There were many cruise ships scrapped during 2020, victims of the lengthy and unprecedented
cruise pause, which continues til this day.
The scrapping dominos started to fall in April of 2020, when Marella cruise line announced
they would withdraw the ageing Marella Celebration.
Entering service in 1984 as Noordam for Holland America Line, the ship had been sailing for
Marella Cruises as well as its predecessor Thompson since 2005.
While rumours persisted that Marella Celebration would be scrapped, the ship sailed for Piraeus,
Greece and has remained there laid up here, although it seems unlikely that she will ever
return to service.
In June 2020, Costa Cruise Line withdrew the Costa Victoria from service. When she first
entered service in 1996 she was a significant new build for Costa, at over 75,000 tons and
ushering in a suite of new amenities.
With the ship just 24 years old, it came as a bit of a surprise when Costa announced her
withdrawal from service. Initially the ship was sent to a shipyard in Piombino, and there
were mixed messages as to whether the ship would be scrapped or used as an accommodation
vessel for drydock workers.
Costa Victoria had remained laid up until January 2021 at which time multiple cruise
news outlets announced that the ship would be taken under tow to the scrapyards of Turkey.
I've linked to some of those articles in the description below.
When Royal Caribbean introduced the Sovereign of the Seas in 1988, it ship took the cruising
world by storm. The first in a new breed of giant cruise ships, the ship’s 73,500 gross
tons eclipsed that of the SS. Norway which was the largest ship in service and had operated
as the former Ocean Liner SS. France.
In 2008 the Sovereign of the Seas was transferred to Pullmantur Cruises, although she remained
owned by RCI. The ship was renamed Sovereign, and continued cruising with Pullmantur until
its collapse in 2020.
Sadly the collapse of Pullmantur also saw the end of the career of Sovereign. She was
sold in July 2020 to the scrapyards in Turkey. Sovereign is now largely broken up.
The Monarch started her cruising career in 1991 as a cruise ship for Royal Caribbean.
She was at the time named Monarch of the Seas.
Sister ship to Sovereign, she was built at Chantiers de L’Atlantique and shared the
same general dimensions and design. This included the distinctive raised, 360 degree observation
bar in the ship’s funnel.
Transferred to Pullmantur in 2013, Monarch also fell victim to Pullmantur’s collapse.
She was beached in July of 2020, and while she is looking a bit worse for wear, she does
remain, exterior wise, largely in tact at the beginning of 2021.
When Carnival Fantasy entered service in 1990, she ushered in a new class of ship for the
Carnival Cruise Line. Known as the Fantasy Class, and at over 70,000 tons each, these
ships were significantly larger than Carnival had built before, and brought in a suite of
new amenities on board the ships.
This included a multi-storey atrium, multiple dining venues, and a top deck full of entertainment,
sports activities and swimming pools.
As the oldest member of the fleet, Carnival Fantasy was the first to go beaching in Turkey
for scrap in July 2020. She was joined by Carnival Inspiration in July of 2020 while
Imagination was also beached for scrapping in September 2020, with all three ships alongside
one another at the Turkish scrapyard .
A fourth Fantasy Class ship was also withdrawn, and this was Carnival Fascination. After a
period of lengthy layup, where rumours persisted that she too would be scrapped, she has been
renamed Century Harmony and is expected to operate as a hotel ship in Asia.
In August, many fans of Fred Olsen Cruises were saddened to hear of the retirement of
both Black Watch and Boudicca. Both of these cruise ships date back to the 1970s, having
been built for the now defunct Royal Viking Line.
Both ships operated for a variety of brands prior to joining Fred Olsen, with both sailing
for Norwegian Cruise Line, while Boudicca also sailed for Princess operating under the
name of Golden Princess.
They were replaced by the larger, newer Bolette and Borealis – formerly Amsterdam and Rotterdam
from Holland America Line.
Though it is widely believed that both Boudicca and Black Watch will never sail again, both
ships appear to have been saved so far at least with both of them flagged for use as
accommodation vessels in Turkey.
