Cunard today announced it is adding a fourth ship to its fleet for a 2022 delivery. The ship will have capacity for 3,000 passengers at 113,000 tons and be built by Fincantieri.
The as yet unnamed ship will join Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth as the fourth member of the Cunard fleet, the first time since 1998 that the cruise brand will have four ships in simultaneous service.
“Cunard continues the legacy of our liners with the commissioning of a magnificent new ship. It’s an especially fitting time with the recent 50th Anniversary of the beloved Queen Elizabeth 2 marking the occasion. We are proud to share Cunard’s enduring luxury liner experience with future generations to be enjoyed the world over,” said Josh Leibowitz, Senior Vice President, Cunard, North America.
We are very pleased to announce a fourth ship for our immensely popular Cunard brand, which is also one of the most legendary brands in the entire vacation industry,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “Cunard offers a fleet of unrivaled vessels and one of the most unique travel experiences in the world, which together create an enchanting and memorable vacation for our guests. While today’s news helps drive Cunard’s overall strategic growth plans, we also look forward to launching this next-generation cruise ship to help meet increasing global demand and entice even more travelers to explore the Cunard experience.” Donald added: “Fleet enhancement is an important part of our ongoing goal to exceed guest expectations. This includes replacing less efficient ships with more efficient vessels over time as part of our managed capacity growth”.
Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, stated: “With this agreement we once more link our company’s name with Cunard’s, a real icon of the cruise market, confirming us as a shipbuilder able to combine tradition and innovation like no one else in the world. It is a lasting journey that, besides the construction of the two authentic ‘queens’ like “Queen Victoria” and “Queen Elizabeth”, stresses the importance of our partnership with Carnival. Bono concluded: “In fact, for this Group we have built 63 ships, representing today almost two-thirds of their fleet, with other 9 to come in the coming years. A cooperation which can be defined as historical, based on relationships of mutual respect and trust”.
