Cruise ship operator Carnival Corporation has ordered three new LNG-powered ships, the largest vessels in fleet to date.
The significant order adds momentum to LNG’s role as a transition fuel in the leisure industry, as Carnival Corporation is the largest cruise company in the world.
"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," Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said.
Record Italian order
The new vessels will be constructed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri based on unique designs for a new class of vessel. Each ship will weigh in at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes, with orders contingent upon financing, which is expected to be completed later this year.
"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,” Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri, said. “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.”
Design details and itinerary information for the new Carnival Cruise Line ships will be announced in due course, with delivery of the three ships scheduled for the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively.
Newbuild pipeline
The addition of the new ships will take Carnival Corporation's LNG-powered fleet to 16 ships and follows five new ship orders for Carnival Cruise Line announced in 2024. These marked the first newbuild orders in five years, and include two new Excel-class ships that will join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in 2027 and 2028.
"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,” Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation, said.
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Carnival Corporation is one of the world’s largest leisure travel companies, employing workforce of over 100,000 people in nearly 150 countries. The firm operates a fleet over 90 ships visiting hundreds of ports around the world. Its portfolio includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
