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| Company type | Leisure Travel |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 2004 |
| Founder | Stelios Haji-Ioannou |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Fate | discontinued |
| Headquarters | Athens ,Greece |
| Owner | Hellenic Seaways |
| Website | easycruise.com on archive.org |
EasyCruise (styled aseasyCruise) was acruise line of Greek ferry operatorHellenic Seaways. It was sold to them in August 2009 for £9 million byCypriot/British business man,Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder ofeasyGroup.[1] They launched their firstcruise shipEasyCruiseOne in 2005. Unlike other cruise lines, EasyCruise's business model offered passengers ano-frills vacation. EasyCruise ended operations in early 2010.
In December 2024, easyCruise became a cruise selling website.[2]
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who has a family background in shipping, decided to form a budget cruise line which he hoped would mirror the success of hislow-cost 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 asNeptune 2, was renamedEasyCruiseOne. On 9 May 2005, the ship finally left for her maiden voyage.[3] The service began by operating night-time departures cruising in the Mediterranean. For the winter season EasyCruise cruised in the Caribbean. Until 17 August 2007, a second boat,EasyCruiseTwo, a converted river freighter, had a route around theNetherlands andBelgium, visiting the cities ofAmsterdam,Rotterdam,Antwerp andBrussels.
In February 2008, EasyCruise made public their plans to sell theEasyCruise One due to "not having enough space", and replacing her with a ship of similar size to theEasyCruise Life.[4]
In August 2009, the single-ship cruise line was sold to Greek ferry operatorHellenic Seaways for £9 million. EasyCruise's operations were quietly discontinued sometime in early 2010. Passengers who were booked on future cruises were refunded.[5] Later that year, their sole ship was moved to Blue Ocean Cruises and briefly operated as theOcean Life. It was later sold for scrap.[6] The cruise line's website was totally abandoned with no mention of its discontinuation. Sometime around 2014, the abandoned website was removed and now redirects to the easy.com homepage.
| Ship | Built | In Service | Tonnage | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EasyCruiseOne | 1990 | 2005-2008 | 4,077 GT | Scrapped in 2022. |  |
| EasyCruiseTwo | 1981 | 2006-2007 | 1,006 GT | Operated as a riverboat. It was franchised by EasyCruise in 2006. It ceased operations in August 2007 due to the financial situation of the owner.[7] | |
| EasyCruise Life | 1981 | 2008-2010 | 9,878 GT | Scrapped in 2014. |  |
Official website via the Internet Archive
