Cruise giant Carnival Corp. orders nine new ships
Cruise giant Carnival Corp. today announced plans to add nine new ships over a four-year period from 2019 to 2022.
The parent company of Carnival, Holland America, Princess and six other major cruise lines didn't say which of the brands would be getting the new vessels or how big they would be. But it said the ships "would be based on Carnival Corporation's next-generation ship designs, which will produce the most efficient ships in the company's history."
The plans call for the vessels to be built by two different shipbuilders: Italy's Fincantieri and Germany's Meyer Werft.
In its announcement, Carnival said it had signed strategic memorandums of agreement today with both companies for the new vessels that also include options for even more ships in the coming years. The order is subject to several conditions, including satisfactory financing, the company noted.
Carnival said the new ships are expected to serve established cruise markets in North America and Europe, as well as newer markets, including China. Other brands owned by Carnival Corp. include Italy-based Costa Cruises, which is growing rapidly in China as well as Europe; German line Aida Cruises; UK-based P&O Cruises and Cunard Line; Australia-based P&O Cruises Australia; and luxury line Seabourn.
"We're excited to take this next step in our fleet enhancement plan with these two new agreements that are consistent with our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time," Carnival Corp. president and CEO Arnold Donald says in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Carnival's nine brands currently have 101 ships in operation in total, and the company has said it would like to add two or three new vessels a year.
Carnival says Fincantieri will develop and construct five of the new ships at its shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera, Italy. Meyer Werft will build the other four ships at its shipyards in Papenburg, Germany, and Turku, Finland.
The vessels will be in addition to several new ships that already are on order for Carnival brands for delivery between now and 2019. Both the Carnival and Holland America brands are scheduled to receive new ships in 2016 and 2018, and a new Princess ship is scheduled to debut in 2017. Carnival's Seabourn brand has two ships on order for delivery in 2016 and 2018.
Two other Carnival Corp. brands are unveiling new ships this year. The company's P&O Cruises brand just unveiled its largest ship ever earlier this month, the 3,647-passenger Britannia. At 143,000 tons, it's the 11th largest cruise ship ever built. Aida Cruises also has a new ship coming later this year as well as one in 2016.
For a deck-by-deck look at the new Britannia, click through the carousel below.
