Carnival Cruise hopes to build on its strong US market position with the new ships. Credit: Carnival Corporation

Carnival Corp has ordered three new cruise vessels for its eponymous firm Carnival Cruise Line from Italian shipyard Fincantieri. 

The LNG-powered cruise ships will take at least five years to design, engineer, and construct. The first delivery is slated for 2029, with the second and third following in 2031 and 2033. When delivered, the Carnival Cruise fleet will boast 16 LNG liners. 

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Carnival’s order book now stands at five, adding to two newbuild orders made in spring 2024, extending its Excel Class of ships to five. The two earlier orders were agreed with Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany. 

Along with transfers from other brands within the Carnival Corp, these newbuilds will add a stream of increased capacity for Carnival Cruise Line of approximately 1.5% each year for the next nine years. 

“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, CEO of Carnival Corporation.

“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.”

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The supply growth will allow the cruise line group to keep up with its expected uptick in demand. 

“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,” Weinstein explained.

The Italy-built ships will be the largest Carnival has ever ordered, with at least 3,000 “staterooms” and a capacity for 8,000 guests. 

“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.