In June 2022, Island Escape Cruises extended the 10-night "Ultimate Fiordland" itinerary program (December-March 2023). What Made It Special: The lead vessel in Norwegian Cruise Line's Dreamward-class, SuperStar Gemini began life as Dreamward, and was joined by sister-ship Windward in 1993. The Asylum hotel plans did not come to fruition and the ship was put back on the market for either sale or charter in August 2016. Holland America extensively refitted and stretched Westerdam between 1989 and 1990, and the ship carried on with the line until 2002, frequently spending its summers in Alaska on sailings out of Vancouver and winters in the Caribbean. [9] Thomson Cruises has operated the Island Escape under their all-inclusive Island Cruises since starting March 2013. Island Escape Cruises deals are inclusive of all the onboard food and beverages (spirits, wines, beers and champagne by the glass, soda, bottled water, brand teas/coffees), unlimited Wi-Fi, all daily activities (entertainment, boat tours, etc), helicopter transfers (shore-ship-shore). Between 1985 and 1990, she sailed for Sundance Cruises and Admiral Cruises as MS Stardancer. All Cruise Ships Sold or Scrapped Due to the Pandemic Although destined to be Celestyal's new flagship, the line disposed of the vessel in September 2021, citing "current market conditions resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic". She was finally renamed MV Ocean Gala 1 before being scrapped in 2018. [21], On May 25, 2006, Micki Kanesaki was murdered by her ex-husband, Lonnie Kocontes, while aboard the Island Escape. After short stints with A'Rosa, AIDA, and Ocean Village, Crown Princess ended up with P&O Australia as its Pacific Jewel. At Island Escape Cruises we are passionate about preserving the beautiful water in which we are travelling. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The former Royal Caribbean ship formerly known as the Viking Serenade, will officially be scrapped. All Rights Reserved. Thomson Cruises has operated the Island Escape under their all-inclusive Island Cruises since starting March 2013. In May 2022, the ship was confirmed sold for scrap following the bankruptcy of Genting Hong Kong's cruise holdings, which included Star Cruises and luxury brand Crystal Cruises. The ship then served short stints with a succession of owners before being acquired by Fred. By late-August, the first cuts were being made to Carnival Fantasy's bow, and by early 2021 the ship was gone. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. A record-breaking 46 cruise vessels could enter service in 2021: 30 ships that are set to debut and 16 more ships that were delivered in 2020 but have yet to enter revenue service. Photo courtesy of Jalesh Cruises, Peace Boat Ocean Dream at Sea. Island Escape - VARD Island Escape - Passenger ship, IMO 8002597, Callsign C6SK4, Flag Bahamas - vesseltracker.com MS Island Escape had 3x restaurants, two of them buffet-style. Breaking Yard: Alang, India. Things when silent and she reappeared in the Middle East late last year and now its been confirmed that she is currently enroute to India. Last year she changed her name to Ocean Gala I and was reflagged in St Kitts. March Madness! In October 2021, Island Escape Cruises Ltd's owner (Peter Bissett) announced that the company will officially start operations in New Zealand in November 2022. Monarch, together with older sister Sovereign, were reportedly stripped of their interior fittings and artwork in Genoa. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Carnival Fantasy was sent in early July to Curacao where major fittings and fixtures were removed. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Olsen fleet and sold as an accommodation ship to a third-party buyer, its sailing days are over. Ocean Gala I (ex-Viking Serenade, Island Escape) To Be Scrapped Vard Design. The most popular among bars onboard - the Pub, just like your local. [19] The next port turned out to be Khalifa, Abu Dhabi, for continued service. Star Princess went on to serve a stint with P&O UK, sailing as Arcadia between 1997 and 2003. 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. Island Escape Cruise Ship People and Memories - YouTube Saw it in BCN before we had booked our first cruise, had been looking at it in the Thomsons brochure - then when we saw it decided definitely not, but again wouldn't do if we all wanted the same. "Costa Crociere confirms that the ownership of Costa Victoria has been transferred to a subsidiary of Genoese company San Giorgio del Porto," reads a statement from Costa Cruises sent to Cruise Critic, while not directly confirming the ship's fate. Most recently, the ship was based out of San Juan, and was due to replace Carnival Fantasy out of Mobile in 2022 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Thomson Cruises buy Splendour of the Seas ship from Royal Caribbean 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. Look for a link at the bottom of this page or in our privacy policy where you can withdraw consent. 