MS Jubilee

The 1986-built (as "MS Jubilee") cruise ship MS Henna was last-owned by the Chinese company HNA Tourism Cruises (China). The vessel was built for CCL-Carnival Cruise Line by Saab Kockums AB (shipbuilder based in Malmo Sweden). In November 2015, HNA Cruises shut down its cruise shipping services, after 3 years of losing money because of new liners deployed in East Asia. Since ship's last voyage with HNA, Henna was laid up and open for sale for USD 35 million. Sadly, in August 2017, CCL's first vessel was scrapped in Alang India.

The ship's identification numbers were 8314122 (IMO) and 248708000 (last MMSI, Malta-flagged). Carnival Jubilee's sisterships (Holiday-class cruise ships) are Carnival Celebration (now Grand Celebration for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line) and Carnival Holiday (now Magellan for CMV UK).

The boat's namesake is Carnival Jubilee (2023-built EXCEL-class liner).

History - construction and ownership

The 2000-passenger ship Henna was considered as the first and the largest luxury cruise liner in mainland China. In 2004, the cruise liner was acquired by P&O Cruises Australia and changed its name to Pacific Sun. After MS Henna was sold, the ship started year-round cruises from Sydney NSW to the South Pacific and Tropical North Queensland. A multi-million refurbishment investment transformed the vessel all in white colors.

At the end of 2008, an at-sea accident (during a storm) resulted in 42 injured passengers on the Pacific Sun ship. In 2011, P&O Australia decided to sell the vessel. It was eventually sold in 2012 and renamed to "Henna" after changing the shipowner to HNA Tourism Cruises (China). HNA Cruises permanently suspended operations (became defunct as cruise line) in November 2015.

MS Henna was detained on September 2013 at Jeju Island's port Cheju (South Korea). Chinese shipping service company Jiangsu Shagang International applied for a seizure. Passengers aboard the cruise ships spent 7 days on the ship and later were sent home with an uncomplete cruise. At the end of November, the HNA Cruises line shut down its China-based business. The decision was made by the company's shareholders. It was based on the money-losing Henna cruise ship facing serious price competition with the 2015 arrival of more (newer and bigger) ships entering China's cruising market. HNA Cruises continued as a booking agency.

Decks and Cabins

The cruise ship had a total of 739 staterooms, including 9x Balcony Suites, 432x Oceanviews/outside cabins and 298x Interior cabins.

The liner's max passenger capacity was 1965, plus 670 staff/crew.

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

On MS Henna dress code is very liberating. Some of the older guests may seem never to get out of their pajamas. The parade on deck in them, indulging in charming mainland practice of advertising how relaxed they are by appearing in all public places in bedroom wear. The PJ-clad grannies are only one of the things that make Henna feel like a small corner of China. There is usually no one at the bar as “Chinese people don’t have a ‘bar culture’.” However, they like to shop and gamble.

Itineraries

The vessel Henna was sailing around the Korean Peninsula. The itinerary program was based on East Asia cruises (mainly to ports in Vietnam), with departures from homeport Sanya China to Halong City (January through April). During summer (May through September), the ship was homeported in Tianjin China.

A short cruise itinerary from Tianjin visited Incheon-Seoul (South Korea).