Here they grow again! Carnival Cruise Line announced plans today to grow its fleet by two additional ships by 2023, taking the delivery position of an Excel-class ship that had previously been assigned to sister line AIDA Cruises that will arrive in late 2023, as well as taking ownership of Costa Magica from another of its European sister lines, with that ship going through a dry dock, renaming and Carnival-branded conversion and joining the fleet by mid-2022.
Costa Magica was built on the same platform as the original Carnival Destiny/Triumph class ships. It’s very likely that the newly rebranded Carnival vessel will follow the recent conversions of Carnival Sunshine (Destiny), Carnival Sunrise (Triumph) and the soon to be relaunched Carnival Radiance (Victory), which are all part of the Sunshine Class.
Watch Video: Carnival Sunrise – Ultimate Cruise Ship Tour
These two ships are in addition to the new capacity growth represented by Mardi Gras, Carnival’s first Excel-class, liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship which starts sailing from Port Canaveral on July 31 and her sister ship, Carnival Celebration, which will be delivered and sail from Miami starting in late 2022, as part of Carnival’s 50th birthday festivities.
The addition of these four ships will bring the Carnival fleet to 27 by year-end 2023, and these ships bring many new amenities and features for guests, as well as environmental benefits and enhancements as Carnival continues to exceed and expand targets for emissions efficiencies.
Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line said:
“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,”
“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.”
