the German-speaking premium market, whose entire early fleet came from Meyer Turku. This ship was the fifth Turku-built vessel for the line and the first of the enlarged design, and her service has been within that single fleet identity throughout. This directory does not record itineraries; the structural point is that she was built as a fleet flagship-generation ship for one market and has remained exactly that.

Onboard character

Mein Schiff ships are marketed in German as the "Wohlfühlflotte" — the feel-good fleet — and the 2018 ship's character was designed around that idea: premium-inclusive dining and service for a German-speaking clientele, with wellness and sport treated as headline features rather than amenities. The covered sports arena with its court and climbing wall, the long jogging track, the enlarged spa, the "Lagune" sun-deck area and the stern Diamond with its bar are the era-defining elements recorded in delivery coverage. A new space, the "Schaubühne," served as an auditorium for lectures and concerts, reflecting the German market's appetite for enrichment programming. About 90% of cabins are outside cabins, most with balconies, and a wider range of suite categories was introduced on this generation. The character is thus deliberately calm and health-oriented — the opposite pole from the high-energy resort ships of the American market in the same years.

Major refits and incidents

The ship is a recent newbuild and has had no major refit, lengthening or conversion in the sources consulted; her drydock history to date is routine maintenance. No major incident — no fire, grounding, collision or casualty — is recorded for her in the published sources used for this guide. Her environmental machinery (catalytic converters, exhaust-gas cleaning) belongs to her as-built specification rather than to a later refit, a point on which delivery reporting is clear. Where there is nothing to report, this directory reports nothing, rather than filling the section with minor operational news.

Sister ships and class

Within TUI's organisation the ship leads the enlarged Blu Motion group: Mein Schiff 1 (2018), Mein Schiff 2 (2019) — her direct sister, built to the same stretched design — and Mein Schiff 7 (2024), a later sister completed after a gap in the programme. Behind them stand the four original Blu Motion ships, Mein Schiff 3 (2014), 4 (2015), 5 (2016) and 6 (2017), from which the enlarged design was stretched. The class relationship is evolutionary rather than identical: same yard, same design language, same stern Diamond, more length and capacity. The name, meanwhile, links her backwards to a ship that is not a sister at all — the 1996-built former Celebrity Galaxy that carried Mein Schiff 1 from 2010 to 2018 and now sails as Marella Explorer. Readers should not confuse the two hulls; the dataset's 2018 date identifies this one.

Fate and where she is now

The dataset records Mein Schiff 1 as active for TUI Cruises, and fleet listings agree. She is a young ship in mid-career with her original operator under her original (inherited) name, the lead vessel of the generation on which TUI's fleet was based until the larger, LNG-fuelled inTUItion class began arriving in 2025. No sale, renaming or refit programme has been announced for her in the sources consulted. Her significance is generational: she marks the point at which TUI Cruises stopped being a line of converted ships and one-off newbuilds and became a fleet built around a single evolving Turku design.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cruise_ships, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUI_Cruises, https://www.ship-technology.com/news/tui-cruises-receives-new-vessel-meyer-turku/, https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Mein-Schiff-1-743?tab=review