Has Carnival Cruise Line’s oldest cruise ship, Carnival Fantasy, sailed her final cruise after 30 years of offering cruises?
During last week’s earning report, Carnival Corporation said that they were in the process of selling 13 cruise ships from their nine cruise lines. They did not state which cruise ships were leaving the company but we do know that Costa Victoria and P&O Oceana are two of them.
Internet speculation started stirring up this week Carnival Cruise Line’s oldest ship, Carnival Fantasy, began sailing to Izmir, Turkey. Izmir is home to a ship recycling facility where vessels are dismantled and sold for scrap.
According to MarineTraffic, Carnival Fantasy departed from Willemstad, Curacao on Monday and is scheduled to arrive in Izmir on July 28.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador John Heald posted the following statement on his Facebook page regarding speculation that Carnival Fantasy was leaving the fleet:
“I know there is interest from some of you about the status of certain ships in our fleet. Our parent company, Carnival Corporation, said in our quarterly earnings call last Friday that the company was going to remove 13 ships across the corporate fleet.
What ships, if any, from the Carnival Cruise Line fleet that may be involved in this capacity reduction, have not been identified. We aren’t in a position to confirm, deny or comment on speculation or rumor.”
Carnival Fantasy is one of eight Fantasy class ship from Carnival. The 70,000 gross ton cruise ship entered service in 1990 and can carry up to 2,675 passengers.
The cruise ship had nine dry docks for maintenance and upgrades in her 30 year history and spent her entire life with Carnival Cruise Line.
