Carnival Cruise Line will add two new ships to their already impressive fleet. Fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) the ships were intended for two other members of the Carnival family of brands. It’s all part of Carnival’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebration, starting in late 2022. One of those brands is Costa Cruises which I am scheduled to sail again this Fall. Here’s the full story from Carnival….

MIAMI, June 23, 2021 – 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.

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 50^th 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.

“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,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.  “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.”