After a prolonged period of lay-up, marked by aborted restart attempts and abandoned ventures, the long-stranded cruise vessel known as the Goddess of the Night, formerly the Costa Magica, has found a new owner. The 105,000-GT ship was sold by Seajets to China’s Tianjin Orient International Cruises. This sale concludes a chapter that included a failed effort by Seajets' cruise arm, Neonyx, to reintroduce the vessel as an adults-only party ship in Greek waters.
The ship is now destined for the East, where it will reemerge under a new identity. Reports indicate its temporary designation, Vision, will be replaced by the official Chinese-market name Ideal. The vessel is expected to enter service from the port of Tianjin by the summer of 2026. Tianjin Orient International Cruises already operates another former Carnival Corporation vessel, the ex-Sea Princess, now sailing as Dream. The addition of the former Costa Magica will thus create a two-ship fleet, pairing the names Dream and Ideal.
Constructed in 2004, the Costa Magica was a recognizable part of the Costa fleet and a derivative of Carnival Corporation’s Destiny-class design. Following the industry-wide shutdown from the COVID crisis, the ship was withdrawn from service and sold to Seajets, becoming one of several large vessels acquired by the Greek ferry operator during that period. The planned revival under the Neonyx brand did not materialize. The vessel later gained notoriety as a floating hotel for the 2024 G7 summit in Italy, drawing widespread complaints regarding cabin conditions, which further diminished prospects for its future in European waters.
According to industry reports and a statement from a Chinese travel agency, the ship is now being prepared for a full handover and will be repositioned to Asia to join the post-pandemic cruise market recovery there. For Seajets, this sale represents a continued divestment from its pandemic-era acquisitions; of the eight large cruise ships it purchased since 2020, three have now been sold or scrapped, while four others remain laid up in various Greek ports.