The Beachcomber Restaurant provided 24-hour self-service buffets. Note: Between 2002-2015, "MS Island Escape" was named the 1982-built cruise liner Scandinavia (IMO 8002597), Alang India-scrapped in 2018 as "MS Ocean Gala". Island Cruises was a cruise line that was founded as a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and First Choice Travel PLC, each of whom owned 50% of the company. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The 1982-built MS Ocean Gala cruise ship (best known as "MS Island Escape") was constructed by Dubigeon Normandie SA ( Nantes France) as the world's biggest cruiseferry at the time. Royal transferred her to their UK startup, Island Cruises and she enjoyed a successful career there until she was removed from service and put up for sale in 2015. What Made It Special: Carnival Fantasy was revolutionary when it first debuted in 1990. It does not store any personal data. The ship enjoyed short stints with P&O Australia as Pacific Star and with Spanish operator Pullmantur as Ocean Dream before being transferred, but not renamed, to Peace Boat in 2012. What Made It Special Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Magellan began life in 1985 as Carnival Cruise Line's Holiday. The new superyacht Island Escape (VARD Vung Tau yard/hull number 915) was designed by Vard Design (Vard Marine Inc's naval architecture and marine engineering division) and originally planned for delivery in April (postponed for October) 2021. She became MS Island Escape in 2002 being renamed once more as MS Ocean Gala in 2015. In the U.S., you have one facility that is approved in the European Union. Thomson's Island Cruises brand (presented by the cruise liner Island Escape) was providing an affordable resort-style vacation package with numerous onboard attractions for UK travelers as well as friendly ambience and informal dress code. Just updated! In 2016, Thomson cruises replaced Island Escape with Splendour of the Seas. It then went on to become the lead ship for budget-oriented (and now defunct) Ocean Village cruises before ending up at P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Pearl. After several drydock conversions, the vessel was last rebuilt to passenger capacity 1760 (plus 540 crew). In 2016, Thomson cruises replaced Island Escape with Splendour of the Seas. By late-August, the first cuts were being made to Carnival Fantasy's bow, and by early 2021 the ship was gone. On September 20, 2022, Marella Celebration was confirmed beached for scrapping. Its funny Wilba, we sailed on her whilst the TV series was being made! Olsen fleet and sold as an accommodation ship to a third-party buyer, its sailing days are over. I don't think the TV series on her did any favours. [18] All Horizon Deck cabins are with floor-ceiling glass doors opening to private step-out balconies. The ship was beached for scrapping in July 2022, and the first cutting began in August. [citation needed] After being withdrawn from Scandinavian World Cruises, she briefly sailed for DFDS Seaways. When the pandemic was at its peak lets say around summer 2020 and the first cruise ships started being scrapped, some of them were even getting double digits, like hardly $100 per ton, maybe $90, he said. It also features separate female and male saunas. An outdoor observation deck (forward on deck 3/at the bow) is furnished with bench seats and small coffee tables. Cunard Princess was sold to MSC Cruises in 1995, where it enjoyed a 14-year career with the popular European cruise line as their Rhapsody. [8] In November 2010, Thomson was scheduled to spend a further 4 million in refurbishing Island Escape. In 2002, she just became too dated for Royals fleet which was being dominated by the Voyager-class at this point. This is why her stern is so angular and steep. Carnival Cruise Lines announced July 23 that the 1995-built Carnival Imagination would be placed in long-term layup, with no immediate plans for it to re-enter the fleet. In March 2018, after spending several months laid up in Khalifa, she set sail for Alang, where she was beached for scrapping on 4 April 2018 at Kaya plot 103. When CMV collapsed in the summer of 2020, Marco Polo was sold at auction. After a short reprieve, the ship was beached at Alang in late November 2022. The world's largest cruise ship by passenger capacity is. Island Escape Cruises NZ (Small Cruise Lines), Island Escape cruise ship arrested in Broome WA, unable to restart sailings. Migrationsverket insisted that the agreement to house asylum seekers on Ocean Gala had been null and void since July. Our first cruise was on her sister ship the Island Star which was bigger and a former Celebrity ship. However, Chatziginnis said that steel prices globally have increased dramatically over the past few months and residual value has increased by nearly $100 per ton in each of the major ship recycling counties. MV Ocean Gala cruise ship was built for Scandinavian World Cruises (DFDS) as "ms Scandinavia". On January 15, 2021, Seajets reportedly flipped Magellan, selling it to scrapping interests in India and ending the venerable cruise ship's career. In late July, the ship arrived at the breakers in Aliaga