The world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation & plc, has announced an order for three new ships to join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet. The agreement which has been signed with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, will deliver the new class of ships in the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033.
“We are proud to be known as America’s cruise line with tremendous guest loyalty and an outstanding team that has enabled us to deliver memorable vacations to over 100 million guests,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “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 that we know our guests will LOVE.”
Earlier this year, Carnival Corporation announced it had placed a newbuild order for two additional Excel-class ships for Carnival Cruise Line to be delivered in 2027 and 2028–its first newbuild order in five years. Additionally, the company is transferring a total of five ships from sister brands to Carnival Cruise Line between 2023 and March 2025.
“We are doubling down on the growth of Carnival Cruise Line – our highest-returning brand – to keep up with the incredibly strong demand we continue to see for the world’s most popular cruise line,” said Josh Weinstein, chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation & plc. “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.”
While specific details are still unknown, we do know the new class of ships will be the largest in the Carnival Corporation global fleet with a size of nearly 230,000 gross tons. The more than 3,000 staterooms will allow for almost 8,000 guests when at capacity. The ships will all be powered by liquified natural gas and feature advanced energy efficiency, waste management and up-to-date emission reduction technology to reduce the company’s environmental footprint.
“We are excited to join forces with Carnival Cruise Line to debut a new class of ship, 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,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO, Fincantieri.
The order is still contingent upon financing that is expected to come later this year.