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Rotterdam the sole remaining Carnival Corp. newbuild coming in fiscal 2021

PHOTO: FINCANTIERI CRUISE_Rotterdam.jpg
Rotterdam is shown before its float-out at Fincantieri's Marghera yard in October
In its business update Monday, Carnival Corp. & plc said only one more of the five newbuilds originally scheduled for delivery in fiscal 2021 would still be coming.

It is Holland America Line's Rotterdam, Seatrade Cruise News has confirmed. This third Pinnacle-class ship is due from Fincantieri's Marghera yard in July.

Carnival's fiscal year ends Nov. 30.

Fiscal 2021 trio includes Costa Firenze, Mardi Gras

The two other new ships in Carnival's fiscal 2021 are Costa Firenze from Fincantieri's Marghera and Mardi Gras from Meyer Turku, both delivered last month.

This indicates a delay for AIDAcosma, which had been scheduled for spring handover from Meyer Turku, and a slight setback for Costa Toscana, which had been due in October. Both are LNG-powered. AIDAcosma is the sister of 2019's AIDAnova, and Costa Toscana follows 2019's Costa Smeralda.

AIDAcosma and Costa Toscana still expected in calendar 2021

Both AIDA Cruises and Costa confirmed their ships are expected in late calendar year 2021.

Costa Toscana has been announced to debut in Santos, Brazil, on Dec. 26, headlining Costa's two-ship return to South America for the 2021/22 season.

Earlier, expedition ship Seabourn Venture's delivery from T. Mariotti was pushed back to December, which would be fiscal 2022 for Carnival Corp. Originally, Discovery Princess had been planned for 2021 but Seatrade's orderbook has listed the ship in 2022 for some time owing to Italy's pandemic lockdown that impacted Fincantieri. 

A dozen newbuilds to come

Carnival Corp. started fiscal 2021 with 14 newbuilds on order and now has 12 to come, through 2025, following the Costa Firenze and Mardi Gras deliveries. Just one new ship per year is scheduled in 2024 and 2025, 

Less than 2% net capacity growth to end 2022

CFO David Bernstein said Carnival Corp.'s available lower berth days at the end of 2022 would be about 5.6% greater than in 2019 but capacity growth will actually be less than 2% over the period due to the 19 ships that are exiting the fleet.