Marella Celebration cruise ship retired (will be either sold or scrapped)

   April 29, 2020 ,   Accidents

The 1984-built cruise ship Marella Celebration (formerly named "Thomson Celebration") is a leased vessel which current owner is HAL-Holland America Line (a fully-owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation). The vessel was built as MS Noordam and since 2005 is operated under a long-term charter (expiring in 2021) by the company TUI UK via its subsidiary Marella Cruises (fka "Thomson Cruises").

Marella Celebration cruise ship (Thomson Celebration)

On April 29, 2020, Marella Cruises officially announced that the Celebration ship will be retired (either sold or scrapped) after 15 years of service with Thomson-Marella UK.

The vessel is Malta-flagged (registered in Valletta) and has max passenger capacity 1350 (plus 520 staff-crew) and 625 staterooms (on 9 decks). The liner's building cost USD 160 million (in 1984) today equals USD 406 million (2020), with an annual inflation rate (over the period 1984-2020) of 2,62%. The shipbuilding company was Chantiers de l’Atlantique (shipyard in Saint-Nazaire France).

Marella Celebration cruise ship (Thomson Celebration)

The 36-year-old cruise liner was scheduled to be homeported in Dubrovnik Croatia (June through October 2020, and May through October 2021), in Limassol Cyprus (Nov-Dec 2020, and March-April 2021) and in Dubai UAE (Dec 2020 through March 2021). All these voyages (which are still listed at CruiseMapper) were cancelled.

Marella Celebration is currently anchored off Isle of Wight (England) and near the seaside resort Shanklin.