Mein Schiff 5

Mein Schiff 5 entered service for TUI Cruises in 2016, launched at Turku on 15 January. The build detail that matters is the yard. Where Mein Schiff 3 came out of STX Finland in 2014, Mein Schiff 5 was a Meyer Turku ship, and Meyer Turku's own list of deliveries records her at 98,785 gross tons against the 97,000 gross tons Wikipedia gives for Mein Schiff 3. The design idea is unambiguous. TUI Cruises is a joint venture between TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Group, sailing since 2009, built for the German speaking market in direct competition with AIDA, and German is the main language used on board.

The signature spaces come from the class. Tihany Design shaped the after end, wrapping the Große Freiheit lounge and restaurant in a faceted glass structure, the Diamant, the one piece of exterior architecture that identifies these ships at a distance. Wilson Butler Architects took the open decks, the main theatre and the Klanghaus, billed as the first concert hall at sea. Dining follows the fleet pattern, with the Atlantik restaurant, the Japanese Hanami, the steak room Richards, GOSCH Sylt for fish and the Anckelmannsplatz buffet. The sport and wellness case rests largely outdoors, on a 25 metre pool that ranks among the longest afloat, with a covered pool aft of it, backed by the SPA & Meer complex. Fares are sold on a premium all inclusive basis.

The criticisms are the class criticisms, and they are fair rather than damning. Sameness leads: this is the third of four near identical hulls delivered inside four years, and a guest moving between them finds variation in detail rather than in character. The fare, generous against mainstream lines, stops short of premium spirits and the specialty restaurant covers, so the all inclusive promise has edges. The published record is also unusually thin in English, and what exists disagrees on basic figures: the Meyer Turku delivery list puts this ship at 98,785 gross tons and the earlier Mein Schiff 4 at 99,526, while Mein Schiff 3 is given as 97,000, so comparisons drawn on tonnage alone rest on unstable ground.

That points squarely at who the ship suits. It suits German speaking passengers who want a large, modern, premium vessel without an American house style, and travellers content to spend a week inside one language. An English speaker with no German should go in clear eyed. Announcements, entertainment, the daily programme and menus are in German, because the onboard product is tailored to German tastes and German is the working language of the fleet. Individual crew will switch, but the ship does not.

**What this means for choosing a cabin.** This class was built around balconies. Published descriptions give roughly 1,250 staterooms and about 2,500 lower berths, the large majority with a balcony, so a balcony is the default, and the real decision is position rather than category. Inside and ocean view rooms are the minority, which thins out choice at the lower price points. The exposures follow from where the public rooms sit: cabins immediately beneath the open decks lie under the 25 metre pool, and cabins directly above the theatre or the concert hall sit over late finishing rooms. Amidships, with accommodation both above and below, remains the steadier pick.