It was looking good that the former Carnival cruise ship named Carnival Fascination was to begin sailing for new owner Century Cruises in China. However, it’s now looking like the ship will become the fourth Fantasy-class vessel to be scrapped.
Former Carnival Fascination Heads for Alang Scrapyard
The hope was that at least one of the former Carnival cruise ships would be saved and keep sailing, but that’s now looking unlikely after Century Harmony (formerly Carnival Fascination) set its course for Alang in India. When any ship has a final destination of Alang, it’s almost certain that the vessel will be scrapped.
According to the Cruise Ship Tracker, the vessel is currently at anchor in Singapore. The track shows the final destination of Alang, India, with its arrival on October 28, 2021.
Alang is on the country’s west coast and is home to the ship-breaking facility, which has become more popular recently due to ships being sold for scrap due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Century Harmony was purchased from Carnival Cruise Line in 2020, when the global suspension on cruise operations had a significant impact. Carnival Corporation needed to offload some of its older vessels to reduce costs and raise capital.
Century Harmony’s new operator, Century Cruises, planned to operate the ship after undergoing a refurbishment in China that started in May 2021. Light work had already begun not long after the vessel departed Cadiz, Spain, and work on the ship’s new name was being done during a call in Gibraltar while heading for China at the end of 2020.
The sad news is that it seems Century Cruises has now decided to sell the vessel for scrap. It’s not known why the Chinese cruise line decided to offload the former Carnival cruise ship. With steel prices sky high at the moment, that could have impacted the decision.
The cruise ship will become the fourth Fantasy-class vessel to be sold for scrap due to the pandemic. Carnival Cruise Line sold Carnival Fantasy, the first to be beached at Turkey’s Aliaga ship-breaking facility. In the months following, she was joined by Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Imagination.
There have also been other former Carnival ships that have reached the end of the line during the difficult times, including Grand Celebration (formerly Celebration), which was operated by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, and Magellan (formerly Holiday), which was operated by the now defunct Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
Carnival Fascination is set to join all the other former Carnival ships and that will be the end of the cruise ship that has brought so many memories to guests over the years.
The Fantasy-class cruise ship is 70,367 gross tons with a guest capacity of over 2,000 along with 920 crew members. The ship was built in Finland and entered service for Carnival in 1994.
