Carnival Corporation to Trim Down Cruise Newbuilding Pace

Carnival Celebration in Grand Turk

Carnival Corporation will deceleration its newbuilding pace in an effort to not only moderate supply growth, but keep spending down, according to Josh Weinstein, president and CEO, speaking on the company’s year-end and fourth quarter earnings call.

Weinstein said that the company didn’t expect to take delivery of any new ships in 2026, and beyond that, would only build or two ships a year going forward.

“Going forward, we are committed to using our expected cash flow strength to repair the balance sheet over time, and we’ll be disciplined and rigorous in making newbuild decisions accordingly,” he said.

“We have just four ships on order through 2025, plus our second incredible Seabourn luxury expedition ship to be delivered in 2023.

“This is our lowest order book in decades,” Weinstein continued. “We don’t expect any new ships in 2026 and anticipate just one or two new builds each year for several years thereafter.”

Left on the Carnival orderbook through 2025 are the Carnival Jubilee, Cunard’s Queen Anne, the Sun Princess, another Princess newbuild that has yet to be named and the Seabourn Pursuit.

No newbuilds are on order for the company’s other brands including Holland America Line, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia. Carnival’s joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation was not mentioned.

With more old ships exiting combined with recent deliveries and the upcoming newbuild schedule, the company expects about 25 percent of its capacity to be what it considers new ships in 2023.

That means an eight-percentage point increase in balcony cabins across the fleet, and differentiated onboard experiences resulting in greater onboard revenue.

Cruise Industry News Email Alerts

 

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get the latest breaking cruise newsSign up.

CRUISE SHIP ORDERBOOK

67 Ships | 172,156 Berths | $57.1 Billion | View

New 2024 Drydock REPORT

Highlights:

  • Mkt. Overview
  • Record Year
  • Refit Schedule
  • 120 Pages
  • PDF Download
  • Order Today
New 2024 Annual Report

Highlights:

  • 2033 Industry Outlook 
  • All Operators
  • Easy to Use
  • Instant Access
  • Order Today