Carnival is adding 3 new mega-ships. Take a look at what’s coming for cruise travel

Carnival Corp. is going big.

The Doral-based cruise company is ordering three massive ships, betting that a lot more people want to sail on bigger vessels.

The new Carnival Cruise Line ships, which would be the largest in the company’s fleet, will each have over 3,000 guest staterooms and, at full capacity, carry almost 8,000 guests. Carnival also said the ships will have “advanced energy efficiency, waste management, and emission reduction technologies.”

The company has not yet released information on ship amenities, itineraries or home ports.

Cleaner fuel

The new vessels will be powered by liquefied natural gas. That would give Carnival 16 such ships, or about 30% of its fleet.

LNG emits less carbon dioxide emissions than oil or coal, and is considered cleaner. That could also benefit the United States as the world’s largest natural gas producer.

Carnival signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to do the design, engineering and construction of the new ships, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The three ships are scheduled for delivery in 2029, 2031 and 2033. The order depends on financing, expected to be finished later this year.

Carnival adding capacity

The new order brings to a total of five new ships that Carnival has announced this year.

Earlier this year, the company ordered two ships in its Excel class. Those vessels, scheduled to sail in 2027 and 2028, were the first new ships Carnival ordered in five years. They are being built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft. Europe continues to dominate shipbuilding even as South Florida becomes the cruise capital of the world for passengers.

Carnival also said this week that it would transfer five vessels from sister brands to the Carnival Cruise Line.

“We are doubling down on the growth of Carnival Cruise Line — our highest-returning brand — to keep up with the incredibly strong demand we continue to see,” Josh Weinstein, chief executive officer of Carnival Corp., said in a statement.

Need for new ships

The new orders come amid a booming cruise industry, one that has yielded benefits for South Florida. PortMiami, Florida’s largest port, set a record for passengers, more than 7 million, during fiscal year 2023. That exceeded the 6.8 million passengers in fiscal year 2019.

Port Everglades is also growing and serving as a formidable competitor. In fiscal year 2023, the port drew just over three million passengers. While below its high-water mark of 3.9 million, the Fort Lauderdale port expects to reach that volume in 2025, the port CEO at the time told the Miami Herald last year.

Globally, more than 31 million people took a cruise last year, beating the pre-pandemic all-time high set in 2019, according to the trade group Cruise Lines International Association, which expects nearly 40 million people to cruise by 2027.

New ships will be needed to keep pace with that growth. At least 56 new ships are being built and will be ready between 2024 and 2028, accounting for more than 121,000 additional berths.