Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is a cruise line that operates two-day voyages out of West Palm Beach, FL. As of September 2019, they offer cruises to Grand Bahama Island and Nassau. The company was founded in late 2014, and began operating its first cruises in February 2015 with the "Grand Celebration". History. The cruise line was formed after Celebration Cruise Line ceased operations following a grounding incident that left its only ship, the , damaged beyond repair. Former Celebration Cruise Line executives formed Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and purchased the "Costa Celebration" to take over the  route formerly operated by the "Bahamas Celebration". The cruise line's first cruise was scheduled to depart on February 1, 2015. Due to technical difficulties, the voyage was cancelled. Repairs were made and the ship set sail on February 3. The company is currently majority-owned by the family of former Norwegian Cruise Line President and CEO Kevin Sheehan. On September 19, 2017 FEMA chartered the ship for a 90-day period through December 2017 to house the National Guard in St. Thomas, which was devastated by Hurricane Irma. The ship returned to service on December 23, 2017. It was  announced in December 2017 that the cruise line purchased the former Costa ship "neoClassica". It entered service on 13 April 2018 as the "Grand Classica". Beginning in September 2019, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line began running Humanitarian missions to Grand Bahama Island in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. In November 2020, the cruise line sold "Grand Celebration" to an undisclosed buyer, and in January 2021 she was beached in Alang for scrapping. In September 2021 all cruises were cancelled as "Grand Classica" was chartered to Entergy in New Orleans to house over 1500 workers restoring power to the area following Hurricane  Ida. Rebranding To Margaritaville at Sea. On December 8th, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville announced the partnership with the cruise line to rebrand it as Margaritaville at Sea while still retaining the same ownership and CEO as before. The last voyage under Bahamas Paradise is scheduled to take place on April 16, 2022. Upon the completion of the final cruise, the "Grand Classica" will sail to the Grand Bahama Shipyard for a rebranding and refit of the ship's interiors and venues to be themed under the Margaritaville brand. Also during the refit the ship will be renamed the "Margaritaville Paradise . It is scheduled to begin sailing for the rebranded line starting April 30th. It will continue to offer 2 day cruises from the Port of Palm Beach to Freeport, Bahamas.