Carnival Cruise Line Will Add Two More Ships By 2023
One of the unexpected consequences of the pandemic on the cruise industry was the scrapping of older ships. Carnival Cruise Line sent a handful of their older ships to the scrapyard in 2020, but it looks like the line is starting to regrow their fleet now that the pandemic is in the rearview. The cruise line announced today plans to add two additional ships by 2023, including a brand new one which was slated to join sister line AIDA Cruises.
Along with the new ship, Carnival Cruise Line will take ownership of Costa Magica from another sister line Costa Cruises, with that ship going through a dry dock, renaming and Carnival-branded conversion and joining the fleet by mid-2022.
“We are excited about these additions to our fleet which reflect the strong position that Carnival has established in the U.S., the pent-up demand we continue to see for cruise vacations, and the overall plans by Carnival Corporation to optimize capacity and growth in key markets,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “While our immediate focus is on our restart of guest operations this summer, this is another cause for excitement at Carnival, and we will be announcing more detailed plans about homeports, itineraries and ship names very soon.”
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Carnival has been busy in the ship-building department as of late, with Carnival Horizon arriving in 2018, Carnival Panorama in 2019, Mardi Gras planned for this year and Carnival Celebration arriving in 2022.
Guests haven’t had as much time to enjoy the newer ships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it looks like that’s about to change as Carnival and its sister brands return to service in the United States in the coming months. The cruise line has announced it will resume guest cruise operations with eight ships by the end of August, including sailings out of Galveston, Miami, Port Canaveral, Long Beach and Seattle to Alaska.
The two new ships will bring Carnival’s fleet total to 27.