Carnival Corp. announced on Monday it had exercised an option for a new 130,000-ton ship for Carnival Cruise Lines to be delivered in summer 2010. The new vessel, to be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, will have 3,652 lower passenger berths at an estimated all-in cost of $738 million. The ship will be a sibling to a previously announced ship of the same size, which will enter service in fall 2009 and begin a new class for the line. Both ships will be the largest ever constructed for CCL. With Monday's announcement, CCL now has four ships on order or under construction boosting Carnival Corp.'s tally to 19 new ships on order.
