Carnival Cruise Line on a roll with order for three big new ships from Fincantieri

With more than 3,000 guest staterooms, the new ships will be the largest in the company's global fleet and will carry almost 8,000 passengers each at full capacity. (For comparison, world's largest cruise ship Icon of the Seas measures 248,663gt with total capacity for 7,600 passengers.)

LNG powered

The LNG-powered vessels are set for delivery in summer 2029, 2031 and 2033.

A big new ship class from Fincantieri for the Carnival brand had been expected for some time.

'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,' Carnival President Christine Duffy said.

With today's order, there have been five new ship orders for the Carnival brand announced in 2024. Earlier this year, Carnival Corp. 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, adding capacity to Carnival Cruise Line by transferring five ships from sister brands between 2023 and March 2025.

Doubling down

'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,' Carnival Corp. CEO Josh Weinstein said. '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.'

1.5% annual capacity growth

According to Weinstein, this order will take the company's overall 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.

Once the newbuilids are delivered in 2033, Carnival Corp. will have a total of 16 LNG-powered ships — including eight at the Carnival brand — making up almost 30% of Carnival Corp.'s global capacity and delivering immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Largest ships built in Italy

'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,' Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero 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.'