Is Carnival's Oldest Cruise Ship Leaving the Fleet?
(12:23 p.m. EDT) -- When Carnival Corp. President and CEO Arnold Donald announced last week that 13 ships across the companies nine cruise brands would be sold, it sent the Cruise Critic message boards into overdrive in an effort to track down which ships might be leaving their favorite fleets. It looks like our message board members might have solved part of the mystery: According to the Cruise Critic forums, as well as several news outlets, Carnival Fantasy is set to leave the Carnival Cruise Line fleet. The 30-year-old Carnival Fantasy is on its way to Izmir, Turkey, where there is a large ship-scrapping operation, according to  , a site that tracks the movements of marine vessels. The same website is also showing that the 24-year-old Inspiration is on its way to Curacao, where it refueled before heading directly to Turkey. Among the 13 ships confirmed to be leaving Carnival Corp.'s global cruise fleet are Costa Victoria and P&O Cruises Oceana, but declined to confirm the status of Fantasy and Inspiration whether these two ships are among them. "Our parent company, Carnival Corporation, said in its quarterly earnings call last Friday that the company was going to remove 13 ships across the corporate fleet," Carnival said in a statement. "What ships, if any, from the Carnival Cruise Line fleet that may be involved in this capacity reduction, have not been identified. We aren't in a position to confirm, deny or comment on speculation or rumor." Carnival Fantasy is the oldest in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet, and Inspiration is a near-twin from the same Fantasy Class. It would make sense for the line to dispose of these over newer, more efficient vessels. The CC Message Boards are rife with speculation about the fate of the ships. Stormy_weatherman wrote: "Yikes. I'm sure we will lose at least a couple of Fantasy class ships here. Especially since the latter has no sailings until late 2021." Embarkation_75 wrote: "I find it interesting that Carnival Inspiration has left behind Carnival Imagination and Miracle with storage in Panama City recently as it appears to be floating southeast now along the northern coast of Venezuela. Could the Inspiration be headed toward disposal/salvage?"