The new Celebration Cruise Line is expected to start offering two- and three-night Bahamas cruises from Port Everglades on Fort Lauderdale today, March 16. The new line is operated by many executives who ran Imperial Majesty Cruise Line, which is no longer operating. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Celebration spent $10 million renovating a 1,500-passenger ship, originally built in 1981 as Prinsesse Ragnhild. The ship, now called Bahamas Celebration, will offer two-night cruises departing Monday and Wednesday and three-night voyages on Fridays. Both cruises visit Nassau.
According to the company website, included dining options include a classic American restaurant serving five-course meals, an all-you-can-eat Brazilian-style steakhouse and buffet and a casual Italian restaurant. A fourth restaurant, the Cove, is open for dinner only with reservations required and an additional charge of $25 per person. The ship also has a casino, pub, piano bar, karaoke lounge and a two-level nightclub. Children’s facilities include Club Coconuts for children age 3 to 10 with supervised activities such as arts and crafts, Xbox, Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. Club Wave is for 11- to 14-year-olds with activities and games, including Xbox, DDR, Guitar Hero, PlayStation and Wii. Open Water is designed for teens age 14 to 17 with video games, a dance floor and computers. The pool area also features a 180-foot water slide. Fares are expected to range from $119 to $199 per person.
Imperial Majesty operated the 56-year-old Regal Empress, which was pulled from cruising last year to temporarily house relief workers in Galveston, Texas. The ship’s owners faced costly upgrades to meet new safety requirements going into effect in 2010, and so apparently retired the ship, which left Port Everglades on March 14, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The future of Regal Empress has apparently not been determined, reports Maritime Matters, a website for fans of old liners.
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