Fincantieri Gets Order Valued at Over $2.3B for Three Princess Cruise Ships
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and Carnival Corporation’s Princess Cruises confirmed an order for three new large cruise ships valued at over $2.3 billion (€2 billion), extending the record cruise ship orderbook. The orders are in keeping with Carnival Corporation’s declared strategy of strategically pacing its new ship orders for metered growth in its brands.
The cruise line is calling the new ships the largest and most advanced platform for its brand. At an estimated 183,000 gross tons and with a passenger capacity of 4,700 in lower berths, the ships will be approximately three percent larger in size while increasing capacity by more than nine percent versus the sister ships Sun Princess and Star Princess, built by Fincantieri and delivered in 2024 and 2025.
Princess is calling the ships “a next-generation platform” designed to further enhance its cruise experience while saying the new ships will build upon the Sphere Class platform (i.e. Sun Princess and Star Princess) previously developed by Fincantieri. The line said the new ships will feature completely reimagined outer decks, staterooms, and Piazza designs that cater to the brand's global travelers and diverse deployments.
Similar to the two recently delivered Princess ships, the new Voyager class ships will be dual-fuel powered, primarily using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). It has become the fuel of choice for much of the cruise industry after the first cruise ship, AIDAnova, was introduced in 2018 with LNG-fueled engines. The new Princess ships will be Carnival Corporation's 19th, 20th, and 21st LNG-based vessels and are part of the company's ongoing fleet enhancement efforts.
In keeping with Carnival’s strategy, however, the deliveries are scheduled for late 2035, 2038, and 2039, extending the industry’s orderbook beyond the newbuilds due for Norwegian Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises in 2037. Carnival Corporation previously had seven additional new ships under contract that are scheduled for delivery between 2027 and 2033.
The new ships, which will be the largest by capacity in the Princess Cruises fleet, will be built at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. They add to Fincantieri’s large cruise ship orderbook, which also includes 200,000-plus gross ton ships for Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line.
“These new orders secure a robust workload for our shipyards through 2039 and further support the profitable development of our cruise business, as outlined in our 2026–2030 Industrial Plan,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO and Managing Director of Fincantieri. With the new Voyager-class ships, we are once again leveraging Fincantieri's distinctive expertise in sustainable, next?generation shipbuilding, supporting Princess Cruises in its growth trajectory and reaffirming our role as a trusted industrial partner for the evolution of the cruise industry."
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The orders also demonstrate the industry’s confidence in long-term future growth. Globally, the cruise ship orderbook had already reached a record $86 billion, according to data released this week by Seatrade Cruise. They calculated that there were 76 firm orders for cruise ships and said that with several projects pending, the cruise ship orderbook is likely to soon exceed $100 billion. Yet, there are only about 350 cruise ships in service out of more than 60,000 commercial ships.
The trade group CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) has forecasted that cruising will reach 40 million passengers annually by the end of this decade.
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