The Alang Fleet: These Five Ships Will Be Scrapped in India

Five cruise ships are in the process of being scrapped in India following the COVID-19 pandemic which has accelerated the retirement of cruise ships.

Karnika
Capacity: 1,578
Tonnage: 70,130
Year built: 1990
Last Cruise Line: Jalesh Cruises

A victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jalesh Cruises was shut down by its owners in October. As a consequence, Karnika, the company’s sole vessel, was sold for scrap in November.

---

Ocean Dream
Capacity: 1,022
Tonnage: 36,674
Year built: 1982
Last Cruise Line: Peace Boat

The Ocean Dream was beached on New Year’s Eve, ending its 38-year seagoing career. Previously operated by the Peace Boat Organization, the vessel was replaced by the newer and larger Pacific World, the former Sun Princess. 

---

Marco Polo 
Capacity: 800
Tonnage: 22,080
Year built: 1965
Last Cruise Line: Cruise & Maritime

After Cruise & Maritime Voyages went into administration, the Marco Polo was auctioned in October. The new owners planned to use the ship on charter deals, looking into options that even included transforming it into a permanent hotel. None of the deal materialized.

---

Grand Celebration 
Capacity: 1,800
Tonnage: 47,262
Year built: 1987
Last Cruise Line: Bahamas Paradise
Operating for Bahamas Paradise since 2015, the Grand Celebration was sold in November. While the cruise line initially denied the sale, the 1987-built vessel set course to India, arriving in Alang on January 11.   

---

Satoshi (ex-Pacific Dawn)
Capacity: 1,590
Tonnage: 70,000
Year built: 1991
Last Cruise Line: P&O Australia

Sold by P&O Australia in October, the former Pacific Dawn was set to become a floating tech hub off the coast of Panama. The plan, however, fell through in December and the ship, now named Satoshi, was sold to Indian breakers.  

Bahamas Paradise’s Grand Celebration Likely Getting Scrapped

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Celebration is likely heading to the end of her cruise career as the ship is rumoured to have been sold for scrap and is currently sailing toward India, where the 1987-built vessel is expected to arrive in early January.

Company officials did not return a request for comment, while a separate Facebook post from the cruise operator reassuring guests they would return to service soon has since been removed.

The cruise line’s website has also been simplified recently, while its booking engine has been offline for at least three weeks.

“Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is pleased to announce that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lifted the no-sail order and provided new guidelines for cruises to resume sailing. Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is now working to comply with all requirements to ensure a safe return for guests to Grand Bahama Island,” the company said, on its website, noting it will “be accepting reservations very soon.”

With the Grand Celebration presumably exiting the fleet, it leaves the company with the more modern Grand Classica under its banner, offering two-night cruises to the Bahamas from Palm Beach.

Trump Asks Cruise Lines for Housing Assistance in the Bahamas

U.S. President #DonaldTrump has asked cruise lines to further help in the Bahamas by providing housing assistance in a post on Twitter.

"The @USCG, @FEMA, and all others, along with other countries that have been helping, have been asked to move people in the badly hit sections of the Bahamas to other sections of the Bahamas that were not hit – and that are in good condition. Any cruise ship companies willing to act as stationary housing, etc., I am sure would be appreciated!"

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

 · Sep 7, 2019

The @USCG, @FEMA, and all others, along with other countries that have been helping, have been asked to move people in the badly hit sections of the Bahamas to other sections of the Bahamas....

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

....that were not hit – and that are in good condition. Any cruise ship companies willing to act as stationary housing, etc., I am sure would be appreciated!

47.2K

12:56 AM - Sep 7, 2019

Twitter Ads info and privacy

12.6K people are talking about this

Cruise lines are no stranger to lending their ships for aid as FEMA previously chartered the Carnival Fascination and Grand Celebration following hurricanes in 2017; Carnival also chartered ships to FEMA following Hurricane Katrina to help house emergency workers. 

Displaced residents and emergency workers in Grand Bahama will be short on housing, with cruise ships, ferries and accommodation vessels potentially being able to assist. 

The cruise lines have stepped up significantly in the Bahamas, delivering supplies, relief workers and even helping to evacuate. 

FEMA Carnival Charter Cost $74.7 Million

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) charter of the Carnival Fascination will cost the agency $74.7 million, according to the contract between FEMA and Carnival Corporation, which was obtained by Cruise Industry News through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The ship was chartered to provide housing for relief staff in the United States Virgin Islands following a number of hurricanes in September.

The charter period runs from October 11, 2017, to February 3, 2018, at a cost of $39.7 million, while a separate provision for port costs and other vessel costs comes in at $35 million, totalling $74.7 million.

By comparison, a 116-day operating period for the 2,056-guest Carnival Fascination would have resulted in gross revenue of approximately $44.2 million (versus the $39.7 million for the charter), calculated using gross revenue per passenger day reported by Carnival Corporation in the fourth quarter of 2016 and analyzed by Cruise Industry News.

By comparison, FEMA chartered the Grand Celebration in a similar deal for $25.8 million. 

The contract stipulates Carnival will provide three hot and cold buffet meals per day as well as drink availability (water, coffee, tea, juice) between meals. Staterooms will be cleaned on a weekly basis. In addition, Carnival will provide access to public spaces for FEMA personnel.

The separate $35 million line item includes docking and port fees in San Juan, various logistics provisions, waste removal, fuel costs, incremental costs related to crew compensation, and the “refurbishment of the ship at the end of the charter period to bring the ship to the same standards as the beginning of the charter period.”

