Carnival Corp orders three new — and big — ships for Carnival Cruise Line

Josh Weinstein: "We delivered a phenomenal third quarter, breaking operational records and outperforming across the board." [Photo: Carnival Corporation]

The world’s largest cruise company, Miami-based Carnival Corporation & plc, today announced an order for a further three new ships. Ordered for its Carnival Cruise Line brand at Fincantieri, they will be a new class of vessel and, at nearly 230,000 grt, they will be large — and LNG-fueled

The agreement with Fincantieri provides for the design, engineering, and construction of the three ships, which will be delivered in the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively.

Fincantieri says the value of the agreement, subject to financing finalization and other typical terms and conditions to be completed later this year, is “considered as very important.”

With over 3,000 guest staterooms, the new ships will be the largest in the Carnival Corporation global fleet and will carry almost 8,000 guests at full capacity. They will also push the size envelope for Fincantieri, whose largest cruise ship delivered thus far is the 175,500-ton, 4,300 passenger Sun Princess. When delivered to Carnival Corporation’s Princess Cruises brand earlier this year, it was Fincantieri’s first LNG-fueled ship and took the crown of the largest ship built in Italy.

Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO and managing director of Fincantieri, said: “We are very proud to announce that Fincantieri has signed a contract with Carnival Corporation for the construction of three next-generation cruise ships with a historical partner. This order is a significant leap forward in our innovation strategy, thus reaffirming our commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency. The partnership with Carnival Corporation marks another step confirming the leadership of Fincantieri in the global cruise sector as per our industrial plan, combining tradition, technological advancement and ‘Made in Italy’.”

Once all three of the just-ordered ships are delivered in 2033, Carnival Corporation will have a total of 16 LNG-powered ships – including eight Carnival Cruise Line ships – making up almost 30% of Carnival Corporation’s global capacity and delivering immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions. The new ships will also feature advanced energy efficiency, waste management, and emission reduction technologies.

“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 placed its first newbuild orders in five years for two more Excel-class ships that will join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in 2027 and 2028. The company also recently announced a series of strategic shifts in the composition of its global brand portfolio that increased guest capacity for Carnival Cruise Line, transferring a total of five vessels from sister brands to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet 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.”

According to Weinstein, this order will take the company’s overall measured capacity growth between 2025 and 2033 to an average of approximately 1.5% per year. “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 said.

Design details and itinerary information for the new Carnival Cruise Line ships will be announced in the future.