Carnival Corporation & plc has signed an agreement with German shipbuilder Meyer Werft to build a fourth Excel-class cruise ship for its Carnival Cruise Line brand. The vessel is the 10th Excel-class ship in the corporation’s fleet across four of its brands and is expected to enter service in spring 2027.
Joining current Carnival Cruise Line Excel-class ships Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee, the new 180,000-ton ship will carry over 6,400 guests and be powered on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology platform. This new ship is the first new-build order placed by Carnival Corporation in five years.
“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.
Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation, added: “With one new-build scheduled for delivery in 2025, none for 2026, and this order being our only expected new-build in 2027, our responsible capital approach will support utilizing our substantial free cash flow over the next several years to strategically improve our balance sheet, significantly reduce our leverage levels and continue to transfer value from debt holders to shareholders.
“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,” added Weinstein.
For more information, visit www.carnivalcorp.com.
Related Stories
Sea Cloud Cruises Unveils 2025 Caribbean Season
Atlas Ocean Voyages Unveils 2025 Europe Expeditions
Star Breeze to Sail French Polynesia Sailings for Windstar
Lindblad Debuts New Mediterranean Expeditions for Summer 2025