Bahamas Paradise: Ship Upgrades and New Vessel Named Grand Classica

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line announced today that Grand Celebration will set sail with several new guest-focused enhancements later this month, including a new adult-only area, a revitalized casino, and speciality coffee and juice bar.

The ship will return to its regularly scheduled two-night sailings on December 23, 2017, from its homeport in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

The company also announced that its new vessel, set to arrive in April, will be named Grand Classica and will also sail two-night cruises to Grand Bahama Island. The ship is currently sailing as the Costa neoClassica. 

The company has recently signed a three-year agreement with the Bahamas to bring both of its ships to Grand Bahama Island for two-night cruises.

“We are pleased to have been able to assist those in need in the Caribbean. Now we are ready to return to offering memorable cruises to our guests. We are excited to welcome an even better Grand Celebration back to Palm Beach, just in time for the holidays, with several new spaces for our guests to enjoy,” said Oneil Khosa, chief executive officer of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. “We are also looking forward to the arrival of our new ship, Grand Classica, in April, and have strengthened our relationship with The Bahamas by signing a three-year agreement to bring both ships to Grand Bahama Island, thus offering daily arrivals to Grand Bahama Island and giving our guests added convenience to fit their schedules.

“Grand Classica will be a wonderful addition and complement to Grand Celebration,” said Khosa. “Having two ships sailing to Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line will be the largest provider of tourism to the island, carrying more than 500,000 passengers annually. It will also give our guests more flexibility and choice.”

Cruise lines have mixed success on sanitation inspections in 2014

The cruise industry had fewer ships in 2014 that received "not satisfactory” grades after inspection by the U.S Centers for Disease Control, but also fewer that scored a perfect 100.

Twelve vessels failed to grade out at 85, the minimum score needed to achieve a satisfactory rating, during inspections conducted in 2014.

Most were smaller, older ships carrying less than 1,000 passengers. Only one of the ships, the 2,348-passenger Norwegian Star, carried more than 2,000 passengers. The Star received an unsatisfactory grade on Feb. 16, then received a 95 on its next inspection on April 25.

The Bahamas Celebration, operated from West Palm Beach by Celebration Cruise Line, was the only ship to receive an unsatisfactory grade twice in 2014. It also did once in 2013. It was recently replaced by Grand Celebration, operated by a reorganized company, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line.

Un-Cruise Adventures, an operator of smaller ships along the U.S. West coast, had two ships receive unsatisfactory grades in 2014, the Safari Endeavor and Safari Quest. The 86-passenger Safari Endeavor also did once in 2013.

The newly launched Pearl Mist operated by Pearl Seas Cruises was graded 61 in an inspection on July 15.  Pearl Seas is a new cruise line that hadn’t operated ocean cruise ships before.

The low score of 31 was given to Schooner Zodiac, a 26-passenger two-masted tall ship sailing out of Belllingham, Wash.

Following their unsatisfactory grades, the Bahamas Celebration received a 90 on Sept. 3, the Safari Endeavor a 93 on Sept. 7, and the Safari Quest an 87 on July 18. The Pearl Mist submitted a nine-page corrective-action report but has not been reinspected. The Schooner Zodiac has not submitted a corrective-action report and has not been reinspected.

This year, 26 ships received perfect scores, down from 39 in 2013. Carnival Cruise Lines had eight ships that got perfect 100s, and Royal Caribbean International had six. Other lines with ships getting perfect scores were Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line.

Last year, 17 ships received unsatisfactory scores below 85, according to CDC records.

Ship originally built for Carnival to replace damaged Bahamas Celebration

It's official: Florida's Port of Palm Beach will be getting a replacement ship for Bahamas Celebration, which was damaged after striking an object when sailing from Freeport Oct. 31.

Grand Celebration, built in 1987 as Celebration for Carnival Cruise Lines, is to begin operating as early as February for the newly named Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, the Port of Palm Beach confirmed Tuesday. The ship will depart every other day on two-night Bahamas round-trips and offer cruise and resort vacation packages of four to eight nights.

'This is a tremendous day for the Port of Palm Beach and Palm Beach County,' executive port director Manuel Almira said.

According to port chairman Edward Oppel, the agreement for a new multi-day cruise vessel will generate an average of nearly $3.9m of annual net revenue and significant spending for Palm Beach County.

The 47,000gt Grand Celebration can carry about 1,800 passengers, about the same as the ship it's replacing. Most recently Grand Celebration was named Costa Celebration and, previously under operation by Iberocruceros, Grand Celebration.

It recently underwent a €4.5m refurbishment. Carnival Corp. & plc management referred to the ship's sale during Friday's earnings call. CFO David Bernstein said the sale had a 0.3% impact on overall costs, on an available lower berth day basis, in the fourth quarter

Bahamas Celebration, which grounded on Halloween night outside Freeport with no injuries, had entered Grand Bahama Shipyard for repairs. The vessel was built in 1981 and previously sailed as Prinsesse Ragnhild for Color Line before undergoing a major conversion in 2009 to begin Bahamas cruises from Florida. At 36,000gt, it is smaller than Grand Celebration.

Grand Celebration has 10 public decks and 751 cabins, more than 60% with ocean views. There are 14 terrace suites. The pool deck has five pools and Jacuzzis. Other public areas include a spa and fitness center, five restaurants and a casino.

The Port of Palm Beach said the ship's 950-seat 'performance center' will stage big-name concerts.