What happens to a ship after the cruise line sells it?

[dudestir127]

I'm wondering what happens to an old ship after the cruise line sells it. If I'm not mistaken, I think Carnival's end up sailing out of Italy?

Both Celebrity ships I've been on don't look like they're in service anymore, at least not with Celebrity, the Zenith and the Galaxy. I'm wondering about those two ships, yes, but I also wonder just in general what happens to a cruise ship.

[Djcarolina]

Lots of times the ships are refurbished and reenter service within a matter of months. Carnival's M/V Celebration was transferred to Iberocruceros, a Carnival-owned subsidary, and is now sailing as the Grand Celebration to Europe and the Mediterranean. The Sovereign of the Seas was transferred from Royal Caribbean to Pullmantur Cruises, a Royal-Caribbean subsidary in November 2008 and now sails as M/S Sovereign from Spain. The Celebrity Zenith, (Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean) has also been transferred to Pullmantur and sails for them as Zenith. The Celebrity Galaxy was transferred to RCI's subsidary TUI cruises and now sails from Germany as "Mein Schiff" (My Ship).

Some ships aren't as lucky though. The old Regal Empress- Imperial Majesty which dated to nearly 60 years old was retired in February from sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to trips to Nassau and was sent where all defunct ships are- India. In India there are special shipyards used to scrap ships whose parts are sold off and/or melted down. Sometimes theyre beached in India in shipyards like the famous shipbreakers in Alang.