In a significant move to meet the surging demand for cruise vacations, Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, has finalized an agreement with the renowned Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to construct three new mega-ships for Carnival Cruise Line. Scheduled for delivery in the summers of 2029, 2031, and 2033, these state-of-the-art vessels will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), underscoring Carnival’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.

Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, expressed her enthusiasm: “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. 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.”

These new ships, each nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes, will be the largest in Carnival Corporation’s global fleet and the most environmentally advanced. With over 3,000 guest staterooms and the capacity to host almost 8,000 guests, these vessels promise unparalleled experiences at sea.

Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, emphasized the strategic importance of this order: “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. 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.”

Weinstein highlighted that this order will facilitate a steady annual capacity growth of approximately 1.5% from 2025 to 2033. This growth strategy enables Carnival to strategically allocate new capacity to its highest-performing brands, ensuring sustained returns and strengthening its financial position. “This gives us the headroom to strategically provide new capacity to the brands in our portfolio like Carnival Cruise Line, which provide outsized returns while continuing to execute against our responsible capital strategy, using our strong free cash flow over the next several years to improve our balance sheet, significantly reduce our debt, and continue to transfer value from debt holders to shareholders,” he stated.

The new vessels will feature advanced energy efficiency, waste management, and emission reduction technologies, aligning with Carnival’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint. By 2033, Carnival Corporation will have 16 LNG-powered ships, including eight under the Carnival Cruise Line brand, representing nearly 30% of its global capacity and delivering significant greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri, shared his excitement about the collaboration: “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.”

This landmark order reflects Carnival’s strategic vision and robust market position, setting a new benchmark in the cruise industry. The design details and itineraries for these new vessels will be unveiled in the future, promising to captivate the imaginations of cruise enthusiasts worldwide.

This order remains contingent upon financing, which is expected to be finalized later this year.

Written by: Michelle Warner

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