Carnival to build new Holland America and Princess ships

Carnival Corporation has announced plans to build new ships for its Holland America Line and Princess Cruises brands.

The two vessels mean the company now has 19 ships scheduled to be delivered between 2017 and 2022.

Holland America Line’s new ship will be built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Marghera, Italy, with an expected delivery in 2021.

The ship for Princess Cruises will be built at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone, Italy, shipyard with an expected delivery in 2022.

“We are extremely pleased to formally announce these two new ships and build on the success and popularity of their sister ships already sailing guests around the globe,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation.

“Our goal is to exceed expectations of the 11.5 million guests who sail with us each year, and these new ships will offer more opportunities for our guests to create lifelong vacation memories while generating added excitement around the fast-growing global demand for cruise vacations.”

“Using our strategic fleet enhancement plan to introduce new ships is an important part of our measured capacity growth strategy, which includes replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels,” Donald added.

Holland America Line’s new 99,500-ton, 2,660-guest ship will be its third Pinnacle class vessel, following the design of the line’s newest and largest ship, ms Koningsdam, and its sister ship, Nieuw Statendam, scheduled for delivery in November 2018.

Princess Cruises’ new 145,000-ton ship will carry 3,660 passengers and will be its sixth Royal class vessel.

Tony Roberts, Princess Cruises’ vice president UK and Europe, said: “The decision to grow our fleet is testament to the success of Princess Cruises around the world. With four new ships now due for delivery, starting with Majestic Princess in March, these are incredibly exciting times for Princess Cruises.”