Fifth Excel Class Ship for Carnival Cruise Line Coming in 2028

Carnival Corporation announced it has signed an agreement with the Meyer Werft shipyard for a fifth Excel-class cruise ship for Carnival Cruise Line. The new vessel will be delivered come 2028. 

Just last month, Carnival Corporation announced its first newbuild order placed in five years with news that a fourth Excel-class ship would join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in the spring of 2027. Today’s announcement confirms the 11th Excel-class ship for the corporation's fleet across four of its brands and the fifth for Carnival Cruise Line.

"Carnival's Excel-class fleet will soon be a quintet of these very popular ships that provide outstanding guest amenities and tremendous operating efficiencies," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Since the introduction of Mardi Gras in 2021 and the subsequent expansion with Carnival Celebration in 2022 and Carnival Jubilee in 2023, these Excel-class ships are driving excitement, demand, and strong guest satisfaction ratings. With the arrival of Carnival Firenze in April, we are completing the addition of five ships to our fleet in less than 20 months, and then we will pivot to another phase of growth with these two Excel ships."

The fifth Carnival Cruise Line Excel-class ship will be built on the same platform as its sister vessels. The 180,000-ton ship is to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and designed to carry over 6,400 guests and 1,800 crew.

"This new order continues to balance our commitment to growth with our responsible capital approach to utilize strong free cash flow over the next several years to strategically improve our balance sheet, significantly reduce our leverage levels and continue to transfer value from debt holders to shareholders," said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc. "Carnival Cruise Line continues to perform at an outstanding level, and we are focused on adding capacity across the company where it aligns with demand and our position in the marketplace. This measured capacity growth strategy will result in our adding one to two ships per year beginning in 2027, and we will be identifying additional fleet plans over the coming months for our cruise lines to meet capacity demand and improve execution across all aspects of our operation, with the benefit of yielding higher return on invested capital" 

This newly announced order from Carnival Corporation is contingent upon financing, which is expected to be completed later this year.

​​Want to experience a Carnival Cruise Line Excel-Class ship? See All Cruises on Mardi Gras, Carnival Jubilee, and Carnival Celebration