MS ''Celebration'' (also known as ''Grand Celebration'') was a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

originally built for

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...

. She was the last of three ships to be built in Carnival's of cruise ships. She last sailed for

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line Margaritaville at Sea (formerly Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line) is a cruise line that operates cruises out of Florida to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The company was incorporated in 2018 as Classica Cruise Operator Limited Incorporated. Origina ...

between 2015 and 2020. The ''Grand Celebration'' was sold for scrap in 2020 with her sister ship, , precipitated in part by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A third sister ship, , was last operated by HNA Tourism. ''Jubilee'' was retired and scrapped in 2017.

History

The ship was built as the ''Celebration'' in 1986 by Kockums Varv in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

for

Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

. ''Celebration'' began operating for Carnival on 14 March 1987. On the morning of 10 February 1989, ''Celebration'' collided with the Cuban freighter ''Captain San Luis'', causing the latter to break in half and sink in 13 minutes. Three crew members of the ''Captain San Luis'', including her captain, were reported missing and presumed dead. The freighter was hauling cement at the time of the collision and had been experiencing electrical problems which left the ship without lights, navigational equipment, or steering. ''Celebration'' remained on-site, rescuing 42 survivors and transferring them to Cuban vessels before continuing to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. She remained in their fleet for over 20 years until she was retired in April 2008. She underwent an extensive refit and re-entered service with Carnival's subsidiary, Iberocruceros, as the ''Grand Celebration'' in the summer. The refit included new hull artwork and updated interiors. center, 400px, ''Celebration'' docked in Nassau, Bahamas with ''Carnival Fascination'' & Royal Caribbean International">Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships on June 25, 2006">Carnival Fascination">Nassau, Bahamas with ''Carnival Fascination'' & Royal Caribbean International">Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships on June 25, 2006 In May 2014, as a result of the discontinuation of the Iberocruceros subsidiary, Carnival announced that the ship would be transferred to another of its lines, Costa Cruises, and renamed ''Costa Celebration'' in November 2014. Another refurbishment and refit was performed at that time. On 21 November 2014, on the day before the ship was scheduled to depart on her inaugural voyage, it was announced that the vessel had been sold to an unnamed buyer. The next day, ''Costa Celebration'' was removed from Costa's fleet and all bookings were cancelled. Passengers who had booked on ''Costa Celebration''s future cruises were either refunded or re-booked on other ships. On 23 December 2014, it was revealed that the ship had been purchased by the newly formed Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, who would reuse the name ''Grand Celebration'' and sail out of the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Florida, beginning in February 2015. Bahamas Paradise was formed by former executives from defunct Celebration Cruise Line that had operated . On 6 January 2015, the ''Grand Celebration'' arrived at the Port of Palm Beach for refit into Bahamas Paradise livery. During arrival, it was noticed that her ''Costa Celebration'' name was painted over with the ''Grand Celebration'' name, but the

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

retained the Costa livery. ''Grand Celebration'' departed on 3 February 2015 on her inaugural cruise, two days later than anticipated due to last-minute repairs. The ship continued to sail for the cruise line until March 2020 when the

halted the cruise line industry. In November 2020, there were reports the ship had been sold to

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

. The company shortly thereafter announced the ship had been sold to a undisclosed buyer. She left Freeport, Bahamas, on 12 November 2020 and arrived at Port Louis Anch, Mauritius, on 30 December 2020 for refueling. At the same time, she was renamed ''Grand'' during refueling and her flag was changed to

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

. The ship later set sail for

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

, India, near the

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

shipbreaking yard. The ship was beached at Alang for scrapping on 14 January 2021, which commenced on 9 March.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celebration Cruise ships of Portugal Ships built in Malmö 1986 ships Ships of Carnival Cruise Line Holiday-class cruise ships Carnival Cruise Lines Maritime incidents in 1989