MS Thomson Celebration

For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named MS Noordam.

MS Thomson Celebration was a cruise ship owned by TUI UK, and last operated by their United Kingdom-based Marella Cruises. She was built in 1984 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France for Holland America Line (HAL) as MS Noordam. On 29 April 2020, Marella announced that the ship would be retired from the fleet and sold for scrap.^[7] The ship beached for scrap in Aliaga, Turkey in 2022.

Thomson Celebration

Thomson Celebration at Alanya, Turkey
History
Name	1984–2005: Noordam 2005–2017: Thomson Celebration 2017–2020: Marella Celebration 2020–2022: Mare
Owner	1984–2018: Holland America Line 2018–2020: TUI UK
Operator	1984–2005: Holland America Line 2005–2017: Thomson Cruises 2017–2020: Marella Cruises
Port of registry	1984–1996: Sint Maarten,  Netherlands Antilles 1996–2005: Rotterdam,  Netherlands 2005–2009: Sint Maarten,  Netherlands Antilles[1][2] 2009–2022:  Malta[2][3]
Builder	Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Yard number	X27[1]
Launched	21 May 1983[1]
Sponsored by	Beatrijs van De Wallbake[4]
Completed	1984
In service	8 April 1984
Out of service	2020
Identification	Call sign: 9HUI9 IMO number: 8027298 MMSI number: 249544000
Fate	Scrapped in 2022
General characteristics
Type	Cruise ship
Tonnage	33,933 GT[5] 4,243 DWT[1]
Length	214.66 m (704 ft 3 in)[3]
Beam	27.26 m (89 ft 5 in)[3]
Draught	7.50 m (24 ft 7 in)[1]
Decks	9
Installed power	2 × Sulzer RLB66 diesels combined 21,600 kW (29,000 hp)[1]
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[3] (other sources claim 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph))[1]
Capacity	1,254 passengers[3] (1,350 maximum)[6]
Crew	520[3]

History

Noordam in Vancouver in 1999

Thomson Celebration in 2010

Marella Celebration at Argostoli.

Marella Celebration was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in 1984 for Holland America Line as Noordam at a cost of $160 million and became the third HAL vessel to bear the name.^[8] She was originally furnished with a $1 million art collection, some of which, including a 17th-century Oriental screen, can still be found on board.^[8] Her sister ship, Thomson Spirit, also originally operated for HAL as Nieuw Amsterdam.

After Noordam's last sailing with HAL, the ship was taken out of service and chartered to Thomson Cruises and later rechristened as Thomson Celebration.^[1]

On 9 October 2017, Thomson Cruises announced to be renamed Marella Cruises. TUI Group renamed Thomson Celebration to Marella Celebration at the end of October 2017.^[9]

On 14 September 2022 the ship left Eleusis towards Aliaga, towed by the tug Vernicos Sifnos.^[10][11]