Where Cruise Ships Go To Die: What Really Happens When a Cruise Ship Is Retired

What happens to a cruise ship when she reaches the end of her cruising life? Thousands of passengers might have made lifelong memories on board, but all ships come to the end of their working life sooner or later.

Cruise ships, on average, sail for around thirty years before the cost of maintaining and operating them becomes too high to justify, or when their amenities are too outdated to compete with newer, more modern vessels.

The ships are not quietly scrapped overnight. Some are dismantled, some are repurposed, and some are just left to rust in “ship graveyards.”

How Long Does a Cruise Ship’s Life Last?

The average lifespan of a cruise ship is around 30 years, though regular maintenance and refurbishments can extend their sailing time.

Cruise lines sometimes sell older ships to smaller operators instead of scrapping them.

An example of that would be the Marella fleet. All of their ships previously sailed for well-known cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, or Tui.

Other cruise lines that have brought older ships for their fleets are the British cruise line Fred. Olsen and Ambassador.

It would seem there is still a place for these older, smaller ships at the value end of the cruise market. Many guests love the character and quirks of these much-loved ships.

Find out more about Marella’s older ships here:

How Marella Cruises Transformed Ex-Celebrity and Royal Caribbean Ships

Some of the well-known ships scrapped since the 2020 Covid pandemic include:

• Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Inspiration, Carnival Fascination.
  • These Fantasy-class ships were all sold for scrap.
• Celestyal Olympia
  • Previously, Song of America for Royal Caribbean sailed for many lines before being scrapped in 2025.
• Costa Victoria, Costa neoRomantica.
  • Costa Victoria was sold in spring 2020, with initial plans to convert her into a floating hotel. These plans never materialised, and she remained docked for several months, becoming unseaworthy. In early 2021, the ship was sold for scrap.
  • Celestyal Cruises took delivery of the Costa neoRomantica in the summer of 2020 and renamed her as the Celestyal Experience, but sadly, she never sailed for the cruise line and was scrapped in 2023.
• Marella Celebration, Marella Dream.
  • Both ships were laid up in Greece for two years and scrapped in 2022 due to “pandemic-related travel restrictions.”
• SuperStar Libra, Gem (ex-SuperStar Gemini)Arius (ex-SuperStar Aquarius)
  • Were all scrapped at the Alang Shipbreaking Yard in India in 2022, following the bankruptcy of their owner, Genting Hong Kong.
• MS Astoria
  • Was said to be the world’s oldest cruise ship, and was scrapped at 77 years old!
  • The 1948-launched vessel (initially named Stockholm) was brought at auction in Rotterdam for EUR 200,000 by the Flemish recycling firm Galloo, the only bidder. She was scrapped in July 2025.
• MS Marco Polo
  • Was built in 1965 as the ocean liner Aleksandr Pushkin and was scrapped in 2021 after its operator, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, went bankrupt.
• MS Astor and MV Columbus
  • Were also scrapped after Cruise & Maritime Voyages went bankrupt in 2020.

Modern regulations (such as new environmental rules) and operating costs often make older ships unviable and uneconomical.

Why Cruise Ships Are Retired

There are many reasons that cruise ships are retired from service. These could include:

• Ships unable to meet modern safety and efficiency standards (SOLAS updates, fuel efficiency, emissions etc).
• Rising maintenance costs and outdated technology on older ships make them uneconomical to run.
• Passenger expectations.
  • Older ships can’t always compete with modern mega-ships, and cruises on older ships are less in demand.
• Some meet early ends due to accidents, fires, or lack of demand (as happened during the Covid pandemic).

The Final Voyage: Where Cruise Ships Go to Be Scrapped

These are the main ship-breaking yards where cruise ships end their days:

• Aliaga, Turkey, is the busiest modern ship-breaking yard for cruise ships.
• Alang, India is historically the largest ship-breaking yard in the world.
• Gadani, Pakistan and Chittagong, Bangladesh – scrap older ships.

Step by Step: What Happens When a Ship Is Scrapped

• The ship sails under her own power to the ship-breaking yard.
  • Often, the ship is renamed and all identifying logos painted over.
• (In India, “beaching” of ships for scrapping involves running them onto a beach at high tide before dismantling them).
• The removal of valuables and interiors takes place.
  • Furniture, fixtures and fittings, artwork, etc.
• Salvageable parts are sold or auctioned.
  • Dismantled materials are sorted and sent for recycling.
  • The steel is sold to steel mills and is often reused in construction, while other materials, like copper and aluminium are also salvaged.
  • Items such as doors, toilets, and lighting are sold off locally.
• Some pieces, such as nameplates or signage, might end up in collectors’ or museums’ collections.

Pandemic Ship Graveyards: When It All Sped Up

The Covid pandemic caused mass retirements around 2020–2021.

Cruise companies suffered significant financial losses, operational disruptions, and a decline in passenger demand.

Passengers couldn’t travel, and when cruising resumed after the pandemic, strict rules and regulations were put in place.

Ships had to sail at reduced capacity, which wasn’t good for profitability.

As a result of the pandemic, many cruise ships were either fast-tracked into early retirement or unexpectedly decommissioned.

Images from Aliaga breaking yard in Turkey show multiple cruise ships sat side by side, being dismantled.

This was probably the first time the public became aware of what the realities of ship scrapping actually look like.

What Happens to Ships That Aren’t Scrapped

Not all cruise ships are scrapped when they reach around thirty years of age. Some get a reprieve.

They may be:

• Sold to smaller or regional cruise lines (e.g., Marella, Celestyal, Ambassador).
• Some become floating hotels, museums, or casinos. For example:
  • Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a floating hotel in Dubai.
  • Queen Mary is a hotel in Long Beach.
  • SS Rotterdam is a hotel and visitor attraction docked in the city she took her name from, Rotterdam.

A few are just abandoned, laid up and left to rust.

Environmental and Ethical Issues

Because of the manual nature of the work, especially in developing countries, it involves significant dangers to the shipyard workers from falling objects, heights, and toxic fumes.

Despite efforts to recycle, the shipbreaking process can lead to significant pollution from materials such as oil, paint, and other hazardous substances, which can leach into soil and water if not handled properly.

The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships is an international treaty adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

It establishes mandatory global regulations for ship recycling to ensure that ships are dismantled in a way that protects human health and the environment from unnecessary risks.

The convention also requires ships to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM). This helps to ensure safe and environmentally sound ship recycling at the end of a vessel’s life.

Some yards (like those in Turkey) are improving standards and safety, but there is still a long way to go in areas like the Indian subcontinent.

It has been reported by The NGO Shipbreaking Platform (a global coalition of organisations working to reverse the environmental harm and human rights abuses caused by current shipbreaking practices) that since 2009, 447 workers are known to have died working on shipbreaking sites in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Three hundred and ninety-three are known to have been injured. The actual figures could be much higher.

The Future of Cruise Ship Recycling

There is now a push toward “green recycling” and automated ship-breaking facilities.

Cruise lines are committing to more sustainable dismantling practices.

Sadly, cruise ships don’t last forever, but parts of them live on in recycled materials, memorabilia, and the memories of the passengers who sailed on them.

Before You Go

Find out about my stay onboard the Queen Mary, an Ocean Liner that escaped the scrapyard by becoming a floating hotel in Long Beach, here:

My Stay on the 1930s Ocean Liner, Queen Mary (In Long Beach, California)

I was lucky enough to take a transatlantic crossing on the modern Queen Mary 2. Find out what makes her different this wonderful Ocean Liner, different from modern-day cruise ships here:

Queen Mary 2 vs. Other Cruise Ships: What Makes Her Unique?