A year after acquiring the former Costa neoRomantica and renaming it the Celestyal Experience, Louis has announced that its subsidiary Celestyal Cruise has sold the ship, which never operated with passengers aboard.

According to a statement, the sale took place on a purely commercial basis and generated an accounting profit of approximately $3.6 million, according to a statement.

“Due to current market conditions resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Celestyal Cruises has reviewed its forward-looking capacity requirements. After careful thought and consideration, the company has sold the Experience and will continue to operate the same sized fleet that has served it well prior to the pandemic,” the company said, in a statement. 

“Due to the prolonged effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided not to increase the size of Celestyal Cruises’ fleet at this time and will instead continue to operate the cruise ships Celestyal Olympia and Celestyal Crystal which served the company’s needs well prior to the pandemic. In addition, the sale is expected to further support the liquidity of Celestyal Cruises,” the company said.

In addition, a spokesperson told Cruise Industry News: “The ship has already endured a 12-month lay-up and would not have been utilized in the next 18 months. Hence, a prolonged layup of approximately three years would result in the vessel requiring a significant investment for her reactivation and necessary technical upgrading.”

Guests currently holding bookings on the Experience will be contacted by Celestyal and reaccommodated on sailings on the Celestyal Crystal.