New Carnival ship to launch in 2012

Carnival Corporation is having a new ship build at the Italian yards of the Fincantieri shipbuilders. It will cost over £360 million and carry 3690 passengers.

The ship should be ready for sailing in spring 2012 and will have similar features to the recently launched Carnival Dream, including a 300 foot corkscrew-shaped water slide and whirlpools that extend over the ship's side. It will have the same aqua-park and Ocean Plaza entertainment area as its sister ship but there will be new features to, which the line has said will be announced nearer to launch time. The president and chief executive officer of the line, Gerry Cahill, says, ‘Ordering a third Dream-class ship shows the confidence we have in the continued success of this series. It embodies the evolution of our brand by providing the type of fun, affordable breaks today’s consumers are seeking.’ There is a second ship, Carnival Magic, which is similarly going to be a sister to Carnival Dream, currently under construction at the Monfalcone shipyard, also in Italy and due to launch in May 2011 and there will be a new Princess Cruises prototype cruise vessel to be ordered by the end of 2010 for delivery in 2013. At present there’s no clue as to where the ships will be home-ported but it’s likely that at least one of the two new Carnival cruise ships will home-port in the UK during the summer sailing season, to benefit from the growing UK cruise market and the recent uncertainty and security alerts that have made fly-cruising a less popular choice.