Carnival Corporation announced today that they have ordered their four largest cruise ships ever that will be completed by 2022. Coming in at over 180,000 gross tons, the ships will also have the largest passenger capacity of any ships in the world at 6,600, passing the Oasis class from Royal Caribbean in terms of total passenger capacity.
These four new ships will also feature a first ever revolutionary “green cruising” design. The ships will be the first in the cruise industry to be powered at sea by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) — the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel.
The company said two of the ships will be manufactured for AIDA Cruises at Meyer Werft’s shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Additional information about the other two ships will be announced at a later time. These four ships are part of the previously announced nine ship order from Carnival Corporation.
These four next generation cruise ships will be based on Carnival Corporation’s innovate design. They will have a total guest capacity of 6,600, with more than 5,000 lower berths. While the exact size of the ships is still unknown, they will be over 180,000 gross tons making them one of the largest classes of cruise ships in the world. In order to enhance the passenger’s experience, the ships will use an innovate design to make efficient use of the ship’s spaces,
Pioneering a new era in the use of sustainable fuels, the four new ships will be the first in the cruise industry to use LNG in dual-powered hybrid engines to power the ship both in port and on the open sea. LNG will be stored onboard and used to generate 100 percent power at sea – producing another industry-first innovation for Carnival Corporation and its brands. Using LNG to power the ships in port and at sea will eliminate emissions of soot particles and sulfur oxides.
In addition to the two ships being built in Germany, Meyer Werft – which had the capacity to accommodate these four ship-building orders in its production schedule — will also build the two additional ships detailed in today’s announcement at its shipyard in Turku, Finland. Each new ship will be specifically designed and developed for the brand and the guests it will serve, underscoring the company’s goal to consistently exceed guest expectations and provide first-time and repeat guests with the vacation experience of a lifetime on each and every cruise.
Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald said the contract is consistent with the company’s measured capacity growth strategy to replace ships with less efficient capacity with newer, larger and more fuel efficient vessels over time.
“We are looking forward to executing on the next step in our fleet enhancement plan,” said Donald. “At a cost per berth in line with our existing order book, these new ships will enhance the return profile of our fleet. These are exceptionally efficient ships with incredible cabins and public spaces featuring a design inspired by Micky Arison and Michael Thamm and developed by our new build teams.” Arison is chairman of the board of directors for Carnival Corporation & plc and Thamm is CEO of the Costa Group, which includes AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.
Added Donald: “It will be exciting to see our shipbuilding team bring these new ships to life. Every step of the way, our focus is on designing state-of-the-art ships that provide a vacation experience our guests will love, and we are putting all of our creative energy and resources into making sure we achieve that goal.”
“These ships will expand our leadership position for the Costa Group, the market leader in all the major European markets,” said Thamm. “These will be spectacular ships designed specifically for our guests who sail on our Costa Group brands.”
The new ship order will allow the Costa Group to continue to build on its leadership position in the European cruise market – a market in which five out of 10 cruise guests in 2014 sailed onboard a Costa Group ship. The Costa Group – along with Princess Cruise Lines, also part of the Carnival Corporation family — also occupies the leading position in the rapidly growing cruise market in China.
As part of each shipbuilding company’s long-term strategic partnership with Carnival Corporation, additional new ship orders are being explored over the coming decade.
will be very small cabins. You will have to go suite class for anything over 200 sq ft. Suite means more money for a cabin!
While I do not believe bigger is necessarily better, I am happy to see Carnival awaking from several years of complacency to get back in the competition that pushes innovation, keeps prices in check, makes the cruise lines try to maintain services in spite of the strained labor pool, and lastly that delivers a positive image through the implication of difference and size. After cruising on ships in all of Carnival’s larger ship classes over the last 20 years, we were out of choice differences and when there are so many other competitor options, our interest in the new had overwhelmed our comfort with the familiar and this has been reflected in our cruise line agnosticism and cruise vacation choices.
Our future decision to cruise on one of Carnival’s new ships will still come down to cabin category pricing, service, itinerary, cabin dimensions, etc., but from an image standpoint I say congratulations to Carnival and thank you for keeping your competitors on their toes!
180,000grt. Is NOT going to be “the largest Cruise Ships” in the World!
It clearly says it will be over 180,000 grt but exact numbers is not yet known; and WILL have one of the largest passenger capacities of all the world.. ONE OF.. not saying it is but ONE OF…
Second sentence in the article..
” Coming in at over 180,000 gross tons, the ships will also have the largest passenger capacity of any ships in the world at 6,600, passing the Oasis class from Royal Caribbean in terms of total passenger capacity. “