Bella Fortuna

The 1982-built Bella Fortuna cruise ship (fka Celestyal Olympia/Louis Olympia) was initially named "Song of America" and owned by RCCL-Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Until 2024, this traditionally designed passenger liner was owned by Louis Group and operated by the Greek travel brand Celestyal Cruises (2014-rebranded from Louis Cruises).

The vessel (IMO number 7927984) is currently Liberia-flagged (MMSI 636023663) and registered in Monrovia. Before 2020, it was Cyprus-flagged (MMSI 209691000) and registered in Limassol.

History - construction and ownership

In April 2012, after operating as "Thomson Destiny" (under charter for Thomson Cruises UK), the ship was given a new name (Louis Olympia) by the shipowner Louis Cruises. During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, Louis ship Olympia served as a floating hotel. In 2014 Louis Cruises announced the launching of a new authentic Greek-experience cruise travel brand.

Olympia's debut improved Celestyal's identity as a domestic travel brand and a specialist in Greek and Turkey passenger shipping operations.

In November 2023, Celestyal Cruises acquired AIDAaura/renamed Celestyal Discovery and announced that the ship will replace Celestyal Olympia, starting revenue voyages in March 2024. The company soon confirmed that the 41-year-old Olympia is sold for scrapping.

In January 2024, the vessel was renamed to "Bella Fortuna" and its flag state/registry was changed from Malta/Valletta (MMSI 229051000) to Liberia. Reportedly, it was acquired by a Turkey-based cruise company.

The 41-year-old Celestyal Olympia left her homeport in Greece (Lavrion) on January 8th and arrived in Turkey (Cesme) on January 9th. After being docked at Port Cesme for ~4 months, Bella Fortuna left Turkey on April 26th.

Decks and Cabins

Bella Fortuna/Celestyal Olympia staterooms (724 total) include 9 Balcony, 298 Inside, 2 wheelchair-accessible. The ship's max passenger capacity is 1664. Of all cabins, 9 are Suite-grade accommodations, each with a private step-out balcony.

The boat has 418 outside staterooms (including the 9 suites) and 298 Interior cabins. Because of the vessel's old design, rooms as sizes and types vary greatly. The total number of cabin categories is 15.

The boat has 10 decks, of which 9 are passenger-accessible and 7 with cabins.

Shipboard facilities and amenities

With three eating outlets to choose from, cruisers might enjoy the sumptuous Greek and Mediterranean kitchen as well as 24-hour room service.

Aegean Restaurant is the main dining room onboard Celestyal Olympia. The venue is complimentary, offers traditional Greek cuisine specialties, and also has an a-la-carte menu for dinner. The MDR restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Leda Casual Dining is a buffet-style venue for alfresco dining with an outdoor seating area. Continental Breakfast (7-8:30 am) and Afternoon Tea (4-5 pm) are also served here.

Another Dining Room is the Aura Grill.

Passengers might also enjoy a huge array of facilities and diverse onboard activities, all with the relief of a modern and sophisticated cruise liner.

Celestyal Olympia Lounges & Bars include Mast Bar, Horizons Bar, Eclipse Bar, Argo Bar, Helios Pool Bar, Muses Lounge, Selene Lounge, Internet Cafe.

The Muses Lounge is the theater/main show lounge with tiered seating and a dance floor. The grand-style entertainment program offers live music and dance shows, as well as a magician and acrobatic performances.

The Casino Royale, served by the Argo Bar, offers gaming tables and several slot machines. There is also a Video Arcade, two large swimming pools and five bars securing full amusement at sea.

A completely equipped Olympian Gym, badminton, basketball and table tennis are accessible together with the Ocean's Spa for treatments and saunas.

The Kids' Club, duty-free stores, travel value shop (Agora), library and Internet corner complete the superb experience offered on board this stylish cruise liner.

The ship also has an Infirmary/Medical Center, Sana Beauty Center, Photo Gallery.

Itineraries

Celestyal Olympia's itinerary program was based on 3 and 4-day cruises to the Greek islands and Turkey. For Celestyal, Olympia operated roundtrips leaving from homeports in Greece (Piraeus-Athens) and Turkey (Kusadasi-Ephesus).

In 2019, the liner started year-round operations for Celestyal Cruises, as opposed to the previous charter options.

The company's/ship's Eastern Mediterranean deployment included two new itineraries - "Eclectic Aegean" and "Three Continents" (Holy Land and Turkey/Istanbul) - in addition to the Adriatic Sea voyages (7-day roundtrips from homeport Venice Italy) which were scheduled only seasonally (during winter).

In April 2021, Celestyal scheduled for Olympia to restart voyages in the Eastern Mediterranean starting with the new "Legendary Archipelago" itinerary in the period June 28th - August 30th (2021). The 7-night roundtrip from Lavrion-Athens visited Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete (Agios Nikolaos), Rhodes, Cyprus (Limassol). All-inclusive prices started from USD 1020 (EUR 860) per person with double occupancy.

Following this Aegean mini-season, after August 30th, Olympia's itinerary program had to continue with the prescheduled 3-4-night (Lavrion roundtrip) itineraries "Iconic Aegean" and "Iconic Discovery".

Celestyal's new/exclusive cruise terminal at Port Lavrion (homeport) is just ~25 km (16 mi) from Athens Airport.

However, due to the Coronavirus crisis, the Celestyal ship Olympia was paused for two years (March 2020 through April 2022) restarting on April 29th.

The next table shows Olympia's last voyage for Celestyal, in November 2023. The ship's entire schedule for 2024 was transferred to Celestyal Discovery.

4-day "Iconic Aegean from Kusadasi"