Older cruise ships are bearing the brunt of the COVID 19 pandemic, with many being sold off as cruise brands work to stem the losses, or in some cases, cease operations entirely.

In my last video I spoke at length about the imminent scrapping of the former CMV cruise ship Astor – so let’s start there.

You’ll probably be aware that CMV collapsed earlier this year, and in recent weeks the fleet of ships that were operating for the brand have been sold off.

Astor has now made her final voyage to the beaches of Turkey’s scrapyards. The ship’s final resting place is within the shadow of the remains of the great cluster of retired cruise ships that have met their end in Turkey – including the Monarch, Sovereign, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Imagination.

Sticking with CMV’s former fleet – the situation for the vintage cruise ship Marco Polo is a little bit less clear. While there has been much speculation that the ship will end her days at a scrapyard, she is currently enroute to Dubai. The ship is also being offered for charter (see: https://bit.ly/3741zpa )

While there is some chatter that MS. Marco Polo will become a floating
accommodation ship once arriving in Dubai, the mixed messages surrounding this ship make it difficult to predict what the future holds for one of the longest serving, and most loved cruise ships in the world.

The MV. Grand Celebration is another ship that enthusiasts are watching closely. Built in 1987 as the Celebration for Carnival Cruise Line, the ship later sailed as Grand Celebration for Iberocruises between 2008 and 2014.

A brief stint at Costa – where the ship was refurbished but never entered service – was followed by a longer career with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line – a small brand based in the Caribbean – with the ship sailing here as Grand Celebration between 2014 and 2020.

The pandemic saw Grand Celebration laid up – along with almost all of the other cruise ships around the world. After much speculation, the company confirmed that the ship had been sold – though details of the buyer are not forthcoming.

At the time of upload, there is speculation that the ship will sail to India for scrapping. Though this is yet to be confirmed, the ship has set sail from the Caribbean, bound for Port Luis in Mauritius – en route to India.

Another older cruise ship that is likely to soon end her days at the Turkish scrapyards is Marella Dream. Built as Homeric in 1986 for the now defunct Home Lines, the ship is better known for her time sailing with Holland America.

Between 1988 and 2002 the ship sailed as Westerdam for HAL and undertook a lengthening refurbishment; reemerging vastly upgraded in 1990.

As MV. Westerdam, the ship hit the silver screen as the location for the 1997 comedy movie “Out To Sea” so if you’ve seen that movie you’ll have
a pretty good idea of what she looked like as a Holland America ship.

Between 2002 and 2010 the ship sailed for Costa Cruises as Costa Europa, before joining the Marella fleet in 2010. Like all the ships I’ve spoken about in this video – Marella Dream was cancelled in March 2020 and she had been laid up in
various European ports – most recently Gazencia, Croatia.

With Marella now focusing on their newer, larger ships – the Marella Dream has left the fleet and has been removed from the company website.

She has since sailed from Croatia, bound for Greece presumably for destroying, in a move that echoes many other vessels ultimately destined for the scrapyards in Turkey.

This is all very sad news for those of us who enjoy cruising on vintage or older cruise ships. 2020 will leave a lasting impact on the cruising industry – with many of the older ships being withdrawn – leaving a younger fleet of ships to resume cruising.



CUNARD COLOURING BOOK: https://www.chriscunard.com/chrisfram...

P&O CRUISES COLOURING BOOK:
https://www.chriscunard.com/chrisfram...

The above books were authored by myself and Rachelle Cross (as well as Rob Henderson / Doug Cremer for the P&O Book). These two books are mentioned in this video. I was not paid any commission for mentioning the books in this video, however any sales of these books will result in us receiving royalties.



IMAGE REFERENCES:
Carnival Celebration Jon Worth CCBYSA2.0 https://bit.ly/2HxMoMc
Grand Celebraiton Public Domain Przemyslaw Jahr https://bit.ly/3m7CbVR
Grand Celebration Beyond My Ken CCBYSA4.0 https://bit.ly/37aFN32
Westerdam Marc Piché CCBYSA3.0 https://bit.ly/3nTEufF
Costa Europa Waerfelu CCBYSA3.0 https://bit.ly/37425U8

Original Thumbnail: Thompson Celebration thanks to Patricia Dempsey    / linerlovers  

Thumbnail Recycle Icon: Vicons Design CC BY Attribution via The Noun Project on Adobe Spark.



MUSIC & SOUND:
Youtube Audio Library

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