Carnival Fascination

Carnival Fascination, originally Fascination, was a Fantasy-class cruise ship built at Helsinki, Finland in 1994. For most of her service with Carnival Cruise Lines she operated out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2017 Carnival Fascination was chartered to the US Government to assist with hurricane relief work in the Virgin Islands. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic the ship was withdrawn from service and in November that year sold for conversion to a hotel ship for Century Harmony Cruise Ltd, that renamed her Century Harmony. However in October 2021 she was sold for scrapping, arriving at Gadani, Pakistan as Y Harmony in February 2022.

Carnival Fascination in Nassau, Bahamas
History
Name
  • Fascination (1994–2007)
  • Carnival Fascination (2007–2020)
  • Century Harmony (2020–2021)
  • Y Harmony (2021–2022)
Owner
Operator Carnival Cruise Lines (1994–2020)
Port of registry
Builder
Yard number487
Launched1 July 1994
Sponsored byJeanne Farcus
Completed1994
Maiden voyage1994
In service1994
Out of service2020
Refit2006
Identification
FateScrapped in Gadani, Pakistan in 2022
General characteristics
Class and typeFantasy-class cruise ship
Tonnage
  • 70,367 GT 70,538 GT (After refit) [1]
  • 7,180 DWT
Length855 ft (261 m)
Beam103 ft (31 m)
Draft7.80 m (25 ft 7 in)
Decks10
Installed power
  • 2 × Sulzer-Wärtsilä 8ZAV40S
  • 4 × Sulzer-Wärtsilä 12ZAV40S
  • 42,240 kW (combined)
PropulsionTwo propellers, 3 bow thrusters, 3 aft thrusters,
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Capacity
  • 2,056 passengers (lower berths)
  • 2,634 passengers (all berths)
Crew920

Carnival Cruise Line

The ship was the fourth of Carnival Cruise Lines' Fantasy-class built by Kværner Masa-Yards at its Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland. She was floated out on July 1, 1994, and christened Fascination by Jeanne Farcus.[2] The ship was registered under the Panamanian flag and mostly home-ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico, sailing in the Caribbean year-round.[3][4] In 2000 her port of registry was changed to Nassau, under the Bahamas flag.[3] During 2007, in common with all of her Fantasy-class sisters, she had the prefix Carnival added to her name.[5]

After the destruction caused in the United States Virgin Islands by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Carnival Fascination was chartered to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from October 15, 2017 until February 3, 2018 to house relief workers at St Croix.[6][7] This charter cost FEMA $74.7 million.[8] At the end of the charter, the ship was given a further refit prior to returning to Carnival's services out of Puerto Rico.[9]

In July 2020, as a result of Carnival Cruise Line reducing fleet capacity, Carnival Fascination entered a long term lay-up, with no planned date for the ship to return to service.[10] In November 2020, the cruise line announced that the ship had been sold to Century Harmony Cruise Ltd.[11][12]

Refits

Fascination was given a multimillion-dollar refurbishment while in dry dock during September 2006.[13][14]

In January 2010 Carnival Fascination was again dry docked to be refurbished.[15]

In January 2013, Carnival Fascination underwent another dry dock.

Areas of operation

Fascination sailed from New York between July 24 and September 4, 1994 before moving to San Juan, Puerto Rico.[4] As Carnival Fascination, she sailed from Jacksonville, Florida to the Bahamas.[16]

In 2013 and 2014, Coco Cay replaced Key West on some of Carnival Fascination's itineraries. Coco Cay is a private island in the Bahamas owned by rival cruise line Royal Caribbean International.[17] In April, 2016, Carnival Fascination re-positioned to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she undertook Southern Caribbean cruises.[18]

Power loss

In June 2010, Carnival Fascination lost engine power due to a technical malfunction while returning to Jacksonville, Florida. Power was restored after several hours, and the ship was able to return to Jacksonville, Florida under her own power.[19]

Health inspection failure

In April 2013, it was reported that on February 21, 2013 Carnival Fascination failed a U.S. CDC health inspection after inspectors found insects in food preparation areas, dried food waste, insufficient chlorination in the pools, and insufficient sneeze guards at the salad bars. A satisfactory rating from the CDC is a score of 85 or higher. Carnival Fascination scored 84.[20]