and will be scraped alongside Sovereign. March Madness! My supervisor did her first cruise on the Escape a few years ago and likewise, she now enjoys cruising. The ship was sold to Chinese interests which, in October 2021, reportedly sold the ship for scrapping, and arrived on-location in December 2021 to be broken up. Chatziginnis said the average scrap value in India is $400 per ton. However, the applications of the charter agency for berthing the ship at Harnosand met resistance from local politicians. To avoid increased costs for heating and since Ocean Gala did not comply with Finnish-Swedish Ice Class Rules, the vessel left the port 3 November 2016. [9] Thomson Cruises has operated the Island Escape under their all-inclusive Island Cruises since starting March 2013. While these pioneers had been outclassed by . Our first cruise was on her sister ship the Island Star which was bigger and a former Celebrity ship. What Made It Special: Horizon was constructed in 1990 as the first of two nearly identical newbuilds for Celebrity Cruises. Photo courtesy of Jalesh Cruises, Peace Boat Ocean Dream at Sea. What Made It Special: The sixth vessel in Carnival's Fantasy Class, Carnival Inspiration brought more of the same whimsical Carnival fun to the line, wrapped up in longtime interior designer Joe Farcus' sometimes wacky interior decor. Cruise Critic will update this article as more details become available. All Rights Reserved. It is what got us into cruising and we had fond memories of our trip on her in spite of the Star being a tired ship. The latter was scrapped in 2017, but Holiday continued to sail on as Magellan for now-defunct Cruise and Maritime Voyages. Sadly, Astor was sold for just $1.7 million at auction, and was beached in Turkey on November 24, 2020 for scrapping. The voyage features an overnight in Queenstown, bus transfer to Fiordland NP's Milford Sound (Te Anau Lake, for a 20-minute helicopter tour and joining the yacht in Doubtful Sound), stopping in Pickersgill Harbour (Dusky Bay), cruising Dusky Sound and Breaksea Sound (Disappointment Cove, Sunday Cove, Third Cove), cruising Moana Uta (Wet Jacket Arm's marine reserve, up to Herrick Creek), overnight anchorage off Oke Island, navigating Vancouver Arm (bay) and Broughton Arm (Southland, Murihiku), then continuing north to the Fiordland sounds Nancy and Charles (Day 8), Caswell and George (Day 9), Bligh and Milford (Day 10). Get expert advice, insider tips and more. The 10-night "Tropical North Queensland" voyage (priced from NZD 11950 pp) was scheduled for October 2022. The boat has 4 decks, of which 3 are passenger-accessible and 2 with cabins. Island Escape Cruises was launched in 2006 by founder and CEO Peter Bissett. On August 26, the ship officially embarked on its last journey, sailing from Willemstad, Curacao, to Aliaga, Turkey, where it will be broken up. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. When we boarded we had a letter in our cabin to say that 'due to operational reasons' we wouldn't be doing this. For season 2023, Island Escape Cruises introduced three new itineraries - "Experience the South Pacific" (Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji), "Experience Papua New Guinea" (Sepik River, Milne Bay, Trobriand Islands, Rabaul), "Experience Tahiti" (April-June/7-night voyage visiting the Leeward Islands in French Polynesia/fly-cruise from Papeete Tahiti to Bora Bora, Tahaa, Raiatea, Huahine). The agency feared that the influx of asylum seekers would pick up again in the coming months due to warm weather. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Peter Bissett, who launched Island Escape Cruises in New Zealand in 2006, sold the original 24-passenger catamaran, Island Passage, in 2018. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Midship on deck 3 are positioned both tenders (starboard and portside) each feated with a davit crane. As Westerdam, the ship played a leading role in the 1997 comedy film Out to Sea, starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon as reluctant dance hosts. Launched in 1993 as Windward, the midsize vessel underwent a complex stretching operation -- then the largest of its kind -- at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven in 1998. Rupert Neate. I doubt that in the last decade, at least, or maybe even more than this, we have seen so many cruise ships being recycled in a year, he added. In November 2020, Island Escape Cruises opened bookings and announced details of the new ship, including an aft helipad (helicopter landing platform), 2x tender boats (used as lifeboats and for disembarkation in ports without docking facilities), 2x Zodiacs (motorized RIBs/rigid inflatable boats used for close-to-shore and inland cruising). On November 27, 2020 Ocean Dream was reported sold to scrapping interests, and was beached in Aliaga, Turkey in January 2021. History [ edit ] The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fuel costs the venture was terminated in 1976. It also sailed with Norwegian Cruise Line for a brief period of time between 1991 and 1993 as its Sunward. At the height of the pandemic, however, those values could be as low as $90 for EU-flagged ships. