Celestyal Cruises, headquartered in Piraeus (Athens, Greece), has divested its smallest and oldest cruise ship, the 25,611-gross-ton, 950-berth vessel formerly known as Celestyal Crystal, to buyers in the United Arab Emirates.
The vessel, renamed New Dawn, was built in 1980. The new owner reportedly intends to resell the ship for continued operation as a cruise vessel or repurpose her as an accommodation facility. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Celestyal had been seeking to sell the vessel since her decommissioning and renaming, following her replacement in the fleet by a former Carnival Corporation ship in September 2023.
The New Dawn has a notably diverse operational history. Originally constructed as the cruiseferry Viking Saga, she underwent reconstruction in 1992 after a fire, utilizing the remains of a Baltic ferry. The vessel briefly served Sally Cruise before grounding and partially sinking in the Baltic. After salvage and a second reconstruction, she operated as Leeward for Norwegian Cruise Line in the Caribbean, Superstar Taurus for Star Cruises in Asia, and Silja Opera for Silja Line in the Baltic. During her tenure in the Baltic, the ship experienced an engine control room fire and two collisions in quick succession.
In 2007, Silja Line sold it to Louis Cruises (Celestyal's predecessor) for deployment in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. The vessel's performance improved in these regions, with only one notable incident—a collision with a tanker in Turkey's Marmara Sea in 2015—during 16 years of service.
The COVID-19 crisis prompted major cruise lines to downsize their fleets, enabling smaller niche-market companies like Celestyal to acquire more modern vessels. Celestyal purchased two former Carnival Corporation ships, facilitating the retirement of both the Celestyal Crystal and the 37,800-gross-ton, 1,600-passenger Celestyal Olympia, built in 1982. Despite their age, both vessels had maintained popularity in the Aegean until their decommissioning.
Celestyal Olympia was sold to UAE-based interests for use as an accommodation vessel in January 2024. She was docked in Ras Al Khaimah under the name Bella Fortuna before being dismantled in Alang in January 2025.