Carnival Corporation announces new excel-class cruise ship set for 2027 launch

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Carnival Corporation partners with Meyer Werft for a new Excel-class ship, joining the fleet in 2027, marking its first newbuild in 5 years.

Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest cruise operator globally, recently declared the finalization of a contract with the renowned shipbuilding company Meyer Werft in Germany for the construction of a fourth Excel-class vessel under its Carnival Cruise Line flagship. Scheduled to launch in Spring 2027, this vessel marks the 10th addition to the Excel-class fleet across four of its premier brands.

The upcoming vessel, joining the fleet alongside the existing Excel-class ships such as Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, and Carnival Jubilee, will boast a massive size of 180,000 tons and accommodate more than 6,400 passengers. It will operate using the environmentally friendlier liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion technology. This marks Carnival Corporation’s first new ship order in the past 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. “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.”

“Building on our strong performance and growing momentum around the world, we are excited to resume our newbuild program and further enhance our global fleet with yet another state-of-the-art ship that will wow Carnival Cruise Line’s guests,” said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “With one newbuild scheduled for delivery in 2025, none for 2026, and this order being our only expected newbuild 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,” said Weinstein.

“We are very pleased that the partnership between the MEYER Group and Carnival Corporation will continue with this new order,” said Bernd Eikens, CEO MEYER Group.

« Back to Page

• Carnival Corporation Boosts Eco-Tourism with Acquisition of 5,000 Local Palm Trees for Celebration Key

• Carnival Corporation Prices €500M Notes and Reprices Loans to Cut Debt Costs

• Carnival Corporation Showcases Remarkable Progress in Sustainability Initiatives

• Successful Resolutions Passed at Carnival Corporation & plc’s Annual Shareholders Meetings in Miami, Florida

• Carnival Corporation’s Port Destination Earns Honduran Ecological BlueFlag for Environmental Stewardship