If it seems like Carnival has been around and dominated the cruise industry forever, here’s a reminder of how recent that is: Tropicale, the first ship ever built for Carnival, and its first true cruise ship, has just been sold for scrap, 38 years after it launched.
Before Tropicale, Carnival had a fleet of three ships, converted from second-hand ocean liners. Tropicale was the first to sport the ‘whale-tail’ funnel of every later Carnival ship. It sailed a variety of routes for Carnival, and was then passed on to Carnival’s Costa brand in 2001 and to its P&O Australia brand in 2005.
After 2008, it left Carnival’s hands, sailing for Pullmantur Cruises, which sold it to Peace Boat as, a company that operates ‘voluntourism’ and educational cruises. Late last year, Peace Boat announced the ship, now called Ocean Dream, would be replaced, and it was delivered to a scrap yard in India on New Year’s Day. Her replacement is also ex-Carnival: Peace Boat hass bought Sun Princess as its new ship.
