Carnival Sells Cruise Ship From its Luxury Brand

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Luxury line Seabourn, a Carnival Corporation brand, announced it has sold one of its older ships, Seabourn Odyssey, to a Japanese transport company. The line, which in recent years has expanded into the expedition cruise market, will continue to operate the ship until mid-2024.

Seabourn Odyssey Published Voyages Will Operate

Seabourn, one of Carnival Corporationโ€™s luxury lines, will off-load Seabourn Odyssey for an undisclosed price to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., a Tokyo-based transport and shipping company, in August 2024. In an announcement on March 16, the line said it would charter the 450-guest ship and operate all published voyages through August 22, 2024.

The ship, which was christened in June 2009, will be turned over to the Japanese firm after the charter agreement ends.

Seabourn President Natalya Leahy said, โ€œWe are proud that Seabourn Odyssey carried our guests across the world for the last 14 years and are happy to see her join a great company, MOL.โ€

She added, โ€œAs we prepare to say farewell to Odyssey in September 2024, I am excited to further optimize our fleet as we grow our expedition business. With the addition of Seabourn Pursuit this summer, Seabourn will have one of the most modern fleets in the ultra-luxury segment with an average age of just seven years.โ€

Seabourn Cruise Ship
Photo Credit: Roger Utting / Shutterstock

The luxury lineโ€™s first expedition ship, Seabourn Venture, launched in 2022, and its second, Seabourn Pursuit, is to debut this year. The date of the new expedition shipโ€™s inaugural cruise has not been confirmed.

Seabourn said that its fleet expansion into the expedition market will enable a more diverse offering of deployments. It noted that the six-ship fleet, including Seabourn Pursuit, will offer a higher guest capacity even after Seabourn Odysseyโ€™s departure.

The 32,346 gross ton Seabourn Odyssey is an 11-deck ship with 229 suites in four categories: ocean view, veranda, penthouse, and ownerโ€™s suites. When it launched, the ship had the distinction of featuring one of the largest spas at sea, at more than 11,000 square feet. The ship was constructed at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy, following its keel laying at the CIMAR Shipyard in Udine, Italy.

Early Warning on Ship Sales

Carnival Corporation had disclosed in early February that three ships across its nine brands were to be sold soon, two of which would come from the Costa Cruises fleet. The identity of the individual ships was not revealed, but they were all described as smaller ships. Seabourn Odyssey fits that description, but the Costa ships planned for sale have not been identified.

Carnival Fantasy-Class Cruise Ships
Photo Credit: 4kclips / Shutterstock

As the suspension of operations due to the pandemic affected its businesses, Carnival Corporation since 2020 off-loaded more than a dozen vessels from various brands.

Five of Carnival Cruise Lineโ€™s Fantasy class ships were sold or scrapped, the most recent being Carnival Ecstasy, which sailed its final cruise in October 2022. Earlier Fantasy-class vessels dispatched from the line included Carnival Fascination, Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Fantasy.

The parent company also sold four Holland America Line ships, two Princess Cruisesโ€™ ships, two Costa Cruisesโ€™ vessels and one from the P&O Cruises fleet.

In May 2022, Carnival Corporation was said to be in talks with a Saudi investment fund to sell the Seabourn brand outright, and possibly the Cunard line as well. Carnival disputed the rumors, and has held onto both cruise lines.

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