ALLEGRA To Aliaga? Updated
The 1969-built COSTA ALLEGRA was listed as sold to Turkish scrappers in mid September and is currently at Genoa’s San Giorgio del Porto Shipyard undergoing preparation for her final journey to Aliaga, a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey about 50 km (31 mi). north of Izmir.
UPDATE: DasRudderhaus reports that the former COSTA ALLEGRA arrived at Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping under the name SANTA CRUISE on Wednesday, October 24, 2012.
COSTA ALLEGRA was built in 1969 by the Wärtsilä Shipyard in Turku, Finland as the container ship ANNIE JOHNSON for Sweden’s Johnson Line. Regency Cruises bought the ANNIE JOHNSON in 1986 to rebuild her into a cruise ship and renamed her REGENT MOON but the vessel was laid up in Perama, Greece and next sold to Compania Naviera Panalexandra and renamed ALEXANDRA. She remained in lay up until 1990, when Costa Crociere bought and completely rebuilt the ship into a cruise vessel at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy. COSTA ALLEGRA entered service in 1992 for Costa. In 2010, she was operated under Costa’s French cruise brand Croisieres Paquet and marketed as ALLEGRA until making headlines for a well publicized fire.
In late Feb 2012, the ship was cruising toward the port of Victoria (Mahè, Seychelles) when a small generator fire cut power. The COSTA ALLEGRA went adrift with 636 passengers and 413 crew members on board until an ocean-going fishing trawler arrived on the scene, taking the cruise ship in tow. Two tugs were also eventually dispatched. Concern over Somali pirates known to operate in the same area were somewhat calmed by the presence on board of nine members of the Italian navy’s anti-pirate unit. COSTA ALLEGRA was finally taken to Port Victoria, with all passengers and crew safe before heading to Genoa for assessment and possible repairs.
Special thanks to Captain Bill and Peter Knego.
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It is what it is…. An old bottom spanked long ago and not ready for prime time.
Sure, there was a time and a place for the conversions and massive reworking of these service mules, in such a time that nobody was willing to trust the publics willingness to sail in state of the art new luxe ships. That was then this is now, a whole new world of cruises awaits tomorrow, as gleaned from today.
Yes, the look of the new ships may seem repugnant to some, even repulsive, but bear in mind, that those of us that sail and not merely criticize, have set high bars for what we expect in a ship today, be it Carnival, Silver Sea, Oceania or MSC.
Yeah, there were new ships built over the years, on the cheap, I can not forget the CUNARD ADVENTURER, late 1960’s/ 1970′,s as cheap as it was, the food was better than on the QE2 at that time, or, the Cunard “twins” COUNTESS and PRINCESS, built for a mere $17 Million FOR THE PAIR, my god, they’re still sailing. I loved those shps.
Then the redo’s. The lax job and probably lack of money to properly refit the convertion to COSTA RIVIERA, we had a suite, with mismatched linoleum, missing bath tiles, legs on the coffee table that did not match – I have seen pictures of the ALLEGRA, and she seems to have had the same light wallet for decor.
Let her be, dear ALLEGRA, you tried to fit in, and you gave all you had.
I did see the ALLEGRA in one port a few years ago, maybe Phillipsburg, and by god, she was as graceful as a swan on a mirror sea of aqua glass.In the states the Lincoln auto mark is best described by a “waterfall grill”, a Lincoln trademark, well, the aft of the ALLEGRA had a “waterfall” of glass that cascaded grandly through three decks, with Bavarian curtains. Her twin Linea “C” stacks pencil thin and tall.
So, you see, if the Chinese do not want her, as a viable cruise ship -do I detect some fussiness there, are they getting picky?
NO they are getting smart.
Let’s not forget the fact that the COSTA ALLEGRA’s hull is in fact 43 years old. That’s a ripe age for any ship, cruise or otherwise – as testified by the fact that all the non-converted ships of the AXEL JOHNSON class have been scrapped, the first one already in 1987. The hull form of a 60s-built ship simply cannot be as economical as that of a newer ship, and the added superstructure of the cruise ship conversion cannot have helped in that regard, which could be a genuine problem in this fuel-concious era. One could also theorise the engine room fire was worse than what has been let on…
Kalle
You bring up some very plausable points, the old hull, and of course the issue of fuel cost with added weight of superstructure, and then, the fire.
