Carnival Corp. said Thursday that it would add nine ships to
its fleet between 2019 and 2022.
Carnival offered almost no details about the ship order. It
did not specify which of its nine brands would get the new vessels or offer any
information about their size, design or cost.
In a statement, Carnival said the new ships were expected to
serve the North American, European and Chinese cruise markets, would be
specifically designed and developed for their particular brands and would be
the most efficient ships in Carnival history.
“We’re excited to take this next step in our
fleet-enhancement plan with these two new agreements that are consistent with
our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time,” Carnival Corp.
President and CEO Arnold Donald said in a statement.
The order is in line with Donald’s previous statements
indicating that the company would restrict its growth to two to three ships per
year across its fleet.
Carnival said it had signed memorandums of agreement with
Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard to build five of the vessels and with Germany’s
Meyer Werft to build four.
Additional information about the ships, such as their design
and which brands they will be built for, will be revealed at a later date,
Carnival said.
In announcing the newbuilds, the company indicated that
Donald would be offering additional details about the new vessels during
Carnival Corp.’s earnings call on Friday.
Carnival Corp. is the parent company of Carnival Cruise
Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, Aida Cruises, Costa
Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (U.K.).
Late last year it ordered one ship each from Fincantieri for
Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line for delivery in 2018.
The company has added more than 30 ships to its combined
fleets since 2007, and it has another nine scheduled to be delivered between
2015 and 2018, which Donald pointed out in December was about one vessel for
each of its brands over the next four years.
This year, Carnival is adding two ships to its global fleet
and removing four. The new vessels are P&O’s Britannia, which launched
earlier this month, and the Aida Prima, set to debut later this year.