Carnival Cruise Line expanding fleet in a massive way
Carnival Cruise Line plans to build three new cruise ships that could each carry 8,000 passengers (world’s largest) at full capacity.
Three new Carnival cruise ships announced
Carnival Cruise Line is ordering three additional ships that will massively change the portfolio of its fleet. The vessels will be a new ship class aiming to be some of the world’s largest with over 3,000 staterooms and the ability to carry nearly 8,000 passengers. Carnival’s new class of ships will be built in Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard, and are expected to be delivered in 2029, 2031, and 2033.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line said, “For this next-generation ship, we are focused on creating innovative guest experiences that will take Carnival Cruise Line into the future with new fun features and excitement.”
A bigger boat
Carnival’s agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri calls for the design, engineering, and construction of three liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ships at nearly 230,000 gross tonnes. To put that size in comparison, when the Carnival Jubilee debuted in 2023, the ship was the latest in the Excel-Class (including Carnival Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration), coming in at 344 m (1,129 ft) long and 183,900 gross tonnes. Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is the current largest cruise ship in the world at 364 m (1,196 ft) long and 248,663 gross tonnes, and Star of the Seas (debuting in the summer of 2025) is expected to be even larger.
Season of changes for Carnival Cruise Line
This makes five new ship orders announced for Carnival Cruise Line in 2024. Earlier this year, Carnival announced its fourth and fifth Excel-Class ships coming in 2027 and 2028. In addition, Carnival is sunsetting P&O Cruises Australia and folding the Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure ships into the Carnival fleet.
Josh Weinstein, chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation commented, “At this point, our newbuild pipeline is just one delivery in each of 2025, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2031, and 2033. We continue to take a disciplined approach to growth, strategically directing new capacity to the areas of highest demand at a rate of one to two new ships per year.”
Presumably, the new build referenced for 2025 is a rebranded ship from P&O Cruises Australia.
“We are excited to join forces with Carnival Cruise Line to debut a new class of ship,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri, “which will be the largest cruise ship ever constructed by Fincantieri and the largest ship ever built in Italy. We are proud of the role Fincantieri has played in helping Carnival Corporation secure its position as the world’s largest cruise company and look forward to continuing this success story together.”
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