New Ships Planned for Princess Cruises and P&O Australia

The Carnival Corporation has, this week, announced details about new ships for Princess Cruises and P&O Australia, as well as two new vessels for Costa Asia. All four ships are being built in partnership with the Italian shipbuilder, Fincantieri.

Expected to become the fourth member of the Royal Class from Princess Cruises, the as-yet-unnamed vessel is set for delivery in either 2019 or 2020. Joining fleet mates, Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess (due to take to the seas in 2017), the ship is expected to benefit from the class’ range of incredible features including the soaring atrium, outdoor cinema and high percentage of cabin balconies.

The announcement of the brand new P&O Australia ship represents recognition of the growing cruise industry down under. The Aussie branch of P&O Cruises has grown significantly in recent years as record numbers of passengers disembark on trips around Australian shores.

The new ship will instantly become the largest member of the P&O Australia fleet, a line which has averaged 20% year-on-year growth every year for the past decade. Built especially for the Australian market, the ship will join recent additions to the fleet – the Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria, transferred from Holland America Line.

Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, explained in a press release: “We will deliver on our fleet enhancement plan with the construction of these four new, exciting ships that are consistent with our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time.

“These strategic investments in new ships that wow our guests are an important part of our measured growth strategy, which includes replacing less-efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels over a very specific period of time.”

The announcement of two new ships for Costa Asia comes as little surprise with the region’s cruise industry enjoying massive growth in recent years. More and more major cruise lines and companies are strategically planning additional, and purpose-built, ships for the Asian cruise market.

Images sourced via Flickr Creative Commons. Credit: Boris Kasimov, Robert Montgomery