MS Gemini - History

History

The Crown Jewel was built in 1992 for Crown Cruise Line (a subsidiary of EffJohn), and which was itself the merger of Finland Steamship Company and Johnson Line. The vessel Crown Jewel/Gemini is the largest cruise ship ever built in Spain. Crown Cruise Line used the ship for cruises from the United States to Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean. In 1993 the ship was chartered to Cunard Line and renamed Cunard Crown Jewel. In 1995 the ship was sold to Star Cruises, and renamed SuperStar Gemini and placed on cruise traffic from Singapore. In February 1997 the ship suffered an engine room fire.

In September 2007 Star Cruises reported that SuperStar Gemini had been sold and left the company fleet in December 2008. Reportedly the buyer was Clipper Group, a Bahama-based company who would charter the ship to a new operator in 2009. In 2008, the Clipper Group announced that they would rename the ship the Vision Star and lease the ship to the Spanish cruise ship operator, Vision Cruises. In March 2009, Vision Cruises ceased operations. In early 2009, Mediterranean Classic Cruises (formerly Monarch Classic Cruises) was booking cruises in the Aegean Sea aboard the Vision Star. However, these cruises were cancelled due to the non-availability of the Vision Star from Vision Cruises. Instead, the SuperStar Gemini was renamed Gemini, and currently has a Spanish operator, Quail Travel Group. Since the bankruptcy of Quail in 2011 Gemini has been laid up and awaits sale or charter.