Cruise ships often have multiple lives.
Some ships have long lives serving the cruise lines that built them and then end up being sold to other lines. As ships age, they might no longer be able to meet the needs of the lines they sail under.
Older ships in the Royal Caribbean and Carnival fleets lack many of the amenities and venues found on newer ships. Some of those ships have been kept in their respective fleets because they're small enough to visit ports that cannot accommodate larger vessels.
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When the U.S. banned cruise-ship travel to Cuba, for example, Royal Caribbean sold Majesty of the Seas to another cruise line. That ship never reentered service and is currently listed as available for sale.
Other ships have had better stories. Margaritaville at Seas' new ship, MAS Islander, is a former Costa ship. It has betotally remodeled and appears set for a long second life serving the Jimmy Buffett brand.
In some cases, when a ship outlives its usefulness, it gets scrapped. That was the fate of a number of ships during the Covid pandemic, where market conditions slowed the demand for older ships.
Now, a Carnival-owned ship has been sold and Cruise News Today's Doug Parker has the full story.
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Carnival sells a P&O ship
Transcript:
This is Cruise News Today with Doug Parker.
Good morning, here's your cruise news for Friday, December 20.
Carnival Corp. has sold off one of its cruise ships to Resorts World Cruises.
The former P&O Pacific Explorer will undergo a $50 million refurbishment before entering service with Resorts World in early 2025. It will offer Southeast Asian itineraries and will be the company's third cruise ship behind Genting Dream and Resorts World One.
Following the summer announcement of P&O Cruises Australia ceasing operations next year, two of its ships will be transferred to Carnival Cruise Line Australia.
And Carnival Cruise Line is still grappling with a website glitch that's impacting precruise purchases.
The issue began last weekend when maintenance updates extended far longer than anticipated, initially taking the site offline for hours. Now, while the site is now operational, some guests have told our tip line they still can't use onboard credits to prebook amenities like internet packages and the Cheers drink package.
As Carnival awaits the AOL CD to arrive, they assured guests the issue is being fixed and precruise pricing will be honored on board for immediate sailings.
Princess Cruises tender runs aground
And running aground, passengers on Princess Cruises Crown Princess faced a wet landing near Kangaroo Island, Australia this week after their tender boat ran aground. Over 30 passengers had to wade through thigh-deep water to reach the shore after engine failure stranded the tender.
[The] tender was eventually towed back to the ship without any further issues. The guests did miss the first part of their excursion but caught up to see the rest of the island. And the photo of the week comes from Stacey, Celebrity Reflection, docked here in Curacao with Santa Claus.
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And I love this photo, Stacey. Thank you so much for sending it in. You can send yours in photos@cruiseradio.net. All photos are subject to broadcast.
Let us know. Tips@cruiseradio.net. Have yourself a great weekend.
Until then, I'm Doug Parker with Cruise News Today.
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