Grand Celebration has been beached at the shipbreaking yard in Alang, India. While we reported already in November this might be coming, the vessel can be seen today on our cruise ship tracker as on the beach at the facility in Bhavnagar district.

A fan favorite for short breaks to the Bahamas from Florida, the vessel had been sailing for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line since 2014. As early as September 2020 the cruise line announced that the vessel would return to sailing on November 4, 2020. While that date never happened due to the CDC’s no-sail-order, it is staggering to think how fast these things can change.

This makes the Grand Celebration the next in a long line of cruise ships that have been beached this year and the previous.

Beached and Scrapped

On Nov 16, 2020, Cruise Hive reported that the ship could well be heading to the scrapyard, as a course had been planned into a shipping tracker. Today was finally the day that Grand Celebration met her end. You can see a photo of the vessel beached which was posted by Janvi Bhuri Baraiya:

Video footage of the former Carnival cruise ship has also been posted online and in the coming weeks she will no longer start to look like a cruise ship:

Of the other Holiday class ships, the only one that is still under operations is the former Holiday itself, which is currently under the ownership of Seajets in Greece as the MV Magellan.

Grand Celebration sailed for Carnival Cruise Line between 1987 and 2008. She was one of three out of the Holiday class of ships, the first set of new-builds by Carnival Cruise Line.

The ship was built in 1986 at the Kockums Varv shipyard in Malmö, Sweden, for Carnival. Carnival Celebration was in service for the cruise giant for 20 years. The 1497 passenger, 47,262 GT, was turned over to Ibero Cruises in 2008 and renamed Grand Celebration after a refit.

The vessel remained in Ibero Cruises for only six years until 2014. The ship was transferred to Costa Cruises and quickly sold on to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, where she sailed on 2-day Bahamas cruises from Florida.

The Pandemic Hits Hard

It is the next thing on the list for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line since the start of the pandemic. Crew members stuck on board for months and months, and a court case against the cruise line with settlements to be paid. It’s been a hectic year for the cruise line.

$612,000 to 276 crew members of both Grand Celebration and Grand Classica. The settlement Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is to pay back pay for crew members held onboard Grand Celebration against their will during the first months of the pandemic.

A judge in Florida signed a settlement last Thursday, which forces the cruise line to pay a significant settlement that will provide up to two months’ severance pay for former employees. The crew members were not only held but also subsequently lost their jobs when the cruise industry shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read: Which Cruise Ships are Being Scrapped or Sold Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Whether the lawsuit is why the ship has been sold and scrapped is not known; it certainly would not have helped the small cruise line. The lawsuit goes into great detail about how far the Cruise Line went to force the crew into submission.

As a sign of the times, and probably no one is present to update the website, the cruise line still advertises the Grand Celebration on its website, although it’s not possible to book any cruises.

Where this leaves Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line for when the pandemic ends is not entirely clear. Grand Classica is currently moored in the Bahamas, so we’ll keep an eye on this.

Main Photo Credit: Janvi Bhuri Baraiya

Carnival Cruise Line has announced further cancellations, and it now means that no Carnival cruise ships will sail in March. It delays the resumption of operations until April at the very earliest.

Carnival Cancels All March Sailings

Carnival Cruise Line has announced a new round of cancellations, and the suspension of operations will continue until April 2021. Select ships will also be delayed due to dry dock upgrades. Here is the full list of which ships are delayed and the current situation:

• All embarkations from U.S. homeports through March 31, 2021
• Carnival Freedom from Galveston through April 10, 2021 (which includes a repositioning of the ship from Galveston to Seattle and a 17-day Carnival Journeys cruise which is not allowed under the current guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC))
• Carnival Miracle from San Diego and San Francisco through September 16, 2021 (which includes many 10-day and longer itineraries not allowed under the current CDC guidelines)
• Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral from September 17-October 18, 2021 (to accommodate rescheduled dry dock work)
• Carnival Sunshine from Charleston from October 11-November 13, 2021 (to accommodate rescheduled dry dock work)
• Carnival Spirit’s 15-day cruise from Singapore to Brisbane on June 12, 2021 (consistent with the current limitations on international travel in place in Australia).

This announcement was expected with many cruisers already noticing on social media that Carnival had removed all sailing in March 2021 from its booking engine.

Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said:

“We are sorry to disappoint our guests, as we can see from our booking activity that there is clearly a pent-up demand for cruising on Carnival.  We appreciate their patience and support as we continue to work on our plans to resume operations in 2021 with a gradual, phased in approach.”

Impacted Guests

The Miami-based cruise line is contacting guests and travel agents impacted by the new round of cancellations. The cruise line is offering a Future Cruises Credit (FCC) and onboard credit. Guests can alternatively request a full refund if they no longer want to cruise in the future.

The Delays Keep on Coming

As the pandemic sweeps across the United States and the world, cruising continues to be on hold. Carnival Cruise Line hoped to return with a limited number of ships in March 2021, but now this won’t be the case.

The Conditional Sailing Order implemented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) needs cruise lines to implement many changes to make sure guests and crew remain safe.

With the fleet being on hold for almost a year, it’s not easy to prepare the ships. Crew members need to be brought back and trained along with test sailings. Cruise Hive has already reported on several ships recently returning to the U.S. to start the preparations.

With cruise lines not not being able to offer cruises longer than seven days, many itineraries have been moved until November 2021 and that has impacted operations for ships that sail Carnival Journeys and longer sailings.

It’s going to be a long recovery for the cruise industry.

Previous Cancellations

Carnival has suspended operations since March 2020. The cruise line had previously cancelled scheduled sailings out of Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston through February 28, 2021.

