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Kids holding their hands

OUR PILLARS

'To travel is to immerse yourself’ - VARIETY CARES™ is a creative non profit foundation that ties together a like minded community of worldwide travelers who share the notion that 'to travel is to immerse yourself, with the destination and her people at heart. Our three guiding principals are:

CLEAN OCEANS 4ALL
Our ocean is the natural playground that keeps us alive and allows us to experience the world at its most beautiful pace. We owe it our love.

GENDER EQUALITY 4ALL
Gender equality means human equality; from women empowerment to accepting our gender spectrum differences we create a stronger world for all.

EDUCATION 4ALL
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. Join us as we share our love for education with youth worldwide lacking access to such.
"We don't just believe in giving back, we believe in giving." - Lakis Venetopoulos
Kids holding their hands
OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE A SUSTAINABLE SEA-GOING PLATFORM FOR ENGAGING OUR GUESTS IN MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION AND EXCHANGE OF VALUES WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES WE VISIT.
Local kids in Africa
OUR
MISSION
OUR
ACTIONS
Ocean clean up by variety cruises' members

OCEAN PROTECTION

In addition to planning and coordinating clean beach-ups for our natural playground, we join hands with 4OCEAN whose professional cleanup crews have recovered millions of pounds of plastic and debris since 2017.

SUSTAINABILITY is a word we do not take lightly. We strive for a world where ‘at home at sea’ is not a luxury of our time, but a standard for generations to come as we join the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and embrace our natural playground with love and care. Monitoring our impact on the environment with ships running on Marine diesel Oil, reducing plastic waste via our in continuous development single-use plastic reduction plan, and adhering to stringent policies on garbage management; are some of the practical ways we do so, but that is just the beginning.

A poster of the film Draw with Me with a member of the LGBTQ

LGBTQ+ ACCEPTANCE

VARIETY CARES takes great pride in joining hands with ITHAKA FILMS and THE TREVOR PROJECT in supporting an impactful campaign around LGBTQ+ Equality with the short film DRAW WITH ME.

DRAW WITH ME is a film directed by Constantine Venetopoulos in partnership with THE TREVOR PROJECT about the coming out journey of a youth who identifies as trans and about how their art became their outlet for self expression, while on the complex journey of having to be yourself in a world that at times struggles with diversity. The film has since become an impactful campaign and has screened at schools worldwide as well as the United Nations.

A school at lamin koto with a kid in the yard

LAMIN KOTO SCHOOL

The School founded in 2012 provides 100 local children their first steps to a strong education. The school facilitates English Arabic education for the local community peacefully uniting under one roof with art at the forefront.

INSIDE OUT X LAMIN KOTO

On March 2, 2011, JR won the TED prize at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and called for the creation of a global participatory art project with the potential to change the world. This project is called INSIDE OUT. Inspired by JR’s large‐format street “pastings”, INSIDE OUT gives everyone the opportunity to share their portrait and make a statement for what they stand for. It is a global platform for people to share their untold stories and transform messages of personal identity into works of public art.

KUNTAUR FILM FESTIVAL

KUNTAUR FILM FESTIVAL is a children’s film festival spreading classical film joy to rural villages without access to electricity using portable projectors and mobile sustainable generators.

The rose museum at Lami Koto

EXPLORER’S CLUB x VARIETY CRUISES

The goal of the partnership is to innovate and expand the Lamin Koto School and make it a prototype for education in the region.

As part of the expansion of the school, Variety Cares transformed an abandoned building into a museum named “The Rose Museum”, in honor of its founder Triantafyllos Venetopoulos, whose first name means “rose” in Greek.

The museum will exhibit significant objects donated by the Explorers Club, including a piece from NASA’s spaceship, a flag of the Explorers Club that went to space and a piece of a comet among other items. Other educational materials include maps, books and compasses donated to the museum from a variety of sources including Variety Cruise customers.

The M/S Panorama crew and the repatriated Cuban seamen and women

REPATRIATION OF 19 MSC PREZIOSA CREW TO CUBA

As a small ship cruise company with hospitality and warm service at our core, and with Covid-19 Pandemic putting countries on a war footing, the spirit of co-operation and resilience in the face of adversity extends to the high seas.

