Celebrity Cruises announced that one of its smaller cruise ships, the Galaxy, will be transferred to the new German cruise line TUI Cruises in March 2009.

TUI Cruises is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean, Celebrity's parent company, and European travel company Tui AG.

The 1,870-passenger Galaxy, which was launched in 1996, is just completing a minor refurbishment, but speculation about its future has been rife since it did not receive the $50 million upgrade performed on sister ship Century in 2006.

The Galaxy will undergo a major renovation following its transfer to TUI Cruises, and will operate in the Baltic in summer and the Caribbean in winter featuring on services tailored to the tastes of German cruise passengers.

“Celebrity Galaxy has been a treasured member of our family of ships since her maiden voyage in December 1996, and the outstanding crew on board will continue to offer the service with style Celebrity is known for right up until the shift to TUI Cruises," said Celebrity Cruises president and CEO Dan Hanrahan.

Speculation about the future of the third of the three sister ships, the Mercury, is now likely to increase because like Galaxy it was only given a minor refurbishment last year.