Orthodox Cruise Company

Orthodox Cruise Company was incorporated as a joint-stock company on November 30, 1994. For many years, it combined two activities: selling cruises and organizing trips on chartered river ships. Before 2018, the company marketed Doninturflot cruises in the Russian market and also operated as an independent tour operator. Since then, CruiseInform has described Orthodox as a Russian tour operator serving foreign guests on Doninturflot cruises. Orthodox is therefore one of the cruise operators.

History and offerings

The cruise.ru domain was registered in 1999. According to the same chronicle, the website developed into a gateway for cruise bookings and advice during the 2000s.

The company’s former tour operations did not rely exclusively on ships owned by a single company. According to CruiseInform, until 2018 Orthodox organized river trips aboard chartered cruise ships operated by various companies while also selling Doninturflot cruises in the Russian market. Historically associated ships included the Yuri Andropov. Built in 1986 at the Elbewerften Boizenburg/Roßlau shipyards, the vessel belongs to Project 302. The four-deck ship is 129 meters long and 16.7 meters wide. Other examples in the directory include the Lev Tolstoy, listed for 1994 to 2005; the Lenin, which operated in 1994–1998 and 2000–2005; and the Fedor Dostoevsky, listed for 2002–2011. The directory also lists the Sergey Yesenin (2002–2003), Vladimir Mayakovsky (2006–2011), and Dmitry Furmanov (2007–2011) for the 2000s. For 2012, it names the Marshal Koshevoy as another ship in the program. Orthodox thus used a rotating fleet of chartered vessels as a river cruise operator.

Between 2010 and 2019, Orthodox worked with Russian and international cruise operators, according to the company chronicle, broadening the geographic range of its itineraries. In 2020, the company changed its main line of business to booking services and related activities. For 2024 and 2025, the company cites an expansion of its itinerary catalog and partner network in the Russian market.

Current role

The cruise.ru website lists river and sea voyages in a booking catalog, with expedition cruises as another distinct category. Searches can be narrowed by departure point, destination, date, and trip length. The company also offers advice from cruise experts.