Yard number X27 Launched 21 May 1983 Beam 27 m | Length 215 m Draft 7.5 m | |
 | ||
Name 1984–2005 Noordam
2005–present Thomson Celebration Owner 1984–present Holland America Line Operator 1984–2005 Holland America Line
2005-present Thomson Cruises Port of registry 1984–1996 Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
1996–2005 Rotterdam, Netherlands
2005–2009 Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
2009–present Malta Christened by Mrs Beatrijs van De Wallbake Builders Chantiers de l'Atlantique, STX France | ||
MS Thomson Celebration is a cruise ship owned by Holland America Line, under long-term charter to the United Kingdom-based Thomson Cruises. She was built in 1984 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France for Holland America Line as MS Noordam.
Contents
History
The Thomson Celebration was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in 1984 for Holland America Line as MS Noordam at a cost of $160million, and the third Holland America Line vessel to bear the name. Her sister ship, the Thomson Spirit, was originally the Holland America ship MS Nieuw Amsterdam (1983). In 2005, a replacement, the fourth Noordam, was ordered from Fincantieri shipyards in Italy. After its last sailing with Holland America Line, the ship was taken out of service, chartered to Thomson Cruises and rechristened as the Thomson Celebration. She was originally furnished with a $1million art collection, some of which, including a 17th-century Oriental screen at the entrance to the Horizons bar on Deck 9, can still be found on board.
Thomson Celebration received a refurbishment in December 2013 (including 20 cabins with balconies on Deck 9, and the installation of The Coffee Port and Explorers' Lounge on Deck 5) carried out by Blohm + Voss and was introduced into the new Platinum collection of cruises.
Media attention
On 29 January 2014, an elderly couple travelling on Thomson Celebration claimed they had been attacked and injured by a fellow passenger who accused them of "snubbing him" at dinner, leaving the woman with a fractured spine and shoulder injury and her husband with serious facial injuries. At his trial in April 2015 gas worker Graeme Finlay (aged 53), from Glasgow denied the charges, stating he had acted in self-defence after being struck with a sharp object following an altercation with the couple. He was cleared of all charges by a jury on 23 April 2015.
