Carnival orders its first new cruise ship in five years

In another sign of the cruise industry’s return to good health, the world’s largest cruise ship operator, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) 13 Feb  reported that it has has signed an agreement with leading German shipbuilder Meyer Werft to build a fourth Excel-class cruise ship for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand. The ship, the tenth Excel-class ship in the corporation’s fleet across four of its brands, is expected to enter service in Spring 2027.

This new ship is the first newbuild order placed by Carnival Corporation in five years and Carnival Corporation CEO Josh Weinstein indicated that more are to follow.

 “We are following through on our measured capacity growth strategy with the addition of one to two ships per year beginning in 2027, which will be allocated to our cruise lines that most need the capacity to satisfy outsized demand, delivering an attractive payback period. We also remain focused on driving revenue growth throughout our portfolio of world-class cruise lines by continuing to improve execution across all aspects of our operation, yielding higher return on invested capital,” said Weinstein.

“Our Excel-class ships have been a tremendous addition to the Carnival fleet and proven very popular with our guests,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “As the world’s most popular cruise line, this new ship enables us to continue the growth of our incredible fleet as we welcome our loyal guests back to cruise more frequently and attract new-to-cruise guests to experience all that a Carnival cruise has to offer.”

 “This order is a clear sign that the cruise market has recovered and that there is great demand for sea voyages,” said the Meyer Group’s chief sales officer, Thomas Weigend, Chief Sales .

Meyer Werft says that the new order enables the shipyard to focus on the longer term and makes a decisive contribution to securing jobs locally and at partner companies. The yard’s order book now includes five cruise ships, one research vessel and the steel construction for four offshore converter platforms.]

 Tags: Bernd Eikenst, carnival, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Corporation & plc, Carnival Cruise Line, Carnival Jubilee, Christine Duffy, cruise ship, Excel-class, Josh weinstein, LNG fueled, Mardi Gras, Meyer Werft, shipbuilder, Thomas Weigend