CMV’s collapse in July of 2020 led to two of its popular cruise ships making their way
to the scrapyard in recent months.
The 1987 built Astor had been a popular cruise ship for CMV since 2013 and had numerous operators
prior to her joining the CMV fleet.
Having established CMV’s brand in Australia, the ship spent much of her latter career offering
cruises in either Australian or European waters.
With CMV’s collapse, sadly Astor was auctioned off and sent to scrap. She arrived at the
Turkish scrapyard in October 2020 where she was beached. Scrappers have wasted little
time on breaking up Astor with much of her bow and forward superstructure now dismantled.
Another CMV ship that fell victim to its collapse is the Marco Polo, beached for scrap in early
2021.
Originally built as a Soviet Ocean Liner, the Marco Polo has been in service since 1965.
Making her one of the oldest passenger ships to offer regular cruises until 2020. She was
officially withdrawn from service when CMV ceased operations, but she was sold in October
2020 with the hope that the ship would be utilised as a floating hotel.
However this was not to be, and after a short layup off the coast of Dubai, she sailed the
short journey to Alang where she beached in January of 2021, to commence the scrapping
process.
Like Marella Celebraiton, Marella Dream was an older cruise ship operating for Marella
cruises. Originally built as Homeric for Home Lines, the ship is probably best known for
her time at Holland America where she sailed as Westerdam.
She also cruised for Costa and Thompson Cruises before becoming a member of the rebranded
Marella fleet.
Although it is reported that she has been sold for scrap – like Marella Celebration
she remains laid up in Piraeus, Greece.
2020 also let to the collapse of India’s only locally based cruise line Jalesh Cruises.
and with it the withdrawal of their cruise ship Karnika.
This one hurt personally for me, because I was very fond of this ship having sailed on
her when she operated as Pacific Jewel for P&O Australia.
Built for Princess Cruises, the ship was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and featured
a unique Dolphin-inspired design on her forward superstructure.
She had a varied career – cruising as Crown Princess, A’Rosa Blu, AIDAblu, Ocean Village
Two and Pacific Jewel, before joining Jalesh cruises in 2019. Sadly she was beached at
Alang, India in November 2020.
Her near identical sister ship – the former Pacific Dawn – is expected to join her at
Alang in the coming weeks. She was sold during 2020, with the intention for her to become
a floating hub for the crypto currency community – however has since been sold to the breakers.
Grand Celebration is a former Carnival Cruise Line ship that entered service in 1987 as
Celebration, and ended her days in 2020. She sailed with both Carnival and Iberocruises,
before joining the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line fleet in 2014. With the cruise pause
dragging on, she was sold for scrap and beached at Alang, India on the 14 January.
Another Carnival cruise ship that has met her fate at Alang is the former Tropicale
– notable for being Carnival’s first ever-new build.
Recently cruising as Ocean Dream for Peaceboat, the ship also sailed for Pullmantur under
the same name. At Peaceboat, the ship was replaced by the former Pullmantur cruise ship
Zenith, which actually started her career as a Celebrity Cruise Line ship.
The Ocean Dream was no longer required, and she was sold for scrap and beached at Alang
in early January.
[Sigh]
So that was depressing! I am sorry it wasn't a more upbeat video.
But lets try and end on a more positive note and that is in relation to the retirement
of the Majesty of the Seas and the Empress of the Seas.
These two ships are of a similar vintage to the Sovereign and the Monarch, and whilst
it was of great concern that they may well end up at scrap, they have been sold to an
undisclosed buyer where it is expected they will return to service after the cruise pause
ends.
I'll keep you updated if anything changes in relation to these two ships.
Hopefully you found it interesting to get a bit of a handle on which ships have been
lost forever during 2020.
There are of course other ships that have been sold, transferred and moved around during
the cruise pause.
If you want to keep track of all the things that have been happening during 2020, check
out my cruising and COVID playlist. If you enjoyed the video, please don't forget to
subscribe and hit the notification bell, so you don't miss future videos.
Thanks so much for watching and when it is safe for us to travel again, I hope to see
you onboard.
[Happy Music]