Artania

The 1984-built (as "Royal Princess") MS Artania cruise ship is one of Phoenix Reisen's chartered ocean liners, together with the fleetmates Albatros, Amadea and Amera (ex Prinsendam).

The vessel (IMO number 8201480) is currently Bahamas-flagged (MMSI 311000608) and registered in Nassau.

History - construction and ownership

The German cruise tour company Phoenix Reisen (shipowner) started cruise operations under its own brand in 1988, with the chartered for 20 years liner TS Maxim Gorkiy (1969-2009 scrapped, owned by USSR's Black Sea Shipping Company / later privatized and renamed Sovcomflot). In 1993, Phoenix Reisen added a second cruise liner - SS Albatros (1957-built as RMS Sylvania, 2004-scrapped as SS Genoa). The vessel was chartered from V-Ships for 10 years (1993-2003). Today, Phoenix Reisen (travel agency and cruise brand) has a large fleet of chartered and owned ocean ships and riverboats.

The 44,656-ton, 1,200-passenger cruise ship Artania was built in 1984 (in Helsinki) as the MS Royal Princess for Princess Cruises and christened by Lady Diana. She was transferred to P&O Cruises fleet in 2005 and renamed Artemis. The ship sailed with P&O Cruises until Apr 2011, when she was moved to the fleet of Phoenix Reisen as Artania.

At the time she was launched, Artania was the most innovative vessel in the world introducing public space on the lower decks with blocks of staterooms over them. This made her the first cruise vessel with all outside rooms and the first one to secure standard cabins with balconies. The vessel is kid-free.

Cruise itinerary program

Artania itinerary program is based on Norwegian Fjords, Iceland-Greenland and Baltic Sea cruises leaving from Kiel and Bremerhaven, Germany. The ship cruises to the Mediterranean and Canary Islands, and also in the Caribbean, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Cabins

Artania has 8 passenger decks and a total of 600 cabins (all Outside, 152 Balcony, 4 cabins for disabled) in 27 grades. All staterooms onboard ms Artania are exterior cabins and half of them are Suites or Junior Suites with private balconies. The smallest cabins are 16m², and the Royal Suite is 50m². All rooms are equipped with individually controllable air-conditioning, sat-TV, radio, telephone, safe, fridge/mini-bar, shower/bathtub and hairdryer.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

MS Artania has two Dining Rooms: Four Seasons and Artania. There are two different breakfast seatings offered, lunch is served buffet-style while dinner is a-la-carte. After-dinner snacks are also served, as well as coffee during evening hours. The dining venues' menu is international, and might or might not include some local kitchen. Other options include Lido Buffet with outdoor seating. 

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

MS Artania has gone through a variety of modernizations since she sails for Phoenix Reisen. Though built in 1984, she’s still modern and beautiful. Her classic stern with calm shielded places to sit and the promenade deck are very popular features of the unique Artania ship.

The only language used officially on ms Artania is German, and therefore most of the passengers are from German-speaking countries. There is usually personnel who speaks English, but no services in English (tours, menus, etc.) are provided. It’s strongly recommended to know a bit of German if you decide to travel on MS Artania.

MS Artania entertainment options include Panorama Lounge (Pazifik), Phoenix Lounge & Bar, Sun Deck Lounge, Casablanca Lounge, Kopernikus Bar, Lido Bar, Bodega Bar, Harry's, Atlantik Show Lounge, Wellness Area, Fitness Center, Beauty Salon, Artania Spa, sauna, steam bath, table tennis, shuffleboard, Sport Deck, whirlpool, Artania pool, Kopernikus pool, all-around promenade, Library/Jamaika Club (Internet), lobby, Fitness Center, Boutique, cinema, Theater, Disco, Photo Gallery.

MV Artania cruise ship was built in Helsinki Finland for Princess Cruises as Royal Princess and christened on November 15, 1984, by HRH Diana Princess of Wales, in Southampton England.

In April 2005, the vessel was transferred to the fleet of P&O Cruises UK and renamed "ms Artemis". On September 22, 2009, it was announced that the ship had been sold to the Artania Shipping Company but continued sailing for P&O UK. This is a privately owned vessel (asset of Artania Shipping Company), currently operated under time charter by Phoenix Reisen GmbH (major German travel agency and tour operator company).

At the time of its launch in 1984, the boat was the world's most innovatively designed, with public areas on lower decks and blocks of cabins above. It was the first cruise vessel with all outside cabins (oceanview categories), as well as the first to provide standard/cheap staterooms with private balconies.

