Even bigger! Cruise giant Carnival orders 3 massive new ships

23.07.2024 - 19:06 / thepointsguy.com / Christine Duffy / Royal Caribbean

Big news, megaship lovers: Three more giant new vessels are on the way.

Carnival Cruise Line on Tuesday announced that it ordered three massive new cruise ships that will be among the biggest ever built.

Scheduled to debut between 2029 and 2033, the three vessels will be the biggest ever for Carnival at 230,000 tons. That's about 25% bigger than the biggest Carnival vessels currently in operation.

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They'll also be among the biggest at any cruise line. Only three cruise ships currently sailing are bigger than 230,000 gross tons: Royal Caribbean's recently unveiled Icon of the Seas, Utopia of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas.

Carnival released few details about the new ships other than their size and cabin capacity. The ships will have 3,000 cabins that can hold nearly 8,000 passengers at full capacity, the line said.

That's more cabins than any ship in the history of cruising. Wonder of the Seas, with 2,867 cabins, is the current record holder among vessels when it comes to cabin count.

The current record holder for total passenger capacity is Icon of the Seas, which can hold 7,600 passengers.

While Carnival didn't say what sort of venues would be on the ships, Carnival president Christine Duffy said they would offer new-for-the-line features.

"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," Duffy said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Carnival said the three vessels would arrive in 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively.

The order comes just months after Carnival ordered two more ships for its Excel Class series of vessels. Those two new ships will begin sailing in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Related: Monster growth! The cruise boom at Carnival continues with debut of another new ship

Carnival has been growing fast in the last two years as its business grows rapidly. In addition to adding newly built ships to its fleet, it's been adding older vessels that are being transferred to the brand from sister lines such as Costa Cruises.

In all, Carnival has added five vessels to its fleet in just the last two years, marking the fastest expansion by any major cruise line in history.

With the additions, Carnival now has 27 vessels in its fleet — tying a record it set before the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to cut back its capacity.

Carnival on Tuesday said the newly announced ship orders are contingent upon financing, which is expected to be completed later this year.

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