CCL-Carnival Cruise Line announced plans to grow its fleet by a couple of additional ships by 2023.
The company is taking the delivery of a new Excel-class vessel that had previously been assigned to sister cruise line AIDA (due to arrive in late 2023), as well as taking ownership of the Costa Magica ship from another of its European sister cruise lines (that liner is due to go through a drydock, renaming and Carnival branding and join the fleet by mid-2022).
The two ships are in addition to the capacity growth represented by Carnival’s first Excel-class, LNG-powered ship Mardi Gras which starts sailing from Port Canaveral (Orlando, Florida) on July 31, and her sistership, Carnival Celebration, which will be delivered and operate from PortMiami Florida beginning in late 2022, as part of CCL’s 50th birthday festivities.
By year-end 2023, the addition of these 4 ships will bring the fleet of Carnival to 27.
These liners bring a lot of new amenities and features for passengers, as well as environmental benefits as the company continues to exceed targets for emissions efficiencies.
Christine Duffy, president of CCL, said:
“We are excited about these additions to our fleet which reflect the strong position that CCL has established in the USA, 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.
“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.”