In 2010, Sarah Breton (the British captain of MV Artemis) became the second female captain in the world, following the Swedish Karin Stahre Janson (MS Monarch, 2007).

German is the only language that is officially used on board. This is why most Phoenix Reisen cruise passengers are from German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland). There is personnel speaking English, but no services in English are provided.

MS Artania refurbishments review

On April 22, 2011, the ship was renamed "Artania" and chartered to Phoenix Reisen.

Drydock 2014 (71-day project) was conducted by Lloyd Werft (Bremerhaven Germany). Works included technical enhancements (new Wartsila engines/powerplant, new freshwater plant, new auxiliary generator, upgraded automation system), new cabins (152 balconies), asd well as public rooms renovation.

The ship's 3-week drydock refurbishment in 2017 (December 1-21, at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven) cost Phoenix Reisen ~EUR 16 million. Works included spa renovations, outdoor deck areas (new coverings), stateroom upgrades (bathrooms were updated with new bathtubs and showers), public room renovations (Harry's Bar, Atlantik Show Lounge). Technical updates included a new sewage plant, new ballast water treatment plant, new tenders.

Drydock 2019 (November 17 through December 6, at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven) was a 3-week refurbishment project for mainly general maintenance works (by the shipyard) and interior renovations (by the shipowner MS Artania Shipping Ltd). Interior renovations included nearly half of all passenger staterooms (257) completely renovated, major lounge overhauls (Pacific Lounge, Jamaica Club), new carpets-wallpapers-furnishings in the rest of the cabins and in all interior public spaces. The USD 25 million project involved ~120 shipyard employees in addition to the subcontractor workers.

Drydock 2022 (April and later in November) was a 2-phase project and included the complete refurbishment of 255 passenger staterooms (on 3 cabin decks/total interior space ~32938 ft2/3060 m2), including 64 suites (52x Junior plus 12x Gold). The accommodations received new carpets and furniture, some electrical works, and minor redesigning (wall modifications).

The ship's last drydock refurb was in 2024 (November) and conducted at Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven. Highlights of this EUR 20 million, 1-month project included:

• Adding new Balcony Cabins on Orion Deck (Deck 5) and Apollo Deck (Deck 6).
• The Artania Restaurant (Salon Deck/Deck 3 aft) was fully redesigned and a new dining venue (Pichler’s) was introduced.
• On Deck 8, the Lido buffet restaurant and the Fitness Center received new panoramic windows.
• At public areas were installed drinking water dispensers.

Technical updates included WLAN Optimization (more routers to improve WiFi coverage), hull cleaning/repainting with a silicon-based paint (reducing fuel consumption by ~15%), 4x new tenders were equipped with new engines, the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) system was upgraded to Class A standards.

Phoenix Reisen Artania World Cruise 2024

The next table shows Phoenix Reisen's "World Voyage 2024" on Artania.

The 162-day itinerary featured 11x overnight port stays in major cities.

The voyage was also available for booking in smaller segments, including: 24-day Rio de Janeiro to San Antonio, 27-day San Antonio to Auckland, 18-day Auckland to Sydney, 23-day Sydney to Benoa, 26-day Benoa to Durban, 21-day Durban to Gran Canaria.

Curiously, during World Cruise 2024, onboard Artania was filmed a new, cruise-themed documentary by VOX (2014-founded American media website owned by Vox Media). The yet-to-be-titled film was produced by Bewegte Zeiten Filmproduktion GmbH (Munich Germany-based company) which also made 500 episodes of Verrückt Nach Meer/Crazy about the Sea (2010-2022 filmed ARD documentary series about the everyday lives of crew and passengers on Phoenix Reisen ships).

The VOX filming took place on Artania's route Barbados-Panama (Bridgetown-Colon) and the following route Panama-USA (Colon-San Francisco).

Phoenix Reisen Artania World Cruise 2021 (CANCELED)

For 2021, Phoenix Reisen scheduled for MS Artania an Around Africa Cruise (World Voyage) roundtrip from Europe-Mediterranean. The 115-day itinerary was eventually canceled due to the ongoing COVID-related international travel restrictions.

"Wolrd Voyage 2021" was also available for booking in shorter segments - 21-days Suez Canal (Genoa to Dubai), 16-days (Dubai to Colombo), 17-days (Colombo to Port Louis), 21-days (Port Louis to Cape Town), 22-days (Cape Town to Dakar), 19-days (Bremerhaven to Marseille).