2020 and 2021 have not been good years for cruise lines showing their age. Many Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean cruise lines have been scrapped in the past two years, and we can now add another to this list.
Antares Experience, formerly known as Costa Romantica, Costa neoRomantica and Celestyal Experience, was stranded at Pakistan’s Gadani scrapping facility, the world’s third largest shipbuilding yard.
Celestyal Cruises continues to sell quickly
Early last year it became clear that Costa Cruises would either sell or scrap Costa neoRomantica. What seemed like a godsend for the oldest ship in the Costa Cruises fleet, the ship was sold to Celestyal Cruises in July 2020 bought the ship and renamed the Celestyal Experience.
Celestyal had big plans for the ship and even intended to use it as the company’s newest flagship. However, she should never sail for Celestyal Cruises. Since July last year, the ship has been in Piraeus, the port city near Athens in Greece.
Celestyal would never put the ship into guest service again; Instead, it was sold to a company called Beacon & Bay Shipping Services. That company bought the ship, renamed it Antares Experience, and re-flagged it Liberia. The company intended to use it as a hotel ship or to resell it.
In addition to all the well-thought-out plans, the ship set course for the Gadani scrapping yard in Pakistan for scrapping in November 2021. On December 3, the ship was stranded. With steel prices reaching all-time highs, scrapping a ship is currently a more economical choice than decommissioning it.
Neo-romantic coast
Built in 1993, the 56,700 gross tonnes Costa Romantica sailed around the world for many years; her maiden voyage took place in November 1993. The 1,800-passenger cruise ship was extensively renovated and converted in 2012 and cost 90 million euros.
The upgrade added additional cabins on the upper decks and balconies, as well as a major modernization inside the ship. During this time, Costa Cruises also took the opportunity to rename the ship Costa neoRomantica.
Photo credit: GEORGE STAMATIS / Shutterstock.com
After many years in Europe and South America, Costa neoRomantica was commissioned with sailing cruises for the Asian market from Hong Kong and China in 2017. However, when cruises from China were suspended in February last year, the end of Costa neoRomatica was near. When Costa Cruises sold the ship, she was the oldest ship in the Costa Cruises fleet.
Also read: Which cruise ships will be scrapped or sold due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
During the pandemic, Carnival Corporation made it its business to extensively modernize its fleet. To accomplish this, the company unloaded 20 cruise lines from most of its brands, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess, Holland America, P&O, P&O Australia, and Costa. The only cruise lines that haven’t lost ships are those with relatively modern fleets; Seabourn Cruise Line, Cunard and AIDA.