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. Columbia Cruise Services (CCS) was awarded the vessel's Full Management. We have seen a couple of units being sold for recycling in India already, but a couple of units is nothing compared to the numbers weve seen in Turkey so far, Chatziginnis told Cruise Industry News. New company Bissett said Island Escape Cruises (NZ) Limited is a new company that will commence cruising in New Zealand from November until April 2022. After months off Suez as channel workers floating accommodation and calls at Limassol she finally passed through the canal on 2 May 2017, heading down the Red Sea, it was speculated she was heading to Alang for Scrapping. That trend is changing, though. Unusually for a film, the ship is actually referred to in the movie as the "M/S Westerdam", and many scenes were filmed aboard the actual vessel. In August 2016, Ocean Gala was put up for sale for EUR 17,8 million (~USD 20M). She operated under Royal Caribbean as the Viking Serenade and was with them for about 10 years. In 1985 she was renamed MS Stardancer and in 1990 MS Viking Serenade before being converted to a cruise ship in 1991. What Made It Special: Few people likely sailed Ocean Dream during the eight years it spent sailing for Japan-based Peace Boat, but more likely know it from its past life as Carnival Cruise Line's trendsetting Tropicale. For 2023 were scheduled voyages along Western Australia's Kimberley Coast (leaving roundtrip from homeport Broome) in the period May-September (2023) as well as itineraries visiting South Pacific Islands and Tahiti. The World's Oldest Cruise Ship Will Be Scrapped 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. ISLAND ESCAPE CRUISES The Spirit of The South Pacific Our Destinations Kimberley - Australia May - September 2022 Broome to Broome Kimberley - Australia September 2022 Broome to Darwin Tropical North Queensland - Australia October 2022 Ultimate Fiordland - New Zealand December 2022 - March 2023 Tahiti April - June 2023 South Pacific Coming in 2023 ship designer. My supervisor did her first cruise on the Escape a few years ago and likewise, she now enjoys cruising. The value can depend on various factors, such as the country where the facilities are located or whether the cruise vessel was registered in a EU country. The ship was finally sent to the breakers in 2022. The ship helped to spark a newbuild competition with competitor Royal Caribbean that continued until recently. Migrationsverket insisted that the agreement to house asylum seekers on Ocean Gala had been null and void since July. [20], In February 1988, a chiropractor named Scott Rolston murdered his wife Karen Waltz by strangling her and dumping the body overboard in order to make it look like a drowning. After a stint at layup, Zenith arrived at Alang in September 2022 under the name "Singa", where it will be broken up. 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. In April 2020, Marella announced that it would immediately remove Marella Celebration from service. By the mid-80s DFDS sold her to Sundance Cruise Corp who renamed her Stardancer. 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. If it looks similar to another ship regularly based in the UK, that's because the ship was built to almost mirror the Astor of 1981, which most recently sailed as Saga Pearl II for Saga Cruises. At the time of construction, it was the world's largest cruise ferry. It also features separate female and male saunas. In 1990 when Admiral was merged into Royal Caribbean, she was transferred to Wallenius Wilhelmsen which is owned owned by the Wilhelmsen family who are the largest shareholder in Royal Caribbean and instrumental in their founding. The world's largest cruise ship by passenger capacity is. Since then, shes been trying to find work. The ship remained down under until 2019, when it was sold to Zen Cruises and renamed Karnika for Jalesh Cruises. The ship was the first vessel in the Star Cruises fleet to sport hull artwork, and was given a stem-to-stern refit in 2013. Sovereign of the Seas was transferred to Pullmantur in November of 2008 and embarked on its first voyage for the line in the spring of 2009. 915. yard no. She joined the fleet of Thomson Cruises in April 2009, but retained her name. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. cookie policy, Sign up to receive all the latest news and special offers for your next cruise holiday, For further details, please read our Island Escape yacht current location is at West Australia (coordinates -32.14697 S / 115.76578 E) cruising en route to HENDERSON. The sale of the Astoria to a European Union-approved shipbreaking yard, most likely the. [18] Maritime news site Tradewinds reported on February 15 that Carnival Sensation has been sold for scrap to interests in Aliaga, Turkey. The ship was also attractive for families who look for out of Palma de Mallorca fly-cruises from the UK. Thomson sold Island Cruises to TUI Travel in 2009.