Holland America and Carnival
Cruise Lines have ordered new
vessels, while Royal Caribbean
moves closer to building
another megaliner.
CARNIVAL Corporation has announced it has
reached an agreement for the construction of
a 99,000-tonne, 2,660-passenger HAL ship
and a 135,000-tonne 4,000-passenger Carnival
Cruise Lines ship.
Scheduled for delivery in 2015, the HAL
vessel will be a new class for the line and its
first newbuild to enter service in five years,
since the ms Nieuw Amsterdam was launched
in 2010.
The Carnival vessel, also a new class of ship,
is due to debut in 2016, four years after the
introduction of Carnival Breeze.
Micky Arison, Chairman and CEO of Carnival
Corp, said the orders continued the
company’s strategy of introducing two to
three ships per year across the corporation’s
10 brands.
“We have strategically timed the
introduction of these new ships to allow
ample time for those brands to further grow
their passenger base and absorb the new
capacity while minimising revenue yield
dilution in the remainder of their existing
fleets,” he said.
Carnival now has nine new ships scheduled
for delivery – two for 2013, two for 2014,
three for 2015 and two for 2016.
Arison also noted that the additional
“tonnage” is expected, to some extent, to
replace existing capacity reductions from
possible sales of older ships.
A memorandum of agreement has been
signed with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and
is subject to customary closing conditions,
including execution of shipbuilding contracts
and financing.
Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean Cruises
revealed last week that it was involved in
negotiations for the possible construction of
an Oasis-type megaliner that would be
delivered in late 2016.
The company has not yet entered into any
agreement but it is “so close”, said Richard
Fain, RCCL chairman and CEO.
The new ship would cost less (on a per berth
basis) than the similar and very popular Oasis
of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, and would
have better energy efficiency, he said.