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. What Made It Special: Originally built as a Baltic cruise-ferry, Star Pisces was purchased by Star Cruises in 1994 and sailed for Singapore. Olsen and setting sail as Boudicca in 2005. Island Escape Cruise Ship Thomsons Holidays PRODUCT WORLD 31K views 8 years ago Memory of island escape ship _ pasanger n crew ketut ivanovic 37 views 1 year ago Tui Skyla: The Full. The former Royal Caribbean ship formerly known as the Viking Serenade, will officially be scrapped. Much was made about it and sister-ship Regal Princess (1991), which both had distinctive "domes" situated above their navigation bridges. She was our first initiation into the world of cruising, and now we have the bug, been on 7 cruises now, with many different companies, all Med cruises as we live in Mallorca. The ship was the first foray into cruising for low-cost European air carrier EasyJet. what it is like working on a cruise ship. The concept wasn't entirely a success, and despite refitting the ship again to tone down the loud doses of orange decor, EasyCruise One was removed from service in 2008. Vard Design. The third ship of the pioneering Royal Viking Line spent many years as a German cruise ship named Albatros and just recently was also sold for scrap. After the shipbreaking process, not a single scrap remains. Cruise & Maritime Voyages acquired the ship in 2013 where it sailed a wide array of itineraries. It was beached for scrapping in July 2022. Island Escape was drydock-refurbished at Damen Shiprepair Brest (France)/shipyard then renamed "Ocean Gala". (2022). So, ultimately the ownership and responsibility of the vessel would be transferred to the owning entity that would be buying the vessel. Stripped of its lavish interiors and refitted with dorm-style accomodations (brightly colored, unsurprisingly, in only white and neon orange), EasyCruise One was billed as the cruise ship for people who hated cruises. The ship was also attractive for families who look for out of Palma de Mallorca fly-cruises from the UK. She was actually christened in New York in September of 1982 and sailed some Bahamanian cruises out of there. Launched in 1982, Tropicale was Carnival's "test ship": the first newbuild to be created for the company, and the ship that would pattern the basic design and layout for every ship launched for the line over the next decade and a half. We are (then) sending the unit to the recycling facility, and the recycling facility has to pay for purchasing the vessel to recycle in accordance with the standards that were going to agree on, he added. What Made It Special: You may not know the name Karnika very well, but this historic vessel's past names - as Princess Cruises' Crown Princess (1990) and P&O Australia's Pacific Jewel probably ring a few bells. The ship was a throwback to another era, offering taps for hot, cold and sea water in cabins; a feature which had been abandoned for some time on contemporary Western liners. The ship was to cater to the Indian cruise market with cruises from Mumbai, India and Dubai, UAE, but Jalesh Cruises suspended all operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By proceeding, you agree to Cruise Critics, Which Cruise Ships Will Be Scrapped Or Taken Out of Service? Karen was either thrown or pushed from the balcony oif their cabin and fell straight down into the water below. In Turkey, the value is considerably less at $280-300 per ton. Norwegian Escape is ready to whisk you away to The Caribbean from Miami and Orlando, Canada & New England from New York, and the Mediterranean from Rome. So, the vessel could be recycled there, but its a totally different market. Olsen Cruise Lines in 1996 and renamed Black Watch. And thereafter, we are arranging the transportation from point A to point B, Chatziginnis said. Sporting one of cruising's most unique profiles, Astor was built in 1987 for Safmarine before the contract was sold to the Marlan Corporation. On its way to Esbjerg, a short stop was made in Tallinn to refuel. What Made It Special: Debuting in 1993, Celestyal Experience started life as Costa Romantica, and was later renamed Costa neoRomantica to coincide with a sweeping refit of the vessel in November 2021 that added new cabins, additional balconies, and refitted public rooms. On January 4, 2021, the ship was confirmed as sold for scrap and was bound for India. Originally based out of New York, the ship has had a number of homeports over the intervening 26 years. The other sad consequence of the pandemic is that many relatively young cruise ships are getting scrapped. Like Monarch, it was stripped of all valuable fittings in Genoa in June 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been writing about the cruise industry since 2009 and studying it since 1998. Happy Father's Day to all you Island Dads! Take a trip down memory lane to see all of the cruise ships sold or scrapped due to the pandemic in 2020 and so far in 2021. Renamed Norwegian Sea in 1997, the ship operated the line's famous "Texaribbean" voyages from Houston for many years in the mid-1990's before being transferred out of