SARS-CoV-2

In February 2020, the ship canceled a call to Saint Lucia over a COVID-19 scare, after a crew member reported illness, with flu like symptoms. The Carnival Fascination docked in Barbados but was not allowed to disembark passengers until the individual was declared negative for SARS-CoV-2.[21]

Century Harmony Cruise

When the ship was sold by Carnival to Century Harmony Cruise Limited and renamed Century Harmony, it was reported that the ship would be converted into a hotel ship in Asia.[22][23] Although the ship was taken to China for refurbishment, news reports subsequently indicated that the ship's owners were considering scrapping the ship instead.[24] In October 2021, Century Harmony was sold to Nina Services Corp, managed in Singapore, reportedly for demolition in Alang, India, and then renamed Y Harmony.[25][24] However, she arrived at Gadani, Pakistan on 9 February 2022 and was beached for scrapping on 18 February.[26][27]

References

Notes
  1. "FASCINATION - IMO 9041253". Shipspotting.com. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  2. Smith 2010, p. 37.
  3. "Century Harmony". Equasis (registration required). French Ministry of Transport. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. "Fun Ship From Fun City". Cruise Travel: 31. March–April 1994.
  5. Dake, Shawn J. (January 2008). "Cruise Ships 2007 the year in review" (PDF). Ocean Times. Steamship Historical Society of America: Southern California Chapter. 12 (1): 2–8.
  6. "Carnival Cruise Line News - Statement Regarding Carnival Fascination". Carnival-news.com. October 12, 2017. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  7. "Carnival Fascination chartered to FEMA, San Juan departures canceled: Travel Weekly". Travelweekly.com. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  8. "FEMA Carnival Charter Cost $74.7 Million". Cruiseindustrynews.com. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  9. "Carnival Fascination". Carnival-news.com. December 14, 2017. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  10. "Carnival Cruise Line Announces Update to Fleet Plan - Carnival Cruise Line News". carnival-news.com. July 23, 2020. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  11. Line, Carnival Cruise. "Carnival Cruise Line Announces Modifications To Fleet And Sailing Plans For Certain Ships". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  12. Leggate, James (September 16, 2020). "Carnival Cruise Line cancels more voyages, sells 2 ships". Cruisemapper.com. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  13. "Carnival's Fun Ship Fascination to Undergo Signficant [sic] Upgrades". Carnival Cruise Lines. August 2, 2006. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  14. "Carnival Cruise Lines - News Release". Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2007.
  15. "Carnival Fascination Returns to Service from Jacksonville Following Extensive "Evolutions of Fun" Upgrades". Cruisetalk.org. February 2, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  16. Sloan, Gene (August 1, 2011). "Carnival adds more four- and five-day cruises out of Jacksonville, Fla". USA Today.
  17. Sloan, Gene (February 27, 2013). "New port for Carnival ships is owned by Royal Caribbean". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  18. "Carnival Further Strengthens Leadership Position". Carnival Cruise Lines News. March 2, 2015. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021.
  19. Carter, Adam. "5 troubles on Carnival cruises". Cbc.ca. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  20. Golden, Fran (April 11, 2013). "Carnival ship fails health inspection". USA Today. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  21. "Carnival Cruise line employee on 'Fascination' tests negative for coronavirus". al. February 27, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  22. "The Last Six Cruise Ship Secondhand Transactions". Cruise Industry News. January 6, 2021. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  23. Murray, Jo (January 1, 2021). "On the Water: Tsunami History, Catching Up". The Grunion. Long Beach CA: MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  24. Boonzaler, Jonathan (October 14, 2021). "Former Carnival Corp cruiseships face breakers as new owners get cold feet". TradeWinds. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  25. "Loading..." Account.lr.org. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  26. "Another Former Carnival Cruise Ship Arrives at Breakers in Pakistan". Maritime-executive.com. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  27. "Former Carnival Fascination Beached at Ship-Breaking Facility". Cruisehive.com. February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.

Bibliography
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