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From record-setter to rubbish: World’s biggest cruise ship to be scrapped without sailing a single voyage

Gene Sloan
Gene Sloan
Cruise team lead
As TPG's cruise team lead, Gene Sloan oversees the site's cruise content and also writes many of TPG's main cruise guides. He has spent nearly 30 years writing about cruise ships and cruising, and he is one of the world's best-known authorities on the topic.
June 18, 2022
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3 min read
(Photo courtesy of Genting Cruise Lines for The Points Guy)
From record-setter to rubbish: World’s biggest cruise ship to be scrapped without sailing a single voyage
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Call it the giant of the seas that never was.

An unnamed cruise vessel of nearly record proportions that has been under construction in Germany for an Asia-focused cruise line will be scrapped before sailing a single voyage, according to German shipping magazine anBord.

This week anBord reported that the liquidators for the bankrupt MV Werften shipyard in Warnemunde, Germany, will sell the bulk of the half-finished ship for scrap and attempt to resell some of its systems and engines.

The vessel, often referred to as Global Dream 2, and a sister ship that had also been under construction at the MV Werften shipyard were designed to hold more than 9,000 passengers, making them the world's largest cruise ships by passenger capacity.

At 208,000 tons each, the vessels would have been tied for the world's sixth-largest cruise ships by size when complete, just behind Royal Caribbean's five groundbreaking Oasis-class ships.

Both of the ships were on order for Asia-based Dream Cruises, which collapsed along with its parent company Genting Hong Kong earlier this year after its revenues plummeted due to COVID-19 pandemic-related shutdowns.

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The MV Werften shipyard was also part of Genting Hong Kong, as was Asia-based line Star Cruises and luxury line Crystal Cruises. Like Dream Cruises, the latter two lines are being liquidated.

Related: Crystal Cruises suspends operations

The sister ship to Global Dream 2, which is further along in construction and named Global Dream, is not being scrapped for now. The liquidators for the MV Werften shipyard have been trying to sell the vessel, which is about 80% finished.

Both of the vessels were specifically designed for Asian travelers.

Among notable features, the two ships were to have the largest cinemas at sea with eight theaters apiece and the first theme parks atop a cruise ship with the longest roller coasters at sea. As of now, just one ship — Carnival Cruise Line's Mardi Gras — has a roller coaster on its top deck.

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Featured image by (Photo courtesy of Genting Cruise Lines for The Points Guy)
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