UAE Firm Expands Fleet with Acquisition of Former Celestyal Crystal Cruise Ship

Celestyal Cruises, based in Piraeus, Greece, has sold its smallest and oldest cruise ship, the 25,611-gross-ton Celestyal Crystal, to a buyer in the United Arab Emirates. The vessel, now renamed New Dawn, has a storied history, having been built in 1980 and previously served under various names and owners, including a major reconstruction after a fire in 1992.

Following the ship’s decommissioning and subsequent renaming, Celestyal sought to offload the cruise ship, which had been replaced in its fleet by a former Carnival Corporation vessel in September 2023. While details of the sale have not been disclosed, the new owners are considering either continuing its operation as a cruise ship or repurposing it for use as an accommodation facility.

The New Dawn has experienced a colorful operational history that includes serving various cruise lines and undergoing significant changes, such as a second reconstruction after a grounding incident in the Baltic Sea. Over the years, it served under different names and in numerous regions, showing mixed fortunes including a notable collision with a tanker in Turkey’s Marmara Sea in 2015.

The COVID-19 crisis led to a reduction in cruise fleets, allowing niche-market companies like Celestyal to acquire newer ships. Celestyal had previously retired the Celestyal Crystal and another older vessel, Celestyal Olympia, which was sold to UAE-based interests and transformed into an accommodation vessel before being dismantled in Alang in early 2025.

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