Conquering the oceans

This Club Méditerranée was inspired by the sea and the desire to organize sea trips of varying lengths. The time of the Odysseys, or navigator's village as indicated by the Trident 48 of 1957, was born in 1955 and is intended for sportsmen and sea lovers. Each Odyssey is lived "the hard way." Each boat (caiques) carries a maximum of 16 GMs. Everyone lives and sleeps on deck under the stars, the sea decides the day's program. Swimsuit, towel, toothpaste plus the essential sarong are more than enough luggage.

These tours include site discovery, scuba diving, and coastal navigation. These Odysseys depart from a village (like Corfu, for example).

The desire to offer something less archaic than the comfort and rusticity of a caïque was born in 1965. That year, the Club had the bold idea of ​​offering GMs sea cruises aboard ships designed for this purpose. This is how the Ivan Franko, a ship from the Soviet fleet, was chartered for cruises in the Mediterranean. A few months later, on August 23, 1966, Club Méditerranée signed a contract with Messageries Maritimes (formerly Chargeurs Réunis) to operate the Louis Lumière, a mixed liner used on the South American line, as well as the Viet Nam. The latter would provide voyages to the Far East. The first class of both ships was fitted out to serve as a village. The contract was planned for 10 voyages.

The complexity, but above all the lack of success with GMs (the clientele at the time was not ready for this type of service) forced the Club to give up after two seasons. The Club then returned to its love of villages on the mainland.

It was only 20 years after the formula was abandoned that Club Med reappeared on the cruise market with a ship deemed revolutionary called Club Med One. The Club Med One is equipped with cutting-edge technology both in terms of navigation controls and for the propulsion mode which combines the engine and adjustable sails. The Club Med One is a true Club Med product and not a ship chartered and transformed for the needs of a season or two.

2 years later in 1991, the Club Med 2, an improved sister ship, was launched. It entered service in October 1992 on the Asian market (Yellow Sea, China Sea, coasts of Vietnam and Thailand, New Caledonia) while the elder sailed in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean. The Club Med 2 replaced its elder, sold for economic and political reasons aimed at eliminating sources of losses in 1998 (during the Philippe BOURGUIGNON presidency) to Windstar Cruises, which renamed it WindSurf. The WindSurf now sails the seas (Atlantic, Mediterranean) and sometimes crosses paths with the Club Med 2 in certain ports.