''Leisure World'' was a

cruise ship 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 ...

built in 1969 as ''Skyward'' for Norwegian Cruise Line. It subsequently served for several years under various companies, both as a cruise ship and later on as a floating casino. It was finally sold for scrap in 2021.

History

''Skyward'' was delivered on December 10, 1969, along with her sister, ''Starward'', as the first purpose-built ships of Norwegian Cruise Line. During a cruise in 1973 many passengers became ill due to infected water. In 1979 a boiler room fire broke out on board the ''Skyward'', and consequently her engines had to be stopped and her passengers transferred to the ''Starward''. She was operated by her original owners until 1991, when the ''Skyward'' was purchased by Johnson Sembawang Shipmanagement in Nassau to become the ''Shangri-la World''. ''Shangri-la World'' operated cruises out of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. After going through several name changes in the 1990s, the now renamed ''Leisure World'' was rebuilt and renovated in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and sold to Queenstown Investments in 1995. In 2000 she was sold to New Century Cruise Line, who operate her as a casino/entertainment ship out of Penang. As a casino ship, she was one of at least three casino ships (Long Jie(formerly Omar), Royale Star) operating off Batam. Following the opening of the two legal land casinos in Singapore, ship casinos' business suffered badly. As a result, all the casino ships closed down except for MV Leisure World. In 2014, a new casino ship (Ocean Grand) emerged to compete with Leisure World. Unfortunately, she closed down about six months later despite advertisements in "The New Paper" (a Singapore tabloid). Since then, business has picked up at Leisure World. In April 2021 New Century Group sold the vessel for US$3.59m for scrap to NKD Maritime, with breaking the ship in

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

. The Leisure World was beached on July 11, 2021.

On board features

On board ''Leisure World'' there is a karaoke lounge, miniature golf course,

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

gift shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collec ...

fitness center A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health se ...

and

hair salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Massage for the body is a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leisure World 1968 ships Cruise ships Ships built in Bremen (state) Ships of Singapore