Carnival Cruise Line revealed the first details of its upcoming Excel-class ships during an event onboard the Carnival Celebration on Sunday.
The newbuilds, which are set to enter service in 2027 and 2028, will carry the names Carnival Festivale and Carnival Tropicale.
As the fourth and fifth vessels in Carnival’s Excel series, the new LNG-powered ships are currently under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany.
According to Carnival’s President Christine Duffy, the new ships will introduce an updated design for the Excel Class.
The ships will focus on multi-generational travel, she added, with more connecting rooms and enhanced youth program spaces.
Instead of the BOLT! Roller Coaster, the new vessels will offer Sunsation Point, which Duffy described as a “multi-deck, ultra water park at sea.”
The space is also set to open in select evenings, with special events and celebrations, she added.
The new Carnival Festivale will sail from Port Canaveral starting in Spring 2027.
With music-themed public areas, the vessel will offer an enlarged Alchemy Bar and other new features, including enhanced dining venues.
Initial deployment for the 5,400-guest ship includes itineraries to the Caribbean and the Bahamas that feature visits to Carnival’s new private island destination of Celebration Key and the enhanced RelaxAway Half Moon Key.
Deployment details for the new Carnival Tropicale will be revealed at a later date.
The Festivale and the Tropicale join three other ships in Carnival’s Excel class.
Sailing from Port Canaveral, the Mardi Gras was built at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland and entered service in 2021.
The Carnival Celebration followed suit later, kicking off a series of cruises from Miami after being delivered by the same shipbuilder in late 2022.
A third ship in the series, the Carnival Jubilee, was built by Meyer Werft in Germany and entered service in late 2023, offering cruises from Galveston.
In addition to the new Excel Class ships, Carnival Cruise Line is set to take delivery of an additional Excel-class ship in 2028.
The company also ordered three 230,000-ton vessels, which are currently known as Project Ace.
The 8,000-guest ships will be built by the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, with deliveries scheduled between 2029 and 2032.