After 31 Years Of Service, Carnival Cruise Ship Completes Final Guest Sailing

After 2300 voyages spread over 31 years, Carnival ecstasy reached Mobile on 15 October, completing the last guest cruise. Carnival Cruise Line announced in February 2022 that the vessel would be retired in October.

Carnival Ecstasy Reaches Mobile for the Last Time

Carnival Ecstasy concluded her final voyage. So comes to an end the last cruise of the Fantasy-class cruise vessel. It reportedly sailed for the Carnival Cruise Line for 31 years, a significant achievement, especially in times of bottom lines and profits.

The cruise ship sailed on 2,300 cruises for the Carnival, during which over 5.5 million guests had disembarked and embarked on the vessel. The Fantasy-class cruise vessel has been famous among Carnival Cruise Line passengers.

Many fans sailed on the final cruise or bid goodbye to her as she departed from Mobile for one last time last week.

John Heald, the brand ambassador of the Carnival Cruise Line, reflected on the situation among the crew members and guests in a post on his Facebook page. In that, he mentioned that there were mixed emotions on the last day. Everyone was taking the day in their way, some being more emotional than others.

He added that he saw some crew members were also sad (now as they’re maskless) as the vessel has been their home for several contracts. And the guests, well, some have come up to tell him how much they will miss the boat; some were in tears. Like him, many guests grew up on the class of the ship and especially on the Carnival Ecstasy, and that’s precisely why so many have joined him for the cruise…to bid the final goodbye.

Carnival Ecstasy will sail across the Atlantic Ocean and toward the Mediterranean over the next few days. She will be broken up as scrap metal in Turkey’s Aliaga shipbreaking yard. However, before that, and once the guests have disembarked, the crew members will begin the preparations to strip the vessel of anything valuable, like towels, consumables, functional hardware, etc. Many useful items have already made their way to a successful auction that was reportedly arranged onboard, the proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Carnival Ecstasy Auction Fetches St. Jude Huge Amount

If you love a vessel and have sailed on it several times, the chance to own something that was once a vital part of that ship is often irresistible. And if the items go on an auction with the proceeds going to one of the country’s most-cherished charities, the bidding will turn out crazy.

Carnival Cruise Line, John Heald, and the crew members of Carnival Ecstasy held an auction of ship-related things that are too essential to be discarded.

Some unique memorabilia include the remains of the bottle that Kathie Lee Gifford reportedly used to christen the vessel, plaques, one original wheel, a signed flag flies on the bow, and much more.

The remains of the unique bottle, which Kathie Lee-Gifford used, is the actual bottle used during the ship’s naming ceremony on 11 May 1991 in New York.

Other items also included hundreds of plaques of maiden calls and framed deck plans.

By the end of the auction, the bidding was estimated to be $39,000. The entire amount will go to the nonprofit hospital focusing on children’s diseases, especially leukaemia and other cancers.

Only two of eight Fantasy-class cruise ships now remain. Carnival Elation sails out of Jacksonville, Florida, while Carnival Paradise operates from Tampa, Florida.

References: Cruise Hive