''Marella Explorer 2'', formerly ''Celebrity Century'' and ''SkySea Golden Era'', was the lead ship of the ''Century'' class of

cruise ships Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

for

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

, and the co-flagship of the Celebrity fleet, along with ''Millennium''-class ship , and the newest ''Solstice'' class, . Other ships belonging to the ''Century'' class include (formerly ''Celebrity Galaxy'') and (formerly ''Celebrity Mercury''). In March 2018, it was announced that

Royal Caribbean Cruises Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

and

Ctrip Trip.com Group Limited (, formerly Ctrip.com International) is a Chinese multinational online travel company that provides services including accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management. Fo ...

were to close the SkySea Cruise Line brand and that the line's sole ship ''SkySea Golden Era'' would join the Marella fleet in place of ''Mein Schiff 2'' which would stay with TUI Cruises. ''Skysea Golden Era'' would take her final voyage on 29 August 2018. It was a 4-night sailing from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

with a call at

Fukuoka, Japan is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

. ''SkySea Golden Era'' underwent a major refurbishment, in Cadiz, Spain, in order to become ''Marella Explorer 2''. Its first sailing for

Marella Cruises Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. History The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fue ...

was in April 2019.

History

''Century'' was launched in 1995 and went into a five-week drydock in April 2006 for refurbishment. Designed to incorporate a variety of Celebrity's ''Millennium''-class attributes, the revitalization of ''Century'' was the line's most extensive refurbishment to-date, and the largest cruise ship modification completed by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Italy, shipyard. In late December 2013, it was rumored that the ship would transfer to

CDF Croisières de France CDF Croisières de France was a cruise line that catered to the French cruise market, with French as the primary language used on board. CDF was a subsidiary of Pullmantur Cruises, and offered cruises to the Mediterranean operating from mid-Marc ...

in 2015. Celebrity Cruises continued to deny the rumors until 13 February 2014 when they formally announced her departure from the fleet in April 2015, from March 2014 through April 2015, ''Celebrity Century'' visited 77 ports in 32 countries, the most destinations of any ship in the Celebrity fleet. The line celebrated this final season with several special events, including a 14-night President's Cruise to Asia with Celebrity President and CEO

Michael Bayley Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flori ...

. On 2 September 2014, it was announced that SkySea Cruises, a joint venture between

and Royal Caribbean, would acquire the vessel and begin operations after April 2015.

Coronavirus pandemic

On 25 March 2020, four crew members tested positive of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and were stranded in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. On 30 March, the ship was sailing along the Yucatan coast with plans to dock in Progreso, Yucatan. On 3 April, a male British passenger died from the disease while his wife had also been infected. On 19 April, out of 19 Jamaican crew members on the ship, two of them tested positive.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Official website
{{Ships built at Meyer Werft Ships of Celebrity Cruises Ships built in Papenburg 1995 ships