the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet in 2005. My supervisor did her first cruise on the Escape a few years ago and likewise, she now enjoys cruising. In 2009, Rhapsody was sold to Israel-based Mano Maritime, and operated cruises from Haifa under the name Golden Iris. Star Pisces was sold for scrap due to the collapse of Star Cruises' parent company, Genting Hong Kong, in 2022. ship designer. Passenger Capacity: 32. [2] It was the lead ship in Carnival's eight-vessel strong Fantasy Class that would be introduced from 1990 to 1998, becoming the largest group of passenger ships built to the same specifications at the time. The third in a trio of newbuilds for Carnival, Celebration was part of the Holiday Class that would later pave the way for the highly successful (and somewhat similarly-designed) Fantasy Class. On March 1, 2021, it was reported that Columbus was headed east after being sold by Seajets for a tidy profit. Together with Zenith, Horizon was the first-ever newbuild for Celebrity Cruises, and laid the basis for the line's pattern of ship for the next two decades. She then sailed towards northern Europe, however the plan never materialized and she spent the summer of 2016 and into 2017 hopping around Europe going from one layberth to another. Following the collapse of Pullmantur in June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ship was laid up in the Mediterranean. Look for a link at the bottom of this page or in our privacy policy where you can withdraw consent. The most popular among bars onboard - the Pub, just like your local. Kanesaki was murdered in the same manner as Karen Waltz 18 years earlier. Designed by Joe Farcus, the ship's interiors recall the grand days of Hollywood, with public rooms like the Beverly Hills Bar named accordingly. Unfortunately, one cruise operator went a wee bit-er-overboard and ordered a giant 9,000-passenger ship that was set to take its maiden voyage early last year. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. She was ordered in 1980 by Dannish ferry operator DFDS as the ms Scandinavia. At the time of construction, it was the world's largest cruise ferry. In February 2022, Carnival announced that Ecstasy would take over itineraries from Mobile for Carnival Sensation before being removed from the fleet in October 2022. The ship was also renamed Norwegian Wind, and continued to sail for Norwegian until it was transferred to Genting-owned Star Cruises in 2007. She was finally renamed MV Ocean Gala 1 before being scrapped in 2018. What Made It Special: The third Fantasy Class cruise ship ordered by Carnival, Sensation debuted in 1993 and served the line for nearly three decades. If the vessel has to be recycled in compliance with a regulation of the European Union, you would probably be looking in Turkey for something like $200 per ton equivalent because of their very limited capacity of the yards, which are compliant with European regulations, Chatziginnis explained. Your personal data will be processed and information from your device (cookies, unique identifiers, and other device data) may be stored by, accessed by and shared with third party vendors, or used specifically by this site or app. The ship was noted for its small size and angular funnel uptakes, as well as its dark wood-panelled interiors that recalled the grand oceangoing ships of yore. By June 2022, workers had already cut most of the forward section of the ship. Nothing about the last few years has been normal as the world continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Join Island Time as we share the latest in cruise news. Tropicale had no direct sister-ships; subsequent newbuilds for Carnival revolved around the similarly-patterned Holiday Class and the Fantasy Class, which all shared some design characteristics but without total commonality. Dismantling will commence shortly. A piece of Carnival Ecstasy -- a vintage roadster -- will live on. It marks the end to one of the most initially optimistic, and then saddest, developments for any vessel over the course of the pandemic. We went on her for the Itinerary as we were supposed to be staying in Venice overnight and I think that's why a lot of people had booked it as many had booked concerts in Venice. Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. Like its sister, Zenith had a unique layout that included a large oversized reception area and numerous cozy dining and lounge venues that would form the basis for newer, larger Celebrity vessels designed in the late 1990's and early 2000's. In 2022, the Island Escape yacht charter cost NZD 325000 (~USD 204K / ~GBP 169K). Cafe Brasil (for a cappuccino or afternoon tea, with an interesting book from the library or just browse the Internet), The Mirage Bar (poolside; pampers with al fresco drinks), The Sailaway Bar (to watch the world go by), The Sundowner (the perfect place for live music and pre-dinner drinks), Ocean Theatre (entertainment hub for cabarets, UK comedy acts and West End-style shows), Bounty Lounge (all about game shows and live music), The Lookout Bar (with panoramic view; also offers a late-night disco), The Casino (roulette, Blackjack, poker; a range of slot machines).