Carnival Corporation has announced it is is the final stages of ordering 4 new cruise ships for three of its brands. An agreement has been signed with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the new vessels.
The new ships will be built for Costa Cruises in Asia, Princess Cruises and P&O Australia. The company now has 17 new ships to be delivered between 2017 and 2020. It seems the new orders will be mainly focused for the Asian and pacific market.
The four new ships will be built by one of the world’s largest cruise ship building companies, Fincantieri, at the company’s shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera, Italy, with deliveries expected in 2019 and 2020. The two new 135,500-ton ships for Costa Asia and one new ship for P&O Cruises Australia will carry 4,200 passengers.
Additionally, Princess Cruises’ new 143,700-ton ship will carry 3,560 passengers and will be its fourth “Royal Princess” class vessel, featuring the successful design platform used on Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess scheduled for delivery in 2017. Each of the four new ships will be specifically designed and developed for the brand and guests it will serve, and support the company’s overall goal of providing exceptional vacation experiences for its guests. The new ship will also include some brand-new innovations to enhance the guest experience even further.
Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation said:
“We will deliver on our fleet enhancement plan with the construction of these four new, exciting ships that are consistent with our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time. These ships will be great additions to our fleet that support our goal to exceed guest expectations and create great vacation memories for each guest onboard our ships. These strategic investments in new ships that wow our guests are an important part of our measured growth strategy, which includes replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels over a very specific period of time.”
The new Costa Cruises Asia ships will prominently feature the brand’s “Italy’s finest” experience, with the new ship design serving to enhance the overall onboard immersion Italy’s unique style, hospitality, entertainment and culinary excellence. The new ship order will also strengthen Costa Asia’s leadership and position in the region, as well as its commitment and confidence to continuously develop Asia Pacific and China to be one of the leading cruise markets in the world.
Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri said:
“The signing of this agreement happens during a real and beyond all expectations boom of the cruise sector. This announcement confirms – once again – the effectiveness of our strategy: with these projects we ensure continuity and development for our company, and we also further strengthen our already consolidated partnership with the Carnival group.”
The new P&O Cruises Australia ship will join the leading cruise line’s fleet that was recently expanded with the addition of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden in November 2015 and will reach six total with the introduction of Pacific Explorer in 2017 to meet growing demand for cruises in Australia. Australia is one of the top performing cruise markets in the world, with an average annual passenger growth rate of 20 percent over the past decade. The new 4,200-passenger ship will have the largest passenger capacity from the line, with the next largest ship, Pacific Explorer, carrying 2,250 passengers, and will continue the brand’s tradition of innovative ships that reflect modern Australia.
In March 2015 Carnival entered into a strategic partnership with Fincantieri under which these four ships have been developed. Specific features and amenities for the ships, along with deployment details, will be revealed in the coming months.