Here in the States as well as Canada, very strict automobile safety regulations have been put into place in the auto industry, with new CAFE regs for fuel consumption looming ahead.At sea, there is the thorn of many a vintage ship, SOLAS.
Here is where a brief comparison can be made between an old car and an old passenger ship.
A vintage, or antique car, say, 25 -50 years old, lacks good MPG, lacks air bags, may lack seat belts, does not have anti-lock brakes, nor does it have the latest stabilitrak, and lacks other saftey measures, most important, unitized construction.
The old ship lacks good fuel consumption, lacks all of the bells and whistles the contemporary passenger demands, and does not, and probably can not, attain a passing grade with current SOLAS requirements.
Sure, I like antique cars, love vintage ships, and contemporary cars and ships. For safety new wins out on land and sea.
We need safer efficient cars, and we need SOLAS.
I haven’t cruised on Allegra, and probably wouldn’t chose Costa, but a friend who I consider a very experienced cruiser (at least two cruises a year) has been on Allegra twice in the past three years and loved it. There were no complaints about run down conditions. There it is FWIW.
At 43 years a vessel that has undergone so many changes is a good time to head for the graveyard.It is ironic for a vessel that was build in Turku Finland to be cut into pieces in Turkey.
Solas is very strict and that is good for the traveling people.It’s also true that the service on the Costa cruise ships is second to none.Safety however lacks due to crew communications and it starts from the top…………………………………………………………….
Please don’t knock Allegra. She has served Costa well both pre and since Mr.Carnival took over. And her sister Marina is still going strong. And if you want to knock hull age, then look at Classic International Cruises arrested fleet: Danae and Daphne’s hulls date from 1955 and Athena’s hull dates from 1948. Decent steel; decent shipyards: no problem.
When sailing as a Costa ship, pre Carnival ownership, the ship probably for all intents and purposes sailing with Costas reputation for superlative Italian ambiance. The ALLEGRA entered service 8 years prior to the purchase by Carnival. Rebuilds such as that of ANNIE JOHNSON, transformed to ALLEGRA were common in the 1980’s, as newbuilding was not that common, and there wer new start up lines then that never financially made the grade.
It is not that rare that a ship have a 43 year old hull and still be sailing.
I site the major differences between the convertion of these two ships for the reasons that follow. The sisters, MARCONI and GALLILE were both transformed in to cruise ships from ocean liners. The COSTA RIVIERA was done welll, but there were slight of hand interior decor issues. On the other hand, the Celebrity MERIDIEN was a knock out, seemingly brand new for the new branch of Chandris Cruises, Celebrity Cruises. It is interestting to know that Costa was bought up by Carnival, and Celebrity by Royal Caribbean.
I sailed both, once with COSTA RIVIERA, twice with the MERIDIEN. They were as different as night and day, however, the pure Italian ambiance I noticed was more in keeping with Italian Lines, when I sailed the MARCONI, and many cabins were as dumpy on the RIVIERA and they were on the MARCONI. There enlies the thought of rundown, as presumption, not as fact.
I agree with Kenneth she is a truse beauty having sailed on her eraly in the 90’s after Costa had rebuilt her…..It’s a shame that maybe Louis Cruises could not pick her up for a low price and fix her up…..good bye to another classic. I too Ken like classic cars I drive a 1987 Mercedes Benz 560SL on a daily basis…horrible gas mileage…1 airbag 1st generation the kind that break your nose and cause facial lacerations….but I would not trade this car in for any of the plastic low quality rattle traps they build now.
Regarding the ALLEGRA and Louis Cruises, accoring to rumours Louis are either looking for a larger ship to replace the LOUIS CRISTAL (in which case the Allegra would be too small) or not in a financial condition to buy anything. In either case LOUIS ALLEGRA was likely to never be.
Louis criuses hv plan for re-activation m/v Coral for yrs 2013 cruises
Well, Peter, you’ve done it again and I extend my thanks to you. Even though it’s upsetting to see ships like VENUS and ALLEGRA up on the beach, at least it’s nice to know the final disposition of some of the more unique cruising liners of the recent past. I always thought ALLEGRA was interesting and a well realized ship considering her rather humble beginnings. Her dome, and what I think is the back wall of her dining room, overlooking her wake as she sailed along, were just two of the most interesting features. The pronounced knuckle in her bows was another that while not only providing extra space inside the hull, also gave her a most distinctive profile.
Again my thanks for your hard, if not enjoyable, work on bringing us the news from around the globe.
Joe Sturges, Clermont, Fl.