MS Grand Celebration

MS Grand Celebration was a cruise ship originally built for Carnival Cruise Line. She was the last out of three ships to be built for Carnival's Holiday Class of cruise ships. She last sailed for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line between 2015 and 2020.

This article is about Carnival Cruise Line's former cruise ship. For her upcoming 2022 namesake vessel, see Carnival Celebration.

The Grand Celebration with original Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line livery in Freeport, Bahamas in 2016
History
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Name:
  • 1987–2008: Celebration
  • 2008–2014: Grand Celebration
  • November 2014: Costa Celebration
  • 2014–2020: Grand Celebration
  • 2020–2021: Grand
Owner:
Operator:
Port of registry:
Builder: Kockums Varv, Malmö, Sweden
Cost: US$130 million
Yard number: 597
Launched: 9 August 1986
Acquired: February 1987
Maiden voyage:
  • 14 March 1987 (as Celebration)
  • June 2008 (as Grand Celebration) (When with Ibero Cruises)
  • 3 February 2015 (with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line)
Out of service: March 2020
Identification:
Fate: Sold for scrap in 2020.[1]
Status: Beached to be scrapped in Alang, India on 14 January 2021.
General characteristics
Class and type: Holiday Class
Tonnage:
Length: 223.37 m (733 ft)
Beam: 28.20 m (93 ft)
Draught: 7.75 m (25 ft 5 in)
Decks: 10 (passenger accessible)
Installed power:
  • 2 × 7-cylinder Sulzer diesels
  • combined 23510 kW
Propulsion: 2 propellers
Speed: 21.7 knots (40.2 km/h; 25.0 mph)
Capacity: 1,496 passengers
Crew: 670

The Grand Celebration has since been retired for scrap in 2020 along with her remaining sister ship the Magellan (formerly Holiday) and other ships that were also retired due the economic losses from cruise operations being suspended worldwide following the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] A third sister ship named Henna (formerly Jubilee) was last operated by HNA Tourism. Henna was retired and was broken up for scrap in 2017.

History
Grand Celebration (Carnival Cruise Lines) at Nassau in December 2005
Grand Celebration (Ibero Cruises) at Rhodes in May 2012

The ship was built as the Celebration in 1986 by Kockums Varv in Malmö, Sweden for Carnival Cruise Lines. The Celebration began operating for Carnival on 14 March 1987. She remained in the fleet for over 20 years until she was retired from the Carnival fleet in April 2008. After leaving the fleet, Celebration 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.

In May 2014, it was announced that the ship would be renamed Costa Celebration and transferred to Costa Cruises in November 2014.[4] After the Iberocruceros brand was discontinued, the ship underwent refurbishment and was renamed the Costa Celebration. 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.[5] The next day, the 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 rebooked on other ships.[6]

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 starting in February 2015.[7][8] Bahamas Paradise was formed by former executives from the defunct Celebration Cruise Line that operated the Bahamas Celebration.[9]

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 retained the Costa livery.[10]

The Grand Celebration was scheduled to depart for her inaugural cruise on 1 February 2015, however, due to technical difficulties, the voyage was cancelled. Repairs were made and the ship set sail on 3 February.[11]

The ship continued to sail for the cruise line until March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the cruise line industry. In November 2020, there were reports the ship had been sold to scrap.[12] The company has announced the ship has been sold to a undisclosed buyer due to financial hardships associated with the cruise line industry being unable to operate due to the pandemic.[13][14] 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. The ship later set sail with its destination for Bhavnagar, India which is near where the Alang shipbreaking yard is located. The ship was beached in Alang for scrapping on January 14, 2021.[15][16][17]

Incidents
  • On the morning of 10 February 1989, MS 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 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. The Celebration remained on-site, rescuing the 42 survivors from the water and transferring them to a Cuban navy ship and tugboat before continuing on to Miami.[18]

References
  1. "Weekly Vessel Scrapping Report: 2020 Week 45". Ship&Bunker. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  2. "Was the Magellan Sold for Scrap?". Cruise Industry News. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  3. "CMV Becomes the Third Cruise Line To Go Out of Business in a Month". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. "Grand Celebration to become Costa Celebration Later This Year". Cruise News. Cruise Industry News. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  5. "Costa Celebration Moves Elsewhere - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  6. "Costa Cruises sells the ship and cancels the trip - The Medi Telegraph". www.themeditelegraph.com/en/. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  7. "UPDATE: Celebration ship will launch Sunday | Protecting Your Pocket". Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  8. "New Cruise Line Postpones First Cruise; Sets Sail Two Days Late". Cruise Critic. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  9. South Florida Sun-Sentinel (24 December 2014). "Port of Palm Beach to get new cruise ship in February". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  10. Satchell, Arlene. "Port of Palm Beach welcomes Grand Celebration cruise ship". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  11. "Grand Celebration to set sail Tuesday, cruise line says". WPTV. 3 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  12. Staff, C. I. N. (16 November 2020). "Bahamas Paradise's Grand Celebration Likely Getting Scrapped". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  13. "What's Happening to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line?". www.cruisecritic.com. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  14. "Bahamas Paradise confirms the sale of Grand Celebration". seatrade-cruise.com. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  15. "GRAND CELEBRATION". MaritimeTraffic. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  16. "The Last Six Cruise Ship Secondhand Transactions". Cruise Industry News. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  17. Gohil, Viramdevsinh. "ALANG SHIP BREAKING YARD GUJARAT INDIA". Facebook. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  18. "Cruise Ship, Freighter Collide". Sun Sentinel. 11 February 1989. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
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