Preceded by Tropicale Completed 3 Ships | Built 1985-1987 | |
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Operators Carnival Cruise Lines (originally built for) 1985-2009
P&O Cruises Australia 2004-2012
Iberocruceros 2008-2014
HNA Tourism 2012 - 2015
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line 2015-present (Grand Celebration)
Cruise & Maritime Voyages 2015-present (Magellan) Succeeded by Carnival Cruise Lines Fantasy class In service 1985-On
For Carnival Cruise Lines(originally) 1985-2009
For P&O Cruises Australia 2004-2012
For Iberocruceros 2008-2014
For HNA Tourism 2012-2015 | ||
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.
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.
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. 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
In November 2015, HNA shut down its cruise ship operation after three years of losing money due to newer vessels being deployed to the region. Since the Henna's last cruise with HNA, she was laid up and was for sale for $35 million USD.