Three New 8,000 Passenger Ships Announced for Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Corporation today announced an order for three new cruise ships for Carnival Cruise Line for a new class of vessel, at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes and capable of carrying 8,000 guests. The company has entered an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the design, engineering, and construction of the vessels. All three ships will be LNG-powered ships and delivered in the summers of 2029, 2031, and 2033, respectively.

“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.”

These three ships, along with two previously newly announced vessels, bring the number of ships ordered for Carnival Cruise Line in 2024 to five in total. 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 to further optimize the composition of its global brand portfolio and to increase guest capacity for Carnival Cruise Line. This includes the transfer 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. 

About Carnival's New Ships

The newly-announced (and yet-to-be-named) ships, will be the largest of the Carnival Cruise Line fleet with an 8,000-guest capacity and over 3,000 staterooms. 

“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 of Fincantieri.

When all ships have been delivered in 2033, Carnival Corporation will have a total of 16 LNG-powered ships (eight from Carnival Cruise Line) making up almost 30% of Carnival Corporation’s global capacity and delivering immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions. All new ships will feature advanced energy efficiency, waste management, and emission reduction technologies. 

This order is contingent upon financing, which is expected to be completed later this year.

Ship details and itinerary information for the new Carnival Cruise Line ships will be announced at a future date. 

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