In 2020, the 25 cabin M/S Panorama repatriated 19 Cuban seamen and women from a large passenger liner in Barbados and made a special 14 day diversion upon an inspiring repatriation mission.

As of January 1, 2022, 5 EUROS of each passenger cruise participation go towards our efforts via VARIETY CARES, creating a better world at Sea one cruise at a time. On behalf of our team, the destinations, and the communities we visit a big THANK YOU for your contribution.

100% OF THE PROFITS from our merchandise go straight back to the mission of VARIETY CARES supporting clean oceans, gender equality, and education for all. So you can comfortably enjoy your souvenirs, while creating A BETTER WORLD AT SEA.
Local people and tourists
WAYS TO
SUPPORT
HISTORICAL MILESTONES
Diogenis Venetopoulos Port Captain
1949
Diogenis Venetopoulos unveils Zeus Tours; The first floating travel immersion company supporting archaeological sites.
A black and white photo of the Zeus Tours ventures at Sea as Zeus Cruises
1968
Zeus Tours ventures at Sea as Zeus Cruises + Collaborations with local causes throughout the Mediterranean begin.
View to Santorini's Caldera
1990
Zeus Cruises joins Santorini's Akrotiri archaeological site in support.
Photo with native people and Variety Cruises' tourists
2005
Variety Cruises expands worldwide immersing into new communities.
A tourist meeting local people
2011
Variety Cruises takes on its fully fledged Education Prototype & Lamin Koto Shool is launched in The Gambia under Lakis Venetopoulos’ leadership.
Black and white photo of a small ship in the sea with tropical islands in the background
2012
Variety Cruises pledges support to the Seychelles Archbishop Scholarship.
Variety Cruises - LGBT-friendly small ship cruises, a couple huging and smiling
2013
Variety Cruises pledges support to the LGBTQI+ community + VARIETY PRIDE is developed.
Tourist with girls from local school
2015
Variety Cruises pledges its first Student Scholarship in The Gambia.
People watching cinema
2016
Variety Cruises supports children's education with Kuntaur Film Festival.
A group of local kids in Africa
2017
Variety Cruises pledges to become a leader of environmental sustainability.
United Nations photo with the flags
2019
VARIETY PRIDE honors THE TREVOR PROJECT at the UNITED NATIONS.
Black and white photo of an african kid staring a wall with children's photos
2019
Variety Cares celebrates LAMIN KOTO SUPER SCHOOL.
Small boat's exterior
2020
VARIETY CARES celebrates The Gambia with the INSIDE OUT ART INITIATIVE.
A little turtle in the ocean waters
2021
VARIETY CARES joins TOURISM DECLARES CLIMATE EMERGENCY.
The "explorers' club" magazine
2022
VARIETY CARES joins the efforts of THE EXPLORERS CLUB for WORLD OCEANS WEEK.
TEAM
Constantinos Venetopoulos, founder of Variety Cruises
Constantine Venetopoulos
Director of Corporate Social Responsibility
Ioanna Giantsi - Operations Manager for Variety Cruises
Ioanna Giantsi
Board of Directors Advisory
Dimitris Vassilakis - CEO – Founding Partnerof Variety Cruises
Dimitris Vassilakis
Advisory Director
Malvina Vonta Chief Commercial Officer
Malvina Vonta
Press Relations
Christina Venetopoulou - Cruise Director for Variety Cruises
Christina Venetopoulou
Human Resource Management
Filippos Venetopoulos Chief Executive Officer at Variety Cruises
Filippos Venetopoulos
International Relations
Tourism awards 2019 gold winner logo on a white background
TOURISM AWARDS 2019 / “Best in Responsible & Sustainable Tourism “
Cruise Critic 2018 award with "Best for Small Ship Cruises" text
CRUISE CRITIC CRUISERS’ CHOICE 2018 / “Best in Eastern Mediterranean”
Variety Cruises - Best Boutique Cruise Line logo
USA TODAY 10Best READER’S CHOICE 2016 / “World's Best Boutique Cruise Line”
Gold medal with "Tourism Awards 2016" logo
TOURISM AWARDS 2015 & 2016 / “Best for Small Ship Cruising in Greece “
Greek Tourism Awards 2016 Gold Award with "Best Small Ship Cruise Company" text
TOURISM AWARDS 2017 / “Best for Small Ship Cruising in Greece “
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