Holiday-class cruise ship
 Grand Holiday, the first ship of the Holiday class, with Iberocruceros livery. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
Carnival Cruise Lines (originally built for) 1985-2009 P&O Cruises Australia 2004-2012 Iberocruceros 2008-2014 HNA Tourism 2012-present (Henna) Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line 2015 (Grand Celebration) Cruise & Maritime Voyages 2015 (Magellan) |
| Preceded by: | Tropicale |
| Succeeded by: | Carnival Cruise Lines: Fantasy class |
| Built: | 1985-1987 |
| In service: |
1985-On For Carnival Cruise Lines(originally): 1985-2009 For P&O Cruises Australia: 2004-2012 For Iberocruceros: 2008-2014 |
| Completed: | 3 Ships |
| Active: | 3 Ships |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cruise Ship |
| Tonnage: | 46,052 GRT - 47,262 GRT |
| Length: | 727 ft (222 m) - 733 ft (223 m) |
| Decks: | 10 |
| Speed: | 21 kts |
| Capacity: | 1,452-1,486 passengers |
| Crew: | 660 - 670 |
The Holiday class was the first class of newbuilds for Carnival Cruise Lines after their first newbuild, the Tropicale which was compleled in 1982. The first ship in the class, the 46,052 gross ton vessel Holiday, was completed in 1985. A second and slightly larger sister ship, the Jubilee, was built in 1986 at 47,262 gross tons. The third and final ship, the Celebration, is identical to the Jubilee and it was completed in 1987. All were the biggest ships for Carnival Until the Fantasy class were built. Then In 2004 Carnival retired the Jubilee and transferred the ship to P&O Cruises Australia where it became the Pacific Sun . In late-2005, Carnival took the Holiday out of service to be used to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina for one year. The Holiday returned to service in late-2006 to resume cruising. The Celebration was retired from Carnival's fleet in April 2008 to be used for a new sister company Iberocruceros as the Grand Celebration , Carnival Cruise Lines retired the Holiday in November 2009. She began operating for Iberocruceros as the Grand Holiday in May 2010. On July 2012, P&O sold the Pacific Sun to Chinese interests as Henna. In May 2014, Iberocruceros announced that the Grand Celebration will be transferred to Costa Cruises in November 2014, as the Costa Celebration. Also On May 2014, Costa Cruises announced that it would absorb Ibero Cruises in its entirety by the end of the year. The two remaining ships, the Grand Celebration would still be transferred to the main fleet of Costa, as the Costa Celebration and the Grand Holiday would either be transferred or sold off. And Ibero's docking slots in Barcelona would be devoted solely to Costa's newest ship, the Costa Diadema as well.[1][2]
In November 2014 it was announced the Grand Holiday will join Cruise & Maritime Voyages in March 2015, after a refurbishment she will enter service as the Magellan.[3]
On November 21, 2014, it was announced the Costa Celebration had been sold to an unnamed buyer. The vessel has just completed its last cruise for the Spanish company Iberocruceros, and had entered drydock in Marseille to be rebranded under Costa livery.[4] The buyer has since been announced as Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. The ship will still sail as the Grand Celebration. It will sail out the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Florida starting in February 2015 [5]
Ships
| Ship | Year Built | Current Operator | Tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image (when with Carnival) | Image (after sailing with carnival) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magellan | 1985 | Cruise & Maritime Voyages | 46,052 GRT |  Bahamas | Originally sailed as the Holiday for Carnival Cruise Lines, and Grand Holiday for Iberocruceros. She is smallest of the 3 ships in the class. |  | |
| Henna | 1986 | HNA Tourism | 47,262 GRT |  Malta | Originally sailed as the Jubilee for Carnival Cruise Lines, and Pacific Sun for P&O Australia. |  |  |
| Grand Celebration | 1987 | Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line | 47,262 GRT | Bahamas | Originally sailed as the Celebration for Carnival Cruise Lines, and Grand Celebration for Iberocruceros. |  |  |
Accidents
On the morning of 10 February 1989, The Carnival Celebration collided with the Cuban freighter Captain San Luis, causing the freighter to break in half and it sunk in 13 minutes. The Celebration rescued the 42 survivors from the water and transferring them to a Cuban navy ship and tugboat before continuing on to Miami.
On November 24, 2004, passenger Glenn Sheridan went mysteriously disappeared from the Carnival Celebration when it docked in Jacksonville, Florida. Security cameras showed that he did not disembark off the ship, but search of the ship & the surrounding area turned up nothing.
In late July 2008, During a storm, 42 passengers in the Pacific Sun were injured. The event became widely known when video footage was reposted on the internet two years later.
On June 15, 2009, Holiday passenger Michelle Vilborg went missing & believed to have fallen overboard. Her husband she was travelling with reported her missing when she disappeared from the room while he was asleep, & other passengers allegedly heard a splash. Upon doing a head count, they found that Vilborg was missing.
In September 2013, Henna was detained at a port on the South Korean island of Jeju after Chinese shipping service company Jiangsu Shagang International applied for a seizure. After several days stuck on board, the 1,659 passengers were flown home, leaving their cruise uncompleted.
References
- ↑ Mike Faust (May 27, 2014). "Ibero Cruises To Be Absorbed Into Costa Cruises". Cruise Currents.
- ↑ "Costa to absorb Ibero". Travel Daily. June 5, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11819-grand-holiday-to-cmv.html
- ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11896-costa-celebration-moves-elsewhere.html
- ↑ http://protectingyourpocket.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2014/12/23/grand-celebration-ship-could-launch-in-february/