It seems you can’t move for new mega ships these days, with all manner of cruise lines announcing upcoming liners with welcome regularity. Hot on the heels of the announcement of P&O Cruises’ upcoming 5,200-capacity flagship, Carnival Cruise Line have now revealed they are planning on launching two equally sizeable ships in 2020 and 2022.
Both ships will boast a capacity of 5,200, making them the largest vessels in the fleet – a fair chunk larger than the Carnival Vista which took to the seas earlier this year. The timing of this news should hardly be a surprise however; both P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line are part of the Carnival Corporation – so this move to deploy larger ships seems to be part of an overall tactic.
In a move to reduce the environmental impact of launching two mega ships within three years, the two upcoming Carnival Cruise Line vessels will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest-burning fossil fuel available. The two ships will become the first docked in North American waters to run on the fuel. LNG can help to significantly reduce exhaust emissions in port and at sea. P&O Cruises’ new ship is also expected to be powered by the clean fuel.
Details of the ships’ names, home ports and itineraries will probably be slowly released over the coming years. Carnival have a long history of homeporting their ships in North America and concluding cruises around Caribbean waters. However, they may be tempted to send one of the upcoming ships to Asian waters, to take advantage of the growing Chinese cruise market – following the steps of Carnival Spirit, which will sail seasonally out of Shanghai.
The two new Carnival Cruise Line ships will be built in Germany’s Meyer-Werft and Finland’s Meyer-Turku shipyards, the same shipbuilders Carnival Corporation commissioned to build two AIDA and two Costa cruise ships to be launched over a number of years, starting in 2019.
When the two new ships launch in 2020 and 2022, the Carnival Cruise Line fleet could grow to 28 ships, including the launch of the Carnival Horizon, slated for a 2018 launch. It will mark a busy period for the cruise line, following the launch of the Carnival Vista earlier this year.
With 25 ships currently in service, there are plenty of Carnival Cruise itineraries to enjoy before the launch of the upcoming vessels. For a full selection of deals, visit our dedicated Carnival Cruise Line page, or call our friendly sales team on 0808 2746 777.
Images sourced via Flickr Creative Commons. Credit faungg’s, sbamueller
