Which Cruise Ship Would You Buy? 

What a vacation it would be. No lines at the water slides, no waiting to tender and certainly no mad scramble to secure the last open deck chair. That’s what your cruise vacation would look like if you were to purchase one of the cruise ships currently for sale from Carnival Corporation. 

As we reported earlier this month, Carnival Corporation is planning on selling 13 ships, or 9% of their fleet, prior to the restart of cruising sometime later this fall. We already know that Costa Victoria and P&O Oceana have been sold, the first for scrap and the second to an unnamed buyer for purposes we don’t yet know, but there are more to come. 

Rumors are swirling that two more ships, Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration, are both being sold for scrap, but no official announcement has been made. Both ships were launched in the 1990’s, meaning that perhaps Carnival doesn’t see ships with 20+ years of service as financially viable to operate moving forward. 

Carnival announced in 2018 that two Costa ships, Atlantica and Mediterranea, would be transferred to the China State Shipbuilding Corporation at the end of 2019, one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world. Princess Cruises did something similar in 2018, announcing that effective in October 2020 and November 2021, Golden Princess and Star Princess would transfer to P&O Cruises Australia.

If you’ve got hundreds of millions burning a hole in your pocket, you could be the proud owner of one of Carnival Corp’s older ships. So, we pose the question, which cruise ship would you like to buy?

Let’s take a look at some of the older ships in Carnival Corporation’s fleet and you can decide which ones you think will be sold and which ones you’d buy if you had the chance! 

Carnival Ecstasy 

She’s the oldest ship sailing for Carnival Cruise Line with nearly 30 years in service, but that also makes Carnival Ecstasy a prime candidate for the scrap heap. A dry dock upgrade in 2019 might point toward the cruise line keeping the ship, but Carnival Fantasy underwent similar upgrades earlier in 2019 and the rumor is that ship is being sold for scrap. 

The 855ft ship holds over 2,000 passengers so you’d have plenty of room to bring all your friends and family on your new ship! Other ships similar in age and style to Ecstasy which could be sold include Carnival Fascination, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise. Which would you pick? 

Princess Cruises Sun Princess 

Since her launch in 1995, Sun Princess has sailed all over the world, starred in a Love Boat remake and at one point became the largest ship to ever sail under the Sydney Harbour bridge in Australia. She was even scheduled to be a floating hotel off the coast of Japan for the now-cancelled 2020 Olympics. It’s been a long and fruitful career at sea for this ship, but it may be time to say goodbye.

Her last upgrade was a drydock in 2018 which added new staterooms, amenities and shops but this 857ft ship is probably in the twilight of her life at sea. Her sister ship, Sea Princess, was launched in 1998 and is another ship we could potentially see as part of the 13 being sold by Carnival Corp. Would a Princess ship be your choice if you could buy one?  

Holland America Line Maasdam

When Maasdam was launched in 1992, Michael Jackson was at the top of the pop music charts, the first George Bush was President of the United States and people were flocking to movie theaters to see the hilarious new flick Wayne’s World. Here we are nearly 30 years later and she’s still sailing the seven seas with her massive collection of glass art and ancient artifacts. The teak promenade decking is one of a kind and the ship even has a fleet of inflatable zodiacs so you can get to shore no matter where the ship drops anchor. 

Her sister ship, Veendam, came three years later and could be another ship Carnival could be considering for sale. All in all, these are two really impressive ships that have stood the test of time and feature a number of amenities that would be pretty cool to enjoy. Would you pick a Holland America ship? Let us know in the comments below!  

AIDAcara

AIDA cruises made news last week when they announced they would resume cruising in August on three of their ships, including the brand new AIDAPerla, an LNG-compatible behemoth that was just delivered to the cruise line in 2017. Sorry, ya’ll, that ship isn’t for sale. However, AIDAcara just might be. Launched in 1996, the ship was the first ship to sail under the AIDA Cruises brand and features the cruise line’s signature hull art.

She’s a relatively smaller ship at just over 600 ft and with a capacity of 1,186 passengers and that could be appealing to potential buyers. The ship also underwent drydock upgrades in 2016 and 2019 to upgrade the restaurants, spa and common areas to modern standards. 

Which cruise ships do YOU think Carnival Corp will sell next? Which one would you buy if you had the means? Let us know in the comments below!