The original hope was that cruises would resume once 2021 arrived but the return dates seem to keep being delayed. Carnival’s new Mardi Gras which is the most anticipated new cruise ship for 2021 is delayed until April 24 out of Port Canaveral.

The new year did not start well for former Carnival cruise line ship Ocean Dream, formerly known as Tropicale. After a long life sailing the world’s oceans for multiple cruise lines since 1982, she was beached at the shipbreakers in Alang, India, on January 1, 2021.

The Ocean Dream is the latest in an ever-increasing list of ships that have been beached in India and Turkey over the last year. Companies are hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and are forced to eliminate costly and financially ineffective vessels.

In the last 12 months, Carnival Cruise Line has scrapped Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration, and Carnival Fantasy, sold Carnival Fascination, while another former Carnival Cruise ship is also heading for the shipbreakers in India, Grand Celebration.

You can watch the cruise ship beached in Alang, India below:

Carnival’s first new-build ship

At the time she was built, Tropicale was a first in many different ways. While Carnival was sailing with Mardi Gras, Carnivale, and TSS Festivale, the line needed to increase its presence. Building a new ship was the only option to remain competitive with the stiff competition in the Caribean; Tropicale was ordered and delivered in 1982.

Built at the Aalborg Værft, Denmark, in 1981, Carnival Tropicale could hold 1,022 passengers. As-built, she weighed in at 36,674 gross tons and measured 204.76 metres from bow to stern.

She was the first vessel to feature the iconic winged funnel, designed by Joe Farcus, who would significantly influence how cruise ships would be designed and built in the future. Due to the success of Tropicale, Carnival cruise line ordered Carnival Holiday in 1985, Carnival Jubilee in 1986, and Carnival Celebration in 1987.

Carnival Tropicale sailed for Carnival cruise line from 1982 until the year 2000. As Carnival cruise line grew in size and took on larger vessels, the line used Tropicale mainly for test voyages in places like Alaska, New Orleans, Tampa, and Puerto Rico. She became a front runner in what would ultimately become incredibly popular cruise destinations.

A Lifetime Roaming The High Seas

Tropicale was transferred to sail for Costa Cruises in the year 2000 and was renamed Costa Tropicale. During her 40-year career as a cruise ship, she was a testament to the build quality of the time. Tropicale sailed for five different operators and was renamed several times as well.

After sailing with Costa Cruises until the year 2005, she was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia under the name Pacific Star, where she sailed until the year 2008. In 2008 she left Carnival Corporation and sailed for Pullmantur and renamed yet again to Ocean Dream.

The vessel’s last assignment was for the Peace Boat organization. Peace Boat is a Japanese NGO that raises awareness internationally for human rights, sustainability, environmental protection, and other global causes. Peace Boat had operated Tropicale, or how it was now named Ocean Dream, since 2008.

In 2020 the organization purchased the former Princess cruise line ship, Sun Princess, marking the end of the line for Tropicale. The end of the line sadly ended on a beach in India, amongst other iconic vessels made obsolete by the pandemic.

Featured Photo Credit: xenalll (Flickr, Creative Commons)

Carnival Cruise Line’s new cruise ship has come out on top in Cruise Hive’s annual Cruise Ship Awards. Mardi Gras is the most anticipated new cruise ship for 2021 according to readers of the website.

Mardi Gras Comes Out On Top

It doesn’t really come as a surprise that Carnival’s new Mardi Gras has become the most anticipated new cruise ship for 2021, according to Cruise Hive readers. The ship has no doubt been the most talked about for year’s and after months of delays, she will finally begin sailing in April 2021.

The ship was up against nine new cruise ships that will begin sailing for the first time in 2021. Mardi Gras received more votes than any of the other ships.

In a close second place came Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas that will debut in April 2021. In third came Princess Cruises’ Discovery Princess that is set to debut in November 2021.

Mardi Gras is the largest every Carnival cruise ship and is powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The new mega-ship was recently delivered from the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

She’s 180,800 gross tons with a guest capacity of 5,282 at double occupancy along with 1,282 crew members. The ship is currently the ninth-largest in the world and features the first roller coaster at sea called BOLT.

The ship will begin Caribbean cruises out of Carnival’s new Terminal 3 a Port Canaveral, Florida on April 24, 2021. She was originally scheduled to debut on August 31, 2020, out of Copenhagen.

2020 Cruise Ship Awards

The 2020 Cruise Ship Awards was more low key this year due to the global pandemic and the impact on the cruise industry. Most cruise lines remain on hold since first suspending operation in March 2020.

With just over two months of cruising this year, we decided to remove several categories and introduce new ones that focus more on what’s to come. The awards were more low-key this year, but as major cruise lines begin cruises in the first half of 2021, things can start getting back to normal.

Here is the full order of the result:

1. Mardi Gras (Carnival Cruise Line)
2. Odyssey of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)
3. Discovery Princess (Princess Cruises)
4. Valiant Lady (Virgin Voyages)
5. Disney Wish (Disney Cruise Line)
6. Costa Toscana (Costa Cruises)
7. MSC Seashore (MSC Cruises)
8. Rotterdam (Holland America Line)
9. AIDAcosma (Aida Cruises)
10. Viking Venus (Viking Cruises)

Voting opened up on the Cruise Ship Awards in mid-September and since then readers have been able to vote in six different categories. We only allow voting once from each IP address so any repeat votes were discarded. Any suspicious voting was also left out.

Take a look at our dedicated Cruise Ship Awards page to see all the results over the years since our annual awards first started in 2014.