The luxury cruise ship, currently known as the Antares Experience, but formerly known as the Costa neoRomantica and Celestyal Experience is to be scrapped, according to Pakistan’s Gadani Ship Breaking Yard.
The Gadani ship breaking yard posted several photos and videos of the former Costa Cruises ship on its Facebook page.
Originally launched as the Romantica in the 1990s, she was renamed as the neoRomantica after Costa gave her a 90-million-euro upgrade in 2011-2012 adding two half decks, new staterooms and additional balcony-equipped accommodations.
Celestyal Cruises took delivery of the ship in summer 2020 and renamed her Celestyal Experience, according to the Secondhand Market Report by Cruise Industry News, with the 1,800-guest ship immediately becoming the largest ship in the company’s fleet but, sadly, she never sailed for the cruise line.
Celestyal CEO, Chris Theophilides, said previously that the purchase of the Celestyal Experienceallowed the cruise line to see “many more destinations”, and she was expected to sail on March 5, 2022, with the seven-night Three Continents itinerary, calling in Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Cyprus.
The ship’s sales price was not disclosed and however, those operational plans were quickly scrapped as the pandemic showed no signs of stopping, and Celestyal announced the sale of the ship a year after her saying the the sale took place on a purely commercial basis and generated an accounting profit of approximately $3.6 million, adding, “Due to current market conditions resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Celestyal Cruises has reviewed its forward-looking capacity requirements”, and, “After careful thought and consideration, the company has sold the Experience and will continue to operate the same sized fleet that has served it well prior to the pandemic” .
Celestyal also said, “Due to the prolonged effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided not to increase the size of Celestyal Cruises’ fleet at this time and will instead continue to operate the cruise ships Celestyal Olympia and Celestyal Crystal which served the company’s needs well prior to the pandemic”, and “In addition, the sale is expected to further support the liquidity of Celestyal Cruises”.
In addition, a spokesperson told Cruise Industry News, “The ship has already endured a 12-month lay-up and would not have been utilized in the next 18 months”, adding, “Hence, a prolonged layup of approximately three years would result in the vessel requiring a significant investment for her reactivation and necessary technical upgrading.”
The vessel shortly reemerged as the Antares Experience and heading now for Pakistan’s Gadani Ship Breaking Yard.
Edited by John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor
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