A year ago, I posted about the cruise ships laid up with an uncertain future and this year I have decided to do the same, there is not a huge lot of change, a lot of the ships on this list are returning from last year. The main drivers of the laid up ships are Seajets pandemic purchases, Brodosplit Shipyard’s ongoing financial crisis and the suspension of services by Blue Dream Cruises. I have not included the ships that have recently been sold for new work, namely the former Costa Magica which has now arrived in China to begin its conversion into Vision or Ocean Majesty, which is currently being used as floating accomodation until the end of the year.

Radisson Diamond / Saipan Star
A returner from last year. The unique cruise ship Radisson Diamond, now known as Saipan Star was blown onto a beach in September 2021 during a storm and remains there to this day. Maritime experts think time is up for this wonderful little cruise ship, which will either break up like the former America or be scrapped in situ. It is a shame as this is a ship I would LOVE to sail on.

Queen of the Oceans
Entering service in 2000 as Ocean Princess before transferring to P&O as Oceana in 2002 this popular cruise ship served the British Market for 18 years until being withdrawn from service in 2020 and sold to SeaJets. At 261 meters and with a capacity for 2272 passengers the former Oceana is a substantial cruise ship. All her sisterships have now left the Carnival group and are operating for other cruise lines, hopefully the former Oceana isn’t far behind.

Minerva
Ordered as a Soviet Spy Ship in 1989, the ship lay incomplete until acquired by Swan Hellenic as Minerva in 1996. The ship passed through a few carters and owners until being reunited with Swan Hellenic until the collapse of parent group All Lesiure Group Plc in 2017. The ship was substantially rebuilt in 2012 adding a whole new deck of balcony cabins which would hopefully make her an attractive addition to a cruise line. She was linked to a German cruise line for 2025, but as yet nothing official was confirmed and she is now advertised for sale or charter, she has quite a fancy website advertising her –https://minerva-vessel.gr/

OKE ANNE / MANTRA
Built in 1990 for Renaissance Cruises, Mantra most recently operated for Silversea, as Silver Galapagos until replaced by newly built Silver Origin in 2021 the 88 meter long 100 passenger ship has proven to be adaptable over its service history. Renamed Mantra to become a floating condo it has been anchored off Panama, the venture appeared to fall through and the ship was once again offered for sale for $3 million, in a reported poor condition. She has now been renamed OKE ANNE so maybe there is more life to this ship yet.

Majesty of the Oceans
Still wearing her Royal Caribbean Logo, but now owned by Seajets the former Majesty of the Sea’s is laid up in Greece with an uncertain future. A Sovereign-class ship, once the largest cruise ships in the world. Majesty of the Oceans was delivered in 1992 and is 270 meters long with a capacity for 2767 passengers. A lack of balcony cabins is likely to lead to Majesty of the Ocean’s joining sisterships Sovereign of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas to be scrapped. There has been no change in the past year to the status of the vessel and it continues to be advertised for sale.

Funchal
Built in 1961 as a Portuguese Ocean Liner Funchal has been out of service since 2015 when owner Portuscale Cruises closed down. In that time she was proposed as a floating yacht club in Ibiza by Signature Living and was later bought by crypto millionaires to be refurbished into a floating static hotel.

This conversion was midway through when a fall in the value of Crypto stopped work. The ship’s status has been quiet since 2021 with no further progress to convert her into a hotel, a shame as I would love to stay onboard as a hotel in Portugal.

Aegean Odyssey
This classic ship stopped operating for charterer RoadsScholar in 2023, and has been laid up since. Entered service as a ferry in 1973, before being rebuilt as a cruise ship in 1988 Aegean Odyssey has a passenger capacity of just 380 people.

Aegean Odyssey was substantially rebuilt in 2010 which could give it a few more years of service if and appropriate operator is found, a new start up crusie line had been announced called Grand Odyssey Cruises but the website is not operating and facebook page has not been posted on since June 2025.

Aegean Majesty
Owned by Seajets, who bought several cruise ships during the pandemic, Aegean Majesty is the sole remaining S class ship not having found work. Entering service in 1996 for Hollan America Line, she had an unusual rebuilding in 2009 making her slightly bigger than her fleetmates. She was withdrawn from service in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

There have been suggestions that her rebuild has made her a difficult-to-operate ship and as such has not been successful in finding a buyer. After five years of layup and reportedly in poor condition it would be interesting to see what the future may hold for Veendam.

Flying Clipper / Golden Horizon

Ordered by Star Clippers as Flying Clipper, the ship was built at the Brodosplit Shipyard in Split, Croatia. The largest sailing ship to ever been constructed. However disagreements between Star Clippers and the Shipyard meant the ship was never delivered to them. Instead a new cruise line was founded as Tradewind Voyages and the ship was named Golden Horizon. With Cruises to begin in May 2021, following an arrest and further dispute between Star Clippers, Tradewind Voyages wound down and the ship returned to the shipyard and was laid up. It is currently for sale but embroiled in a complex bankruptcy process and was funded by a now sanctioned Russian bank. This ship looks amazing, and I hope Star Clippers can finally add the ship to their fleet.

Janssonius
Ordered by Oceanwide Expeditions. The Janssonius was originally scheduled to begin service in October 2021. However, it has been plagued by delays at the Brodosplit Shipyard in Split, Croatia. While its sister ship, the Hondius, was completed successfully in 2019, the Janssonius became caught in the shipyard’s financial crisis. While there were reports in late 2025 suggesting the ship might finally be nearing completion, this has not been the case and it continues to sit in limbo at Brodosplit.

Blue Dream Star
Built by Royal Olympia Cruises as Olympia Explorer in 2001, this ship was designed to operate a rigorous cruise schedule and it could hit speeds of 30 knots. Following the bankruptcy of Royal Olympia the ship has passed through a variety of operators, Semester at Sea, Celestyal, Diamond Cruises before joining Blue Dream Cruises. On May 26, 2023, the Blue Dream Star became the first international cruise ship to resume outbound sailings from China after the COVID-19 lockdowns, sailing from Shanghai to Japan.

In 2024 she was replaced by the former AidaVita and has been laid up since. Today, 4th January 2026, Blue Dream Cruises announced a suspension to its cruises with no confirmed restart date, leaving this ship hanging in the balance.

Blue Dream Melody
With the stop in Operations of Blue Dream Cruises, Blue Dream Melody is now out of service. Built as AidaVita for Aida Cruises in 2022 she was sold to Chinese cruise line Blue Dream in 2024, replacing the previously mentioned Blue Dream Star. However, declining fares and cancelled cruises have plagued the cruise line which stopped operations today 4th January 2026. Her sister ship was puchased by Celestyal Cruises and it would be great to see Blue Dream Melody return to Europe and operate for them, or perhaps a nice addition to Ambassador Cruises.

Are there any of these ships you’ve been on or would like to cruise on? Or do you have anything to add on their stories or even an update, let us know in the comments.

Thanks,

Liam 🙂

Updated: Berlin Oceanis is operating out of Penang 🙂